Hunt

Chapter 71: Finding One's Calling

"Julie! What happened?!" Nick calls out to me as he exits the car, not even shutting the engine down before drawing his gun, making a quick sweep of the area. "Jesus that's a lot of blood... Are you hurt?"

I open my mouth to respond but no words escape my lips. My body had grown numb in the time it took Nick to get to me makes it nearly impossible to form words. I end up just shaking my head in response to Nick's question.

"Where's Kyle?" He asks.

Again, I just shake my head.

Nick doesn't ask any more questions as he quickly leads me to his car, setting me in the passenger seat. As he closes the door for me I see him pull his phone out, quickly putting it to his ear. I can't hear what he says but he was talking fast, gesturing a lot with his hands. The call didn't last long as he hangs up as he opens the driver side door.

"Alright, we're going to Paul's. I told him you're alright but we can't help if we don't know what happened." He tries to hide the worry in his voice, but the wavering is still barely audible over the roar of the car's engine. He had a crazed look in his eye, one that betrayed his relatively calm demeanor.

Sitting in the passenger seat I stare down at my hands. Covered in Kyle's now long dried blood and dirt, cracking and flaking away from my skin as I slowly move my fingers. Nick doesn't try to make small talk with me as he speeds, even though I'm sure he has a million questions. He stomps on the accelerator as soon as we hit pavement. We speed down the road as we quickly approach Paul's house.

Paul is quiet as he lets us in. I could feel his eyes on the blood on my hands, his quiet stare just as loud as his voice. He leads me to the bathroom, where he lets me clean up. Shutting the door behind me I can hear hushed voices talking fast back from the living room.

Overcoming the sluggishness in my limbs I crank the water on hot, gritting my teeth as I finally dare to take a look at my reflection in the mirror. I could barely recognize the girl staring back at me, my face almost obscured under a thick smear of dirt and blood. The poor attempt at makeup I had on having smudged and streaked into the dirt, leaving dark circles around my eyes. I looked about as exhausted and beaten as I felt. Once the water warms up I slowly begin to peel myself out from under the many layers of Kyle's blood and dirt. The water turning to brown as it runs down the drain. I struggle to hold back the tears in my eyes, my throat tightening as I scrub the last remnants of my brother down the drain.

"Julie?" Paul's voice accompanies soft knocking on the door. "Are you alright in there?"

I hadn't realized just how long I had been sitting in the bathroom. It had been close to fifteen minutes and I had just gotten my hands clean. Quickly splashing hot water on my face I scrub the dirt and blood from my skin before shutting the water off, shaking my hands dry before returning to the others. Feeling good enough to bring myself to face the other hunters who are waiting in the next room.

Paul and Nick were sitting around the dining room table, which still bore the maps and charts we had used while planning the assassination of David Anderson weeks ago. There was charged tension in the air between all of us, but I had managed to find my words again while in the bathroom. The numbness of my depression burning away to a deep set anger I had only felt once before. When I had to fight to keep my spot as a hunter. The first time I could feel that Kyle was taking me seriously.

"How're you feeling Julie? You look better." Nick asks, concern in his voice.

I shrug, leaning on the table. "I still feel like shit Nick. But yeah... I guess I'm better."

"Okay, are you able to tell us what happened out there? Neither of us can reach your brother. His phone goes right to voicemail." Nick asks, leaning forward in the chair he was sitting in.