Crushes

The WC is the only place you can read the first 6 chapters of A Hunters Evolution.

Chapter 4

Crushes

Back inside, Samantha closed the door behind her as a mischievous smile came to life. “Now boys it’s time for show and tell! Take a seat.”

Sam settled himself on the side of the bed as Mick stood ridged.

Sliding the green bag out from under the bed, she yanked at the strings and began opening it.

Great, now what’s she up to?  Taking a closer look, Mick thought it looked familiar. “Hey, is that my bag?” 

She pulled out her collapsed crossbow wrapped with a pair of jeans. “Sorry Mick. I needed something to keep old Bertha in.”

“I wondered where it disappeared to.”

Sam took the old worn wooden crossbow out of her hands and gave it a good once over. “I can’t believe you are still carrying it.”

“That’s my BFF. As long as she doesn’t let me down…I will keep her close to my heart.”

Laying the crossbow down beside him, he dramatically clutched at his heart. “Oh…Sammie that hurt. I thought I was your BFF.”

An eyebrow hitched as she looked thoughtfully up to the ceiling while tapping her chin. “Well you are just about as deadly as Bertha,” and grinned wickedly back at him.

Mick cut in. “It’s your aim that’s deadly. Now are you two done with playtime?”

 

A Hunter’s child started training at an early age. Almost every Hunter developed some kind of specialty skill. Samantha’s killer talent graced the bow and arrow, but her aim is just as deadly behind a gun to throwing a knife. Yet, the brothers worried she didn’t have the strength and critical skills to take down Rayzon alone.

As for Mick, he could keep his cool under pressure. Sam and Samantha gave him plenty of practice. He developed a special talent with military ops at a young age. It was second nature for him to control the surrounding environment and protect the people around him.

A hacker geek of today’s world summed up Sam. He had the knack for the tech side and thinking outside the box of concepts. His different ways of thinking helps him to predict outcomes hard to foresee. Everyone that truly knew the Simon brothers thought of them as an unstoppable force.

 

She rolled her eyes. “Could I please have a drum roll?”

Mick patience’s dwindled, “Sammie.”

“Ok! Ok, jeez you need to lighten up Mick.” She relieved something out of her bag about three feet long and wrapped in two more jeans and a plaid shirt. “I can’t find the right name for her yet.” It was her belief that every important object in life had a name and a reason and kept her mind open to find it.

Sitting cross legged on the cool speckled black and grey linoleum floor, she carefully laid the curious item on her lap. Starting at the bottom of the item, she unwrapped the jeans.

A reddish-brown glossy wooden handle emerged with a silver capped end. It donned all kinds of different writing, runes and hieroglyphs.

The soft plaid shirt, covering the items bulky end, slipped away exposing a shiny square metal wedge. A three triangle pattern on the wedge glistened in the light from the window and playfully bounced its rays around the room.

It was Sam’s turn to arch the eyebrow. “An axe?”

Mick folded his arms. “Are you planning to go all Johnny on us?”

Samantha shrieked. “That’s it!”

The brothers about jumped out of their skins as Mick hollered. “What the hell Sammie!”

She toned down her excitement of discovery. “Sorry guys…it’s not a girl, it’s a guy! That’s why I couldn’t figure out the name.” The axe rose up like an offering between the brothers as her introduction was graced with a Nicholson flare. “Here’s Johnny!”

As Mick took the axe out of her hands, Sam stepped up for a closer look. He closely inspected the markings up and down the handle. “What’s all over the handle? Is that Inca?” 

“Why yes it is. Sharp eye there Sam.” She jumped up vibrating with excitement and started pointing. “I also have a little Sumerian, Greek, Akkadian, Egyptian, Celtic, Viking, Native American and many more. The wood has been soaked in holy water and Johnny’s been blessed too.” Samantha beamed like a proud parent. She tapped the metal wedge with her nicely painted pink fingernail. “Take a look at the metal.” They studied it closer. “The center triangle is silver surrounded by two steal triangles protecting the softer silver metal. With the enchantments, spells and blessings plus a decapitation…Nothing survives a meeting with Johnny.”

They both stared at Samantha wondering who they were actually looking at.

“Quit it you two!” She started fidgeting and shoved her hands in her back jean pockets. “I told you I’ve talked to a few people.”

Mick squinted his stare at her. “You have been busy.”

Sam snatched the axe out of Mick’s hands and started scanning and flipping it around. “Good pre-portion…nice weight. I bet that silver was a pretty penny or two.” He hesitated on the silver bottom cap. “What is this…a trinity knot?”

Grinning mischievously again, she basked in the show-and-tell. “This is my personal addition. This symbol represent us…The three of us are constant…Our paths will always cross with each other…” With dramatic flair she batted her eyelashes at Mick and added, “Forever.”

Sam chuckled under his breath and it was Mick’s turn to roll his eyes. “Jesus Sammie, you can drop the dramatics. You’ve been off my path for way to long. I’m still pissed at you. Maybe I should shove you back off of it. What’s the deal with the pink girly nail polish anyway?  I suppose your toenails are painted too.”

She kicked off a boot and picked up her foot so Mick could get a good look at the matching manicured toenails. “Why yes Mick they are and don’t they look lovely.” Her toes did a little wiggle dance. “If you haven’t noticed I am a girl and some girls do like pretty nails.”

