Haunted by Time

Kara POV I was twelve years old when I joined the Hunters. My parents had been slaughtered by vampires and my house burned to the ground. My uncle, who lived with us at the time, managed to get me out before the fire started. I begged my parents to come with us but they insisted on holding the vampires back while we got out. My mind hasn’t rested for a moment since that night. I never understood how the vampires got into our house in the first place. Vampires had to be invited in and we also put mountain ash into our house’s foundation to ward against the supernatural. Someone had to break the barrier and invite them in, but who would do that? I lived with my uncle in our lake house now. The forest was like a thick blanket wrapped around our property. I loved the privacy it provided. I could chop wood and build my muscles without prying eyes. After the attack, Josh decided that it would be best to lay low for a few years. I withdrew from private school and started home school instead. The best part about it was that I graduated shortly after turning fifteen and I could completely focus on my training. One of my mom’s hunter friends, Cynthia, would drive out every single day to come and torture me with training for three hours before leaving me with a mountain of strategic fighting and battle planning books to work through. She told me the history of the Hunters and how they hunted demons in different forms. One of those forms being a vampire. Only the elite Hunters went after vampires and they usually hunted at night when the vampires were active. That was my goal. Being an elite Hunter and getting the chance to avenge my parents. I’ve been training for seven years and never seen combat until now. ❦ Cynthia handed me my ass for the second time today. The air got knocked out of my lungs by the sheer force of her slamming me into the ground. I pulled in a deep breath through my nose and let it slowly slip out of my mouth before taking the hand she was offering me. She had a s**t eating grin on her face and I rolled my eyes at her. I dusted my tights off and turned to see her offering me a bottle of water. I drank heartily from it before pouring the rest over my neck and shoulders to cool my throbbing muscles. A mistake I’ll regret later considering I need to keep the muscles warm to avoid them cramping up. “You seem distracted today.” An observation, not an accusation. She’s treading lightly. I let out a soft sigh before squinting my eyes at the morning rays starting to peek over the trees around the clearing. She looked outlined by orange gold as the sun beamed up from behind her. I tossed the bottle back to her before taking my towel and drying the sweat and water from my neck and temple. “It’s their death anniversary today. I can’t believe it’s been seven years and I’m still stuck here as a novice.” I huffed and tossed the towel down next to the duffle bag on the ground. I saw the hurt flash in her eyes before it disappeared in the blink of an eye. She was still hurting as much as I was. She and my mother had been best friends since they were toddlers. I can’t imagine how much it must have hurt to lose someone so close to your heart. Oh, wait…I can. My frustration grew the more I thought about their death and how I’ve done nothing to avenge them or even to make them proud. “That’s about to change.” She said and kept her eyes on me with a passive face. My heart skipped a beat and I felt a tingle of excitement run through my veins. I looked straight at her then, trying to see if she was just messing with me or not. “Are you serious?” I asked and remembered to keep my tone serious. She would never let me go if she thought I had a hint of immaturity in me. Hunting was serious business and extremely dangerous. She narrowed her eyes at me and I let my face drop into boredom before she could catch on to my excitement. She must have missed the excitement because she nodded her head. “Pack up this s**t and let’s head back. You have some packing to do before we leave.” She finally said while motioning to our towels and bottles on the ground. I knew she would make me carry the damn bag back to the house. The hike back through the forest was my favourite part of training. It was a gruelling three-mile hike back to the house and I used to hate it before I started on cardio and endurance. Now my focus was drawn to the way the sun’s rays hit the green leaves and made the forest seem magical or the hurried scurrying of a white rabbit over the moss-covered ground. My eyes followed all these things, but my body focused on staying ready for an attack and keeping my breathing even. I don’t even think Cynthia looks at the forest with wonder anymore. Every shadow is a potential danger and every sound an enemy. Is this what I have to look forward to? Finding only danger in the beauty surrounding me? It's kind of poetic if you think about it. The demons and supernatural of this world are beautiful but deadly. A dewy spiderweb caught my attention when the sun caught it through the gaps in the leafy canopy. The black widow was washing her slender legs in a motion that made it look like she was playing with the drop. Cynthia kept up a daring pace and I started a light jog to keep up. I regret getting distracted when I saw her stern gaze glancing back at me. I gave her my most focussed face and kept pace all the way home. Our house was pretty modern and looked like it belonged on the cover of every home magazine. The floor to ceiling wall of