The Hunters

 

 

There were two men and a woman in the group that had appeared in my room. The man in front, the apparent leader, was sturdy-looking, muscles lining his tall frame. He might have been intimidating, if not for the pleasant, gentle look in his strange gold eyes. His hair was shaggy and brown, his skin tanned and freckled. He wore a form-fitting shirt and his pants had been tucked neatly into his boots, but the most distracting part of him was his belt. On it were an array of pouches in all sizes, and a silver gun was holstered to his hip.

Then I noticed the device on his left arm. It covered his entire forearm, a small blue screen implanted in the silver surface, along with a small keypad and a red button. It seemed familiar, though I couldn’t imagine where I’d seen it before.

The man to his left was tall and slim, his hair short and a shade of silver that seemed to reflect light like a mirror. His wide eyes were a deep purple, glancing curiously around my room from behind round, rimless glasses. He wore a long, maroon robe, the ends pooling around his feet and the sleeves slightly too long for his arms, intricate silver designs sewn into it. He held a smooth white staff that was almost a foot taller than he was, a large jagged stone rested at the top, slowly changing colors.

The woman seemed to be the only one of the three ready to fight, her hand rested on one of the two swords belted to her hip. She wore tight, simple clothes, either black or dark blue. A black cloak hung around her, hiding most of her slim frame from view. She was the shortest of the three, just barely passing the first man’s shoulder, though she was close to my own height. Her hair was a dark shade of blue, tied into a tight braid down her back, her bright emerald eyes observing Tyler and I with weary interest.

For several silent moments, the five of us studied each other. Gradually the woman relaxed, and Tyler and I were the only two left waiting for some kind of fight.

Then, the leader noticed the book on my bed. “Ah, there it is,” he said, pleased, and moved forward to take it.

Tyler slammed the book shut. I grabbed it, hugging it tightly to my chest.

The woman drew her sword an inch or so from its’ sheathe, and Tyler moved closer to me. I could feel his hand trembling around mine, but couldn’t really register it in my mind. My thoughts were distracted by images of that wicked-looking blade running through Tyler and I like a hot knife through butter-

“Noah,” the leader said suddenly, looking back at his companion. “Calm down, you’re scaring them.”

The woman, Noah, glared at him before reluctantly sheathing her sword.

“Who are you?” Tyler demanded, staying close to me protectively.

The man smiled apologetically at us. “Excuse our intrusion. My name is Alec. My friends are Noah,” he gestured to the woman, “and Mi’taltharin.” He indicated the silver-haired man, who smiled kindly.

“You aren’t demons, are you?” I couldn’t help asking. They didn’t look anything like Damaen, but I didn’t know if all demons looked like him, or if there were different kinds. The thought made me shudder.

Noah raised an eyebrow at me, and Alec smiled. “No, we aren’t,” he assured me.

“Then how did you appear like that?” Tyler asked.

“Technology is a magical thing,” Noah said dryly. “Alec, we don’t have time for this. Let’s just get the book and go.”

“You can’t,” I said quickly, clutching the book tightly. “We need it.”

The tall man with the long name that I couldn’t remember tipped his head slightly to one side. “You can read it?” he asked, surprised.

I faltered. “Well, no-”

“Than what could you possibly need it for?” Noah asked.

Tyler and I exchanged a glance. “A demon named Damaen came out of it and kidnapped our sister, and we need to find her,” I said.

Oddly, none of them seemed very surprised. At least, not as surprised as I had expected. Then again, I was still waiting to wake up in a straight jacket in a hospital somewhere…

“Damaen?” Alec repeated, frowning. “Are you sure? What exactly happened?”

I hesitated, then proceeded to tell them everything that had happened, starting with entering the basement and ending with suddenly being in the coffee shop. Tyler reminded me of a few details occasionally, and added that he’d been doing homework when he ’woke up’, as he put it, but for the most part he remained silent.

After I finished explaining, the room was silent. Both Alec and the silver-haired man seemed thoughtful, while Noah fidgeted.

“Alec,” she began slowly, apparently trying to control her tone. “If the next words you say are the words I think you’re going to say, I swear to every known god and demon of my homeland that I will tear out your throat and feed it to you.”

