Hunting the Hunter

    

    “Hey.”  I looked up from my desk, where I was typing up an email before the night’s festivities.
    My new roommate, Amethyst, looked around at the decorating I had already done: “Where are we going, and why am I in this hand-basket?” and “If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?” bumper stickers, a picture of my friends, and a small pillar candle.  A modest start, but I’d only been in the room ten minutes.  “You coming to dinner?”
     “Yeah.  Hang on.”  I hit send, and closed my laptop.

* * * * *
     That night, I brought out my matches, incense, candles, mat, book, and blade.  Amethyst was across the hall, talking to some other new students, and I asked her to please stay out of the room for about a half hour.  Her violet eyes questioned me, and then she shrugged.
    “Sure.”
     I closed and locked the door.  Shutting off the lights, I lit the incense and a candle, and began the night’s power and meditation ritual.  I called upon my strength to handle all the new people I would encounter these first few days of school, and called out for another willing soul to search for me.  I spent a few moments playing with silver energy pearls, then blew out the candle and doused the incense in the liquid wax.
     I reopened the door, feeling refreshed.  Amethyst was talking to two other girls, with her back to me.  One of the girls was giving me a strange glance.  “What color are your eyes?” she asked.
     A moment’s panic struck me, and I blinked deeply to remove all traces of power from my eyes.  I took a deep breath.  “Silver.”
     “Wow.  That’s so cool!  And Amethyst’s eyes are purple.  You guys are cool.”
     Amethyst and I reacted by looking into one another’s eyes.  I felt my power flare when our eyes met, and both of us immediately looked at our feet.
     “Well, it’s almost ten, and I’ve got to start unpacking.  Nice to meet you… um…”
     “It’s Antoinette.  Toni.”
     “… Toni.  You too, Amethyst.  Night.”
     “Night.”
     Amethyst and I retreated back to our room, closing the door.  “Hey Amethyst?”
     “It’s Ami… yeah?”
     I looked her directly in the eye, and felt my power flare again.  “Can you feel that?”
     Her eyes became a more vibrant violet as our gaze held.  “Yeah… you mean you can too?”
     I nodded, breaking the gaze.  “That’s why I asked you to wait outside.  I was in desperate need of a power check.  It gets all out of whack when I’m stressed.”
     “Tell me about it.  And meeting new people is such a stressor.”
     I smiled.  This was going to work just fine.  “At least we don’t have to worry about it being an issue.  I was trying to figure out how to deal with it without you knowing.”
     Ami nodded.  “Maybe we can learn something from each other.”
     “But for now, I think we need to unpack.”  I gestured toward the piles of boxes around the room.
     Ami laughed.  “Yeah.  Hey… you have any good rock CD’s?”
* * * * *
     As time passed, Ami and I discovered that we were interested in much the same things: rock music, philosophy, cards, writing, diet carbonated refreshment.  She didn’t care much for computers, but I didn’t care much for the nature trails like she did.  We had similar spiritual beliefs, which coincided with our powers.  Mine was drawn from within, the silver of the soul.  Hers was derived from without, from the natural world around her, the violet of the environment.  Her religion centered around Earth, mine around the cosmos.
     We learned from each other about power.  We would talk about our days while playing with energy pearls, as I had taught her; we’d conjure faeries to guard our sleep, as she taught me.  We talked about life and love and sex and power and boys and girls and hopes and fears.  It was good to know someone like me again.
* * * * *
     “No!  No no no no no no!” I awoke with a start, Ami standing over me, using her power to calm me down.
     “Shh… you okay, Toni?”
     I felt her power flowing over me, calming me in cool, violet velvet.  I stood up and crossed the room to take a glass of juice from the fridge.
     “I hate that.  Sorry, Ami, I didn’t mean to wake you.  Just a bad dream.”
     “Yeah, I noticed.  What’s up, something wrong?”
     “It’s just… I keep seeing someone attacking me…”
     “Not good.”
     “Don’t feel any better than it sounds.  My back is killing me.”
     Ami placed her hand on my back, letting her power wash over me, relaxing the aching muscles.
    I took a deep breath and finished my juice.  “Thanks, Ami.”
    She smiled.  “Night, Toni.”
    “Night.”
* * * * *
    “May I speak to Amethyst please?”
    “She’s in class right now, may I take a message?”
    “Good.  I’d lock the doors if I were you….” The deep voice trailed off, then cackled.  “I know about you.  You think power will save you?  We’ll see just how powerful you really are.”  He cackled again, then hung up.
    I immediately rushed to the door and locked it.  I lit a candle and took a deep breath to calm myself. I just need to relax, he’s probably just joking around.  Certainly he doesn’t know about our power.  He must have meant something else.  Unless he…. No.  Not possible.  I would have found out by now.  We had searched all over campus for another source of power, another willing soul.  There wasn’t one.
I called upon my strength to get me through the fear, and blew out the candle.  The phone rang again, and I answered with a cautious “hello.”
    The voice on the other end of the line cackled again.  “Can you feel it yet?  Are you afraid?  You should be.”  He laughed again, and I slammed the phone into the receiver.  I hope that hurt his ears.
    The door opened suddenly, and I jumped back into a defensive stance.  Ami walked in, tossing her keys and her books on the floor.  She looked at me curiously, raising an eyebrow.  “You a karate kid now, or what?” she laughed.
    I took a deep breath and swallowed hard.  “We got trouble.”
    Ami stopped laughing.  “What kind of trouble?”
    “I just got two phone calls.  Same guy.  He asked for you, and when I said you were in class, he started threatening me.  Told me to lock the door, be afraid.  Said if I thought power would save me, we’d see just how powerful I was.”
    “Oh shit.  Oh, no….”
    “What?  What are you thinking?”
    “That bastard.  How did he find me here?”
    “What?!?  Who?  You know this guy?”
    “Get me a Coke from the fridge, will you?  I think I’m gonna need it.”
    I tossed her a can, and opened one myself.  “So who is he?”
    Ami drained half her can, then sighed.  “His name is Josh Michaels.  He’s a Hunter.”
    “A Hunter?  I didn’t think they even existed!”
