The Hunted.

Are you true?

The sun slowly crept into the young boy's room. A sacred place that only he and a few others could enter. The bare room, was cluttered with clothes and books. Just a few moments, he wanted to rest before he would have to take on the world again. Ian turned over on his back, still having his eyes closed. He told himself that he wasn't going to open them before his alarm goes off. He waited, slipping back into his deep sleep. "Ian." He heard his name in such a whisper. Soft, distant like the wind. Ian narrowed his eyebrows. "Ian." The voice came back. He tried to ignore it, he turned over on his side and squeezed his eyes tighter. "Ian," It was a different voice this time, soft and raspy like a young girl was whispering in his ear.

"Iris," Ian yawned. Ian quickly opened his eyes. He looked around but there was no one. He just thought he was dreaming, not actually hearing the voices. Things have been weird in his town lately, things that he couldn't explain. Ian began to feel a vibrant shake. His bed was vibrating. He lifted his covers and bent over to see what was under his bed. The vibrating stopped and there was nothing but dust, gum, and paper. Ian rose up, feeling the blood rush to his head. Ian sighed, Was he losing his mind in his work? Suddenly, Ian felt a cold drift behind him. He looked at the corner of his eyes, seeing a shadow. Ian turned around and his soul jumped out his body. His friend stood there with a cocky smile on his face, Nicolas. Nicolas walked over to Ian's computer desk and looked at his research. 

"You're googling me now?" Nicolas chuckled, looking at fake werewolves on the computer.

"I'm glad you knocked," Ian said sarcastically.

"I didn't want to wake you," Nicolas shot back. Nicolas and Ian have been best friends since the 3rd grade. Ian started to talk about how his dad was a deputy and Nicolas talked about how he would pull the fire alarm during school. Since then, they've become inseparable. Nicolas clicked on a picture of a wolf howling at the moon. "Hey!" Nicolas said excitedly. "There's my uncle Earl." Nicolas teased. Nicolas stood up from the chair and sat on the edge of Ian's bed. "Oh, are you okay?" Nicolas asked, not really caring. Ian slapped Nicolas on the arm.

"Sure," Ian chuckled, throwing a dirty shirt at Nicolas' face.

"eww, gross man." Nicolas quickly tossed the shirt into the trashcan that was near Ian's bathroom door.

"I thought I would be able to get some sleep without hearing my name called three times." Ian joked.

"You texted me last night to come here first thing in the morning." Nicolas shrugged his shoulders. "What are you doing anyway?" Nicolas pointed to the many pictures of fake werewolves on the computer. Ian turned over, scrolling through the websites.

"Researching," Ian said innocently. "Did you know that there can be a witch and werewolf?" Ian asked Nicolas. "Were-witch." Ian shrugged his shoulders. Nicolas sat up from the bed, walking towards Ian. He bent over and looked at the website that popped up on the screen. He saw a drawing of a girl with fangs, and claws with black smoke coming from the palm of her hand.

"Whatever. Google says anything." Nicolas didn't believe it, he had never meant someone like that and he had never heard of it. Nicolas walked towards the door. It was already eight thirty, class started in an hour. "Can we go?" Nicolas asked annoyingly.

"Are you listening to what I'm saying?" Ian asked angrily. Nicolas groaned, leaning against the tan wall. Ian was very curious about the world, more than Nicolas ever was. He always wanted to know why. 

"I mean- it sounds kind of odd," Nicolas claimed. 

"No, it sounds like NorthWald," Ian argued, walking past Nicolas to his bathroom. NorthWald was an odd town, half of the town was supernatural and the other half was human. It was a small town in Kentucky, a place that's not on a map. Ian huffed, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Why are you looking this stuff up anyway?" Nicolas asked his friend.

"Because," Ian turned around. "There were two dead bodies found in the woods last night,"

"What?" Nicolas said in such surprise. There hasn't been a murder since Taylor had died last summer, he was sure that all of this was over. He was sure that the threat to this town was gone forever. 

"Yea, my dad had a call last night. Two dead bodies were found in the woods, near the cliff," Ian swallowed. Nicolas didn't know how to take this awful news. 

"Were they high school students?" Nicolas asked him.

"I don't know, my father won't tell me anything." Ian informed him. 

"Do you think it's Anthony?" Nicolas started to scratch the tan paint from Ian's wall. Ian paused, considering. He rubbed his smooth round face, staring at the few unnoticeable moles. Ian played through his dark hair, he didn't want it to seem like he was just waking up. Ian focused back on Anthony. The boy who killed so many people, the boy who killed Nicolas's girlfriend. Taylor.  Ian slipped on his hoodie and walked downstairs with Nicolas by his side. "Don't answer that question," Nicolas begged him, not knowing why he asked when he was afraid of the answer. "Does Lyle know?"

"No, let's just keep Lyle and Claire out of this. Especially Claire." Ian demanded. Nicolas smirked, seeing how protective Ian was over Claire.

"Claire, huh?" Nicolas asked.

"Shut up," Ian smirked. Nicolas followed Ian outside to Lyle's car, she glanced outside her window to see the boys whispering to each other. She wondered what they were keeping from her.

"About damn time, I've been waiting a thousand years." Lyle huffed, flipping her beautiful red hair as Nicolas and Ian entered her car. Nicolas took in a deep breath. He squinted his eyes, licked his lips and then gave Lyle a sexy smirk.

"Lyle, when are you going to sleep with me?" Nicolas leaned over. Lyle couldn't disagree that he wasn't good looking. He was tall, had almond skin, a beautiful bright smile that went perfectly with his bright blue eyes. Lyle quickly punched him in the shoulder, Nicolas groaned, finally backing away from Lyle. She was one of the popular girls in school but since she had meant Nicolas and Ian, she left her old friends and stuck with the new. "Banshee," Nicolas said as an insult, holding his arm. Lyle formed a pleasing smile on her face.

"Well, what can I say?" Lyle shrugged her shoulders. "You were acting like a dog," Lyle shot back. Lyle and Ian laughed at the silly joke.

"Not funny." Nicolas looked back at Ian.

"So, any information about what's going on?" Lyle glanced at Ian in the rear-view mirror.

"He's running away from his problems now," Nicolas whispered to Lyle, but Ian could hear what he said.

"I'm not running away from my problems," Ian said, sitting back in his seat. "I'm just avoiding them until they go away," Ian said honestly. Nicolas looked at Ian for a second and turned back around with a smile.

"Give him a chance," Lyle begged, talking about Ian's father. She glanced at the rear-view mirror, catching Ian's glare. Ian huffed, crossing his arms. He didn't want to admit it but somehow, he would have to forgive his father. Ian looked down at his arm, his long sleeve shirt was pushed up to his elbow exposing his bruises from his father. He only wished that he could tell his friends what was really going on with him. Ian quickly slid his sleeve down, ignoring Lyle's comment.

"Yea, Ian...give him a chance." Nicolas mocked Lyle, talking with a high-pitched voice. Lyle chuckled, backing out of the driveway. Ian looked down at his palms, thinking about his father. He loved him terribly, he was all he had left but he couldn't help but feel like his father was pushing him away. Ian feared one day that his father going to push him far enough to where he's never going to come back.