Lost & Found

Yes Adelaide

I woke up the next morning with a killer headache. I'd had this happen a few times before, where it hurt too much to remember the night before so usually I just shrugged it off. This time though it was accompanied with the feeling of being unclean.

I hopped out of bed and made my way to the shower. I couldn't hear Adelaide, but I wasn't worried too much about it. I slipped under the hot water and let it run over my body. My eyes shut on their own accord and I let out a deep breath.

Outside of the shower stall I found my blanket and started drying off. I caught sight of my hip, which seemed to be bruised in a handprint. I frowned to myself and wiped off the mirror, using it to help me look at my hip this way and that. There was another bruise on the back of my thigh, the purple looking incredibly dark against my light skin.

Quickly, I got dressed, pulling on a pair of jean shorts and searching for my favorite flannel. When I couldn't find it I settled with a graphic t-shirt that advertised some sort of superhero. I paused just inside the living room, Adelaide was staring at something in front of her with a sour expression.

"What's wrong?" I murmured and fell into the chair.

She blinked and looked over at me, "Oh. Well I might have slipped up last night."

I pressed a hand to my forehead, feeling the pain wash back, "Did you? I've got one of my headaches.. I don't really remember what happened.."

She sighed in irritation, "You and your headaches Sang, honestly. And on a day like this," She shot a glare in my direction, making my stomach sink, "You would forget about the accident you caused."

"Sorry," I mumbled, "What happened?"

"Well you were bringing home my meal when you hit another driver! Thank goodness you're okay but I had to get rid of your mess to keep people from knowing what had happened. I killed a whole family for you, Sang."

"W-what?"

"Don't act like that. You know this isn't the first time you've messed up too such extremes. I just would have thought you to have grown out of your antics. I did save your life after all," She sniffed and threw the paper down, "Pack up. We leave at noon. This is exactly the kind of thing a hunter would look into."

She left the room, leaving me with nothing but the paper. I glanced over my shoulder, but she'd already slammed her door shut. My shoulders slumped. She's right. I owed her everything and all I could do was mess up. I picked up the paper.

It didn't say anything about a car accident, just that a family had been slaughtered in their sleep. I guess she must have cleaned up enough to make it look like some sort of killer had done it. That was good I supposed.... But it also meant we had to leave.

I stood up and threw away the paper, not wanting to look at it again. In my room I picked my laptop up off of the window seat where I'd left it last time I'd used it and turned it on. It only took a few moments and then I was surfing through the hunter channels. I needed to make sure that none of them had caught wind of the incident, and none were currently en route.

I was just about to log off, to pack away my stuff when a small ping came from my computer. I glanced down, hardly paying attention. But when my eyes drifted over the name, something tugged at the back of my mind.

Kota Lee. Kota Lee. I clicked the little notification. Kota Lee had just put up an alert that his team was heading west towards the family homicide case. I clicked a few more times until I found what I'd needed.

Kota Lee, the boy from a few houses down. One of the boys from Sunnyvale court who had disappeared.

Kota Lee, one of the nine boys in the Blackbourne Team. The best Hunters there were. They were about forty minutes out. Just finished a job.

I glanced at my door, and then back down to the computer. I wasn't supposed to be able to get into this network, it was heavily protected, but I'd been able to hack into it with a lot of patience and a bottle of grape juice.

It was a forum really, where the Hunters put up possible cases and those closest to them went to it. I'd seen the Blackbourne teams work, knew that they were efficient and well trained. They'd turned up a few years back, before I started doing all that I did for Adelaide but not before she'd saved me.

Up until this point their representative had been an Owen.

I slammed my computer shut at the same moment that Adelaide opened my bedroom door, she looked at me and I forced myself to calm down, forced my heart to even out. Adelaide had taught me this, but I'd never dared use it on her.

"Is there something wrong Sang? Are Hunters on their way?"

"No," I replied, "We're safe. No need to move."

She nodded hesitantly and then turned and left, leaving my door open.

The thing was. I wasn't sure why I had lied. A big part of me told myself it was because the Blackbourne team never lost a case, never failed. But a small part of me said something different.. Something....

"Sang," Adelaide's warm, sweetened voice said, "Be a dear and go out today. I need to do some cleaning around this house and you shouldn't stay here for it. Be back at three sharp."

I set my laptop down and grabbed my backpack, and my phone.

"Yes Adelaide."