    “They exist.  And Josh is the best.  He’s been following me and friends of mine for years.  Most of my friends have joined with him.  He’s picking them all up in order… he’s left me alone because I’m stronger than they are, and he knows he’ll need the resources.  But now he’s here, and he wants you and me.”
    “But how does he even know about me?  I’ve only known you for a few months, and only knew one other person with power before that.  Unless…”
    “…He got them, too.”
    I shook my head sadly.  “So what can we do?”
    Ami finished off her Coke, and tossed the can in the recycling.  “For now, we wait.  We don’t know where he is… he could be anywhere nearby.  Close enough to call us.”
    “Wait… if he called us, we can check the number, right?  It’s worth a shot.”  I picked up the phone and dialed the appropriate code.  I listen to the tinny voice of the automated operator tell me that the number was blocked, and couldn’t be traced.  “Damn!”
    “He thought of that, didn’t he?  I told you, Toni.  This man is the best Hunter I’ve ever heard of.  Doesn’t matter what we think of, because he’s already thought of it.”
    “Well, we have to do something.  We can’t just let him have us.”
    “We need a plan.  Some way to find more information.  We could search for him, but that will send out a power flare, and he’ll know we know how to work together.”
    I began pacing, attempting to think of ideas.  “We could send faeries…?”
    Ami shook her head.  “If they find him, he’ll take them.”
    As I was thinking, I started to see an image of a man.  Tall, dark… I flinched as I realized that I was seeing the man that had been attacking me at night, in my dreams, for weeks.  “Ami?  What does Josh look like?”  Her expression changed with the tone in my voice.
    “He’s a Hunter.  Tall, dark brown eyes, long, black hair….”
    “Does he look like this…?”  I placed my hand behind her head, and projected the image from my dreams.
    She sucked in a quick breath, her body tensing.  “Yes.  That’s him.  How did you know?”
    “That’s the man that’s been attacking us.  That’s the man that’s been coming for me in my sleep.”
* * * * *
    Since the first night of school, when I met Ami, I kept having the same dream.  Ami is asleep, and I am sitting near my computer, typing away.  He comes in through the door, just waltzes in like he lives there.  He places a hand on Ami, and her face distorts in a silent scream.  He then walks over to me, blocking my view of my roommate.  He roughly places his hands on either side of my head, and kisses me, forcing his way into my mouth.  A horrible kiss, a painful kiss.  He takes a knife blade from his coat, and slashes it into my arm, three times.  He collects some of the blood on his fingers, then tastes it.  His eyes gleam wickedly, and he kisses me again, harder this time, like he’s trying to suck out my very soul.  I bite his tongue, he slaps me, and then leaves, like nothing happened.  I rush over to Ami… but she’s motionless.  Check for a pulse… nothing.  She’s dead.  I try to use my power to revive her, but nothing happens.  I try again.  Nothing.  I try to conjure a faerie.  Nothing.  An energy pearl, the easiest demonstration of power I know.  Nothing.  It’s gone.  Suddenly, a message, in a voice that is somehow familiar floods my mind.  You want your power and your friend.  I want you.  You know where to find me.  If not, she dies.  I check Ami’s pulse again, and this time I find one, weakly.  I wrap a tight belt around my arm, a makeshift tourniquet to stop the bleeding, and call an ambulance.
* * * * *
    “Then I wake up.”
    “That’s the nightmare that keeps waking you up?”
    I nodded.  “Ami?  Do you… do you think it’s him, trying to get to me?”
    Amethyst grabbed another can of Coke from the fridge, tossing a second can over to me.  “I don’t think it’s Josh… not if that’s the only dream you’ve been having about him.  One of my friends used to dream about him, back before I knew much about power, and nothing at all about Hunters.  But the dreams were always different.  It was a recurring dream, but not like you’re talking about.  It was the same basic scenario, but the details kept changing.  A few weeks later, she was going crazy over it… she didn’t want to sleep.  The next night, Josh showed up.  She panicked, recognizing him from her dreams.  Josh was real good to her, showed interest in her, talked with her, took her places.  He sweet talked her into believing him.  She stopped talking to me after that.  The next time I saw her….”  Ami’s voice trailed off, tears in her eyes.  “The next time I saw her, she was on his arm, wearing his color, using his color.  He had taken her.  Completely.”
    “Wait… she was using his color?” I shook my head.  “Let me guess… forest green?”
    Ami nodded.  “He got your friend, didn’t he.”
    My hand started to shake as I thought about how Jasmine’s lavender had been made into a deep green when I saw her last.   He had taken her, too.  “That’s how he knows about me, then.  Jasmine’s mother works with my mother.  I’m sure she told Jasmine where I was going.”
    “Toni?”
     “Yeah?”
     “How long have you known about power?  How long have you been working with it?”
    I stopped to think for a few seconds.  “Since I was a junior in high school…. So…” I counted the years on my fingers.  “Three and a half or four years.  Why, what about you?”
    “That’s the thing.  I’ve been dealing with power since I was 13.  That’s seven years… twice as long as you.  But I have a feeling he’s not coming for me.  I’m a step on the ladder.  But I don’t get it.  You couldn’t even conjure faeries.”
     I finished off my Diet Coke, and tossed the can into the bin.  “True, but you didn’t know how to juggle pearls, which is even less difficult. “
    “Good point.  But if you’ve been dreaming that he’s after you…”
I pondered the thought for a moment.  Am I wrong?  Is he really coming for Ami?  Or am I really more powerful than she is?  “Then I must be…”
    Ami nodded.  “More powerful than me.  What is the most consuming thing you’ve ever used it for?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “What’s the most extraordinary display of power you’ve ever shown?”
    I pondered that for a moment.  “I’m not quite sure… what is yours?”
    “Once, when I was being followed by Josh and some of his minions, I called on my power to protect me… and I was surrounded in a shield… a sort of force field.  It didn’t last long, but it gave me enough time to get away.”
    “You mean, like this?”  Power shields were simple for me, and I put one up without feeling any drain on my energy.
    “Yeah… you mean you can just do that?  It’s not draining you?”
