Hunted | h.s

001

A/N: Hello there! Welcome to the first chapter of Hunted! I hope you guys will enjoy this as much as I will while writing the story! I know it's a bit typical, but I'll try my best to make it creative in my own way. Enjoy Stars :)

─ the definition of a family goes as a group of one or more parents and their children living together as a unit. But in a more casual way, they say family is simply the most important thing anyone will have. Unlike friends and lovers, no matter how hard you try to run away and escape from them, they'll always be there for you, they'll always be bonded to you by blood or by spirit. 

"My, my Vanessa sweetheart, this lasagna is just delicious!" my father exclaims, his deep and loud voice sucking me out of my mindless daze.

"Why thank you honey, but I have to give some credit to Hunter, she made most of it." my mother humbles, and nudges my arm with her own, incidentally bringing all attention to me, which I hate.

"Yeah, I did." I chuckle, stabbing my fork into another piece of my own meal.

"Speaking of Hunter, let's all not forget that tomorrow's her big day." Veronica chirps right across from me.

Oh great, here it comes.

"We'll finally be a complete family of hunters. And we can also start hunting together now, get some money for your college funding little sis." Vinny adds, taking his turn to hit my shoulder, and doing it rather harshly with his tall and muscular twenty-one-year-old male body.

The simple thought of hunting makes my stomach twist and turn in disgust. I don't want to hurt anyone, nevertheless, kill someone. There are other ways to make money, my father has a very good job, and I can surely find myself a good one too. I also don't want to obey this stupid government, AKA the idiots who actually think Noah Horan's idea was "revolutionary".

You hear about the famous Noah Horan everywhere: he's the one who created and founded the whole mark basis, and only shared how it works with the big world leaders who are sworn to secrecy if they'd like to be deemed hunters and not hunted. The government always is selfish, swearing that everything they do is for the population's greater good and that all of their decisions are for us citizens, but I don't believe it one bit. And I feel like I'm the only one in the world who questions how we can just modify the human race to have these marks appear on our skin with our names.

The worst part of it all is that it's the law to kill a hunted. If a hunter is seen with a hunted and doesn't kill them, then they're seen as just as worthless as the hunted, and can hence be murdered too.

"That Harry boy, he's getting his mark too tomorrow, right?" Veronica questions, pushing some of her short brown locks away from her face.

"Yeah, he is, about two hours before I get my own." I smile, grabbing the mop of brown locks I've left hanging over my left shoulder, and transferring to my right side instead.

Smile. It's not in a romantic way whatsoever, but the simple mention of my best friend makes me extremely happy. He and I, we've known each other for almost a decade, and no one understands me more than he does, vice-versa is valid too. It's always been Harry and Hunter, Huner and Harry...

"Remember, if he's a hunted, then don't be shy to kill him." my mother declares.

"Mom!" I whine, instantly snapping my head in her direction. "I'd never kill him, never in under any circumstance. And besides, his brothers were hunted, his parents are hunters, he has a very good chance of being one of us."

But Harry and I both know for a fact that he'll be hunted. For years we've been searching for his odds as coming out as a hunter, and they've been slim to nothing. It's the reason why I've been planning a way to keep him safe. That I'll move away, that I'll kill and hunt for us to survive away from here. He's the only person that I'll ever kill for, even if it pains me deep down. This is why it's torturing me to spend these hours with my family and hide the backpack that'll be full of everything I might need in the future.

"Well if he becomes a hunter, our families should hunt together. More kills, more money for everyone." my father shrugs.

And this is one of the reasons why I don't feel too bad about abandoning my family. Since day one, all they care about is money, more specifically the money they get from taking away innocent people's lives. They've all been brainwashed and thrown into the stupid world with these stupid marks.

"I've got a history project to work on for tomorrow, may I be excused?" I ask, furrowing my brows and placing my utensils on either side of my cleared plate.

"Of course, honey, keep those grades up!" my mother giggles, tapping my shoulder reassuringly.

My lips curl upwards, forcing on a smile in an attempt to gracefully exit the room, and head upstairs. My feet tap each and every stair, go over the little turnpike, and over another set to walk through before we arrive at the upper level. On the right are two doors; Veronica and Vinny's bedrooms for when they're not in New York. To the left are three doors; my room, and the two bathrooms for us three kids. And in the middle is my parents' room, with the letters H and V hung on the white door. 

The V stands for Vanessa, and the H stands for Henry. It's no coincidence that the twins ended up with names starting with V and that I ended up with one starting with H. I was told that they gave me the name Hunter to make my chances certain of becoming one.

So I head to the left and twist the silver doorknob leading to my area of the house, before stepping in and shutting it right behind me.

I don't plan on working on my project, not since I already completed it yesterday night and handed it in minutes after. I just have a few more things to pack for tomorrow, more or less some clothes and bathroom essentials I've had to sneakily steal over the course of a few months as for no one to get suspicious.

This whole thing is difficult and painful. I don't want to hurt anyone, not my family and not Harry. It was a tough decision for me to make on which one I go with, but in the end, I decided that I need to be around someone that shares my interest, and that doesn't have a cold heart full of the will to kill.

Who knew high school could be this hard?