Austin

Izzy makes things so goddamn dramatic sometimes. Yeah, yeah. The alarm went off. Big deal. It's not like that's happened a thousand times before. But anyway, back to the story.

No one was too pleased that this wonderful party was interrupted by the alarm - the real alarm this time, mind you. Although, I bet plenty of us wished that it was a false alarm again. Everyone's groans made it clear that no one was happy, especially Izzy and Liam.

"Please tell me this is another false alarm," Izzy said, looking pleadingly at Liam and I. Liam shook his head, probably wishing the same thing himself. Unlike them, I don't let things bring me down so easily. I grinned and slapped my hands on their shoulders.

"Cheer up, guys. Looks like we'll be spending this special birthday in the forest," I told them, trying to make the situation sound better than it really was.

"Yay," Izzy replied, her voice very unenthusiastic. I'd try to make sure that changes soon.

"What do we do now?" someone in the group asked. The three of us turned around to find the source of the voice. It turned out to be Bryan Marr, an old friend of Liam and I. He's fifteen, so just a year younger than us. The reasoning behind our lack of conversation lately was because of his new girlfriend, Alyssa Wright, who's also a member of the Rescuers.

"We get into our groups and enter the forest," Liam said, just as unenthusiastic as Izzy was.

"How will we get there in time?" Alyssa asked, appearing out of nowhere right by Bryan's side. There was hardly a moment where she wasn't near him. Sounds annoying, I know, but she actually isn't that bad. She's extremely nice considering that she's just a tad clingy.

"What do you mean?" I wondered. I wasn't the only one who was confused by her question, many others were looking at her curiously as well.

"We set off a false alarm earlier which drew the Hunters into the forest. Now the real alarm went off and the Hunters are already there with one hell of a big head start."

"Damn it, that completely slipped my mind," Izzy said, obviously frustrated with herself even though it wasn't her fault. As you could probably tell, Izzy likes blaming herself for things that go wrong. She takes her role as leader way out of proportion. Such an overachiever.

"Maybe the Hunters accidentally set off the alarm," the she-devil, that goes by the name of Kayla, suggested.

"Do you seriously think that the Hunters would be stupid enough to set off their own alarms? Not everyone's like you," I snapped.

"Unlike you, I'm trying to come up with answers instead of the just standing there looking like a complete idiot," she snapped back.

I was about to reply back with another snarky comment until Liam stopped it before it goes too out of hand.

"Just shut the hell up!" Liam shouted, him and everyone else all annoyed by the arguing.

As much as I would've loved to keep going at it with Kayla, there was no time to waste and our arguments tend to get ugly. She should be lucky that she's a girl and that I'm gentleman enough not to touch girls. Meanwhile, she'll hit me as I just stand there and roll my eyes. I really hate that bitch.

"Moving on," Liam said, shooting me a glare. "I don't think we should go in the forest now, especially since the Hunters are further ahead of us."

Some people nodded in agreement while others- like Izzy and myself- disagreed.

"There's still a werewolf that needs to be saved. I say we go in," Bryan said.

Liam gave Bryan a quick glance before quickly turning away and moving closer to Izzy and me.

"Can we speak privately?" Liam asked us.

We both nodded and started walking away from the group where we wouldn't be within earshot from the rest.

"What's wrong?" Izzy asked as soon as we were far enough.

"We can't trust Bryan or the other guys," Liam whispered.

"Not this shit again," I said, rolling my eyes.

"What do you mean?" Izzy asked, her eyes growing wide. He should've known that this would only get her more worked up.

"Liam thinks that the guys are spies for Jack," I told her.

Every Rescuer hates Jack with a burning passion. Way too many bad experiences with him and the rest of the Hunters. We try to be civil but the Hunters always start an argument, especially him. Most of the other Hunters are bearable considering that they're just mindless people following Jack's orders. One Hunter, David, is just as bad as Jack. He's the one who always starts the fights with us. His brutish strength and nature scare the living hell out of us. Even so, he might be pretty strong but he definitely lacks in the intellectual department.

