Hunter

V

Jade ran, bolting away from the wall behind her, and straight for the man. His eyes went wide as she raced past, cursing.
She ran deeper into the city, hearing the men race after her. Her shoe slipped off, and she kicked off the other one.
She pounded her feet, pumping her arms. Anger made her heart burn and she kept running, ignoring the dull pain radiating through her legs.
Jade spotted a warehouse to her left, and she dived through an open window, landing in a box.
She hurriedly tried to get up, but she heard footsteps walk across the floor.
She ducked her head, burying her head in her legs.
The footsteps sounded closer, and Jade tried to control her breathing.
If they shot her while she was in this box, she was done for. She wouldn't be able to get up and run fast enough, especially with her leg bleeding the way it was.
A force slammed into the box, pushing it and Jade against a wall.
The men leered down at her, the one aiming his gun.
Her legs spilled out, sore and pained from her injury and from the force of her running.
The gun locked and the man's finger squeezed the trigger.
Jade squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself.
It seemed to take forever for the bullet to hit her temple.
She cracked an eye open.
A boy stood in front of her, hands outstretched and glowing.
Jade stared at his hands.
They glowed intensely, thin sheets of lights spread out between his hands like a spider's web.
The bullet was frozen in time, seconds away from impact against the spider-web shield.
The two gangsters glared at the boy, mixed emotions bubbling in their eyes.
"What are you doing here, Aric?"
"My cousin sent me."
The gangsters glanced at each other uneasily. "What's she want? We're doing what we're supposed."
"She wants you to get lost." The boy's voice was rough and low, with a slight city accent.
The gangsters scrambled, walking out of the warehouse quickly.
Ricky glanced back at Jade, blowing a kiss.
Jade shuddered and looked at the boy.
He walked over to her, looking at her intently.
"Are you ok?"
His intense gray eyes were startling against his tan skin. His thick black hair fell to his neck, the curly edges brushing the sides of his face. His cheek was smudged with dirt, his gray shirt torn on the sleeve, near his shoulder. He had the poise of a sword-fighter, graceful but deadly.
Jade's mouth felt dry.
He repeated the question. "Are you ok?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Her thigh couldn't disagree more.
Suddenly, everything that the boy had done rushed back into her head.
She tried to back up, pushing against the wall she forgot about. She looked at him, wary.
"What-what did you do? You-"
The boy cocked his head, his brow furrowed. "You don't know? Then why-"
He shook his head. "Nevermind. I'll try to explain it to you."
He gestures for her to follow, but Jade crosses her arms, staring at his hands.
"What- What are you?"
The boy sighed. "Look, if you come with me, I'll explain."
"No, you're going to explain it to me now." Jade's voice was hard, sounding much braver than she felt.
The boy pulled at the hair hanging in his face. "Fine. I'm a Hunter."
Jade blanked. "Hunter?"
"Exactly. Which is why I said to come with me and I'd explain."
"Uh, in case you haven't noticed..... I can't really move."
The boy seemed to notice. "Right. I'll be right back. Don't move."
Jade rolled her eyes, muttering. "Like I could. Didn't he hear what I just said?"
The boy hurried away, coming back a few minutes later with a bag of supplies.
Her thigh smarted and she bit the inside of her cheek, trying to not to cry.
The boy knelt in front of her and she grabbed at the bag. "Thanks for that."
The boy shook his head. "I'll take care of it."
"What are you? A doctor or something?"
He smiled, a dimple popping in his cheek. "Nope. Just your friendly neighborhood street kid. Name's Aric. Yours?"
"Jade."
He reached for the edge of her jeans, and she swatted his hands away.
He took a breath, leaning in.
He huffed," Look, when a hot guy asks to see your leg, you're supposed to let him."
Jade raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms. "Well, when he gets here, I'll be sure to let him."
The boy smirked. "I didn't realize I was with such a sassy girl."
"And I didn't realize I was with an arrogant douche bag."
Aric raised his eyebrows. "Touché."
Jade lunged her arm forward, grabbing the bag from his hands.
"Thank you."
Aric sighed. "Fine."
Jade turned her body, biting her lip to distract her from the pain.
She lifted up her ripped jean leg, wincing at the sight of the cut.
Blood clots and an ugly bruise were around the cut, making the cut look worse than it actually was. It looked almost loose, like Jade had stretched it while she was running.
Jade tentatively patted rubbing alcohol onto the cut, wincing at the stings.
She cleaned up the rest of it, remembering what her mom used to do when she scraped her knee. She tightly wound gauze around her leg.
Pulling the jean leg back down, Jade checked for any more cuts.
A graze of her cheek was cleaned up as well as a scratch on her arm.
She hummed under her breath, putting everything away.
Jade stood up shakily, making sure the bandage on her thigh was still wrapped tight.
Aric was sitting on the floor, playing with something in his hands. His brow was furrowed, as if he was in deep concentration.
He looked up as Jade sat down, his eyes glowing like quicksilver.
"Time for an explanation."
Aric took a breath, closing his eyes.
His chest rose and fell, like he was bracing himself for impact. He didn't speak for a minute before taking another deep breath.
"There are two types of beings in this world: Monsters and the people who hunt them."