Saturday,

March 11, 2012

2: 58 AM

In the basement of the Safehouse, three grief-stricken researchers work endlessly. Kane delivers fresh books to the women at Valli's favorite window nook, dropping stacks of old books carelessly to rush back for more. For the millionth time, he goes over what Addy said she felt, what could trespass into protected witch territory, and how they could get Valli without leaving any trace. He argues mentally with himself while Sunny and Addy stay silent, concentrated eyes rushing over lines and sentences in each book.

It's been hours since Valli disappeared. Sunny carried Addy back to the house by supporting her weight with strong grips on her shoulders, the witch too emotionally exhausted and physically weak to hold herself on her feet. She leaned heavily on Sunny, downcast eyes and sniffling, uncaring the woman was another strange Hunter she didn't necessarily trust with her life. The Hunters had a feeling she wouldn't fight back if they did try to attack her, without Valli with her Addy appears to think her purpose is missing. She had spent centuries with his family, spent his whole life from the moment he was born at his side — swearing protection. Inside, her heart and mind scream the same; I've failed him.

Sunny led the Witch inside the house to the basement, tossing an order to Kane for a tea kettle and coffee. For an hour and a half, the women sit at the bench window. Addy curled up in the corner Valli liked best with one of his throw blankets over her, hands loosely cupped his most used mug. Sunny had settled at her feet, voice calming and soothing, rough hands gentle and kind. The female hunter understands what Addy is going through, she says as much, and the promise they'll find the blind man only perks the witch up briefly. Both women grabbed a stack of tomes and started researching, Addy more slowly as her eyes watered and her bottom lip trembled.

Kane obeyed the issued command, the round coffee table was piled with mugs, fresh and stale coffee or tea (and alcohol), and stacks upon stacks of tomes, various language books, and old journals. They search over the bookshelf section of multiple old bestiaries (old journals from long-dead hunters with lists of all the monsters they encountered) for traces of a creature related to dreams or illusions. Sunny takes the lead from the Hunters, diving into the dream possibly from what Addy told them in the driveway. Five hours in, Sunny slammed her book closed and started pacing the length of the basement aggrievedly. Addy had kept silent since they came inside, quietly switching books and sparing glances at the Hunters.

"Son, get upstairs and look for his list of Hunters." It was the new command for Kane, the man's head snapped up from the thin journal he found to look at the stomping woman. "I want to know if there are any cases similar in the state. He mentioned something about an Emily coming back by. If you can find her, ask what she's hunting."

Without so much as a nod, the beefy man took the stairs three at a time to reach the kitchen where the phone line was on the wall next to the dining room door frame. The mentioned list of names and numbers is hung on a clipboard next to the last Bug Pest phone, Valli's handwriting neat and curvy. The rest of the day, until midnight, Kane sat in the kitchen on his phone going down the list. Sunny delivers three thick journals to him, which he reads during and after calls. Each Hunter is wary of the unknown number, however as soon as Kane names himself and Sunny, they all try to be helpful. The man doesn't mention Valli is missing, only grumbles excuses of why the blind man can't talk or handle the phones for a few days.

He gets the same answers from the newer hunters (within ten years of the lifestyle); I've never heard of any dream monsters yet, but I'll keep an ear out for you. He curses and grouses to himself, rolling his eyes as he insults the newer generations of Hunters. They don't know bullshit if it stared them in the eye. There are hundreds, likely even more, myths of creatures using illusions and dreams to lure in victims. The fact these hunters don't do a deep dive irritates him — Kane isn't much of a researcher, but he damn well educates himself when needed.

The journals aren't much help either. There are no mentions of dreams, false worlds, hallucinations, or even mirages. It checks out, disappointedly. Some creatures are so rare Hunters don't encounter them, even the oldest generation of Hunters find a monster that eluded them.

On the last number in the list, Kane pushes the journals away as the phone rings. He thinks through all the Hunts his father took him on, his solo cases, and the ones he went on with Sunny. Mind whirling to recall any monsters that match the criteria — then suddenly his spine straightens so quickly that it pops and cracks. Of fucking course! Why am I so fucking stupid today?! A growled-out curse startles the woman who answers the unknown number, the sharp intake of her breath alerting Kane.

