CHAPTER ONE
A Dream and a Job"Stop the car!" and before Raven could even begin to apply pressure to the brakes Adam had flung open the door and launched himself into the cool night air. He tumbled a few times, scraping himself badly on the bitumen and came up running. Behind him he could hear the van screeching to a halt but it was background noise, if he didn't hurry the girl was dead. He pelted across the road and cleared the low wire fence, using one hand to help him vault over it onto the soft, springy grass of this well kept field. Obviously it was some sort of sports field, he could see goal posts of some kind off to his left. Judging by the neighborhood they'd been passing through he guessed it probably connected to a school or something similar. While part of his brain processed this, his right hand reached down to pull a knife from a sheath at the back of his waist. The rest of his mind concentrated on what lay ahead of him. The bright light of the nearly full moon that hung low in the sky clearly illuminated the field. Adam could see the girl, she had almost made it to the far side of the field where some tables and chairs made what looked like a lunch area and she was still unaware of the two huge shapes lumbering behind her. As fast as Adam was going he would not reach her before they did, the two Loops were catching up faster than he was. It was only luck that he'd been looking out the car window at the right time to see the werewolves stalking the girl and now he offered up a little prayer to anyone who would listen that luck was still with him.
"Hey!" he called, as loudly as he could. "Look out."
The girl turned to look and her face seemed to sag as her brain tried to deal with the two huge monsters that were coming right for her.
"RUN! Run, you idiot!" Adam screamed, pushing himself harder. He wondered how far behind him Ebony and Raven were.
Insulting her seemed to work, the girl broke out of her paralysis and with a yelp of fear she turned and ran. Behind her she could hear the pounding on the earth as the two beasts broke into a run too. Her legs pumped and adrenaline coursed through her veins. The only thing that kept her from hysteria was that voice. There was someone else out there, they knew she was in trouble and they would help her.
The things were almost on top of her, she could hear their heavy footfalls and now their breathing too. She turned her head and looked back over her left shoulder. Later, when she had time to think, she would consider it the stupidest thing she'd ever done but it also saved her life. Perhaps there was something to that old adage "The Gods love a fool".
One of the beasts had pulled ahead of the other and now, as she looked, it leaped high and straight at her. She could see fangs glittering as it snarled and long, wickedly sharp claws on its hands. She had time to think 'Hands, it has hands!' before her knee hit one of the benches in the lunch area.
A loud, ringing CRACK sounded and pain shot up her leg. She'd been running so fast that her momentum pitched her forward and she flipped forward over the bench and landed hard on her back on the ground. All the wind was driven out of her.
Adam watched the claws of the Loop pass through the air where the girls head had been a moment before and smiled. Looks like the luck was still with them. The Loops jump carried it over the girl and it crashed into a wooden table beyond her. Both werewolf and table rolled off away from the girl. Adam had more pressing matters. As the first Loop had leaped into the air, the second had turned to deal with him.
It planted itself on two legs, stretching its arms out to grab Adam as he approached but Adam did not slow down, instead he waited until the last second and then threw himself at it's feet, rolling underneath groping hands and the jaws as they snapped at him and knocking its legs out from under it. As it fell it managed to reach out and grab Adam by his leg. It's talons cut through his jeans and punctured his flesh. Searing pain ran through his body. He plunged his knife downward, burying it in the creatures arm. For a moment it continued its attack and then something seemed to penetrate its animalistic brain. It let go of Adam and collapsed completely. It writhed in pain, spasms wracking its body and a long howl came from deep within. Impossible muscles seemed to ripple beneath its furred skin and it seemed to be trying to slough it’s skin. If you listened carefully the howl was nearly a human sound. You could swear there were almost words in that howl "It burns, it burns!"
“Don’t you like the silver plating, puppy?” Adam laughed as he rolled away and stood up. It was only his willpower and the lust for a good fight that kept him upright, he was loosing a lot of blood. He looked around, the girl still lay on the ground where she’d fell, gasping for breath. The other Loop was trying to disentangle itself from the table it had crashed into.
Adam had no weapon left but that didn’t matter. His blood lust was high, blood and adrenaline pumping through him. He took several slow steps towards the Loop, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He noticed the girl scrambling backwards across the ground, her eyes darting from the Loop to Adam and back again. Finally the werewolf seemed to figure out it’s problems and it heaved the table up and away from it, straight at Adam. He flung himself to the side, avoiding the object as it sailed past and crashed behind him, near the first Loop who was still howling.
