Hunter

Chapter Thirteen - The Begining of the End

"Alright everybody," Sam's cheery voice boomed over the noise of his children. "It's time to say goodbye." Brody stepped forward with a large , watching me from the corner of his eye. He kneeled as he set it on the ground, kissing the palm of his hand, and with a golden dagger, slicing it open. The blood poured into the brazier, causing it to blaze like a thousand suns. His skin knit itself together, the cut completely healed. He turned to face us.

"You know what to do. Let's get going," he spoke, his eyes never leaving my face. Jasper turned to face me.

"Are you ready for this?" I nodded. I was ready for anything. At that moment, I noticed a black duffle bag that wasn't with us last night. Jasper unzipped it, pulling out three small tortoises. I clenched my teeth, not prepared for the fact that I had to offer a sacrifice. He handed one to Dee, who took it without question, but he held one in front of me for a long while before it was placed in my hands.

"You can do this," Dee encouraged. The last time she said that I did do it. This time, I wasn't so sure.

Deidre stepped forward, wielding Brody's golden dagger. Her fingers pulled forward the long wrinkly neck of the tortoise, and the blade sliced off the head clean. The fire jumped, rising high and shining green as she dropped the limp body into the flames. Jasper stepped forward, repeating the motions The fire burned, darkening to blue, burning just as brightly as it was before.

It was time for me to throw in my sacrifice to Hermes. Jasper held out the blade to me. I didn't take it. I stepped forward, standing before the vibrant fire of Hermes. I held the tortoise in both of my hands, staring into the dancing light. I watched it flicker. I don't know how long I stood there, but I eventually pulled out my own dagger from my boot strap. I stared at the blade, placing the tortoise on the ground.

"Hayley what are you--"

I cut my hand, my blood dripping into the flame. The fire roared viciously, rising up above all of our heads. I turned away as it sparked brightly, blinding each and every one of us. When I deemed it safe to look back, I watched the tortoise crawl away. I took a step back and watched as the flame tamed itself to form a fiery image of the earth.

Jasper's eyes glared at me as he walked forward and stuck his hand into the flame. I went to move away, but his hand shot out to grab my wrist. With his other hand, he navigated the globe, moving to where we needed to go as he chanted in Latin.

Almost immediately, there was another flash of light that blinded those of us that weren't expecting it. I uncovered my eyes and watched as a translucent train chugged its way towards us. Jasper pulled me towards him, nursing the hand which I didn't notice was still bleeding. He pulled out a vial of Syrup and poured it over the cut. I immediately pulled my hand away, the sting, traveling all the way to my core. He retrieved my hand and continued to pour the medicine over my wound as I struggled to reign in my pain.

"You shouldn't have done that, Hayley,"

"Stop scolding me: You're not my mom."

"Yeah well, I have to make sure you don't do anything stupid without knowing exactly what it is that you're doing."

"Well, you're not doing a good job so far." He narrowed his eyes at me as he strapped a bandage around my palm.

"You should've just sacrificed the tortoise, Hayley! You're not a descendant of Hermes, and by offering your blood, you offer him a favor." I shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was.

"So I'll go grocery shopping for him a couple times." I pulled my hand away from him and grabbed my bag. "Big whoop!"

"Hayley!" Jasper grabbed my wrist again as I had turned to try and board the invisible train. "Please don't do anything like that again. You might not understand, but it is a big deal." I stared at our hands and looked back up at him. He cocked an eyebrow at me before releasing my hand.