The Huntress

Let's train, to the death

Before we went to bed, Olivia made sure I got a new haircut because she didn't want the monsters to laugh at my "bald spot". So she cut it to a layered tousled bob. Then she added a few blonde highlights. She tried her best hide the part where my hair was raked off. I looked at the mirror. She did an outstanding job. Then Liam, being the medic expert (or so I've heard) treated my cuts. He rubbed actually alcohol on the cuts. "Are you insane", I asked him. "Don't worry. It's not actual alcohol. I know what I'm doing", he reassured me, yanking my arm towards him. I don't know why but every time he touch me, my skin tingled. My cheeks felt hot. No! I told myself. A psycho Queen is after you and sending her monsters to get you and will probably kill you when she's done.  Or let me live in her world of nightmares. I'm not here to look for love. But he was cute. I give him that. After he was done, I went to my bedroom. I tried sleeping but I couldn't. I tossed and turned. I even tried drinking warm milk. Nothing. I sat on bed. I looked at the time on my wrist watch. 00:59. Yeah no. I wasn't gonna stay up and do absolutely nothing. I decided to peek out the window and watch the monsters. Poor dad. This was his new life. He always had to be on the run. Forced to learn survival skills on the way. To keep moving from place to place. It even costed him his marriage. He sacrificed his life so we can live normal lives. Then I thought about Mom. I wonder what she was doing. What Samantha told her on the phone about my whereabouts. Then I thought about Phoebe. I still love her even though I sometimes feel like slapping her. I had to do this. For them. To live. Not to let all the sacrifices that have been made be put into vain.

I stayed up all night. I looked at the time. 05:06. The monsters were retreating. I guess being the servants of a Queen of darkness meant that you're not supposed to be in the sunlight. I decided to go take a shower. After I was done, I wore a black vest, black jeans and my combat boots. They were a bit muddy from that time I wore them but I couldn't care less. I went outside. But I first checked if the coast was clear. Just in case I don't get attacked again. I didn't have anymore hair to shred. I went out. The sun was warm. The I saw Olivia. When did she gets up? I ran towards her and talked her shoulder. One breath later, she tackled me and unsheathed her dagger. When she saw who it was she sheathed her dagger once more and helped me up. "So sorry. Instinct I guess", she said looking at the sunrise. I suppose being taken from a young age to go train to be a guardian, to fight, to kill and to survive at all cost messes with one's mind. "What are you doing up this early", I asked her, observing the horizon. "Funny how I should be asking you that", she said, looking at me with a warn smile on her face. Her blue eyes twinkled in the light. She was so... sisterly. I felt safe when I was around her. I wonder how Phoebe felt when I was around her. Probably annoyed. "I couldn't sleep", I answered her. "Makes sense. I remember the first time I killed my first monster. Traumatic but I got used to it. I was finishing up your training course. And I recommend that you get prepared before you get hit in the face with a badger".

Luckily there were no flying badgers to scratch my face. But the course was difficult. There were test dummies all over. I had to shoot them down. Some came flying out of nowhere. Buy I managed to shoot them. I had to avoid some obstacles too. When I ran out of arrows, I had to improvise. I used the combats moves Olivia taught me before I started the course. Liam came from time to time to inspect my progress and say ridiculous comments before going back into the cabin. The weather was hot today. I was sweating. My hair kept on sticking to my face. Good thing it was cut short. Every time I felt like giving up, Olivia would shouting something encouraging like "You're doing great. Keep it up. You're almost there". When I was far from done. I tried doing the roundhouse kick but I fell flat on my butt. Tired as I was I had to do this. I had to finish this course. The sad part is that I wasn't even allowed to get a break. "You don't get breaks on the battle field", Olivia shouted. Well if I don't survive this course then I wouldn't need to worry about an actual battle field. I kept pushing on. It took me almost the whole day to finish the course. I didn't understand. It looked quite small. I fell flat on my face. Olivia laughed and sat next to me. I sat straight up. "Don't you ever get worried taking your little brother on missions", I asked. "Of course I do. I asked our "bosses" that Liam came on the missions I was sent to. And vice versa. I prefer for him to be close by, you know", Olivia replied, handing me a water bottle. Thank God. I quickly took it and gushed down the water. "What did you tell Samantha at camp", I asked because the was seriously bothering me. "Who- oohh. Her. Yeah, I erased her memory", she replied as if erasing one's memory was something totally normal. 'Hey, did you get in trouble with your mom at night? Naahh. I just erased her memory. No biggie.' I guess she saw the confused expression I wore and cared to elaborate. "I erased of the memories she had of you. I did that with all the camp directors. The campers... not so much. I get strained when I use magic for too long", she said. "Oh and I got something for you", she said, pulling out something from her pocket. I was so happy I almost wept. It was my phone. I hugged her tightly before I took the phone from here. Olivia stood up and brushed herself. "I think you should call them", she suggested before heading to the cabin. Them? Oh. She was referring to Mom and Phoebe. I unlocked my phone and went to my contact. I scrolled through until I found Mom's number. I pressed the call number and the phone rang.