Alec glanced at her and smiled. “It doesn’t count if your threats don’t make sense,” he replied childishly, before turning his back on her withering glare and smiling at Tyler and I. “We’ll help you find your sister.”

“You will?” I asked, surprised. “Why? How?”

“Yes, we will,” Alec replied. “Why? Because it’s our job.”

“And because Alec is too nice for his own good,” Noah put in, arms crossed over her chest.

“Well, thank you, Noah,” Alec said cheekily. “And how? By traveling from world to world until we find her.”

I wasn’t sure which of the millions of questions in my head should be asked first. What did it all mean? Their job? Traveling? Worlds? It didn’t make sense.

“What?” was all I could manage.

“You see, we’re Hunters,” the tall man explained. “It’s our job to travel between worlds, find what doesn’t belong, and return it to its’ proper place.”

“What does that mean, ‘between worlds’?” Tyler asked.

“Parallel universes. Alternate realities, I suppose,” Alec said. “If reality changed when your sister was kidnapped, then it means she was taken to a different world. So she isn’t where she’s supposed to be. Therefore, Noah, it’s our job to find and return her.”

“Why am I singled out?” Noah asked irritably. “I know what our job is.”

“You don’t have any protests, then?” Alec asked with an innocent smile.

She glared at him. “As if I would protest against finding a kidnapped kid.”

“Good.” Alec turned back to Tyler and I. “We’ll return with your sister as soon as we can.”

“What?” I quickly got to my feet, and Tyler stood with me. “No, you’ve got to take us with you.”

“No,” Noah said without hesitation. “No, this I’m protesting against. They’re kids, we can’t bring them with us.”

“I’m not a kid,” Tyler argued indignantly.

“They’re not much younger than you were when we met you,” the bespeckled man pointed out to his companion.

She shot him an icy glare. “Quiet, Mi’ta.”

“Besides,” Tyler put in. “Lily doesn’t know you, she won’t trust you.”

“And you don’t know what she looks like,” I added. “Please, bring us with you. We’ll go insane in this reality.”

‘If we aren’t already.'

Alec hesitated, before slowly nodded. “All right,” he said. “Pack anything you need to bring with you, but only necessities.”

I couldn’t help feeling a rush of relief and hope as Tyler and I hurried to pack. I stuffed clothes into a backpack, along with a hairbrush and a toothbrush. As I was digging through my dresser for a jacket, however, I paused when I found the tacky belt Aunt Chloe had bought for me.

I stared at it for a moment, startled. How did it get here? Did the me of this reality find it oddly attractive and decide to buy it, too? Weird.

Regardless, I strapped the belt around my waist, running my fingers over the gems. As Tyler returned from packing in his room, I tucked Damaen’s book into my bag before turning back to our new companions. “We’re ready.”

Mi’talthsomethingorother looked up from my bookshelf, where he’d been observing the titles of my meager collection of books. “Here, I’ve got an easier way to carry those,” he said, taking our bags. Holding the bags in both hands, his staff propped against his shoulder, he mumbled words that I didn’t understand, and after a few seconds the bags disappeared.

“How the hell did you do that?” Tyler exclaimed. I could only stare, awestricken.

The man smiled and shrugged. “Magic,” he replied, and I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

“Now that we’re all ready,” Alec said with a smile. “Please stay close to us while crossing time and space. You can hang on to one of us, if it makes you more comfortable.”

I hesitated, grabbing Tyler’s hand. Feeling like a child, I carefully took hold of one wide sleeve of the magic mans’ robe.

He simply smiled and didn’t say anything.

“Wait,” Tyler said suddenly, frowning. “What about our parents? Shouldn’t we… I don’t know, leave a note?”

Alec shook his head. “When we leave, it will be as though the two of you never existed. When we return, it will be like you never left. Nothing to worry about.”

Yeah. That’s what Damaen had said.

Without another word, Alec tapped a few of the keys on his device, then pressed the red button. A bright light flashed, and my bedroom disappeared, leaving us floating in an abyss of light. Gripping Tyler’s hand and our new companion’s sleeve tightly, I had to wonder what kind of nightmare we were getting ourselves into.

Author's Note

Okay, so I tried to fix the italics at the end, but for some reason it won't let me. Sorry about that =/

Reviews

[Kristopher]

Another wonderful chapter! Near the end, the font got italicized, though.