    I shook my head, and released the shield.  “But if that’s the most extraordinary display of power you’ve shown, you’re right.  I am more powerful than you are.  Can you manipulate objects?”
    My roommate sat down on the bed, her violet eyes sparkling with curiosity.  “No… I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
    “It takes a bit more work, but here… I’ll show you.”  I paused a second to pool my energy, then sent a silver burst of power into our recycling bin.  The cans began to levitate, then crashed back into the bin.
    “Wow… what else can you do?”
    I smiled, closing my eyes.  I waited a few seconds, again to collect my power.  I held my hands towards the sky, and I could begin to feel the transformation taking place.  Slowly, starting with my feet, my entire body was turning silver.  The color traveled up the length of my body, until I was completely silver, except for my hair and eyes, both jet black.
    Ami stood and walked over to me, cautiously touching my shoulder.
    “Careful… “
    “Why?”  She pulled her hand away, and saw that it too, was silver.
    I released the color, and within seconds, my body returned to its normal colors.
    “Hey, Toni?”
    “Yeah?”  I glanced in her direction, laughing when I noticed that her hand was still a metallic gray.  I placed my hand on hers, and the color disappeared.  “It’s great for costume parties.  Don’t know what else it’s good for.”
    Ami laughed.  “I suppose so.  You could always paint the town… “
    There was a knock at the door, and I crossed the room to answer it.
    “You going to class, Toni?  Hey, Ami.”
    “Yeah, let me grab my books.”  I snatched my backpack from the floor, and closed the door behind me.  “See you later, Ami.”
* * * * *
    That night, I had the same dream… but for some reason, it felt more real this time, more real than it ever had before.  I awoke to the sound of not only my screaming, but also Ami’s.  I bolted upright at the sound of her panicked voice.
    “What?  What is it?”
    “Your… your arm is bleeding….”
    I glanced down at my left arm.  Blood was trickling down from my bicep to my elbow.  I pulled a towel from my laundry basket and applied pressure to the wound.  When I pulled the towel away, I saw three slashes on my arm, in the shape of an H.  My heart began to pound as I searched the room for any traces of power.  I could feel a slight presence… then it was gone.
    “Toni… it’s an ‘H’… “
    “I know.  And the dream tonight was much more real feeling.  I must have cut myself in my sleep.”  Sure enough, my blade was lying on the floor, with blood on the tip.
    “I don’t know, Toni… that knife wasn’t there when you went to bed.”
     “No, it wasn’t.  It was in my drawer.  But I must have gotten up and gotten it in my sleep.  I don’t know what else it could be.”  Should I tell her about the other presence?  I don’t want to scare her… maybe it was nothing.  Then again…  “There’s something else, Ami.”
     “What?  What else?”
    “When I saw the cuts, I did a quick power check.  Someone else was here then… they’re gone now.”
    “Toni… please tell me you’re lying to me.”
    I shook my head.
    “It had to be Josh.  He’s here, then.  He knows where we live.  But how could he…?”
    “Unless… you said your friend had dreams about him, dreams that he caused, right?”
    Ami nodded.  “What are you thinking?”
    “I think he was here… watching… participating.  He didn’t cause it, but he was in it.”
    “Then he knows.  Damn it, Toni… what are we going to do?  If he knows, then he’s going to try it.”
     “I know.  I know.  But there isn’t anything we can do about it right now.  For now, I’m going to bandage this up, and we should both go back to bed.  We need all the rest we can get.”
    “Okay… but I don’t like this.  I don’t like it one bit.”
* * * * *
    A few more nights passed uneventfully.  The fourth night, I was typing an email to a friend back home when Ami came in, obviously intoxicated.  She was giggling, and staggering enough to need help.  Luckily, Dee was with her, and more sober.
    “Here’s your roommate back, Toni.”
    “No way, Dee.  You got her drunk, she’s your responsibility until she’s asleep.”
    Dee laughed, as Ami was already climbing into bed.  “That shouldn’t take much.”
    I laughed and turned back to finish my email.  Dee will say goodnight when she leaves, so I can finish this quick before I go to bed.
    Little did I know that she had tried, but Josh’s forest green had silenced both her “good night” and her scream.
* * * * *
    I heard footsteps near the door, and turned to wish Dee a good night.  “Night Dee….”  That’s not Dee…  “Who the hell are you?” I demanded, knowing full well who he was.
    He walked over to Ami’s intoxicated, slumbering figure and placed one hand on her back.  Her mouth opened like she was screaming, but no sound came out.
    “And let’s see… then I walk over to you…”  Josh was smiling, taking instructions from my dream. Talk about adding insult to injury.
    “Oh no you don’t.  Besides, you already cut my arm, you bastard.”  I stood as he was crossing the room, and set up a power shield.
    “Yes, I did, didn’t I.  But I hadn’t intended on anything more… although I like the way you think.”  Josh laughed.  “Nice shield.  Too bad your power is useless against mine.”  He reached in through my silver guard, placing his hands on either side of my head.  “I’m going to enjoy this.”  He bent his head to kiss me, and I sent a shot of silver from my eyes into his face, hoping to blind him long enough to run.  He only laughed.  “Feisty, aren’t you?”
    As his lips touched mine, I could feel a surge in my power, as well as an increase in my pulse.  This wasn’t a painful kiss.  He’s actually quite good at this….  I could feel my hands desiring to touch him, to draw him nearer to me.  Without thinking, I began to kiss him back.  I felt his hands tremble for just an instant, then he broke the kiss, a low, soft groan escaping from his lips before he caught himself.  His dark eyes shone with anger.  He must think I was trying to seduce him!  He raised his hand as if to strike me, and I closed my eyes, awaiting the inevitable.  I waited for a full five seconds.  When I opened my eyes again, he was gone.
    I rushed over to Ami’s figure, checking for a pulse.  There was one, a weak, irregular beat.  But she was alive.  I tested my power quickly.  Faeries appeared. I still have my power… what the hell?  What did he take, then?  What did he do?  I placed my hand on Ami’s back, and felt her heartbeat become regular, then stronger, until she awoke on her own.
