The Other Side: How to be a Hunter

chapter 6

I'm soooooo sorry for the long wait, and that it's a bit short, but i'll hopefully update again later.

But anyway, this chapter is a bit of a filler that's leading up to this explosion of action later on in the story. So let's see what you all think about it! :)) VOTE/COMMENT/FAN! :D byee my lovies! -steph :) <3

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“No, no, no! You have to focus on him!” I could tell Derek was getting frustrated with me when I saw him pulling out his own hair, looking up to the sky, and stomping away.

“I’m sorry, I just—”

“You and all the prosaics! You use the word for everything! It’s not like you killed my sister or something… Just save it for when it’s something worth saying it for. Let’s just try again. Now look at him.” Andy was sitting on a stool on the other side of the island in the kitchen. “Now look into his mind.”

I tried to look into him, but just didn’t know how. Derek never told me how to do anything, let alone what it was going to tell me.

Before I had the chance to react, a knife was flying out of a drawer and towards my face. I involuntarily jumped, and so did Andy. His eyes weren’t their beautiful ocean blue, but now a dark onyx.

“What the hell?!?!” Andy screamed at the same time as I did, as well as flailing around the exact same way I was. Freaky.

“Did you two plan that?” Derek asked.  We said ‘no’ at the same, getting Derek to chuckle and roll his eyes.

“What just—?” Andy’s eyes had changed back to blue, and he looked utterly confused.

“You’re gonna be finishing each other’s sentences next,” Derek said with a smirk plastered over his features. “I think you’re good for now. We’ll try again later after dinner.” And with that he left.

Andy was looking out the door after him, and then turned to me once Derek was out of earshot.

“Who are you and what did you do with Victoria?” he whispered harshly. “Because the Torri I know can’t pull that off.”

“Andy, what’re you talking about? It’s me: Victoria Whitney Hewlett,” I whispered back, making sure to keep my voice low.

“So you’re saying it was Derek that possessed me a few minutes ago? Because I think not.”

“I didn’t—”

“Listen to me,” he growled, my nose almost touching his, “whatever you are, you’re not fooling me.” He stepped away from me and walked towards the door that Derek went through. “And stay far away from my circle.”

I could only watch as he stormed out of the kitchen. I felt tears coming on, and I knew what was going to happen now. The closest thing I had to family in this world was him and Eli, and now he hates my guts. He probably went to go tell the rest of the circle.

Running through the Cloud Guardian, I somehow found my room. I dove onto the bed and started to cry my eyes out. Realization hit me when I heard someone banging on the door and telling me to let them in. My body wracking sobs drowned out the noise of the person on the other side of my door. All I could do was cry. I felt absolutely helpless right then and there, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop. I never could.

I couldn’t tell whether it was early morning or late in the afternoon when I came back to reality…

“What’s wrong babe?” Eli said. I was lying face down on the bed when he walked in.

“Andy—” I sniffled as I sat up. “Andy thinks I possessed him for a minute, but I didn’t! I swear! And then he started getting all aggressive and told me to stay away from the circle!”

“He wouldn’t say that. It’s not like him.”

“I know it’s not him, but—”

Eli gave me this look that told me to shut up. He walked over to the side of my bed and sat down next to me. It was dead silence in the room, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was exactly what I needed to calm down.

I liked Eli because he seemed to be the only one who truly understood me without having to explain myself. Andy was a close second, but only because I knew him before I met the rest of my circle. Sammie and Kelsea expect me to be like them, keeping their emotions in check when they need to be and letting them run wild when they should. And then Derek has no clue what any emotion is, other than attraction.

When I had calmed down enough to get myself to dinner, Eli and I walked together to the dining room. Oh wait, I should say dining hall.

***

“What did you do to her?” Sammie snapped at Andy. An unconscious Torri was laying on the kitchen counter.

“She possessed me yesterday, Sam! I thought it wasn’t her! All I did was spike her drink last night at dinner with demon poison! I thought it wasn’t supposed to hurt Hunters anyway!” Andy yelled back.

“Well, you were wrong!” Kelsea and Derek said at the same time.

“It never hurt me and I dealt with it for three years of my life!” Andy tried again to defend himself.

Sammie replied with, “Well your power is fighting abilities! Of course it’s not going to hurt you!”

Not able to think of a good reply, Andy started pacing. Kelsea was now trying to read Torri’s thoughts, as if she were still alive, and Derek was moving things around in the medicine cabinet trying to find a remedy. Sammie was just glancing back and forth between Torri and Andy, and Eli was sitting in a chair in the corner silent. Not happy with what progress was being made, Sammie was rattling off ways to figure it out.

“Why don’t we get my mom? Is there even a cure for demon poison? Would the fae queen know what we can do? What if we—”

“It’s not like it’s going to kill her!” Andy snapped back.

“This has happened to you before?” Sammie questioned his knowledge.

“Not me, but my cousin.”

“Well what happened?” Eli asked so quietly that he could just barely be heard.

“He’s been in a coma since it happened… But it’s not like he died or anything!”

“Yea, but what if there’s a demon insideher?” Derek chimed in.

“I don’t know! I don’t know! Can you all just leave me alone?”

***

When I woke up from my dream, there was a light knock at my door. Thinking it was Eli, I opened it without checking. Andy was standing in my doorway.

“Torri—”

“What?” I snapped.

“Listen, I want to apologize for what I said to you before. About everything. I realized I was out of line and shouldn’t have said that. I know even if I was possessed, it couldn’t have been you. I’m sorry,” he paused, looking down at the plain gray and white socks on his feet. “And if you want nothing to do with me anymore, I’ll understand.”

“It’s fine. I know it was just an in-the-moment thing.” I was mentally debating whether or not to bring up the drink from my future sight. I decided against it. Why try and change the future? It’s going to happen anyway, so we might as well just stay ahead.

“Thank God! I’m soooo happy that we can go back to normal now and not worry about the circle being in as much danger as it would’ve been!” He picked me up and spun me around himself. Could it be that simple?