Matthew Silver and the Monster Hunters, Book One: The Darkest Waters

Chapter Four

SilverCHAPTER FOUR

I wish I could say that I got much sleep afterwards, but I was too stressed. I finally fell asleep at 3:38 a.m. Funny how you can go to bed feeling restless and wake up feeling undead.

“You just gonna lie there all day, or are you gonna get to training?”

I opened my eyes to find Scott standing over me with a stern look.

“Dude!”I said, grumpily rubbing my eyes. “I just got back from a mission, and—”

“It’s 10 in the morning, kid! You still got a schedule to keep! Now, I had to leave my class just to make sure you wouldn’t, so you’d better not fall back asleep, or so help me, I’ll personally feed you to the next Phoenix we come across. ”He started heading out the door. “Get some breakfast and get back into routine.”He cracked his neck and rushed out the door. He was certainly chipper. I, on the other hand, looked and felt like a zombie. Not a runner or even a walker, but one of the ones with no legs that just drag themselves along the ground and make dying cow noises.

I wondered if his excitement had anything to do with what he had told me the other night. I normally wasn’t quick to accuse people of lying, but I was trying to figure out what kind of lame joke he was trying to pull on me. A mission to a Junior Agent right after another Junior Agent mission was not likely, and it was even less likely to have a group mission with the four of us, because Jay and I had just got back from our own mission. Whatever the case was, he wasn’t fooling me.

I showered, got dressed, and sleepily walked to the cafeteria a block away. It was pretty much just me, because it was so late in the morning. Most recruits got up at 6 or 7 A.M. sharp and started their day. I was a little embarrassed, especially since Jay had probably been right on time. She was a perfect student, but me on the other hand…

Don’t get me wrong. All of the agents are highly intelligent and efficient, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t a little lazy sometimes. I didn’t understand how other kids could do it. On one hand, I was supposed to be an amazing Hunter, the , but on the other hand, I was a lazy teenager (something kids around there just didn’t understand). I bet you don’t see students reprimanding other students for sleeping in too late at your school. Having kids for teachers was weird.

I had completely missed my first class, and I was going to be late to my second class, but I hardly cared. Most agents returning from missions got a little leniency. I had an excuse to take my time, but I was surprised when a couple other kids, a boy and girl, joined me at my lonely table.

The guy, Jacob Coral, was a little undersized, but was built like a gymnast. Predictable, since he loved acrobatics. I’d seen him backflip over several tables put together one time. The guy could scale walls like a lizard, but above that, he could turn almost completely invisible at will. Not literally, but he could disappear from sight pretty easily. He was a special type of Hunter—a Stealth Hunter.

Stealth Hunters were in their own class. They had more covert jobs like recon, surveillance, or intel gathering for missions. Stealth Hunters required multiple specific skill sets, making them a rare breed and invaluable. The only downside for Stealth Hunter Juniors was that they usually didn’t get a whole lot of dangerous missions. They were too valuable to risk on really dangerous missions, so they were saved for a last resort. While they were held in very high regard, they didn’t get too much field experience until becoming Senior Agents. Then things really turned around. Stealth Hunters were key components for preparing missions. Stealth Hunters were strategically placed all over the world, acting as the eyes and ears for the CCU, sometimes stopping monster threats on their own, and sometimes providing reconnaissance. That’s how the CCU was able to respond so quickly to every monster attack.