"Why do you think the guys are working for Jack?" Izzy wondered.

"Well.... Something happened about a month ago," Liam replied cautiously.

"Goddammit, now we have to tell her, you idiot!" I screamed.

"Tell me what?"

"It was his idea," I said, pointing accusingly at him, "not to tell you."

"Austin," Liam said in a deadly calm voice.

"Yes?" I replied cheerfully.

"Shut the hell up," he said before turning to Izzy. "Like I said, about a month ago Jack and the rest of Hunters paid us a visit asking us to join them. Obviously, we declined but after we did so, they started threatening. They eventually left, but I have a feeling that they visited the other guys as well and were able to convince them."

Izzy thought about this for a moment. "Why didn't either of you tell me about this?"

"We were kinda afraid that you wouldn't trust us," I replied sheepishly.

"I'll always trust the both of you, just don't keep secrets from me, please." We nodded in response and she looked relieved. "Anyway, if the guys were part of the Hunters, then why are they still here?"

"Don't you understand?" Liam asked, suddenly frustrated. "They're here to spy on us! They don't care about us or this group anymore. Bryan and I used to be best friends and now he rarely talks to me."

"He has a girlfriend!" Izzy and I shouted in unison, the two of us beginning to get just as frustrated as Liam was.

"That's not it," he whispered. "I have a bad feeling, Iz. If we go in that forest then something really bad will happen."

"Liam, we don't have time for this. We're going in the forest with or without you," Izzy told him, clearly angered by his distrust in the members of the Rescuers.

"Fine," he grumbled. "I'll go. But if someone dies, it's on you two."

On that happy note, we made our way back to everyone.

"Alright," Izzy said to everyone. "I really appreciate this party but we're going to have to save it for later. It's time to go save a werewolf."

No one was ecstatic over this news but none of us were just about to leave the werewolf for dead.

Almost all of us have been part of this group for a while so we all knew our groups. It only took a minute or two to get sorted into them. There are twenty groups with about four or five people in each, the exception being my group which only has Izzy, Liam, and I. I can't do math so don't expect me to tell you how many people we have in the group. All I know is that the Hunters are more than twice our size. The Rescuers and the Hunters have to enter the forest in different places or else all hell breaks loose. The Hunters always win as you could probably guess. We never get along and we never will. That's the end of it. Every Rescuer is forced to carry a weapon because of this. I highly doubt the Hunters would go as far as to actually kill us, but Liam obviously thinks differently.

We all quickly gathered onto the path to the forest. Further down the path is a clearing where we all split up. I was in the lead with Izzy, Liam, and the others right behind me. The more and more we walked, the more nervous I got. I almost tried turning back around. Something wasn't right up ahead....

I stopped short when I saw it. Liam and Izzy continued to walk ahead, completely missing it. They turned around and gave me a questioning look as to why I stopped. No words could form from my lips. I raised my hand and pointed at it.

Everyone looked at once to where I was pointing and many gasps were heard. Painted onto the side of a tree was a message that stated, "You're Next." It was written in some kind of black liquid that was obviously not paint.

Werewolf's blood was black. We've witnessed enough of their bloodshed to know that much. The message was written in their blood.

When could they have done that? I hesitantly walked up to the tree almost as if I expected a Hunter to fly out at me. I gently touched the black blood with my index finger. I retracted my hand away from it and looked at my finger to verify the answer to my question. The blood was dry which means they couldn't have written that message today.

I turned back to the others, all of which looked scared, except for Liam.

"I told you, guys," he said. "I told you they'd take it one step further. They will kill one of us next."

We all stood there silent, taking in his words. Even after this, I didn't believe what he said was true. Sure, the Hunters kill werewolves but they wouldn't go as far as to kill one of their own. Right?

"Don't be afraid," Izzy told everyone. "It's only a scare tactic; this is exactly how they want us to feel."

Liam shook his head as the others hesitantly nodded in agreement, but none of them truly looked relieved. Deep down, we were all still scared and words wouldn't be able to change that. We wouldn't let it keep us from saving an innocent life, though.