    “Seems all it takes is a near-death experience to sober you up, eh Ami?”  I laughed, figuring the worst was over, for now.
    “What?  What happened?”
    “You came home drunk, and Dee put you to bed.  I was typing an email, just like in my dream.”
    “Oh no… he came, didn’t he.”  Ami began to shake, her eyes filled with fright.
    “Yes, he did.  But he didn’t take my power, or your life.”
    “Then what did happen?”
    “He came in, and must have done something to you.  Then he walked over to me, telling me that this is how the dream went.  I put up a shield, but he just reached right through it.  He tried to kiss me, and I shot some power into his face.  He laughed, called me ‘feisty’, and kissed me anyway.  Thing is… it didn’t hurt.”
    “You mean… he actually, honestly kissed you?”
    I nodded, feeling a bit sheepish.  “He’s good at it, too.  I mean, as much as I didn’t want Josh, a Hunter, for God’s sake, anywhere near me, I could feel myself wanting him closer, kissing him back.  And the power surge….”  I sighed contently.
    “What do you mean, power surge?”
    “When he kissed me, our powers must have flared together.  I’m telling you, Ami, it was this euphoric sensation.”
    “He was probably only doing it to bait you.  And look at you.  You fell for it.”
    I sneered at her, feeling stupid, and mad at her for making me realize it.  “Okay, okay.  So maybe I was being stupid and vulnerable.  But Ami… his hands were shaking, and when he broke the kiss… he moaned.  I heard him.”
    Her expression had not changed.  “It was still stupid, Toni.  He could have killed me.  And you.”
    “I know.  I know.  But I don’t think he’s going for death.  If that was the case, he would have killed at least you… you who got drunk tonight.”  I knew instantly I shouldn’t have said it.
    “Well, well, well.  Look who knows it all!  Fine.  You want to fuck our killer, fine.  But don’t come crawling to me.  So I had a few drinks.  At least I’m not cooing about kissing the same man who sliced me open!”  She turned her head, refusing to look in my direction.
    Ouch.  “Ami, please…” I pleaded.  “I’m sorry.  I’m really confused and upset right now.  I don’t understand what happened, and I’m scared.  Ami?”  I squeezed my eyes tightly, refusing the tears that were threatening to fall.  As I did so, I heard a familiar voice… the voice from my dreams… the voice I now knew to be Josh’s.
    *Give in to me, or next time, I won’t play so nice.*
    “Ami?”
    She turned back to face me, scowling.  “What?”
    “Please… I just… heard… his voice.  Ami… Ami, I’m scared.”  I lost the battle against my tears, as the salty water flowed down my cheeks for her to see.
    “Oh, Toni…. Come here.  It’s okay… it’s going to be okay.”  We embraced, and when I looked into her eyes again, the anger had gone, replaced with concern.  “What did he say?  What message did he leave?”
    “’Give in to me, or next time, I won’t play so nice.’”
    “That doesn’t sound good….”  Ami stepped back, looking me straight in the eyes.  “Toni?  Toni, you’ve got power in your eyes.”
    I blinked deeply.  “Almost sounds as bad as having spinach in my teeth.”  I laughed, and so did Ami, releasing our tensions a bit.  “There.  Gone?”
    Ami looked at me again.  “No… “
    I blinked again.  “Now?”
    “Yeah.  Now it’s gone.”
    "I think maybe we should try to get some sleep… maybe this will all make more sense in the morning.”  Her words were optimistic, but her voice said otherwise.
    “Sounds good.  Besides, whatever he did… I’m exhausted.  Night, Toni.”  Ami was asleep before she finished my name.
    As I curled underneath my comforter, I wondered if I would dream again this night.
* * * * *
    I opened my eyes and found myself lying in bed, nude.  I could sense another’s presence, and I pulled my comforter up over my body.
    I heard a low, husky laugh at my actions.  “What are you doing, you silly girl?  Why do you cover what I have already taken as my own?”
    “What?”  My mind raced, I couldn’t remember how I had lost my clothing, or when Josh had reappeared, or what the hell he meant by    “what he had taken as his own”.
    “You poor thing.  You don’t remember, do you.  That is really too bad… because you had one hell of a good time.  I had to cover your mouth so the neighbors wouldn’t hear you screaming.  Then again…”  He stood, smiling, hands on his hips, wavy black hair flowing to his waist.  My mind made the connection instantly.
    “Oh my God.  I didn’t.  We didn’t….“  He’s naked… I’m naked… Oh God… No.  This has got to be a bad dream.  I don’t even remember sleeping with him.  Wait a second… where’s Ami?  “Ami?  Ami!”
    Josh crossed the room in three graceful steps, placing his hand over my mouth.  “Shhh… She’s fine.”  He helped me to my feet, and my self-consciousness grew as he placed his arm around my waist, his hand on my bare hip.  He gestured to the still figure of my roommate with his other hand.  “See?  She’s sleeping.  She’s just fine.”  He held her arm up in the air, and dropped it.  It fell limp.  “Just think of it as sleeping forever.”
    I jerked out of his reach, and searched the room frantically for my clothes.  I grabbed a long t-shirt out of a drawer and pulled it on.  “How dare you!  What right do you have to come in here and do as you please!  To… to kill Ami…  to… have your way with me!   Not to mention the fact that I don’t…”  My body was starting to shake, my anger turning to guilt and heartbreak.
    “That you don’t remember.”  Josh’s voice was low, soft, concerned.  “I know.”  He walked to where I stood, and took my shaking hands in his.  “Toni, I didn’t mean for that to happen….”
    I wrenched my hands free.  “Like hell!  You didn’t have to do this!  You didn’t have to… have to…”
    “Have to what, Toni?”
    “To do this.  You didn’t have to.  You didn’t have to do this…”
* * * * *
    “You didn’t have to do this… you didn’t have to.  No… you didn’t have to do this…”
    “Toni.”
    “You didn’t have to do this…”
     “Toni!”
    “No… you didn’t have to….”
    “Toni, wake up!”
    What the…?  Ami?  But you’re… I shook my head to clear the cobwebs and opened my eyes.  “Ami!  You’re… you’re alive!”