"Emily?" He grunts, slamming the last journal shut with more force than needed. The echo of it startles the woman on the phone, her eyebrows furrowing in incertitude. "I'm Kane Storm."

"Oh." She's still startled, having heard of the man, but never met him. People say he's rude, intimidating, and practically a monster to the monsters in his own right. Nervously gulping, she asks."How did you get my number? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. It's on Valli's list. I need to know where you are, and what you're Hunting." The man leaves no room for argument, demanding the answers immediately as he shoves himself off the stool and stomps back down to the basement. Irritated at himself, and Sunny, for being too caught up in Valli's disappearance to think clearly.

"Valli?" It's said with concern, the woman now overtaken with worry about her new friend. "Is he okay? I'm in the state, there's been what I think is a Djinn pack running through towns. Kidnapping people without a trace. I'm suspecting where's either two Djinn or one with a witch or something. They disappear too easily and quickly."

His fist clenched around the phone, a faint crack sounding as the force pops a button loose from the frame. "Thanks. We'll take over the case from here. Valli's busy, so Sunny or I will handle phones." He hangs up abruptly, refusing to engage in more conversation. Instead, shouting as he drops down the stairs heavily. "Ma! We're fucking stupid!"

"Why?"

"Djinn."

"Fuck." The woman growls, slamming her coffee mug down to the table, dark liquid slashing out. "Of course! The only monster we've come across that isn't a fucking myth or rarer than pigs flying over a goddamned rainbow!"

Kane merely nods, arms crossed as he rests a heavy shoulder on the stairwell, standing at the bottom step. "That Emily lady has to be nearby. Said maybe two Djinn and possibly a Witch or something. They kidnap and then vanish too fast."

Sunny soothes a hand over her eyes, cracking her neck with a deep sigh. "I'll call her back, and get more information." The woman slips back into manager mode, demanding fiercely. "You, Son, gather all the supplies we'll need. Get the truck ready, and get some first-aid too. A change of clothes for Valli and some warm blankets."

"We don't even have a location, Ma." Sunny scowls at the unneeded reminder, narrowing her eyes as Kane shrugs a shoulder. "It's true. What, you wanna drive to each abandoned warehouse or farm and search? That'd take more hours than we already wasted."

She ignores the valid argument, rather shouldering past him to get upstairs. The man only gives because she's his Aunt, allowing her to push against his shoulder. "They have to be close. They disappeared and no one is stupid enough to teleport further than a few miles with an experienced Hunter with them. Blind or not. They might've knocked him out, but–"

"Driving would be faster." The hunters spin to face Addy, the witch's soft, hoarse voice drawing attention. She hasn't moved from her curled ball, the thickest tome leaned on her knees. She stares at the pair almost blankly, eyes dull. Sunny hurries off the stairs, crouching next to the other woman with a small twitch of a smile. Addy just blinks slowly at her, quietly continuing. "If he's alive and we get close, the spell I have on him will be active again. No other witch or warlock would be able to remove it, I made sure of that."

"So we just drive around like Kane said and you'd be able to locate him once the spell activates?" Sunny confirms, for once thanking a witch mentally for possibly making a hunt easier.

"Should be. Unless he's ...dead." A small hiccup puffs out the last word, the very thought hurting the woman's heart.

Kane snarls, upper lip twitching like an angry tiger. "He's not dead."

"Of course, he isn't!" Ma snaps over her shoulder, composer loosened before she inhales slowly. "Valli is a strong man, he can handle a little ol' Djinn. I bet he's figured it out before us!" Sunny squeezes Addy's wrist, the words meant to comfort don't penetrate the witch's worried mind. She doesn't respond but allows her lips to tug into a strained smile-like wince. Clapping her hands, the elder Hunter stands. "Now, let me get Emily to give us a general direction to start and we'll get out there, get your boy back."

It would only make perfect sense for Emily to give locations of nearby old, decrepit structures. Storage warehouses turned into a wasteland of junk, leftover parties, and drug dens. Glass layers the hard, cold floors, under the layers of dirt, grime, and feces. Some of them have blood stained on the concrete, forgotten clothes and bags, a weapon there, and an unloaded gun there. Farmhouses were ruined, the ceilings caved in and structures weakened. They are the same as every other building they visit; disease-infected, crumbling, and overgrown into nature. In the dead of night, the three sit in the truck, on the back roads with the headlights off. Sunny and Kane took the front seats, with Addy in the back to stretch her legs and lean against the back door.

