hunting x the x spiders

Blood and pain.

After a ten hour training session, I'm more than happy to be home. My birthday is in three weeks, and so is the Hunter Exam. It actually falls on my birthday, which is why I wanted to take it this year instead of last year- good luck, ya know? I walk up the stairs to my front door but notice something immediately. The vibes are off and it's quiet- too quiet. Mom and Dad should both be home, and Maisy should be back from college. The front door looks like it's cracked open. 

I approach with caution, keeping my movements as quiet and undetectable as possible, I hold my hand on the door handle, trying to listen into the house. I don't hear anything so I slip inside, continuing to keep my movements minimal. The house is a mess, which supports my 'something bad happened' theory. Mom can't stand a speck of dust, let alone turned chairs and bookcases on the ground. A crash and single scream pushes me out of my mind. That noise came from upstairs, I train my hearing and deduce it came from one of the bedrooms on the west side of the house- my parents have a bedroom on that side. I hear more movement from up there and run for the stairs. 

Once I reach the second floor landing, I keep to the walls. I see five, no six, wait those four make ten shadows on the ground, surrounding three people- my parents and sister- tied up in chairs. I edge closer to them, running out of wall to hide by. A short shadow with crazy hair stops in his tracks as I hide behind a corner. 

"Guys hold on. Theres someone else here." His high voice bites the air.

"No there isn't. I can't sense anyone." Another shadow says, this one is a man with a ponytail. The short one goes back to what he was doing, sorting through my parent's dressers. I use this time to slip to the other side of the hallway and right beside the doorway. Just as I start to think of a plan, I hear Mom and Maisey scream, then through the crack of the door hinges, see the short man holding my fathers head in his hands. Before I have time to process, my Mothers head rolls to the ground, my sister's soon to follow.

"Feitan, we could've used them for leverage." A woman speaks. 

"Hm?" The short man, Feitan, questions. 

"We still don't know the combination to the safe. There could be more jewels in there." She speaks quietly and clearly. Silence fills the air once again as I hold in tears. 

If they find me, I'm dead. If they don't find me, I'm completely alone in this world. I don't know which is worse. 

There is a faint click and a few sighs of relief. "There. I could've done that from the beginning, but the idea of killing the prideful man was too overpowering." Feitan speaks again. His words send me into a deep seated fit of rage. Without registering what I'm doing, I move into the doorway. 

"Y- You missed one." I whisper. "Please kill me." I plead with the intruders. Feitan, while being undeniably shorter than the others, still stands inches above me. 

"Wh- What?" The pink haired woman questions, readying her fighting stance.

"Who are you?" A blonde man asks. He holds a cat like smile. 

"I'm the daughter and sister of the people you just killed." I whisper, a little louder than the last time I spoke. Feitan looks at me, clearly puzzled. We hold each other's gaze until the man with a ponytail speaks again. 

"So, you want to die like your family? You've been here the whole time, and we haven't noticed you. You don't want to" He stops and looks at my families decapitated heads. "Avenge them?" I look at my families bodies, then their heads, then the man that spoke. 

"No. Even if I felt I could beat one of you, I'm beyond outnumbered." I sigh and look at the pink haired woman. "I don't want to live if they aren't there to live with me." She stares at me, with a stoic expression. Nobody speaks for a few seconds.