     Ami raised an eyebrow.  “Of course I’m alive.  And you were dreaming again.  What happened?  You were tossing and turning until it woke me… well, that and the screaming.  “You know, that screaming gets me every time.”
     I laughed half-heartedly.  “Yeah, I was dreaming.  But damn… this dreaming is going to drive me insane, in short order.”
     “Why, what happened?”
     “I opened my eyes, and I was lying in bed, naked.  And Josh was…”
     “Naked?  You were screaming… Oh my God.  Toni, please.  I told you… he doesn’t want to have sex with you; he wants to convert you… or worse, to kill you.  And you’re fantasizing about him!”  Her voice was more than enough expression of her disgust.  She turned away.
     I grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face me.  “Let me finish,” I growled.
     Ami rolled my hand off of her shoulder, sneering at me.  “Okay… finish, then.”
     I sighed deeply.  “Yes, he was naked.  But I didn’t remember anything happening.  I was stunned… and then I wondered where you were.  He told me you were sleeping, then he lifted your wrist, and it fell limp to the bed.  He said to think of it as ‘sleeping forever.’  I got upset, and he said he never meant for it to happen.  I flipped out, and kept telling him he didn’t have to do this… he had no right to do this...."  I didn’t try to hide the tears this time.  “I’m sorry Ami… I can’t control it.  I’m sorry.  I don’t know what else to say.”
     “At this rate, I might as well just take a leap from the window.  You know what this means, don’t you?”
     I hung my head, ashamed of the bitter truth.  “Yes, I do.”  Suddenly, an idea flared in my head.  “Wait!”
     “What?”
     “Ami… we can prevent this.  We can make it so this never happens.”
     “How?  We tried that last time.  It didn’t work.”
     “I know… but we missed one obvious detail.”
     Ami’s eyebrow went up.  “What’s that?”
     “We live together.”
     Her face lit up like a kid at Christmas.  “Of course!  But that means one of us has to move out.”
     I nodded.  “I know.  But Ami… if it saves our lives….”
     “Yeah.  I know.  So who goes and who stays?”
     “Well… Dee’s got a double to herself right now….”
     “Yeah… and she’s offered to let me move in with her.”
     “What?  When?”
     “Earlier tonight.  I told her about how we haven’t been getting along as well as we used to, and she offered.”
     I tried weakly to mask my disappointment.  “Oh.  Okay.  Do you want me to help you pack?”
     “Nah.  I’m just going to move everything as it is.  She only lives on the far side of the hall.”
     I nodded.  “You want some help moving stuff, then?”
     “No offense, Toni, but I think you’ve helped enough.”
* * * * *
     When I left for class the next morning, Amethyst was asleep.  Three hours later, she was gone.  Her side of the room was bare, except for a single piece of paper on her bed.  It had my name on it, so I lifted it and read aloud to myself.
     “Toni.  This hasn’t been easy, despite the good times we had together.  But I’m glad I met you, and I wish you all the best in the future.  And please… be careful around Josh.  I know you think he means well, but he’s just biding his time.  Be careful.  Take care.  Ami.”
      I sighed, and let my backpack fall from my shoulder to the floor.  “Well, Toni…It looks like you’ve got some redecorating to do.”
* * * * *
     Several hours later, I had finished moving the furniture and the wall décor.  It was a bit sparse, but at least I didn’t have to worry about Ami hassling me about Josh.  He can’t be all that bad… after all, if he was…   I sighed, knowing in my heart the truth.  If he was, I wouldn’t be here now.
     I turned on my computer, intending to try writing another section of my latest short story.  I stared at the screen, seemingly mesmerized by the blinking cursor.  Or at least out of ideas.  “You know, I wish I could just get this out of my head.  But no.  I have to have writer’s block.”  I sighed as I crossed the room for a can of Diet Coke.  As I closed the refrigerator door, my head began to spin, and I began to see rings of color.  I immediately laid down on the floor, as the all-too-familiar sensations took over my body.
* * * * *
     I smiled at the stars, flying among them with ease.  It was a fabulous sensation… euphoric.  No pain existed here.  No heartbreak, no guilt, no sadness.  Just peace and happiness.  I glided effortlessly through the night sky, stretching my feathered wings.  I didn’t have a care in the world as I headed into the light.
* * * * *
     When I awoke again, I was lying on my stomach on my dorm room floor.  I tapped the ground with my hands, checking for solidity.  I heard a pounding on my door, and replied with a weak “yes,” unable to stand and answer it.  Christine opened the door, and gasped.
     “Toni, are you okay?”  I heard her take a few steps before gasping again.  “Toni… oh my god, what happened?  You’re bleeding!”
     I pushed myself off the floor with my arms, noticing the pool of blood around me.  I laughed softly.  “So I am.”
     Christine put her arms beneath mine, and helped me to my feet.  I still felt a bit wobbly, and decided to sit on Ami’s bed until I felt better.  My head felt heavy, and I cradled it in my hands.  I felt the warmth flowing from my forehead to my fingers, and asked Christine to hand me a towel to stop the bleeding.
     “What… what happened, Toni?  I heard a crash, and then saw you lying on the floor.”
     “I must have blacked out… I haven’t had one of these in years…”  I pressed the towel to my head and leaned against the wall.  “Hey, Stine?”
     “Yeah?”
     I laid down on Ami’s bed.  I was still feeling light-headed.  “If I pass out again… call an ambulance, will you?”
* * * * *
     This time, when I opened my eyes, I was in a white room, surrounded by monitoring equipment.  There wasn’t a human being in sight.  I looked around at the machines, trying to ascertain what exactly had happened.  The first time was a seizure… but an aftershock?  I glanced at the IV in my arm, then up the pole to the bag suspended there.  “Dextrose and water, I bet.”  But they’re monitoring my heartbeat… why?  What happened?  I saw the nurses’ call button on the side rail of the bed, and pressed it.  Within seconds, a tall brunette nurse, followed by a short, balding doctor appeared.
     “Well… good evening, young lady.   Sleep well?”  Her voice was soothing, yet irritating.  Does she think I’m a child?  I made a face as she checked the machines, and tapped the IV bag.  “You’ve been eating well, I see.”
