Hunter's Mate

" Two bodies found today again at the Yohina fishing river. It was discovered this morning by one of the local residents who is also a fisherman. A few days back another body had been found at this same shore. The informant said he had come in early this morning to check his catch when he noticed something lying at the far end of the shore, when he had gone closer he discovered the two bodies on the ground. Frightened he quickly contacted the police. Police have run autopsy on both bodies and confirmed it to be an animal attack although they have not yet confirmed what animal it is..... The case is still under investigation." "That's the 8:am news from this morning." Said the professor as he switched off the TV. "A similar case like this took place in the Province of Sevinse a few weeks ago. Raven I'm putting you in charge of this case and I want an article written on it to be submitted by the end of June." " But Sir..." " No buts Raven this is your finishing school project, either this or you'll be here next semester" "Yes sir" replied Raven with a sigh under her breath "And of course before I forget you will work with Mr. Dillard he' s your partner " " OK professor" replied Raven with annoyance in her tone " Call the next student on your way out Miss Tyson" said the professor " Yes sir" replied Raven as she turned to leave. That was his way of dismissal. " So cold and heartless" murmured Raven under her breath as she stepped out of his office . She was tired and hungry she had just finished her exams a few moments ago and then the professor sent for her giving her a project with no time to rest. She barely had enough sleep because she was studying for her last paper, she even skipped breakfast and as if that wasn't enough Casper Dillard was her project partner. She had been avoiding him for weeks now and the professor only had to make things worse by pairing them up. *** "Third day here and there is actually nothing useful" said Casper as he played with the keyboard on his laptop." I can't wait to leave tomorrow." " Really Casper?!!" asked Raven eyeing him." I found something useful." " Tell me" said Casper " Out of the many people we've interviewed, six stories seem to correspond" said Raven ad she closed the book she was reading. " Ha! So you actually believe some mythical animal did that?" Asked Casper with a laugh." I can't believe you're actually dumb enough to believe that crap." Said Casper. ' Thump!' as Raven walked over and hit Casper on the head with the book she was holding. "Ow! What was that for?" Cried Casper as he rubbed the aching spot on his head. " That's for calling me dumb." " That actually hurt you know" said " And there's more where that came from if you don't behave" replied Raven " Hey take a chill pill I didn't mean it that way okay"said Casper " Well just so you know I believe every inch of it. Besides that's why we are here in the first place, if you don't believe 'that crap' as you say then find out exactly what happened. That's why you're a journalist you dig up information. I don't know what professor Mullins was drinking when he stuck me up with you in the first place.I don't want to have to repeat a semester because of you. You're just bad vibe" said Raven with irritation in her voice as she walked back to the couch she was sitting on. " Hey don't be mad at me okay.. I'm sorry if I made you mad. I didn't mean it that way, even though I don't believe in all that stuff" replied Casper " Whatever" said Raven rolling her eyes. " Hey I'm going to get a drink wanna come? Thought it would be nice to take a tour of the place before we leave tomorrow." Said Casper " Yeah sure, let me just get my jacket" replied Raven." But just so you know its your treat" said Raven ad she went in to grab her jacket. Truth was Casper's family sponsored their trip to Sevinse, . Casper came from a wealthy family, he' s family owned a chain of restaurants in the U.S and that meant they had enough to pamper Casper and his younger sister Cara.So when Casper told them about the Sevinse project they funded the whole trip from flight tickets to accommodation and feeding. Casper was her friend but lately he didn't want them to be just friends, he wanted more than that. Casper always had a huge crush on her from the start and Raven knew that.And that was one of the reasons she had been avoiding him after he asked her out she didn't want to hurt his feelings . Truth was she didn't like him in any romantic way at all, Casper was not even in the list of men she would ever date. He wasn't bad looking at all he had black curly hair which suited him perfectly, grey eyes that stood out, he was moderately tall with handsome features, but Casper didn't strike her as some one she would want to be with. She liked him as a friend and that only was enough. *** Blade walked into the bar scanning through the crowd of unsuspecting people. There! He spotted him, he was surrounded by a group of people what ever it was he had to stop it. Kai saw him , he knew his time had come but he wasn't going to let Blade take him away like that without putting up a good fight. " Sorry to crash your little party Kai but it's time to go" said Blade as he stood arms crossed facing the demon. Kai looked at him with a wry smile on his face" Come on Hunter don't be a party Crasher" replied Kai. "Come in and join the fun besides I'm not hurting anyone here. Don't I deserve a chance of happiness at least?" All attention had turned to the two as the crowd looked with mixed emotions. Kai's so called fiancée was the most confused of all. "Pftt! We both know you can never change so stop fooling around and surrender" said Blade " Never" replied Kai as