Hunter Academy - Book 1

REACHING OUT

Jessica

After answer police questions, Matt sends a text to Jesse to let him know we are ready. He goes to settle the bill and store our pool stick back behind the bar. Jesse shows up and drives us back to my place. I pay him and wave him off.

"You going to come up?" I ask Matt.

"No. I think I'm just going to head home. I only had the two drinks over three hours, so I'm good to drive." He pulls me in for a hug, and I settle my cheek against his chest and squeeze him back. "Love you, Sweet Cheeks."

"Love you, too," I tell him as I enter my building and wave goodbye.

As I enter my apartment, I get goosebumps. It's chilly in here. I close the door behind me, locking it up. As I move into the living room, it starts to warm up. I turn the radio on to my favorite rock station, keeping the sound at an ambient level. I grab Sparta's business card, and settle on the couch, propping my feet up on the coffee table. I turn the card over in my fingers, nervous about making this call for a couple of reasons. One, it's super late at night. Two, this is super weird. Who sees walking manifestations of the person haunting their dreams? For that matter, who the hell sees two people freak the fuck out and die as a result. I steel myself and pick up the phone and enter his number. I notice that it's a local number from the Kansas side of town. It rings six times before voicemail picks up.

"You've reached Leo Saunders. Please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible." Beeep.

"Yeah, hi, Sparta. This is Jessica Matthews. You came over and asked me questions about the guy who got hit by a bus. Well, you told me to call if I remembered anything no matter how weird. Well, I didn't exactly remember anything, but there was an incident tonight, and you could say it was in the category of 'weird.' I honestly feel stupid even calling you about it, but I can't rationally explain this." I leave my number and ask him to call me back, and end the call. I sigh and lie back on the couch, flinging my arm over my eyes. I can't turn my thoughts off. I sit up and grab my tablet. If I can't sleep, I might as well read.

***

I wake up to my phone ringing. I groggily reach for it. It took forever for my eyes to decide to stay closed last night, and I finally fell asleep on the couch. I sit up and the tablet slides to my lap. I grab it and put it on the coffee table, simultaneously swiping to answer my phone.

"Hell-" My voice is thick with sleep. I clear my throat and try again. "Hello?"

"Hello, Jessica, this is Leo saunders returning your call from last night. I apologize for not answering, but we were in Lebanon, Kansas, and cell reception is pretty sketchy there. How are you doing to day? I understand there was an incident last night? Would you like to meet me for coffee and you can tell me all about it?"

"Umm, yeah. Just let me wake up a little bit," I laugh out.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry for waking you!"

"It's all good. Seriously. Just give me about an hour. You can meet me at Joe's Coffee. Do you know where it is?"

"Yes. I know where that is. An hour sounds perfect. I will meet you there. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up the phone and scrub my hand down my face, still trying to wake up. I get up and go to the bathroom to start getting ready. I'm definitely in need of a shower.

***

Leonidas

I park my Jeep in the parking garage at 11th and Oak. The spots are tight, but it's better than trying to find streetside parking during a weekday downtown. Dane, Sam and I were finally able to get to the bunker, unfortunately we didn't have time to stop and speak with Missouri. We are planning to Facetime with her later this week since this case has us backed up a little bit. We were able to find out the symbol I discovered on the bodies, was the symbol of Fovos. A demon of fear. She thrives on making people see what they fear most. She feeds on it. Literally. As they try to ward off whatever she is making them see, fear is emanating off them in waves. She then absorbs those waves, making her stronger in the process. We had to dig deep in the archives to find anything on her. She's old. Really old. We still haven't figured out a way to stop or kill her yet, and I'm worried that the more bodies that turn up, she will eventually be too strong for us to do anything about it. One of the other little mysteries is where the hell she's been. The last known mention of her was over one-hundred fifty years ago. The priest that wrote about it only said she had been banished, and there was no mention of how to do it. We definitely have our work cut out for us.

I open the door to the coffee shop, glancing around looking for Jessica. I see her sitting at a booth in the back. She looks up and waves me over. I hold up a finger as I go to the counter and order a coffee, black. No foo-foo crap for me. I pay the cashier, take my coffee and head over to Jessica. I take my jacket off and slide into the booth opposite her.

She looks stunning. She didn't do anything special. She isn't wearing any make-up, which I love. I hate that girls feel like they need to smear pounds of crap on their faces. Her hair is natural, the bangs of her pixie cut just falling slightly onto her forehead. Her pale green eyes are bright, looking at me with expectation. Hopefully I can give her some answers today without freaking her out. Accepting that there are forces outside of what you consider normal, and finding out there are monsters in the world is never easy. Unfortunately, those monsters tend to pick on innocent people whose worlds are then turned upside down. Dane, Sam and I each found out first hand. Beside the three of us, and our Council, only a couple of other people in The Academy even know what we really do. The less who know about it, the better, and from our interview the other night, and Dane finding out about what happened at the pool hall last night, it sounds like this beauty just stepped right into it.

"So, you said there was an incident last night?" She nods her head and goes on to explain about what happened. Her report is the same as what Dane received, except for one tiny little detail. She saw the demon. Only people who have seen someone die in a horrific way can see her. My heart hurts for what she must have seen. I reach into my messenger bag and pull out a book, turning to the page that was marked with a post-it note. I turn the book around so she can look at it and point to a picture. "Is this her?" It's the only picture we could find. It's hand drawn and very rudimentary, but maybe Jessica will recognize it, and by the widening of her eyes, I'm guessing she does.

"Yeah. That's her. I mean, this is a pretty basic drawing, but yeah."

"Would you be willing to sit down with a sketch artist so we have a more accurate description?" Her eyes are scanning the page, reading about Fovos.

"I've seen her before last night." My eyes snap up to meet hers. She nods, "Yeah. I've been dreaming about her for weeks. And reading these pages makes me understand my dreams a little better. I've never been one to have nightmares, but that's the only way to describe the dreams I have been having. Every little fear I've ever had has been thrown at me for weeks. I thought I had lived my darkest fear, but she," Jessica waves her hand over the book, "seems to find more."

"You're taking this surprisingly well," I say to her. I'm actually shocked. Most people start questioning their beliefs and God. Why would he allow such things in the world to harm his followers. Things like that. She surprises me with her answer.

"Well, I'm not a particularly religious person. I believe there's a higher power running things, but that God? Or more than one god? I don't know. I've always suspected there was something more out there, but until you showed me this, I had no idea what that was. I've always considered myself a practical and logical person. Well, when practicality and logic go out the window, and all you have left is this, you kind of just take it at face value," she finishes simply.

"That's a good way to look at it. I think there's a way for my team to keep her out of your dreams. I need to check in with them."

"Your team?"

"Yeah. Dane and Sam. You met them at the bar." She nods her head, a light blush tinting her ears. I don't really know what to do with that information, so I file it away for a later time. "So, are you willing to come to our offices to see what we can to help you with this?"

"Yeah. I don't have anything else to do today. Anything that can help me get a decent night's sleep, I'm up for." Good lord! The images that innocent statement sent my brain. I shift in my seat, the front of my pants just got noticeably tighter. I gesture for her to finish her coffee first, attempting to buy myself a couple of minutes to get myself under control. I have a feeling this is going to be one hell of a ride before it's all over.