     “What happened?”
     The doctor pulled a chair up to the bedside rail.  “Well, you see, Antoinette… it's hard to explain....”
     Oh joy.  Now the doctor’s going to treat me like I’m an infant, too.  “I don’t mean to be impolite, but spare me the run-around, okay?  I know I had a seizure.  Did something else happen, or can I go now?”
     His expression had not changed.  “Well, you retained your mental facilities.  That’s good.”
     “What do you mean, retained my mental facilities?  I had an epileptic seizure.  Seizures don’t incapacitate a person long-term… I’ve had a dozen.”
     “Please, Antoinette, calm down.  Let me explain.  You’re right, you did have an epileptic seizure.  That is what caused your initial fall.  But that fall caused some other complications.”
     I raised an eyebrow.  “What complications?”
     “Antoinette, we believe you may have had a mild stroke.”
     “A what?  Nineteen year olds don’t have strokes.  It doesn’t happen.  What tests have been run that led to that?”
     “Now Antoinette, I know you’re upset.  Just try to relax.”
     “Relax?  How can I relax?  You just told me that at nineteen years of age, I’ve had a mild stroke.  That’s brain failure.  That’s life-threatening.  And you want me to relax?”  I could feel my blood pressure rising, and the monitors started making all sorts of noise.  The nurse placed a hand on my shoulder, handing me a glass of water and a small cup with a few pills in it.
     “Here.  Take these.  They’ll help you calm down.”
     I peered into the cup, swirling the pills around.  “What are they?”
     “Mild sedatives.”
     I nodded, and swallowed the pills and the water.  I took a deep breath, and turned back to the doctor.  “Okay.  So you think I’ve had a minor stroke.  Have you done a CT scan?  An MRI?  What will the stroke effect?”
     “We haven’t been unable to run any tests because we had no way to transport you until you awakened.  We’d like to run a CT scan, and possibly an MRI, and check for any damage or tumors in your brain.”
     I nodded.  “Okay… it is possible that the second blackout was an aftershock of the first seizure?”
     “Yes, that’s a possibility too.  We’re not ruling anything out.  We just want to know what happened so we can get you back to your studying.”  He smiled congenially.  “But for now, you should get some rest.”  He stood to leave.
     “Doctor?”
     “Yes?”
     “What time is it?”
     He glanced down at his watch.  “A quarter past 8.”
     “At night?”
     “Yes.”
     “Is it still the third of February?”
     “No, my child.  It is the seventh.  You’ve been in a coma for the last four days.”
     I stared at him like he had a third eye in the middle of his forehead.
     “Now try to rest, Antoinette.  Just press the call button if you need anything.”  He closed the door to my room behind him as he left.
* * * * *
     I’ve lost four days of time.  I know the first fall was a seizure.  But they think the second was a mild stroke?  Are they insane?  I’m nineteen years old… people don’t start having strokes until their sixties.  Unless… unless I’ve got a tumor or something.  I could feel my pulse begin to heighten, and my breathing started getting faster.  I took a deep breath and reminded myself to remain positive.  He said it could have been a second seizure.  Maybe I just hit the floor extra hard when I fell… they said I never laid down like I thought I did… I just fell.  I’m just going to relax, get some sleep, and they’re gonna do the tests in the morning.
     I took another deep breath and reminded myself that everything was going to be okay.  I heard a knock at the door, then the nurse’s voice.
     “Visitor for you, Toni.  Just a few minutes, remember.”
     I rolled onto my side to face the door in time to see a walking bouquet of flowers.  I smiled. Christine?  Mike?  Dee?  Ami?  Jordan?
     The flowers approached, then dropped to reveal the face behind them.  My heart both raced and sank when I saw that it was Josh.
     “What are you doing here?”
     He pouted.  “Why wouldn’t I be here?”
     I sighed.  “Kick ‘em when they’re down, right?”
     “Toni… please… it’s not like that.  I have feelings, too, you know.”
     I closed my eyes for a few seconds, chiding myself for that last remark.  “Yes, I know.  I’m sorry.  It’s just…. “  I sighed.  “Yeah.”
     “As a matter of fact, I came to help you… providing you want my help.”
     I raised an eyebrow.  “What kind of help?”
     “Toni… I’m a very powerful man.  I could heal you in no time.”
     I thought about that for a while.  “Yes… but then I would owe you… and I’m not sure I like the idea of being in that kind of debt.”
     Josh pursed his lips, as if he were upset with me for even considering the thought.  “No, no debts.  I just want to see you get better.”
     “Why?  Just the other night you were cutting me up.”
     He lowered his gaze.  “I know.  I… I got out of control.  I never meant for that to happen.  I’m sorry.  Please… let me help you as a meager way of making up for it.  It’s the least I can do.”
     I closed my eyes again. How can this guy be that bad?  He apologized for hurting me… and he wants to help me.  Ami was wrong.  But… what if she’s not?
     “Please?  Toni… I’m not going to hurt you.  You have to believe me.”
     “And why is that?”
     “Because it’s the truth.  Here… let me show you….”  With that, he placed a hand over the bandages that covered the ‘H’.
    I felt a slight pain, as if he was trying to force too much power into too small of a space.  I could feel my power flowing towards his, attracted to it.  I concentrated on restraining my power, and within a few seconds, I felt his retreat.
     “There.  Now look… “  He began to peel away the bandage tape, holding down the skin beneath it so that the removal was painless.  “No scars or anything.”
     I looked down at my arm.  He was right… the wound had healed completely, and without a scar.  I glanced at Josh, at my arm, then back at him.
     “See, Toni?  I don’t want to hurt you.  Please… let me help.”
     “But what about my power?  It was being drawn towards you while you were healing me.”
     “Yes.  That’s your power trying to help mine help you.”
     That makes sense.  “Okay, Josh.  You’ve convinced me.  What do you want me to do?”
     “Nothing.  Just be still.  You had a seizure, and then you blacked out again, right?”
     I nodded.  “How did you know?”
     “I asked the doctor.”
