The Hunter Academy

~Çhapter Fįfty-Twø~

I stared at Maria as she padded along when I noticed she was barefoot and there were scars littered across her feet. The Councillors better have a hell of a good reason for this or, I don't know, a poison might end up in their drinks somehow, by accident I'm sure.

"Why?"

That simple question was enough. She knew what I meant and she finally looked at me, not side glances or anything, a real look right in the eye. She peered at me with her bright silver eyes and I saw the pain flashing in them as well as the far away look as if she were reliving a particularly painful memory.

"Hey. It's okay, you don't have to say anything if-" I stopped as she grimaced. What did I say?

Say.

"You don't talk do you?"

She quickly shook her head and looked down as if she were ashamed of herself. She looked around before grabbing my hand. She wrote on my hand: VoS

"Vow of Silence?"

She nodded and quickly dropped my hand. I felt my heart break a little for this girl as she shifted in her 'clothes' and I caught sight of scars peering over her shoulders and I was sure that they carried on down her back, there were bruises along her arms that she was trying to hide too not to mention the dried blood that matted her hair.

Come on Chase, help her, do whatever you can to boost her spirits because a little help can go a long way.

"You're a lot braver then I am," I said truthfully. "And a lot stronger. If I were you I wouldn't be able to keep silent, I would've been kicking and screaming until I was hoarse but you are so brave to be able to get up knowing what the day holds, you're are so strong to be able to keep."

She kept her face down but I saw a small smile on her face.Thank you, she wrote.

"You're welcome."

I looked at her as she walked and saw a slight limp as she tried not to balance on one foot that was probably hurt, I saw as she tugged at the dog collar at her neck and I felt a fiery rage flooding through my veins. Nobody, not even the worst person on Earth let alone a little girl, deserved to be treated like this.

"Why?" I repeated my previous question and she sucked in a sharp breath before looking at me with tears in her eyes.

She pointed to my hand as if afraid to touch me again, maybe it was against her restrictions to touch somebody else and she already did it twice and I'm sure she isn't much of a rule breaker, three times was too many times to break the same rule over and over again. I extended my hand and she relaxed slightly as she turned my palm up and wrote 1/2 on it before pointing to me.

"Half of me?"

She nodded. What was I? A girl, a student, a fighter, a daughter... a Hunter.

"You're a Half-Hunter?" I guessed.

She looked down and her shoulders shook slightly but she still didn't make a sound as she quietly cried as if me knowing she was a Half-Hunter made me think of her any differently. I was appalled but not at her but at the Council for doing something as - as horrific as this, actually horrific doesn't even begin to cover it.

"Hey," I said and grabbed her hand she recoiled in shock before looking up and at me. "I don't care if you're only half and Hunter, you could be witch or a werewolf or even a siren and I wouldn't care. It doesn't matter what kind of family we're born into, you're blood doesn't define who you are."

She didn't look at me for the rest of the journey and instead we walked in silence until she stopped and gestured vaguely at a door.

"Thank you," I said and she nodded before she began to walk away when I thought of something. "Wait!"

She froze as she was afraid of what I might do to her and that just fueled the raging inferno that was blazing through my body. I convinced Benjamin to get rid of Omegas so I could surely get her out of here, one way or another.

"I manipulate energy you know and I can do a lot of cool stuff. It's pretty tiring but the small things are pretty easy to manage."

I held out my hand with my palm up and focused before a butterfly appeared in my hand, I furrowed my eyebrows, I'd never done anything like this, I mean, it wasn't alive by any means since I was controlling it but it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It fluttered it's wings and took off from my hand, I was so excited that I lost concentration and it almost went crashing to the ground.

I quickly made my thoughts as concise as possible and the butterfly quickly picked up the pace and flew with grace and precision onto Maria's wrist. She quickly opened her arm and the butterfly crawled into her hand.

I wonder if...

I took in a deep breath and slowly pushed it out as I closed my eyes. The air around me throbbed as I manipulated the energy in my surrounding, I felt a twinge of pain in the back of my head but if this girl dealt with pain and sorrow everyday then I could deal with a tiny headache.

I peeled my eyes opened and saw little butterflies fluttering everywhere, flapping their wings soundlessly as they made there way to Maria. All the pain had disappeared from her eyes and instead they held awe and the butterflied danced around her.

I felt fatigue trying to drag me down but I brushed it away and stared at Maria as I made a massive group of butterflies land on her clothes while another group landed on her arms and I smiled gently.

My smile dropped as I saw the shadows in the corners of the rooms curling and writhing. The butterflies all dispatched and formed into knives before flying in every direction. The shadows had been moving.

The knives dissipated when they didn't hit anything but I didn't relax.

A sharp ding sounded and the pain flooded back into Maria's eyes as the collar lit up. The light gathered around her as if she were about to Light Leap before she disappeared. That was how she appeared at the door so quickly after Councillor Camille rang the bell.

I sighed through my nose and was about to move into the room Maria had gestured at when I saw the shadows of the room moving again. They seemed to come off the walls and the floor, even my own shadow was wavering. I was pretending not to notice but I kept a sharp eye on them.

My hand was on the door handle when I saw the shadows draw into spikes and seemed to be coming closer to me. My grip tightened and, just as the shadow spears came launching at me, energy exploded in waves and the darkness disappeared as I sent wave after wave through the room.

There was nothing left in the room as I panted except a girl standing in the corner. Her face was a mask of calm but I saw the pleasant surprise in her eyes.

She had liquorice black hair that fell in waves down her back but as I watched her she was already tying it back, her skin was creamy and porcelain, she had full lips and upturned midnight blue eyes that sparkled with silver to maker her eyes look like the night sky itself. She had quite an athletic build and she looked cared for not like Maria.

She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and my eyes were drawn to hers as they looked at me, calculating and calm. Yet her eyes weren't like the Councillors. The Councillors looked as if that they'd lost their humanity after sending so many people to their deaths but the girl looked like she was evaluating the situation and predicting my next move.

She smiled, showing pearly white teeth, and flicked her head absentmindedly to get that stray strand of hair out her face. She stepped forward and extended a hand.

"Artemis Hemlock."