he flicked his claws. Fearful gasps sent out through the crowd. " Don't you dare bring those claws at me" said Blade " Why? Are you scared?" Asked Kai as he charged at Blade with full force. Blade dodged blow aimed at him swiftly and grabbed Kai's arm firmly and twisted it bringing Kai to his knees because of the pain. Kai groaned loudly, he tried to use his other hand but Blade sent a hard kick to his jaw with his knee that sent him sprawling to the floor with his mouth all bloodied. "Please don't kill me" Kai pleaded. " All I want is a happy life." " Time for negotiations are over Kai. I warned you about those claws but you didn't listen. Its time to send you to hell where you belong you blood thirsty demon."said Blade as he pinned him to the floor. " Please wait I have one request" pleaded Kai. " What is it?" asked Blade irritated " Please make her forget about me." replied Kai referring to his ' fiancée " Of course. Who would want to remember bad news anyway!" Said Blade as he revealed a sharp sword which he was hiding under his jacket. It was a slim double edged sword with a gold handle which had strange marks and carvings on top, it's blade shone even with the poor lighting of the bar. In a second Blade drove the sword twice through the demons heart making it send a silent but frightening shriek which went through only the four walls of the room. The people there stood paralyzed with fear as they witnessed the horror that had just happened, nobody even dared to move. Blade stood up and watched the Demon's body turn to ashes which immediately disappeared in a minute leaving only the sweater it had worn. He turned and faced the people there making sure no one escaped. " Now it's your turn." he said. *** Raven and Casper walked down the street to a near by bar they could see people in little groups of twos and threes they all seemed to be talking about something. " Looks like something happened here" said Raven as they stopped in front of a bar." It could be about why we came here you know." " Yeah. Wait here I'll ask for info" replied Casper as he walked towards a group of young women leaving Raven in front of the bar. "Excuse me ladies...." As Casper was indulging in a conversation with the ladies Raven took the time to look around, the neighbourhood looked fancy whatever it was that happened here had to be big news. " Excuse me" said a voice from behind her, shaking Raven out of her thoughts. Raven turned to see who it was and for a minute she was breathless. He was strikingly handsome, tall and broad shouldered, he had dark eyes that glistened in the dim sunlight of the evening.His gaze it was hypnotic she felt held by it.He had black wavy hair that was well arranged like some model, she was sure he took alot of time on it, he looked like one of those movie stars he was absolutely dreamy.But for some reason he looked familiar, she felt as if she knew him even before now. " Can I help you?" Asked Raven trying to sound as polite as she could. " Excuse me" he said again rather rudely." Your in my way." Raven felt anger rise up inside her.'Handsome but rude' She wanted to say something rude to him her self but she couldn't bring herself to, for some reason she felt tongue tied.Slowly but angrily Raven moved aside to let him walk out through the door of the bar eyeing him as he walked away. " Who was that?" Asked Casper as he came up beside Raven. " No one" she replied with a shrug "Just some guy coming out of the bar.I was in his way that's all." " So what did you find out?" Asked Raven. " Just some gossip about something that happened a few minutes ago in this bar you're standing in front of." Replied Casper " Tell me" said Raven. "Something about a guy breaking up with his fiancée at their pre wedding party" said Casper with a shrug, "Nothing that concerns us anyway."he added as put his hands in his pocket. "Did you find out why?" Asked Raven " The women there said he fell in love with another woman and didn't want her anymore" replied Casper. "That's strange" " I know right! It's crazy" " For him to back out like that at the last minute, must be really heart breaking for the woman" said Raven "Yeah so sad, they said she smashed some stuff in there out of anger" replied Casper. " Come on let's take a look inside I want to see what it looks like." Said Raven. " Yes maa'm." *** A.L.I.S " Hello Grandma, you look busy as usual" said Blade as he walked in. " Don't start with me Hunter, good job by the way with Kai he's a very sneaky one" replied Druna looking at her computer. " Thank you. I'll count that as one of the nicest things you said to me" said Blade as he sat opposite her " Shut up!" replied Druna "And stop being cocky". "I saw another reincarnation of Zofia today" said Blade. " It's been one thousand years I can't believe you're still holding on to her" replied Druna "So what did you do when you saw her?" Asked Druna looking up from her computer to look at him. " Honestly I was a jerk." replied Blade " You're so arrogant" hissed Druna "I got that from you" Blade replied. "There's a problem" said Druna with seriousness in her tone. "What is it?" Asked Blade "Damon is back and he's causing more trouble than before" replied Druna. "He's the one responsible for those deaths right?" Asked Blade. "Yes. And you know the rules."said Druna "He's been on the list for so long" "I understand grandma" replied Blade as he got up to leave."I'll get my brother." He said as he walked out. *** Raven and Casper looked around the bar, nothing seemed to be tampered with except a black wool knitted sweater left lying carelessly on the for at a corner in the bar. " I wonder who it belongs to " said Raven as she bent down to pick the sweater. " Hey don't touch that you don't know where it's been" said Casper with irritation in his voice. "Shut up" replied Raven playfully. 