"Let's all split up here," I said, disrupting the looming silence. "Everyone keep their walkie talkies on them, especially after this threat. If you find the werewolf or if you run into Hunters, call all of us and we'll help."

Everyone nodded and walked away with their group. Izzy, Liam, and I went our own way, trying to cover ground quickly. We were already far behind the Hunters so we really need to make more progress. For all we knew, they could have already killed the werewolf. It wouldn't be the first time that we've been unsuccessful.

"Are you okay?" Izzy asked, snapping me awake from my thoughts.

I was going to answer until I realized that she wasn't even talking to me. She was speaking into the walkie-talkie which every group carried to communicate with each other since it was rare to get any service with our phones in there. A voice responded from the walkie talkie; Bryan.

"Yeah, we're all fine," he said. "A few people are a little freaked out from the message but no one's turning back. I'm staying back to make sure everyone gets to their trail safely and to make sure there are no Hunters here."

"Just be careful," Izzy warned.

"For all we know he could be kidnapping the others for the Hunters," Liam muttered after the connection was ended.

"We are not having this conversation now," Izzy told him sternly.

Everyone in their right mind knew not to talk back to Izzy when she was annoyed. We all stopped talking so we resorted to walking in silence. I quickly grew bored so I played with my dagger as we walked on. We all carried daggers in case we ran into the ever so violent Hunters or wild animals - not that there was much of a difference between the two.

Last year, when Izzy, Liam, and I were looking for a werewolf, we heard an animalistic growl that stopped us in our tracks. It was definitely from a wild animal which surprised us since we rarely ever encountered them. The animals tended to be more afraid of us than we were of them.

We pulled out our daggers at once, ready for it to appear. I wish I could say that I was the one who killed it, but in reality, it was actually Liam who did. A coyote burst from the coverage of the foliage and leaped onto Liam. Thankfully, he was able to thrust his blade into the animal's chest before it could get the first kill. With the help of Izzy and I, he was able to push the dead animal off him, allowing us to help my shaken brother to his feet.

Only seconds after that whole ordeal was over, a werewolf came running out. He kept switching his gaze from us to the dead coyote that laid before us.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I did not mean for it to attack you. Are you all unharmed?"

"I'm still breathing, so I guess I am," Liam replied shakily.

The werewolf sighed. "I would hope to be a little more reassured, but I guess that will have to do for now. As long as you all are unharmed, I must get back to my hunt."

He was prepared to take off without the newly dead coyote, but I stopped him before he did.

"What about the one that's already dead?" I asked, pointing to the carcass. "Don't you want that one?"

He shook his head. "I know you went through a lot of trouble killing that one, but I am afraid I must kill it myself."

"What's your name?" Izzy asked curiously. A question we were all probably wondering.

"I cannot say. But, if you do not mind me asking, who are you three?"

The three of us looked at each other, wondering if we should tell him. He never told us his name for obvious reasons, but he didn't seem like he had any intentions to harm us. There was no point in not telling him our names.

"Those two are Austin and Liam. I'm Izzy," she answered for us.

The werewolf showed a small smile. "Twin brothers, I see. I have a brother of my own back home. I can only hope that he and I will one day become as close as the two of you are. I just wish that he would stop obsessing over things that will never come back." He paused for a moment as if he was thinking about past memories. "I'm sorry to hold the three of you up, I must leave now. It was a pleasure meeting all of you. I have a feeling that we will meet again sometime in the future."

Without elaborating any further, he touched his ring which, in seconds, transformed him from a person into a wolf and ran into the forest. We never even got the chance to warn him about the Hunters. We ran after him, worried that the Hunters might find him without our protection. But no matter how long we'd looked, he was nowhere in sight. None of us believed the Hunters found him, though. He seemed to be too smart, even for them.

"I have a bad feeling," Liam said, snapping me from my memory.

"What do you mean?" Izzy and I asked in unison.

"I'm not even sure myself...." He looked around the forest as if he thought the Hunters would jump out at that very moment. "Izzy, call the other groups. Just check if they're okay."

