Gasoline • Martin.

08

Nate found himself inside his black SUV with another hunter. Nate hated when one of his colleagues was inside his car, they all liked to touch his stuff, which he hates. He kept his eyes in the road, his gaze placed on his father's black car, sometimes shifting his eyes to see the older hunter and grumbling under his breath.

Nate parked the car, cutting the ignition off and exiting the vehicle. He followed after his father into the building, and into a back room where the veterinarian was standing in front of a body. Chris cleared his throat, alerting Dr. Deaton that they were there. "I'm starting to think I need to buy a more prominent closed sign," the doctor said, lifting his head from the body.

Chris scoffed and walked away from ghee door, allowing Gerard to walk in. "Hello, Alan. It's been a while. Last I heard, you had retired." The veterinarian kept a straight face. "Last I heard, you followed a code of conduct," Deaton fired back. Nate raised his eyebrows at the words. The raven haired boy didn't like the tone this man was using towards his mentor.

"If you hadn't noticed, this body is one of ours." At his father's words, Nate took a good look at the man lying on the table and saw he was the young hunter that was with them at the Hale House for Allison's test. "I did. I also noticed the gunpowder residue on his fingertips. So don't assume I'll be swayed by your philosophy just 'cause I'll answer a few questions."

"He was only 24," Chris stated. Deaton directed his attention from Gerard to Chris with a hard look on his face. "Killers come in all ages." Nate felt a sharp pain on his heart, feeling that statement. He lowered his head, thinking back at his previous missions and targets.

"All ages, sizes and shapes. Is the last one that concerns us," Gerard said. "How about you tell us what you found?" The four hunters walked to the table and stood around it, sending looks to the veterinarian. "See this cut?" He lifted the hunter's head to show the back of his neck where a small perfect cut was. "Precise. Almost surgical. But this isn't the wound that killed him. This had a more... interesting purpose."

"Relating to the spine?" Gerard questioned. "That's right. Whatever made this cut was laced with a paralytic toxin potent enough to disable all motor functions," Alan explained. The dark skinned man walked around to stand beside Gerard. "These are the cause of death. Notice the pattern on each side?"

"Five for each finger," Chris said. "Each claw," Gerard corrected. Both Nate and Chris sent a look to Gerard. "As you see, it dug in, slashed upward, eviscerating the lungs and slicing through the bone of the rib cage with ease."

"Have you ever seen anything like these before?" Nate asked him. "No."

"Any idea at all what killed him?" Chris asked next. He received the same answer. "But I can tell you it's fast, remarkably strong, and has the capacity to render its victims essentially helpless within seconds," Deaton added.

"If you're saying we should be cautious, we get it." Deaton shook his head, "I say you should be afraid. Be very afraid. Because in the natural world, predators with paralytic toxins use them to catch and eat their prey. This prey wasn't eaten. That means whatever killed him only wanted to kill him. In fact, killing may be its only purpose."

•••

That night, after the revelations of a new, dangerous creature roaming the streets of Beacon Hills, Nate Argent didn't have a good night sleep.

Deaton's words keep running through his mind. Killers come in all ages. Nate felt sick even thinking about everything he's done in his life since he became a hunter. All the missions he went with his grandfather and his best friend. This was the second time he was present when a colleague died. The first being when his best friend, James passed away. That night definitely changed Nate.

School passed by slowly, classes dragging on and the stares still lingering when he walked the hallways. He passed Allison a couple of times, the girl avoiding his eyes at all cost. When walking by Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall, the teenagers tended to look the other way, fearing Nate would bust them doing something they shouldn't. He walked by Lydia Martin a couple of times that day, the strawberry blonde smiling at him, Nate reciprocating the action, for some reason.

Tonight was the lacrosse game and even though he was not interested at all about that sport, Gerard and Allison convinced him to go. And that's how he now found himself exiting Gerard's office at the school with Allison.