Spirit Hunters

4 || Hunters and Prey

Cassia sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair, her hands uncomfortable from the hot cup of tea burning her palms, and all while the uncomfortable pressure of the room pressed upon her shoulders.

She took a deep drink of the herbal tea, ignoring the way it scalded a path down her throat. She needed something to do besides think about all the gazes upon her. All the things that Flann had said.

The mark that had floated over her head.

"Is she okay?" Tal whispered. "She hasn't said anything for, what, five minutes? I think Flann sent her into shock."

"I don't think people move at all when they're in shock," Rayner mused. "Maybe you should go poke her to check."

"And risk getting hit like Aeden? No way."

"She doesn't even have the stick anymore."

Someone else sighed. "You're both idiots."

Cassia resisted a shiver as another voice cut through the two's banter. Rin. He was one of these... these Spirit Hunters. The term had seemed childish at first. Some silly group coming together to find proof of the supernatural. But then Flann had come and put so many claims behind that title.

Cassia squeezed her eyes shut before lifting them to the woman in question. She stood next to Bram, and they both observed her. Aeden sat in a seat beside the two adults, an ice pack held to his jaw. Catching her gaze, the silver-eyed boy averted his eyes. A faint blush crept up his cheeks.

She swallowed as she looked back at Flann. "I think—" She coughed. Took another drink of hot tea to soothe her throat. Tried again. "I want to know what's going on. And not the quick version you gave me before."

Flann smiled knowingly. "Do you?"

No. Cassia wanted to go back to the start of the day and call in sick. She never would have run into that strange grandmother, never would have heard of this 'mark of death', never would have been so rattled she told her friends, never would have ended up here. She would have lived her life in ignorance.

If her life even continued for long.

It was that rattling truth that steeled her nerves. No matter how much she wanted to turn away, it wouldn't stop reality, and she wanted to be able to face it fully prepared. She nodded. "Yes."

Flann scrutinized Cassia, and then she smirked. "Alright then." She walked over to the desk and leaned against it. She only avoided hitting the bowl of mango chunks because Rayner snatched them away. "There are some details that don't concern you, but I'll give you a brief overview. First, we are Spirit Hunters. We're humans with something different about us that makes us compatible with spiritual energy."

Cassia frowned. "And what's that?"

"Why is it you can just say magic and nobody asks questions?" Flann rolled her eyes, but there was no true bite behind it or her words. She flapped her hand through the air. "Think of it as electrons and protons, just floating around, but instead of being positively or negatively charged, they're charged with life force. And that," Flann said when Cassia's confused expression only intensified, "is basically magically energy produced from a person's spirit. Their aspirations, their emotions, their fears, all that stuff.

"Now, this spiritual energy can coalesce into a concentrated point, and when it does, a spirit is born. There are common ones that the usual emotions can create, like a pixie or ghoul, but sometimes, the energy coming from a person is so charged or specific that it produces a unique spirit."