"But Liam, we have to find-"

"Please," he begged, cutting her off.

She nodded, realizing that he was genuinely scared. Liam's always been the brave one, supporting us in our moments of fear. This being one of the first times he's been scared meant that it was our turn to help him.

Izzy pulled out the walkie talkie and attempted to call a group. She held down the button and spoke.

"Hello? Anyone there?" The other end remained quiet. It was highly doubtful that they didn't hear her.

Izzy attempted to call the other groups, but each outcome was the same. Silence. Both Liam and Izzy were now panicking so it was my job to stay positive.

"Maybe we've lost connection?" I asked, trying to convince myself more than the others at this point.

"The connection range lasts for miles, there's no way we walked that far already," Liam muttered.

"Keep trying to call them," I told Izzy.

Before she could, a voice came through the walkie talkie. At first, we were relieved to finally hear a voice. That is, until we recognized who the voice belonged to.

"Hello," Jack Harrison said. All of our anger flared at once from his mocking tone of voice.

"Where are the others, Jack?" Izzy demanded. Liam's hands were shaking, most likely trying to stop himself from taking his anger out on someone who isn't the asshole himself.

"Oh, I'm only looking after them. I'd be more than happy to release them once you hand over the werewolf."

"You'll have to do better than that!" Liam growled, obviously having trouble keeping his anger in check.

"Why, hello there, Austin. Or is it Liam? Probably Liam since Austin never has anything intelligent to say."

"Look who's talking!" I retorted. Thinking back on it, that probably wasn't the best thing to say in my defense.

"My point exactly. Anyway, all I wanted to say is that you should just give up while you have the option to. Come back, get your friends, and leave the werewolf for us. That's all you have to do."

"I never thought you were deaf, Jack. We've already given you an answer and it's not going to change," Izzy said defiantly.

He sighed. "Don't say I never tried making peace with you. If someone gets hurt, or worse, it's your fault, Izzy."

Before any of us could reply, he disconnected, leaving us to stare at each other in silence. The Hunters have always threatened us, especially Jack, but never before did he sound so.... Serious about it. They wouldn't actually harm one of us. They couldn't. Right? Of course not. Liam's stupid paranoia was finally starting to get to me.

"What do we do now?" Liam asked grimly. Both him and Izzy looked scared for obvious reasons. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared, but I'm the oldest of us. I have to act brave even if I don't feel it all the time.

"We save a werewolf and kick some Hunter ass!" I shouted and pumped my fist into the air. Liam didn't look relieved but Izzy smiled a little.

"Exactly," she agreed.

Liam said no more so that was our cue to keep on walking. I couldn't blame him for being pessimistic right now. I was downright terrified. I wouldn't have minded leaving the forest at that moment, but that wouldn't be right. The werewolf's life rested in our hands, we had to save it. But finding it before the Hunters did was relying on pure chance. There's no way to directly pinpoint the werewolf's location. The only way to find it is just to walk around and hope you stumble across it. It's luck based and luck isn't always in our favor.

"Let's take a quick break," I said. We had already been walking for more than an hour and I was exhausted. I needed water badly. The others nodded in agreement, both of which looking just as tired as I felt. With the three of us being drenched in sweat, we all needed the break. I collapsed on the ground and pulled out my water from my bag as Izzy and Liam did the same.

It felt so good to finally drink some nice, refreshing water. I poured some it on my head hoping to keep myself cool for a bit longer. We sat there for a moment, enjoying our short break when we heard it - a branch snapping not too far by. We all jumped to our feet, daggers out and ready.

"Maybe it was just an animal," Izzy reasoned, sounding like she was trying to convince herself that more than us. Footsteps followed the sound of the snapping branch until they finally stopped. I was starting to believe the animal idea until a muttered curse was heard.

"I've never heard of a cursing animal before," I replied back sarcastically. It wasn't the right time for sarcasm, though. Liam and Izzy's faces were filled with fear. I couldn't blame them, even I was scared when the severity of the situation dawned on me.

The Hunters found us.