Sinnamon

Hunter and Hunted, Part One

After the Uber dropped them off at their destination, at some random spot off the side of the road overlooking a vast wall of forest, Sindra and Koda were ready to hunt.

Koda advised that he lead the way, since he was the one wielding the charms, so Sindra had no choice but to agree to that. The woods were dark and foreboding the further they delved within, and even the full moon hardly shone with the thick cloud cover over it. It was also a little chilly, but nothing two hunters couldn't handle.

The forest grew eerily silent, but that didn't bother either of them. In fact, it only benefited them in their search to better find the werewolf, because it was silent enough that even Sindra's thoughts were too loud.

And for some reason, Sindra had a feeling that this couldn't be her true quarry. Once more, it seemed too good to be true.

"We're getting close," Koda announced after an hour. As a confirmation, the charms around his neck were glowing brighter than ever before, illuminating the trees around them. As an experienced hunter, Sindra could sense the werewolf's presence even without the charms. Koda had that skill too, but the charms were beneficial in allowing them to find it that much quicker.

After about fifteen more minutes of walking, the charms dimmed slightly, then completely grew dark. Koda frowned, holding the beaded necklace in one hand as he turned back to face Sindra. "I've never seen them do this before. What the hell does it mean?"

"I'm not sure either, I'm not a sorceress." She meant that with only a little bit of snark.

"Well, it would sure be nice if we could get any witchy person to help us," Koda mumbled half to himself, scratching the back of his neck. Sindra felt the same way, but when had she ever needed a sorcerer or sorceress to help her on her hunts? The answer was significantly close to the negatives. "Alright, come on. Let's just keep going in the same direction. Obviously it means that we're pretty damn close, or else it wouldn't have stopped glowing."

"Unless it's broken..."

"You know as well as I do that charms can't break," Sindra muttered as she strode past him. She knew the werewolf was very close, because goosebumps were rising all along her arms and a familiar chill ran down her spine. That meant that the hunt was coming to its end, because they should be right on top of the beast by now.

Then, like the charms, the tingling in her arms faded away until it stopped completely. Sindra frowned, stopping in her tracks as she slowly watched her surroundings. "That's a new sensation," she said to herself.

Koda stopped right next to her, still fiddling with the charmed necklace. "What's a new sensation?"

"You know how I always get that tingling feeling whenever a werewolf is near? It stopped all of a sudden... almost like it got snuffed out somehow." She slowly pulled out her handgun, which was loaded to the brim with silver bullets.

"Yeah, that's odd. Well great, now I've got a really bad feeling about this." Koda unsheathed his silver knife, glaring into the darkness. He now stood back-to-back with Sindra, so the two of them could watch each other just in case they received a surprise attack from the beast.

But nothing jumped out at them.

It was after some time that Sindra's worry and caution faded away to annoyance and frustration. "Damn. Is this thing gonna show or not? I still can't tell what's going on."

"Wait, shh," Koda whispered, placing a finger in front of his lips.

They both stood there and listened for the longest time, and then they both heard the sounds of muffled footsteps padding somewhere through the trees. The hairs began to raise again on Sindra's arms as she held up her handgun, now scanning the dark shadows in front of her and around her. A chilling howl resonated through the woods, seeming to come from all directions, but the birds flying out from the trees northward gave Sindra her answer. Danger had arrived.