Hunter

XXXIV

Jade blinked awake as Aric raced down a highway.
Her body felt like it had been rubbed in alcohol, all tingly and cold. Her skin felt like it was pulled tight over her body, taut as a drawn back bow-string.
Her shoulder was still wrapped tightly, and the pain thrummed dully, like it was circulating through her body through her arteries. She yawned, closing her mouth, and clipping her tongue. She winced, and swallowed, tasting some sour residue of something.
Whatever Aric had given her, it had worked. Kinda. She yawned again, her mind grasping at some fleeting images.
She blinked, closing her eyes and thinking about the strange dream she had had.
She was in a room, with blank walls. White, blinding white, glared down on her. Flashes of color occasionally, their shapes morphing into hideous winged monsters and scowling people.
They left her with vertigo, her brain barely processing any features or faces. The only person she recognized was herself.

Aric looked over his shoulder, smiling crookedly. But, his eyes were shadowed by his furrowed brow. They only hinted at all the worry and anxiety he was feeling.
"Feeling better?"
Jade nodded, stifling another yawn. "Ye- Yeah. Where are we going?"
"Where our monster is. Remember that guy from the cafe a while ago? Who's supposed to know where your mom is?" He bit his top lip, turning his head to look at the road.
Jade nodded as she lifted her head to look around his shoulder. She squinted, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dull street lights.
"Yeah. He's at the plaza?"
Aric nodded, his fists squeezing around the handles of the motorcycle.
The plaza was a shopping area in the city, where teens went to hang out. Jade had never been there; she was always too busy dancing or studying.
Aric bit his lip sharply again as he drove forward, the acceleration knocking Jade out of her reminiscing.
The need to tell Jade what exactly was going on was killing him. He had always hated it when his cousin hid stuff from him, and he was totally oblivious.
Yet, here he was, duping a girl that had faith in him. She had even given him his first kiss.
How do you trick someone like that? Could he even go through with that? Aric had always thought of himself as an honest person, but now.....
She needed to know.
As Aric turned a corner, he decided. He'd tell her after the "monster" gave them her mother's location. She'd be so happy that she knew where her mother was, that she'd barely pay any attention what Aric was saying.
They skidded to a stop in front of a hotel, and Jade looked at it, confused. She didn't remember this being on the agenda.
"Why are we here?"
Aric flexed his arms, stepping off the motorcycle, and reaching a hand out to her.
She took it, stepping next to him. She winced as she felt all the cramps in her body from sleeping on the motorcycle. She groaned as she stretched, feeling her body pop.
He reached his hand out again, the motorcycle melting into the band around his wrist.
"I think we both need some rest, don't you think? You've been out for a day and half."
Jade blinked. "Seriously? Deadass?"
Aric nodded. "It took us this long to get here cuz of all the monsters that kept attacking. They kept coming one after another." His arm still ached from a fight with some club-wielding dwarves.
Jade intertwined their fingers, squeezing his hand. "Sorry." Her eyes flicked to the floor as the word came out of her throat like a puff of air.
His brow furrowed as they started walking towards the door of the hotel.  He felt Jade's slender fingers shift, so they were tracing patterns across the back of his hand.
"Why?"
"I've basically just been a sack of meat this whole time. I haven't really done anything. You've been pulling all our weight, to find someone who's not even related to you." She laughed shortly. "I'm jealous." Her mouth pointed downwards, her nose crinkling.
Aric stopped walking, spinning around to put his hands on her shoulders lightly.
"Hey, you've done plenty for someone who's not even a Hunter. You've made it this far, and I haven't been with you the whole time, so I'd say you've made an accomplishment."
He looked straight into her brown eyes, trying to swallow down some of his guilt.
How could he trick this girl?