Adam clenched his hands into fists, he was ready to throw himself at the thing as soon as it moved from where it stood looking at him. Fighting it with no weapon was stupid, but Adam’s brain wasn’t thinking right now, it had shut down and only the red glow of his anger controlled him. The Loop crouched, ready to spring.
BANG! A shot rang out through the chilly night air. Adam watched as half of the wolves head seemed to explode sideways, leaving nothing but a huge gaping hole. Off to his left Adam saw Raven lower his rifle and the rage receded. Behind him the howl of the first Loop was cut short, Ebony had finished the job Adam had started. Adam looked at the girl, still huddled on the ground. Fear was still in her eyes as she looked directly into Adam’s face.
‘She’s kind of pretty, in a plain kinda way’ part of his brain said while another thought ‘She’s afraid of me. What am I that she just survived a Loop attack and I am the thing she’s afraid of.’
Then Adam’s body seemed to realise how much of a battering he’d taken, from tumbling from the car to the wound he’d taken from the Loop. He slumped forward, going to his knees, barely keeping himself from falling face first to the ground. He could feel his strength leaving his body but before he could fall completely the girl was there, despite her fear. Her arm was around his shoulders, her other hand putting pressure on the cut on his leg.
“Stay with me here, man” she said, taking as much of his weight as she could, lowering him onto his back.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Kim awoke slowly. She’d been dreaming of the night that Adam and the others had saved her. She could remember sweating, despite the cold night and now she was drenched in sweat again. It wasn’t the first time she’d dreamt about that night and it wouldn’t be the last either, she knew. The air in her room was humid and oppressive. The hotel had air conditioning but she’d turned it off during the night. The old, brown, digital alarm clock by the bed told her it was almost 9am, but the heat was already intense. She’d been born here and still sometimes she couldn’t believe the heat of an Australian summer, especially here in the north of the country.During the night she’d obviously kicked the old, cotton sheets off, they lay in a pile at the foot of the bed. She sat up, hair sticking to her face and her black singlet clinging to her body. Ebony’s bed was empty, Kim was pretty sure she had an appointment this morning. Normally when they stayed at a hotel Ebony and Raven shared a room and Kim and Adam had their own room each, but since the night with that Fang, Adam had needed help so the boys had been sharing and the girls had shared another twin room. Kim stood up and, after turning on the kettle to make sure it’d be ready when she came back out, she stepped into the bathroom.
She pulled off her shirt and stood for a moment in front of the mirror, in nothing but her knickers. She looked over her body. She had really become so much more trim and toned since she’d joined the Hunt.
“Slim down and tone up for summer with the Hunters workout,” she said in her best infomercial voice “Just a few hours a weeks running for your life and fighting supernatural beings and you too could have a body like this.”
She giggled as she turned away from the mirror and turned on the shower head. She finished undressing as the water heated up a little. Normally she’d like a hot shower but this weather meant she would settle for lukewarm.
Thirty minutes later, dressed and a fresh coffee in her hand, she stepped through the glass sliding doors onto the balcony their room shared with Adam and Raven’s. Adam was sitting at the small table, his plastered left leg propped up on an extra chair and his left arm, also wrapped in plaster, rested on the table. In his right hand he held a book he was reading. He looked up when she sat on the other side of the table and rested the book on the table, open pages down to keep his place.
“Morning,” he said “Raven took Eb to her thingy. He was going to do some shopping but they should be back before lunch if you need the van for anything.”
“One of these days we really need to get a second car between the four of us,” Kim smiled and sipped her coffee. She looked at Adam to see if he’d respond.
“We had a second car a while back,” Adam said without looking at her and a smile played across his lips briefly. “Ebony drove it off a cliff while we were Hunting down south somewhere.”
Kim snorted and quickly covered her mouth with her hands. He looked over and smiled widely. This wasn’t the first time they’d had a conversation with just the two of them but the shared laughter seemed to make it the most relaxed exchange Kim could remember them having. She wanted to keep the conversation going and she looked around, trying to come up with something to talk about.
As far as she could see from this balcony heat rose from tin rooves, making the sky shimmer. To her left the sun was climbing in the sky. She knew if their rooms were on the other side of the building she would see some rooves but then, after a few streets, they’d give way to the shimmering of the sea.
“It’s so hot up here,” she sighed, “I get we needed a break to heal but this far north at this time of year? It’s like I’m melting.”