windows blinded me as we approached. The sun reflecting against the spotless glass. I eyed the blue swimming pool with longing but continued into the house, turning towards the kitchen where I could hear Josh cooking lunch. The smell of cooking bacon wafted through the air and my stomach protested to my slow steps. I could faintly hear the radio chatter in the background. The weather forecaster kept hammering on the fact that there would be thundershowers in our area overnight and late into the morning. Josh looked over his shoulder when he heard me dump the bag next to my chair at the kitchen island. He gave me a mockingly stern look and I groaned before getting up and dragging the bag to our laundry room. I dumped the dirty towels into the washer and added a few other dirty clothes before starting a cycle. Josh was not one of the sternest parental figures, but I didn’t want to be on his bad side. He sure knew how to hold a grudge. I’ve heard him complaining about not being able to get revenge for his brother’s death about a million times. Hunters were not allowed to hunt demons for vengeance. That’s what got you killed. I’ve been putting on the show of my life to ensure that Josh and Cynthia didn’t suspect me of getting revenge for my parents. I needed to get out there and find the bastard that ended them. I plopped down at the kitchen island again and grimaced at the salad with bacon pieces that Josh was shoving my way. He’s been feeding me healthy foods since I moved in with him here. My stomach growled angrily and I pictured the sauciest cheeseburger that I could before grudgingly taking a bite of the salad. I kept fooling myself into more bites as Josh took a seat across from me and Cynthia sat to my left with her own salad. I caught Josh glancing at Cynthia and she subtly nodded her head at him. The small notion didn’t go unnoticed by me and butterflies erupted in my stomach. I’ve been waiting months for this. I kept my face neutral and ignorant while they communicated silently but I picked up on everything. “Kara, we need to have a conversation about your future as a Hunter.” Josh finally said and I flinched at the sudden noise. “Alright. Go ahead.” I said passively and prayed that he didn’t see the excitement in my eyes. “Cynthia and I have agreed to give you a trial with two other Hunters who have come of age. You’ll be hunting a lesser demon tonight in the forest near the mountain. You’ll need to work as a team to kill it and if one of you fails, you all die. We won’t be watching you and there will be no stepping in, so if you fail tonight, you’ll die.” He said in a tone more serious than I’ve ever heard from his lips. My brows furrowed in determination and I looked straight into his dark brown eyes, a mirror of my own. “I won’t let you down. I won’t be failing ever.” I said before getting up and clearing our plates. I saw the two of them nod to each other before Josh got up and left to go do some work in his office. He was one of the big shots in the Hunters’ council even closer to being the leader after my father passed away. My father was second in command to a man called Thomas. I’ve only met Thomas a handful of times, but he’s been a hardass each time and I didn’t have a soft spot in my heart for him. He is so set in the old ways and tradition that I’m sure he would kill his own son if he ever got marked by a demon. His son, Logan, on the other hand had the softest spot in my heart. We have been dating since before my parents died and they used to joke and tease that we would get married one day. Logan and Josh have been the only constants in my life since before the attack. One of the best things about dating Logan was that Josh didn’t mind him coming over at all. In fact he would sometimes invite Logan over for gaming and boys nights. Logan being a Hunter also helped to keep secrets out of our relationship. I told him everything. He was my walking journal at this point. He was my first everything and I wouldn’t change it for the world. “Is Logan coming over tonight?” Josh asked as he passed me in the hall probably on his way to the restroom. “I don’t know, you tell me.” I teased referring to their bromance. He chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. This was odd. He only did that when he was nervous or hiding something. Were they planning a surprise party or something for my first trial? That would explain the silence from Logan these passed few days. He probably found out from his dad that I was taking my first trial tonight. My heart swelled and I had to force the smile not to pull at the corners of my mouth. I didn’t want Josh to catch wind that I was on to them. “It’s your choice if you want him here for this or not.” He finally said and let out a breath like he thought his excuse was good enough. I was just a pro at reading people it would seem. A thought crossed my mind that had me giddy. I might make them work for this surprise. “No, I’ll probably be tired and disgusting after tonight’s trial. I’ll just call him tomorrow.” I said with a light innocent smile. He nodded his head in understanding. “That’s fine by me. I might loot his bunker tonight anyway.” He said with an evil smile on his face. I gave a small laugh and turned to head to my room for a shower. He was good. I couldn’t detect a lie when he said he was gaming solo tonight. Maybe they were planning a surprise for tomorrow then, after they confirmed that I succeeded in the trial or maybe my poker face was not as good as I thought.