     “Ah.  I see.  Why did you ask?”
     “It means that all the injury is in your brain, except for any bumps or bruises you acquired when you fell.  I just wanted to make sure, so that I do this as best I can.  Just relax… let the power wash over you.”
     I closed my eyes, and he placed his hand on my forehead.  I felt the weight of his power in my head, the heavy deep green flowing over my brain.  Within seconds, my power was flowing alongside Josh’s, merging together, healing together.  I relaxed, letting our power take care of me.
     Time passed.  Maybe minutes, maybe hours.  Time was irrelevant while our powers were working together in my mind.  After a while, I felt his power ebb, then leave completely.  I opened my eyes.  He leaned in, and his lips graced mine for but a second.  His hand traveled along my body, and I could feel myself responding to his touch.
     Josh smiled.  “You’re gonna be fine, Toni.  Take it easy.  Adios.”  With that, he left, closing the door quietly behind him.
* * * * *
     Over the next 48 hours, I was poked and prodded more times than I cared to count.  They ran all sorts of tests.  Much to my relief and their surprise, I was perfectly fine.  No tumors, no scars, no low cell counts, no infections, nothing.  I was completely healthy.  The  second night after Josh’s visit, I was released from the hospital.
     I collapsed on my bed, nice to be “home.”  After all, I only had about a week’s worth of school to catch up on.  I laughed at my own sarcasm.  Only a week’s worth.  I checked my voicemail… I heard the report that I had twenty-seven messages, and was nearing my limit of thirty saved messages.  I sat down with a pencil and notebook to take care of the important ones; it took me over twenty minutes to sort through them all.  A few calls from people back home, calling to see if I was back in school yet, and if I was okay; a few more from campus friends, hoping I was getting better; a couple from professors, wondering if I’d like to schedule some private meetings to catch up on the work; one from a credit company offering me a special introductory rate of 8%; and one from Josh.
     “Hey Toni, it’s Josh.  I was just calling to make sure you were okay, and that you got back to school safe.  Call me when you get this… I don’t care how late it is.  Just call.  Please.  Bye.”
     I glanced at the clock, then laughed.  He just said he didn’t care what time it was…  I took the card that was in the bouquet he had given me from my purse and dialed the number written there.  I held my breath as it rang once… twice… three times….  An answering machine picked it up, and Josh’s voice told me that he wasn’t able to take my call, I should leave my name and number.
     “Josh, it’s Toni, returning your call.  I’m home now, and—“
     “Toni?”
     “Hey, Josh.”
     “You’re home?  You’re okay?”
     “Yes.  They ran every test they could think of, twice.  I’m fine.”  I heard a sigh of relief on his end.
     “Good.  I’m glad.”
     I smiled.  “Me too.  I mean… a mild stroke could have been pretty scary.”
     “Yeah.  Toni?”
     “Yeah?”
     “Can we… meet somewhere?  We need to talk.”
     I raised an eyebrow, then smirked.  “We are talking, Josh.”
     “I know, but I think we need to talk in person.”
     “Sounds serious.”
     “It is… can I come over?”
     What could he mean?  Did something happen?  My mind began to conjure up the worst possible scenarios.  “Yeah.  Fine.  I’ll be here,” I said, my voice echoing the distraction caused by my anticipation.
     “Okay.  I’ll be there in a bit.  I’ll see you then.”
     “See you.  Bye.”
     “Bye.”
     I set the phone back in the cradle and grabbed a Diet Dr. Pepper from the fridge.  He sounded serious… I hope nothing’s happened…
     My thoughts were disrupted by a knock on the door.  He can’t be here already… who else knows I’m home?  I opened the door to meet Ami.
     “Hey, Toni.  Felt the power flare and thought I’d come by to see how you were.”
     I leaned out the doorway, looking up and down the hall for traces of Josh.  Not another human being was in sight.
     “Can I come in?”
     “Hmm?  Yeah, sure.”  I opened the door and gestured for her to come in.
    Amethyst sat on what used to be her bed.  “So how are you?  Christine said they had to rush you to the emergency room.  What happened?”
    I started to pace.  Ami’s gonna kill me if she finds out Josh is coming over… and she’s not going to believe he helped me… I’ve got to get her out of here before he shows up….  “I’m fine.  I had a seizure, and then I blacked out again.  I was in a coma for four days.  The doctor thought I had a mild stroke, but whatever happened, I was fine two days after I woke up.”  I shrugged.  “But it’s kind of late, and I’m tired.  Doc said to get lots of rest.  I don’t mean to throw you out or anything… but… you know.”
    Ami looked directly at me, her head cocked to one side.  “You mean you aren’t worried about what happened?  I mean… you’re in a coma for four days, in the hospital for six, and now everything’s all better?  No follow up testing, no medications, no restrictions, no outpatient care?  What’d you do, heal yourself?”
    I turned to face Ami, my eyes closed.  When I opened them, I saw that she knew the truth.  “Does it matter?  I’m better.”
    “God damn it, Toni!  How many times have I told you not to mess with him?  You’re gonna get yourself killed.”  Her hands balled into fists, her knuckles turning white.  “Fine.  You know what?  Fine.  Get yourself killed.  But I don’t want to be around for the carnage.”
     “Well, for a killer, he did a hell of a job.  Remember the knife wound?  The one that’s supposed to be right—“  I pulled up the sleeve of my shirt “—here?”
     She turned her head away, refusing to look, and I circled her, staying in front until she looked at my arm.
     “It’s not there, is it, Ami?  You know why?  Because Josh healed it.  With his power.  I’m telling you, Ami… if he wanted to kill me, it would have been real easy to do that while I was in the hospital.  Instead, he stayed with me, he healed me, he helped me.  Which is more than I can say for you.”
     Ami stared at me in disbelief for a second, then slapped me square across the jaw.  “Maybe that will put some sense in you!”
     My head fell, and I touched my face where it stung from the strike.  The door burst open, and I saw a blast of green.  Within an instant, Josh was by my side.
     “Are you okay, Toni?”
