The Unrated

Hunter

After a few drinks, Hunter made his way upstairs to his room and passed out. Hunter could feel himself slipping into a deep sleep. When he opened his eyes, he was in a dark room. He was sitting in a chair with a light shining down on him. When he tried to move, he couldn't. He was not tied down or anything. His body refused to listen.

"Huh? Where am I?" Hunter asks as his voice echoes.

"Where indeed?" A voice asks from the shadows.

"You again?" Hunter says already done with this.

A figure appears across from Hunter. It mimics his posture. He can almost make out a face in the dark.

"What do you want this time? Wait. Am I dead? The last couple of times we met, I was dying or close to death."

"Not true. I saved you from getting our ass kicked in Xavier's training room. you're welcome, by the way." The figure says in Hunter's voice.

"That's why I can't remember what I did. You did it. Don't do that again."

"Well, that's a hell of a way of saying thank you." Shadow Hunter says.

Shadow Hunter gets up and walks towards Hunter.

"What are you?" Hunter says, trying to stay calm.

"Isn't that like asking who I'm?" Shadow Hunter says as he sits beside Hunter.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want? I want you to break that promise." Shadow Hunter goes back to his original spot.

"No," Hunter says.

"I knew you would say that. You can't keep that promise forever. Once The Games start, that "no" will start to get shaker and shaker until it shatters. Do you think you can't be broken? You can't even see that what you have been looking for has been right in front of your face the whole time."

"What are The Rating Games to you? Why are they so important? What's been in front of my face? Dammit, tell me!" Hunter tries to get up. "Why can't I move?!"

"The fact you can't move proves my point. You're weak. You can't do anything right now. When will you actually do something? What's going to happen when someone needs you? Are you not going to have the strength to get up? Guess The Games will give us our answer." Shadow Hunter starts to fade.

"Well, it looks like you're waking up. We are out of time. See you in The Rating Games. It should be a blast." Shadow Hunter laughs and fades away. Leaving an echo of it laughing. Hunter then feels himself falling. He starts to scream.

"AGH!" Hunter tries to grab something to stop himself.

"Hunter! Hunt!" A voice breaks through, grabbing his shoulders.

Hunter opens his eyes, and he realizes he's on the floor of his room. He looks at the voice. It's Zach.

"You must have been having one hell of a nightmare," Zach says.

"Z? What...It happened again," Hunter says, calming down.

Zach takes his hands off of Hunter and sits on Hunter's bed. "What happened again? You falling out of bed? That happens like every other day. It makes me laugh every time. This time though, I heard you scream, and I ran over. I did laugh a little till I saw the look on your face. You were really freaked out."

Hunter gets off the floor and sits on the bed beside Zach. "You remember when you saw that shadow thing when you passed out? I saw it again. It told me I'm going to do something bad. Like really bad."

"Like?"

"I made a promise to my dad. He made me promise that I would never get into a situation where I took it too far. Far enough that I'll not be able to take it back; it scares me every time I think about it. I talked to Zoey about it. She wants me to be strong, but what if I can't be? What happens if I do something that changes me?" Hunter starts to shake.

"Hey, I know this is rich coming from me, but stop being stupid. You're the strongest person I know. Who else can get his ass kicked and keep getting back up? I may be out of line with this, but your mom and dad would be proud of you. Just think about what you're doing. You're using The Rating Games to find out who that murderer is. You're going so far to avenge your family. I don't think the guy deserves mercy, to be honest. If something, Lucian forbid, happened to you or Zoey, I would be going to The Wall because of what I'd do to that bastard. However, you're smarter than me. You actually think about things. The fact that this concerns you so badly proves you won't take it too far."

"Thanks, Z. I feel a little better. What time is it anyway?"

Zach stands up. "Like 5 a.m., get dressed. You have a train to catch!"