Adam had been reaching for his book but he stopped now and glanced out at the rooftops. “I was born in a place like this. Actually it’s only a few hours drive along the coast, closer to Darwin” Kim held her breath, this was the first time she’d heard Adam talk about his past before he was placed in foster care. “The heat can be a killer. One of the few things I remember about my mum was her telling me about how her father had died from heat stroke, working in some factory.”
Adam stared into space for a moment and then seemed to come to himself and realise what he’d just been saying. He snatched up his book again and held it up so Kim was blocked from his view. Kim took a sip of her coffee. She knew that whatever chance she’d had to talk to him properly was gone but she couldn’t help trying. She groped for something to say.
“When did the doc say the casts come off?” she asked, feeling like an awkward kid again ‘I’m 28’ she thought ‘And this is what he does to me? Either I care for him too much or I’m an idiot, maybe both’.
“Monday,” Adam grunted and, snatching up his book, stood up balancing on a cane he pulled from behind his seat. “I’m going to go have a lie down.” He turned he back on her and started limping towards the room he shared with Raven. He had taken only two or three steps when he stopped and turned his head. Kim started to rise, thinking he may need help and then she heard the crunch of gravel and she turned her head to where Adam was looking. The van had pulled into the parking lot. Through the tinted glass windscreen she could see the shapes of Ebony and Raven. Adam turned back to the table, put his book back down and slid back into the seat he’d just vacated.
Several minutes later Raven and Ebony had brought in the small amount of shopping they’d done, Kim had made new coffee for everyone and they all joined Adam at the table on the balcony. It was just big enough to fit them all, even if it wasn’t quite comfortably.
“So, Ads, you get your plasters off Monday, right?” Ebony paused briefly to wait for Adam’s nod before continuing. “Good, we leave Wednesday, I got us a job over in Queensland. If we get it done within a few weeks we’ll be done in time for Christmas. Raven’s family have invited us to America, I always wanted a white Christmas. Plus the jobs over there are more frequent.”
“What’s the Hunt?” Kim asked. She too would have loved to see a white Christmas. Despite the group travelling extensively, aside from Raven they’d all been born and bred here in Australia where Christmas time meant thunder storms and heatwaves and wearing swimmers all day.
“Some Loops,” Ebony said, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket and reading some details from it. “Maybe 4 of them, apparently living in the woods near a town. Rich guy wants us to take them down and will pay a handsome bonus if we get him the pelts. It’s a good job”
Raven nodded and sat back in his chair. “Sounds like a good deal for everyone.” he agreed “I’ll go through our supplies tonight and see if there’s anything we need to buy before we head out.”
Kim glanced over at Adam, who was oddly silent, usually during a talk like this he was asking all sorts of questions. Now he just sat back, staring at Ebony as if waiting for something.
“Huh?” Kim snapped out her reverie. “What was that?”
“If you were paying attention you’d have heard,” snapped Raven. “But so we’re ll on the same page, I was asking where we were heading.”
“Oh, the town?” Ebony asked and Kim saw her eyes flick towards Adam for a brief moment before she continued. “It’s a little tourist town on the coast. It’s called Maritime.”
“You stupid cunt!” Adam growled and shot up from the table. he’d obviously forgotten the cast on his leg and he stumbled backwards. If the wall hadn’t been behind him he would have fallen on his ass. His good hand shot out and grabbed at his cane as it started to fall. He only just managed to snag it.
“You’ve got no right-” Raven snarled, also standing up, his whole body tensing, ready for a fight.
“Chris,” Kim blinked as Ebony used Raven’s real name, no one in the group or even his own family used it except in formal circumstances. “He’s got every right and you know it.” Ebony had stayed sitting calmly at the table. Both her hands were grasped tightly around her coffee and she stared down into it intently.
“Adam, sit down-” Ebony’s voice was almost pleading.
“No,” Adam’s voice was low and cold “I’m out. I’ve followed you for close to fifteen years but no more. Take your fucking Hunt and bang it!”
Adam spun, almost unbalancing again, and hobbled quickly into his room, the door slamming shut behind him.
“Adam!” Kim started to rise but Ebony’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, nearly too tight to be comfortable.
“I’ll go,” Ebony said, slowly standing “He and I need to talk.”
When Kim looked like she was about to protest Ebony shot her a hard look and Kim shut up straight away. Ebony let go of Kim and followed Adam into his room. A moment later a smashing noise made Kim and Raven flinch. They stood for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief as the murmur of low voices came through the wall.