The hours tick by. Each place they visit with no sign of the spell reactivating sucks Addy's hope out the cracked window above her head. She knows the moment a darkened shadow of a building comes into her view if her boy is in there, and he never is. At each stop, Kane climbs from the truck cab with a gun and a hunting knife in his grasp to check the structure for any traces of monsters. It takes time to clear the entire building, but he does it calmly and focused. There is no sign of the Djinns or Valli.

A part of him is relieved. He doesn't enjoy the vision of him stumbling upon a strung-up and drained Valli in a dark, damp room. Normally, the gore and carnage wouldn't bother him; he has seen too much from a young age. He is desensitized to it. However, his gut is warning he may have aggressive feelings about seeing Valli in such a state. Djinns are known for draining their victims of any energy; blood, movement, and even the task of thinking can be a form of energy to them. Wherever Valli is, Kane hopes (which he never does for cases, not seriously) they find the man soon. There are three more houses to search in, one of which Emily has already cleared, but they'll do their own investigation.

Sunny was pleased one of Valli's Hunters had done a thorough job of clearing the vandalized and nature-ridden cabin in the middle of a soggy field, Kane had returned with no news from his check. This leaves merely two structures left; one was said to be a far-out Shoe Warehouse and the other, an abandoned truck stop. The warehouse was nothing new — half-finished shoes littered the floors and the decade-old, rusted machines that built them, the same vandalism and drug hideout, the same dangerous hazards of touching or stepping on anything.

On the other hand, the truck stop was closer to the main road, only two miles from the small on-ramp to the highway. It's relatively newly abandoned, the structure is still intact, but the glass windows are shattered and doors busted open. Spray paint decorates the building from every angle, litter, and junk are scattered over the parking lot, and two semi-truck cabs are off to the right side. Sunny and Kane had passed it on the return trip with the Angel, the woman had the humorous thought of Kane fixing up one of the semis to drive around.

The second it comes into view down the road, the shadowy figure in the pitch dark, there is a harsh, wet gasp from the backseat. Instantly, the brakes are hit, and the truck slams to a pause. Figures inside lurch from the force, both Hunters spinning in their seats to gaze wide-eyed at Addy. The Witch had sprung up in her seat, the dull hazel of her eyes now a vibrant glowing purple that well in fresh tears, her plump lips trembling. Her body lightly shakes, whether from emotions or the spell flaming to life, neither knows. Voice cracking, she speaks in a wheezed whimper, fear and hope combining. "He's here. Please, get him."

"We will, Lovely. Is there anything we should look out for?" Sunny nudges Kane's ribs with her knuckle, the man twisting back around to get the vehicle in gear. The woman stays turned with her arm supporting her weight on the driver's seat, speaking to Addy in a soft, soothing murmur.

Kane parks behind the truck stop, taking a wide berth around the structure to avoid any possible sighting of the vehicle. He doesn't want the monsters inside to hear or see them yet, they should have the advantage of surprise. Once parked, he quietly climbs out and softly shuts his door. The false bed of the truck is lifted, revealing the glints of weapons and tools under it with his tiny flashlight. Two guns filled with custom-made bullets of steel and drops of cow blood, then two long steel hunting knives are snatched up. Kane tucks his gun into the waist of his jeans, tossing the other to Sunny when he opens his door again.

"She's coming in with us. Get another knife." Ma orders, before turning to Addy. Instructing, firm yet gentle. "I know you have magic, but in case they sneak up on you, stab them in the head if you can. Anywhere should stun them long enough for you to do whatever you can to kill it, but the head is quick."

Addy bobs her head, peeking at Kane through the headrest, informing and demanding. "There is a dark warlock in there. He is giving the Djinn the ability to teleport and access to his power. Leave him to me. He is the reason my boy is here, I want to kill him."

"All yours." The man easily agrees. I am not fighting any witches or warlocks today, too unfocused. "We'll get the Djinn and find Valli. Make that fuckhead suffer for me."