The Hunters Volume One: The Beginning

Episode Seven: Àtahsaia

   The bodies had been found by some students who had gone into the woods with a teacher for an outdoor project. Terrified at the mangled state of the two corpses, they had immediately notified the police who were then invited to remove the bodies. The time of death had been estimated to have been several hours before the bodies were discovered and the cause of death has been assumed to be an attack by a large carnivorous animal. That conclusion had been after further examination of the bodies had revealed several body parts missing in a manner that indicated that they had been consumed.
   When another body was discovered deep in the forest the next day, in the same condition as the first two, a wave of alarm swept through the school. Once more the police were called in and a warning was issued to all students to avoid solitary movements after dark. A special Animal Control team had been called in to search the forest for the creature responsible for the murders. Since it was fall, it had been assumed that a bear had caused the deaths in its search for food before winter set in. The team discovered nothing and the search had been called off.
   It had taken another incident before the police began to rethink their earlier conclusion. This time three people had been killed in the same gruesome manner. The cops decided to start treating the case more seriously after that. Considering the fact that a serial killer might be on the loose, a city wide manhunt had begun less than a few hours after the corpses had been removed from the school.
   The authorities had not been the only ones to take action. After the first murders had happened, Michael had deemed the situation far too dangerous to maintain a neutral stance. Since then the Hunters had hunting down every confirmed skinwalker they could find. Daniel had helped them greatly in that aspect. The man had proved his worth by creating talismans made it easier to identify a skinwalker in human form. Despite the reduced number of the evil creatures in the school, the witches were still advised to utilize the anti-curse charms Daniel had made for them. Inevitably there were some individuals who had not quite agreed with that decision.

    Notwithstanding the fact that a bunch of dead bodies had been found earlier, lectures were still held as activities proceeded as normal. It had been a few hours since the bodies were taken away and the first lectures of the day had just ended. From her seat behind him, Mia had watched Michael attentively throughout the duration of the lesson. She knew that he had barely heard a word Miss Stone had said and she could not fault him for it either. He had a lot on his mind at the moment and mundane school knowledge was not very high on his priority list.
   As the last students filed out of the class, both Hunter and witch made their way down to the female Exorcist. Michael took the lead, his need for an answer hastening his movements.
   "Any luck with the hospitals?" He asked hopefully.
   Diane shook her head ruefully. "Unfortunately no. The missing students were not admitted into any hospitals in Starlight Bay."
   Michael inhaled slowly, drawing out the breath to calm his already frayed nerves. This was proving to be more of a bother than he had originally thought.
    'No plan survived first contact with the enemy.' The voice of his predecessor rang out comfortingly within the confines of his mind. 'You knew this would not be easy when you signed up for it. All you can do now is try your best to contain the damage.'
   "Alright then. Since these guys are so keen to keep their stuff on the down low, let's see how they'll react to this. Diane, I need you to arrange a meeting with the principal."
   The woman narrowed her eyes at the Hunter. "Why would I do that?"
    "It seems like they've realized that we're not willing to take this fight to the public," he answered. "Tell the principal about the missing students. We'll wait and see how they react to that."
   Diane seemed to consider the thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Fine. You and your team better figure out what's behind these murders though. I can't stand any more of these children getting killed like that."
   Michael nodded soberly. "I understand. Thank you Diane."
   "It's not a problem," she waved off his thanks politely. Her eyes took on some warmth Mia had never seen before as the woman looked at Michael. "I'm just glad you can work with us once again."
   Michael gave her a small smile that had filled with a strange sadness as he turned to leave. Mia just looked confusedly at his back as he left the class before turning her questioning gaze to Diane.
   The older woman simply shook her head and smiled. "You'll understand sooner or later, depending on how much you can get him to trust you. For now, just stick with him and he'll keep you safe."
   Mia looked like she was about to say something else before deciding against it and settled for an appreciative nod. Slinging her bag across her shoulder, she left the class hurriedly to find the Hunter.
  
   Left alone in the large empty hall, Diane sighed softly as she packed away the materials she had made use of during the lecture.  Notwithstanding that this might but have been her real job but that did not mean she would mess around with it. Her hands worked quickly to clear the place, while her mind replayed the last part of their conversation.
   The sad look that had appeared on the face of the young man before he left had caused no small amount of guilt. She recalled the incidents that had led to the defection of the Hunters from the Church and the guilty intensified within her. She had not been alive when it had happened, no normal human from that time period would still exist by now. But by virtue of her relatively high position in the chain of command, she was privy to some knowledge that very few people were aware of.
   The Church had called it an honest mistake and had pulled every string it could to bury any and every evidence of the incident. But the damage had already been done. They had already lost their most powerful weapon in the secret war against other supernatural forces. The time after the Hunters had deserted the Church had served to show hire reliant they had been in the group. In their absence, there was little that could be done to retaliate against other less peaceful factions.
   That had been the most trying period for the Church. A time that would forever be known as the Dark Ages.
   Only true faith and the hardened resolve of the crusaders then had saved the Church from supernatural destruction in a war that had been fought in the shadows. Now aware of their glaring weaknesses, the Church had quickly come up with a way to rebuild their defense against otherworldly offenses. That was the origin of the Exorcists.
   In a way, Diane felt a bit grateful to the Hunters for providing the opportunity for the creation of the team of which she and Vincent were part of. It had been their departure that had prompted the team's establishment, although it had come at the cost of so many lives. It would have been of much comfort to her had the Hunters departed on peaceful terms. Yet when she recalled why they had left in the first place, she found that she could not bring herself to blame them in any manner.
   In fact she had been more than a little surprised when they had agreed to this program. Her superiors had been purely elated at the prospect of interacting with the Hunters in a nonviolent situation. She herself had been intrigued at the chance to work alongside the famous team after being enlightened on the truth about them. Although her superiors had asked her to attempt a negotiation with the Hunters to draw them back to the Church, Diane had a distinct feeling that such an attempt would not go down well with Michael. The latter's instant rejection of the offer when Vincent had proposed it solidified Diane's neutral stance on the order.
   The woman sat down on a nearby chair and sighed. Her eyes fell in her watch and she sighed again. She had another class to teach soon and after that she planned to visit the principal for Michael's request. Her intention for agreeing to the young man's request had had nothing to do with her orders to recruit them back. She was simply as concerned about the missing students as he was. And if there was something that Diane valued more than when her loyalty to the Church, it was the protection of innocents.
   Her mission could wait. This on the other hand, was not something to be put off for at all. At least not anymore.