Hunter

XVI

Aric felt dead.
Passing out did nothing for him, only making his system feel like it had been rebooted...... And crashed.
His head pounded from lack of rest and his stomach throbbed.
Jade trailed behind him, scribbling something in a notebook.
Aric shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling guilty.
I shouldn't be so rude to her. Being strong doesn't mean making others weak. Right?
He cursed himself and turned around to face Jade.
"Hey."
She looked up from her notebook and raised her eyebrows, questioning.
"Yeah?"
Aric looked at his feet, feeling his face heat up. "We've, um, been going for a while, we should find somewhere to stay." He held his hand out, feeling the droplets falling. "And it's raining."
They'd been running all night, racing away from a persistent cyclops.
They had encountered a weaker monster, but Aric had taken care of it quickly.
He calculated the distance they had traveled. By now, they should be a good way into the city. Straight into the gang territory.
Aric scanned the area. There was a warehouse they could stay in. It looked absolutely abandoned, with no gang symbols spray painted on the walls.
Perfect.
He waved Jade over, and they walked in, shielding themselves from the onslaught of rain.
The inside was airy and dry, unlike the outside, where rain had started to fall in sheets.
Jade shivered and hugged herself, sitting down.
Aric leaned against the wall, then winced as his stomach throbbed.
Jade had given some painkillers earlier; they were wearing off
Aric slid down and sat on the floor, crossing his arms over his stomach.
Jade looked over at him, as she squeezed water out of her hair.
"You ok?"
Aric nodded. "Yeah. I think those painkillers are fading."
Jade slid her bag off her shoulder, digging through it. "Lemme get some more." She sat down a few feet away from him, pulling some things out of her bag.
She pulled out the container, shaking out two tablets.
She handed them to Aric along with water bottle. He swallowed them quickly and touched his hoodie.
The surface was moist with blood and he turned to Jade.
"Can you give me the fist aid stuff? And the ointment from my bag?"
She nodded, passing it over.
Aric stretched his legs out in front of him, lifting up the edge of his jacket.
The cut was ugly. Sure, he was a Hunter, this was what he was used to.
But why did it hurt so much?
He'd been injured so many times, but this one felt like someone was rubbing salt into the cut.
He grit his teeth, washing away the clotted blood. He patted the ointment on, wrapping gauze around his stomach.
He tugged his hoodie back down, leaning against the wall.
Jade was looking at him.
Aric frowned. "What?"
She looked away. "Nothing." She took a breath, hugging herself. "It's just..... You handle it so well. Meanwhile, I'm freaking out, trying to be at least a little useful."
Aric scooted closer to her. "Hey, I've had to deal with all this way longer than you. You're doing well, and I can't say that you've freaked out at all."
She smiled weakly, and Aric put a hand on her shoulder.
He said softly,"Look, after we find your mom, you can go back to your daily life. You can forget all about me, the gang, monsters, all of it."
Aric felt bad as he let the statement slip past his lips. How could anyone forget something like this?
Jade shook her head. "I don't want to forget. This is major part of the world. I'm not letting all that go! You think I'm going to forget how annoying you are? I may not have known you that long, but I doubt anyone can forget that."
Aric laughed. "Am I really that interesting to you?"
Jade frowned. "Hey, I'm not trying to inflate your ego. I'm just stating a point."
Aric smiled sadly. "Trust me, you'll want to forget."
He yawned loudly. "We should get some rest."
"Ye-ah," Jade yawned.
Aric stood up, pulling out a sheet from Jade's bag.
He set it onto the floor, setting his bags as pillows. They were only filled with clothes after all.
Jade laid down, curling into herself.
She glanced at Aric. "Aren't you gonna sleep?"
He felt his face heat up. "But there's only one sheet."
She laughed. "Relax. I don't bite. And I don't think either of us are going to. And, shouldn't the playboy be happy about this sleeping arrangement?"
Aric groaned. "Can you just let go of the playboy thing? It's derogatory."
Jade shrugged, rolling over. "Whatever."
Aric turned his back, lifting the edge of the hoodie.
He slipped out of it, and pulled on a long-sleeved tee from one of his bags.
He lay down next to Jade.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.