“What the heck was that about?” Kim asked Raven. Raven sat back down beside Kim and sighed.
“Joey, what else?”
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Ebony looked at the shattered glass beside her, some of it sticking to the wall.
“Well, now that’s out of the way are you ready to talk?” she asked Adam.
Adam looked up from where he sat on the bed, stuffing clothes into a duffel bag. He glared at her and then went back to packing. Ebony took another step into the room and glass crunched under her feet.
“I’m serious, Eb. I’m done, get out and don’t expect to see me again,”
“Ads-”
“No!” he spat at her “How many more people have to die for your bullshit vendetta? I won’t sacrifice my life for a woman I never met and I will never lose someone again like I lost him.”
“This isn’t-” Ebony tried to speak again but again Adam interupted her.
“Don’t you dare!” He stood and strode over to her in two short steps. Ebony wasn’t a small girl, in any sense of the word, but Adam towered over her. “Don’t you dare say it isn’t about your mother! Ethan Clarke may have killed her but it wasn’t him or even his minions that killed Joey, it was us!”
“Oh, Adam, no,” Ebony whispered. She watched his face crumple and reached out as he slumped forward. Now, he seemed like a babe in her arms, tears streaming down his face. The towering monster from a moment ago was completely gone.
“It was us. We killed him, you and me, Eb. You and me,” he sobbed into her breast “If I hadn’t made him come out with me to celebrate. If you hadn’t chosen that night. He’d still be alive if it wasn’t for us. I can’t watch someone I care about die like that again. Not you, not Kim, no one.”
“Oh sweetheart.” Ebony crooned “Shhhh...” Ebony stroked his hair and waited for his sobbing to subside.
“You’re right,” she said softly “I wouldn’t return to Maritime without it being at least partly about my mother, but it’s also about Kim.”
“What?” Adam moved his head back and looked at her searchingly.
“The Loops that attacked her that night, you remember they had no tribe tattoos or scars?” she waited for his nod before continuing “We hadn’t seen that before or since. This group we’re being paid to Hunt doesn’t wear markings either. I was hoping we might get a lead, it’s been a year. We’ve still got no idea why, in a populated town like that they got right to the centre, ignoring all other prey to stalk Kim.”
“You’ve never told her?” Adam asked.
“No and neither have you,” Ebony said, standing back. She looked over at his half packed bag. “It’s your decision, but I could sure use you Adam and I promise not to lie. I’m going after Clarke while we’re there but these Loops are my first priority.”
Excerpt from the Journal of Kim Davids.
Joey, it’s all about Joey. And now I kinda get why. Once upon a time he was Ebony’s best friend as a small kid and then several years later, after he’d lost contact with her after her mother’s death he met her again and that meeting resulted in his death. In the meantime he’d met Adam and become his friend and, I suspect, his lover.
I knew Adam had left foster care early and spent a long time on the streets but, according to Raven, when he was about fifteen he got busted stealing in this small town of Maritime and got put in this youth hostel type place called Marclay House. I have no doubt he would have left straight away but he met Joey and the two became fast friends and from what was said, I think they quickly became much more than friends.
Anyway, the story goes that on Adam’s birthday, to celebrate, the pair busted out of Marclay House after curfew and went off to climb the cliffs north of the town, get stoned and watch the sun come up together. While they were out there they ran into Ebony, who was on a Hunt, in over her head with pair of Fangs. Adam and Ebony managed to get away but Joey was killed.
How fucked up is that? I guess I get Adam a bit more now, maybe. I don’t know. I just can’t think that if that happened to me that I’d be able to join the Hunt. Seriously, losing someone like that would fuck you up good and proper. I was willing to leave my entire life behind for the Hunt, because it felt right after I came that close to death myself, but if it had cost someone else their life that first night I’m just not sure I’d have the strength to do it.
Is that why he’s the way he is? He doesn’t want anyone to get close like that again? He’s happy to work out his desires with strangers but he can’t let himself feel anything for someone like me because he couldn’t go through that again? Fuck I feel like a fool sometimes. Why do I feel for him? WHAT do I feel for him? I don’t know if I really am attracted to him or it’s just because he shows no interest that my brain is like “I must have him because he’s ignoring me”. JESUS! I’ve become THAT girl! Shoot me now!
Anyway, so we’re off to Maritime, the scene of the crime. And no one knows if Adam is even going to come. It may just be the three of us and I might never see him again. That thought would upset me just as much if it was about Ebony or Raven, he’s just a friend like they are.
Yeah, right!