'There!' Raven touched something liquid with her hands as she picked the sweater.Could this be? No it had to be.. "Blood! There's blood on the sweater" said Raven with panic in her voice. "Shh! Keep your voice down do you want to raise an alarm" replied Casper almost in a whisper. "But there's blood on the..." "Shh!"Hissed Casper cutting Raven's sentence short "pull your self together." Said Casper. " I think the guy was murdered" said Raven as calmly as she could. "But the witnesses all say a different story, I think they are trying to cover up something" replied Casper. "Or maybe they were hypnotized" said Raven staring blankly. "Excuse me can I help you?" A voice interrupted them. They both startled as a tall bearded man walked up to them.Raven was guessing he was the bar manager." I am the manager here and I noticed you have been standing for quite a while here the bar is empty and we are about to close due to the incident that happened here a while ago. Do you mind stepping outside so we can close?" Asked the man as politely as he could. 'Phew! He wasn't suspicious.' Raven felt a surge of relief go through her. " Sure. So sorry we were already leaving" replied Raven with a nod." Come on Casper" said Raven signalling to Casper as they both left. Suddenly a thought hit Raven the man she had encountered earlier at the entrance he raised some suspicion in her.Maybe she should ask the manager but on the other hand Raven thought it wasn't of much use. *** Raven walked through the crowded street it had been one week now after the trip to Sevinse she had resumed work at the Tinder News Publishing House whete she wrote news articles for the Lancaster daily. Oh no! She was supposed to meet Casper she promised to go out on a date with him even though she had told him she wasn't into him she had promised to go out with him that evening but strictly as friendsCasper was not one to give up easily . He would arrive at her apartment any moment from now and she wasn't even home yet. She was tired and she looked a mess her fingers hurt from typing all day, she was hungry too and there was the date with Casper and the school project she was working on.Everything in her life right now looked so disorganized and the worst part was there was no taxi in sight, it was as if they had all planned not to drive through that route making her legs ache as she walked along the street. Finally a taxi as one finally came in sight. " Taxi" Raven waved it down "College Route" she said as she hopped in when the taxi pulled over. It was a thirty minute drive but darn it! there was traffic. Why did it have to be now?! When she was in a hurry. Raven sat in the car looking miserable she sat there playing a game on her phone as she whiled away the time in traffic. 'Sorry might be late Caught in traffic' Raven texted Casper. 'Sure I'll be waiting for you.' Casper texted back. As Raven sat in the taxi waiting for the traffic to move her mind drifted back to him as she looked out the window, he looked so familiar, that dark wavy hair, those dark dim made him all the more mysterious the tone of his deep voice when he had spoken to her even though he was rude still sounded wonderful in her head. Everything about him seemed so familiar as if she had known him for a very long time with just one glance. Could she be crushing on him already? No he was still a suspect on her case something about him seemed suspicious and she was sure she was going to find him sooner or later. *** " This traffic is seems like forever and I have to be somewhere before dark" said Blade with impatience in his voice. "Edric take the car I'll walk ahead of traffic and take the bus I'm running late" added Blade as he opened the car door. " but sir..." "I'll see you at home Edric" said Blade as he slammed the car door shut cutting Edric short of his words. Blade walked on the pedestrian walk through the crowd as he passed the line of cars caught in traffic with angry horns blaring from angry drivers. He had to find the Damon, he was back again causing trouble, at his age he was acting rather foolishly. Damon was his half younger brother he loved him but he couldn't save him from the consequences of his actions. Now he had to find him and take him to Druna. *** The wait was becoming unbearable suddenly almost as if her mind was playing a trick on her she saw him pass right in front of her through the crowd.Raven pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming it was real,It was definitely him. Without hesitation Raven.payed the taxi driver for the short distance he had brought her and rushed out of the taxi, she couldn't let this opportunity slip by. *** Blade caught a familiar scent as he walked through the crowd, it was a very strong one and he knew he was being followed because it kept becoming stronger whoever it was that was following him, he had to do something fast to make the person loose trail of him. *** Raven ran through the crowd bumping into people at intervals as she followed him trying to catch a glimpse of him.She ran untill she reached an alley, by now she was far away from traffic and the crowd had reduced to but he was no where in sight, it was already getting dark where could he had gone to? Raven looked around the few crowds passing by. The alley! Of course. A bit scared Raven walked through she heard something fall behind her.She turned around swiftly startled by the sound her heart beating fast but no one was there it was just an empty can phew! "Looking for me?!"said a deep familiar voice behind her.Raven froze it was him!