Hell Yes I’ve noticed! Sam screamed in his head but he wouldn’t dare verbally release it. He had carried deeper feelings for her just as long as Samantha has had for Mick.  Sam really wanted to kick Mick’s butt for being so damn blind and being the object of her desire. If it was him, he would snatch her up and never let go but he wasn’t about to cross the line and mess up what they’ve always had.

She slid her foot back in the boot and looked over at the window. Night was closing in and she knew the fight was too. “I’ve got to take a shower and rejuvenate these muscles for the big dance tonight.” She grabbed her half empty bag.

The Sammie they knew gave way to dark and serious. “It ends tonight…I can feel it coming.”

She was doing it again, freaking them both out. Mick moved in closer. “Really, what do you feel?”

In search to find the right words, her mind became tongue-tied. “It’s hard to describe…It’s like a ‘you-just-know’ feeling with a little pull.”

Mick could see in her eyes the darkness trying to engulf her as she drifted off in thought.

Sam jumped in with hopes to change the mood. “You might want to wait until after grub time for the shower. Food goes quick around here.”

She snapped back into reality. “I prefer to fight with an empty stomach. You can’t get queasy if there’s nothing there…Like I even get queasy,” followed by a snicker. “You go on. I still need to find a room around here.  Maybe I can be a roomy with Alice.”

Oh hell no! Mick not missing a beat, “I don’t think so! You will be right here with us. We will be keeping a close eye on you.”

“Why Mick, I didn’t realize you cared that much.” She grinned like the Cheshire cat. “That just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside…just like a cute little bunny.”

Bunny my a*s! Mick rolled his eyes again. “Jesus Sammie.  You have fifteen minutes,” He said and pushed her out the door.

Still playing, Samantha spun back around and tilted her head while twirling her hair with the free hand. “But I need to condition my hair too.” Mick squinted his eyes and just stared.

Flipping the bag over her shoulder, she pivoted around to start down the hall to the women’s community bathroom. She was immensely happy with herself for annoying the crap out of Mick again. Just like old times!

He watched her move down the hallway with a new kind of grace then turned to vent his frustrations to Sam. “Why does she always have to be so…” fishing for the right word, “…difficult?”

Now it was Sam’s turn to be annoyed. Folding his arms across his chest he just stared at Mick.

“What?!” Mick asked.

It was an open invitation for Sam to take full advantage of this time. “You have no idea do you?” Idiot! “She’s been burning a torch for you since… I don’t know… since forever! For being such a Playboy, I can’t believe you’ve been so damn blind you don’t see it!” 

Taken back, all Mick could muster was, “No Way!”

“Yes way! You remember the time she was sixteen and she ‘accidentally’ shot you in the a*s with the arrow?  That should have been a dead give-a-way. Her aim has been dead on since she was fourteen!”  Wow that felt great! I should have done that a lot sooner.

Mick sank down in the chair and mentally pulled an album out in his mind and started flipping through the memories. How could I have missed this?

Sam pressed on. “I think Jolene told her, you shouldn’t hurt the people you like. Which is a good thing because she might have run your a*s over with a car the next time she was dying to get your attention.”

“God, I’m dense.”

Sam jumped all over that. “Yes you are.”

He glanced up at Sam hovering over him. “Is that why I’m picking up this strange vibe from her?”

Sam didn’t know how much he should be divulging. She trusted me with her secret. This really isn’t my place to be telling him. She should be the one. Pulling around the second chair, Sam eased into it. “No, that’s something else…back from the caves.”

Mick dove in. “She wouldn’t talk to me. She had shut down and totally shut me out back then.” Damn it he knows something and is keeping it from me. “Has she finally started talking? She always confided in you.” Mick sat forward in his chair and became a bit impatient again, “Well?”

“Well yes…and it’s really something she should be the one to tell you.” Mick kept staring at him. Sam knew that wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy him. Maybe I can give him a hint. Carefully, he picked out the words. “Ok, let’s just say…a woman would give a man an ok or some kind of…permission…before this activity would happen.” Sam could see the wheels whirling in Mick’s head trying to process the information. Sitting back, he folded his arms and waited.

He could tell Mick was up to speed.  A heated red crawled up Mick’s neck until finally reaching his face, turning it beet red. Out of the chair he flew with a string of profanities that would shock a sailor and ended with, “I’m going to kill that son-of-a-b***h with my bare hands!”

Sam was done sitting in the chair watching the Tasmanian Devil spin out of control in the room. Unfolding his arms and rising out of the chair, he stepped in front of Mick. Both hands clamped down hard on top of Mick’s shoulders. Along with the hard shoulder clamp came the hard eye contact. He kept his voice low and relaxed. “You need to calm down. Hot heads lose battles…Besides, it will be Sammie’s kill not yours. She will be pissed if you took his head.” Feeling the tension melt in Mick’s shoulders, Sam let go. “This could be the closure she needs.”

Mick rubbed at the lingering pain in his shoulder. “You think so?” 

Picking up the axe, Sam slowly rolled the wooden handle in his hands while dealing with his personal internal demon. It kept telling him he failed, failed to protect Sammie, then his own father. “It would be a great closure for me, for what had been done to Dad.”

Mick thought shortly about it. Whatever Sammie wants, I’m going to make sure she gets it. “I agree. Let’s be sure that she gets it.” He opened the door and waited on Sam. “She needed us…and we let her down.”

Sam tucked the axe underneath his bed and meet Mick’s troubled gaze with his own haunted grief at the door. “I know…I don’t plan on doing that ever again.” Sam closed the door behind them.