Truth

Draven and the team are investigating a farm when the truth comes out. Who has been hiding secrets? Will things take a dark turn?

     Later that Saturday, all of the team gathered at the house to go to an investigation at an abandoned farm. Tyler and his friend Lana found this place. When he introduced her to us, I noticed there was something off about her. She looked very ashy, which she tried to mask with pale make-up. I could still see the ash tone under it. Her eyes were the color of a rainy day sky. I attributed this to her having those contacts that can change your eyes. She had hair that looked almost white. I couldn't be one to judge a person's looks considering the way most of our team looked. Ryan and I looked like guys from a nu metal band, and Sam looked like a steampunk princess most of the time. Emma and Tyler were the only normal looking people in our group. 

     I asked Tyler about his friend, he didn't tell me much about her. He said they had met a few weeks ago, she was very interested in the paranormal, and she loved life. Emma seemed to take an immediate liking to Lana. Ryan, on the other hand, was going out of his way to avoid Lana. When I asked him about his behavior, he claimed that he thought there was something strange about her. I told him I thought the same thing, but that we had to give her a chance at least. He said he would, but that he felt like he had seen her somewhere before. 

     When we arrived to investigate the farm, we hadn't expected it to be quite as large as it was. There was a two story, colonial style home with three out buildings. The out buildings were a barn, what looked like a chicken house, and either a pen for goats, sheep, or pigs. We broke off into two teams to cover more area. My team of Ryan, Emma, and myself would take the house first while Tyler, Sam, and Lana took the outside. I asked Emma what she thought of Lana. She said "I like her a lot. She seems mysterious." She did seem a bit mysterious since she didn't say much to anyone. 

     The inside of the house looked as though the last family lived there about fifteen years before, and had decided to just leave without taking anything with them. There was still old clothing in the closets, dressers with old clothing, beds, dishes, and old food in the cabinets. I didn't dare open the fridge for fear of the smell that may be inside. We went through the entire house conducting our usual investigation routine. Taking pictures in every room, asking questions, and feeling out the place. Finally Emma spoke up and said "I really haven't felt like there is much going on in the house. Let's go see if the others have had any luck." 

     We were just leaving the house when we heard the scream from the barn. Our instincts kicked in to run and check on who was screaming. When we got to the barn, I was the first one in and could see what was going on. I was stopped in my tracks by what I was seeing. Sam was hanging, by her bound hands, from a hook directly over a pentagram that was drawn on the floor of the barn. Neither Tyler or Lana was any where to be seen. Sam was screaming to be let down. I went running to get her down while yelling for her to hang on. I was just about to start turning the handle to lower Sam back down when I heard loud rushing foot steps coming toward me. Before I could turn around or react, my world went dark.

     As my eyes began to flutter their way open, the first thing I noticed was the sharp pain in the back of my head. I tried to raise my hand to rub my aching head, but discovered they were bound behind my back. Coming to that realization caused me to become fully aware of my surroundings. I was laying on the ground, with my hands bound behind me. In front of me was Ryan, still unconscious, with his hands bound behind him. Sam was now off the hook and sitting to my right with her head down, crying, hands bound behind her. Emma was sitting in the middle of the pentagram with her hands bound to her feet in front of her. I asked Sam what was going on, she said "We were investigating the barn, I saw this drawn on the floor under the hay. The next thing I knew, I was waking up hanging from the hook." "How did you get down?" I asked. Before she could answer Tyler walked out, dressed in a red hooded robe, followed by Lana. 

     He looked up at me and said "That would be me that let her down." I was so confused at this point. I was thinking that this was some kind of joke or trick every one was playing. I asked Tyler what he was doing, and he told me to ask Ryan. Then proceeded to kick the crap out of Ryan until he can too. Ryan looked up at Tyler half dazed, then he looked around and saw that Emma was in the middle. Tyler looked at Ryan and said "I know I told you that if you said anything to anyone about what you saw in the cemetery that night, that I would gut your little girlfriend like a pig. But now is the time to tell your friends what the big secret has been." Ryan just stared at Tyler with such hate in his eyes. Tyler then kicked Ryan hard in the stomach and yelled "I SAID TELL THEM!!" Ryan then began with what had been going on. 

     From the beginning Tyler had joined our group under false pretenses. He over heard us talking and thought what a good cover a paranormal group would be for a witch. Then the night in the hospital when the banshee had appeared to us, that was Tyler's doing. Tyler had called her forward, then when Ryan tried to banish her back it failed and she followed us home. It was her I'd heard that week doing all the whispering in the house. Then in the cemetery, Ryan wondered upon Tyler performing a ceremony to call forth spirits from the grave. Ryan had discovered that Tyler was a witch and threatened to tell us. Tyler told him if he did, then Emma would be killed. So Ryan kept the secret. Then the night in the house, Tyler had planted the items inside of Ryan's night stand. 

Tyler then concluded "And now Lana is back again. She is the spirit from the hospital. She needs a blood sacrifice in order to stay human permanently." Then before anyone could react, he removed his knife from his pocket, quickly walked over to Emma, and plunged the knife deep into her chest. Ryan only had time to scream "NOO!!" Emma took just a couple of deep, gurgled breaths, and went limp. 

To be continued in Consequences, the final installment of The Hunter.

  

 

     

Author's Note

The final installment of The Hunter entitled "Consequences" will be out soon.

Reviews

[Poopewpachoo]

Okay, so first off, I apologize for not keeping in contact for a few weeks now. This month has been hectic on my end and, to top it off, this will be the fourth week in a row that I've been sick (going to urgent care tomorrow since it might be bronchitis or pneumonia... it's getting worse). Anyway, I promise that I'll get to all of your chapters/stories little by little. I don't want to overwhelm myself with everyone's read requests, either. But I WILL get to everyone's writing eventually, including yours.

Well, back to this chapter.
I love how Draven is in serious denial in the first paragraph about the 'new girl,' Lana. He keeps pointing out all of these oddities about her appearance, but he's just like "....but I don't judge." It made me chuckle. I'm the same way in real life. I point out weird things about people/things, but then I end it with, "...but I'm not one to judge, so..."

This sentence: "kick the crap out of Ryan until he can too"
I believe it should be "came to."

OMG my favorite character turned out to be kind of a badass, huh?
"I know I told you that if you said anything to anyone about what you saw in the cemetery that night, that I would gut your little girlfriend like a pig" --> That made me smile. I like the psychopatic/sociopathic characters. Some of my all-time favorite characters in anything are actually psychopaths. So, I really like this turn of events.
However, as much as I love how this is turning out, I feel like the last few paragraphs of this chapter were a bit rushed. It would have been nice if you could have re-visited those scenes from the past chapters, but written it from Ryan's or Tyler's point of view to show us the truth behind everything.
I'm looking forward to the last chapter, though! (I can't believe it's almost done)

Anyway, as always Jenny, wonderful job with this chapter! I can't wait to read the rest.

[Jenny Leigh]

Thank you. For some reason I got the other review first..lol. I will check the first thing you pointed out. Sorry about your sickness. I too was sick a couple of weeks ago. I had walking pneumonia. I am working on both Leland McVeigh and a new story called Sideshow.