Hunters Academy

one

Sweat rolled down my forehead, leaving a salty trail in its wake as I swung my left foot against Madison's ribcage. A sharp cry of pain quickly escaped from her pouty mouth, and I smirked, watching in triumph as her delicate features immediately began to swell from the impact. A low, animalistic growl broke out from her open lips as she angrily pulled rogue strands of golden hair behind her ears, shooting blue-eyed daggers at me.

"For someone as high in the rankings as you are, you're not very good at this, are you?" I taunted, grinning when she began to shake in pure hatred.

I didn't feel particularly bad for hurting her, considering I've always wanted to cause some damage to Madison's pretty little face, but that's just a contributing factor; not the main reason. The main reason was that I had been trained from a young age to wipe all emotion while fighting an enemy, whether it's in training or real life - it doesn't matter.

No feelings allowed - no exceptions; that phrase had been drilled into my mind from a young age, so, no, I didn't feel bad. Not at all. See, something you should know about me is that I'm not like your regular sixteen-year-old girl. Neither is Madison, for that matter - nor anyone else in this damned academy. We're not like your average teenagers because we're not human. We're Venatees - hunters, for short -, born and bred to kill any and every mythical creature that endangers the safety of the human race.

As a child, people like me are sent off to Hunters' Academy, a place where we learn how to enhance our abilities for the greater good. We're faster, stronger and more intellectually advanced than any human being walking planet Earth. We see ourselves as the protectors of the human race, and, though they do not know of our existence, without us to keep them safe, the humans would have been wiped out long ago - I'm talking thousands of years, here.

Once Madison finally recovered, she attempted to use my own trick against me. Big mistake. The second her foot left the ground; I dived towards her with open arms and held onto her leg with a deadly grip, twisting violently within a matter of seconds. I didn't twist hard enough to break her leg, but, evidently, it was enough for Madison. She fell to the ground for the thousandth time.

"Aw, c'mon, Maddie. You can do better than that!" I tsked, reaching down and tapping her cheeks twice. She, understandably, responded by slapping my hands away and standing up once again.

I sighed. Has she not yet been humiliated enough?

The answer to that question, obviously, was a big, fat no-no. Madison then swung her fist towards my face, which would've caused an ugly bruise if I weren't too fast. Swiftly, I avoided her attack and used her unbalanced state to my advantage by punching her right cheekbone with all the strength I could conjure. A loud battle cry left Madison's mouth as we collided, echoing around the arena and capturing the attention of those who weren't already watching.

Before I realised what was happening, Madison collapsed in a heap besides my feet. I hesitated a few seconds, waiting for her usual quick recovery, but nothing happened. Rolling my eyes, I glanced up at Roland, a thirty something year old man whom happened to be our instructor, and asked him whether I was finished.

Roland squinted his golden eyes at Madison. "Yeah, she's done for the day," he replied, turning his attention back to his clipboard, no doubt writing the scores of our training session. He looked up, eyes widening as if he thought I had already left. "What are you standing there for?" He sighed at my expression. "Look, Rae, you've been at it all day. Not even you can go on forever."

"Kay," I replied, hopping over Madison's body and jumping off the arena's stage. My eyes narrowed at the pathetic excuse of a hunter, having a bad - okay, not so bad - feeling that she wouldn't be awaking anytime soon, and, when she does? Well, let's just say that she may have one nasty headache - and a broken rib... Or two.