     I nodded.  “I think my feelings hurt worse than my face.”  I stood.  When I looked up, I was confronted with the still figure of Ami, slumped over on what used to be her bed.  My heart began to pound.  I reached out to shake her, already knowing it would be useless.  Josh grabbed my hands, and turned me to face him.  I broke away from his grasp and held Amethyst’s limp wrist in my hand, then let it fall to the bed.  I spun to face Josh, tears of rage in my eyes.  “Let me guess… ‘think of it as sleeping forever’, right?”
     “Toni… let me explain….”
     “What the fuck is up with you?  You try to kill Ami, then me, then you decide to heal me, then you go ahead and kill Ami!  What gives?!”
     “Please, Toni… I can explain….”
     “You damn well better be able to explain.  Talk fast.”
     “I have a better idea….”  He placed his palm over my face and I blacked out.
     When I awoke, we were somewhere else.  The entire room was done in woods, black, and dark green.  I was lying on a sofa, and he was sitting in a leather armchair a few feet away.  When I tried to stand, my legs wouldn’t move.  I tried lifting myself off the couch, but my arms were frozen as well. I closed my eyes.  Ami was right.  And now she’s dead, and I’m next.  Great.  Just fucking peachy.  I opened my eyes again.  “Okay… so now that I can’t move, would you mind telling me what is going on?  Believe me, you’ve got my full attention.”
    “Please, Toni… just listen.  Don’t talk, don’t react.  Just… listen.”
    “Oh, I’m listening.”
    “Okay, then.  This might take a while.  Allow me start at the beginning.  My name is Joshua Michaels.  As Amethyst told you, I’m a Hunter.  I seek out others with power and eliminate them.  Typically, I convert them first, so that I may possess whatever talents and power that they do, then I terminate their existence.  So, yes… your friend was right.”
    Great.  Ami was right.  Well, don’t I feel stupid.  How naïve can you be, Toni?  And now you’re going to die.  Great.  Good job, Ace.
    “Toni… stop beating yourself up.  I’m not going to hurt you.  I told you that before.  Just relax.  You’re going to be fine.  I just have to explain.”
    I raised an eyebrow and tried to sit up again.  “How do you know I am beating myself up?  Maybe I don’t give a damn one way or the other.”
    I heard his voice, but not aloud… in my head.  *For the same reason I know all about you, Toni…*
    “You what?!?  Get out… get out of my head!  What do you want?  Go away!”  I started to shake my head violently from side to side, trying to shake his voice from my thoughts.
    “Toni, stop it.  You’re going to hurt yourself.”
    “All the easier for you!”  I kept shaking my head until he came over and placed his hands over my ears, forcing me to stop.  I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to look at him.
    “Toni, please.  Let me finish.  I’m not going to hurt you… I promise.  But you have to let me finish.”
    When I opened my eyes, I saw the power in his eyes, and I also the power in mine reflected in his.  I took a deep breath, and decided to let him finish.
    “Okay… go on.”
    He sighed, and returned to his chair.  “You’re the most powerful one I’ve come across.  I’m not sure you realize how powerful you actually are.  Either way, I knew you were going to be a challenge.  I found out about you through Jasmine’s memories, and knew I had to test myself.  I knew that I needed to find out what I was really made of.  If I could do it.  And now I know.”
    “That you can.”
    “Yes.”
    “Well good for you.  But what about me?  What about healing me in the hospital?”
    “That’s my point.  I could have killed you that night.  Most would have.”  His voice became low, soft, distant.  “Perhaps I should have.”
    I swallowed hard at that last remark.  “But you didn’t.  Why not?  Isn’t your reason for existence to end lives like mine?”
    “Because.  The point of Hunting is to eliminate the threat of unity with other power.  To keep you from teaching each other.  If enough of you had ever gotten together, it would have opened the Portal.”
    “So?”
    “If that Portal ever opens, all that live on the other side, good and bad, would cross over.  But the evil there is far too powerful for any force on Earth.  I had to keep the power down, and separated.  And I have.  But I cannot bring myself to kill you.”
    “Why not?”
     He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.  “Because you’re the girl that’s been coming to me in my sleep for years.  That night, at the hospital, while the power was healing you, it was also searching.  Searching for any evidence to support my dreams… any evidence that you were attracted to me, that you knew about me, that you cared.  And I found what I was looking for.”
    I blushed.  Okay, so he got me there.  So he’s tortured me for a few months?  So what… it sounds like I’ve been after him for years….  I smiled to myself.
    “Very funny, Toni.”
    “Oops.”
    “You’re a very powerful woman, Antoinette.  You’ve been hunting a Hunter for years, without even trying.  And now I have you.”  *Which is good, because I want you.*
    I blushed again.  He crossed the room in one fluid motion, and ran his hand along my still frame.  I trembled slightly, my body responding instantly.  He kissed me, and my pulse began to race as our tongues touched, gently at first, then with more insistence.  His hand slid beneath my shirt, and I reached to touch him.  My arm still wouldn’t move, and I moaned.
    Josh laughed softly, and I felt him release the hold on me as he crawled over me, kissing me deeply.  I could feel his arousal pressed against my stomach, and warmth coursed through my body in response.  Time passed as we explored each other’s bodies, our powers flowing together, joining in spirit as we were in flesh.
    Hours later, I awoke in Josh’s arms, exhausted, but happy.  I turned to see if he was awake, and met his dark gaze of contentment.
    “Morning, Dream Girl.”
    “Morning, Josh.”
    He laughed softly.  *Was it as good for you as it was for me?*
    I laughed, and pushed him away, only to crawl back over to him and give him a kiss, nodding.
    “Promise me something.”
    I raised an eyebrow.  “I suppose that all depends on what you want this time…”  I laughed softly.
    “Promise me that you’ll be with me; that you’ll stay with me.”
    I smiled, and my heart filled with warmth.  “Yes.”
    Josh returned the smile, and drew me close to him.  I could see a tear slip from his eyes as he closed them and fell back asleep.
    “Silly boy.”  I kissed away his tear, laid my head on his chest, and allowed the contentment to wash over me as I drifted back to sleep as well.


This story was inspired by "Dragons", by RogueTiger.

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