Song: Bad Dream by Ruelle
***
I turn the paper over in my hands, trying to work up the courage to unfold it. A part of me wants to, is eager to find out what it contains. But another part of me wants to burn it, destroy it in every way possible and forget everything that happened in my living room just a few minutes ago. And forget the way I've been asked to murder.
In the end, curiosity gets the better of me. I slip a finger undeneath the tab where the paper has been neatly folded and lift it upward, only to find that it's been folded over at least three more times. After fumbling with unfolding it this way and that, I finally manage to get the entire paper open.
It's covered in very neat, structured writing in crimson ink.
Mr. Paget,
You have been selected to be a Hunter. It is imperative that you destroy this paper once you have read it through.
You may speak to no one of your mission but other Hunters. You are expected to complete your mission in a decent time frame, or face the consequences.
Failure to complete the mission includes being caught in the act. Do NOT get caught.
To discover the identities of fellow Hunters, simply approach the suspected individual and state the following:
"Did you see the headline in today's paper and/or on the news?"
To which a fellow Hunter will respond:
"Yes, I did. But it is nothing new to me."
IMPORTANT: the response should contain NO contractions. If you are approached by an individual posing this question, you MUST NOT include contractions in your response.
"Jesus, okay," I huff. "I get it, you guys don't like contractions."
Upon terminating a Hunted, you are to leave the individual in the spot they were terminated. Do not horribly obscure the face of the Hunted or distort the body in any uninstructed way.
The only distortion of the body you are to do is carve a large "H" in the terminated individual's chest with the knife issued to you in your book of Hunteds. No other weapon is to be used to carve the insignia.
To properly terminate a Hunted, we ask that you slit the individual's throat only. Use only the knife issued to you for termination, as it is laced with a tracking toxin that allows us to locate the terminated Hunted.
We ask this of you because we are not murderers. We are simply controlling the population.
You only have one back-up knife, so please conceal both knives wisely and away from harm.
We wish you all the best success in your mission.
~ Charlotte Baldwin, Central Intelligence Agency Director
I sit back into the couch, dropping the paper beside me. Still struggling to fathom what happened, I run my hands through my hair, my fingernails occasionally becoming caught in the curls.
"We ask this because we are not murderers." Ha, like I believe that for even one second. You give a person a knife, order them to kill people, then tell them they're not murderers. What's next? Tell a thief he's not a criminal after stealing? That he was just "mis-shopping"?
