The Redeemer

The Lost and Found 1

Ethan

Only a few meters remain. It’s ridiculous how hard it is to find this place.
I look down again and I stare at the holographic map that is being projected by my smart phone. Once I make the next left, I’ll be at its gates.
This’ll all be over soon. I’ll finally go back to Amy and Aiko…and Whitney. She said she’s gonna quit too. We’ll both put all this behind us and never look back. We’ll finally have the normal boring life we’ve always wanted…well, as normal as it can get…when you have a dog the size of a Dire Wolf.
But that doesn’t matter. It’ll still be our lives. No more missions, no more taking risks. No more making each worry or cry. We’ll be together like normal human beings.
Plus, this…is personal. I’m actually glad that this is my last mission; my last song. And it’ll be against those bastards that took them away from me. So, as much as I want to just get this all over with…I’m going to enjoy this.
A rustle in the bushes to my left snaps me out of my train of thought. I stop in my tracks and I stop breathing. I look in the direction the sound came from. I reach under my leather blue jacket behind me to grab the hilt of my hunting knife from my belt. I wait for whatever it is going to come out. If I jump in, I’ll be at a disadvantage because I don’t even know what the thing is.
I wait patiently, but the only thing that comes out is a squirrel. I let out a breath of relief. I release my hunting knife and I continue walking.
I see, you want to play it like that, huh? I think to myself.
I’ve been doing this since I was nine years old. Now I’m seventeen…plus! That’s nine good years of experience. And I’m not bragging when I say that I’m even better than most adults that do this. That little squirrel trick is not enough for me to just drop my guard. I know whoever or whatever that thing was, it or they, are still following me. I’ll just let it or them, think that it’s/they’ve fooled me.
Finally…I’m at the turn; where the forest ends, at the juncture of the barren valley with a road of hard rocks to the left and right. I stop.
I ball my free hand into a fist and I clench it hard. I take huge, even breaths.
This is it. There’s no going back after this.
I make the turn and there it is; the gates of Fang Ville. Huge brown wooden gates covered with black runes and silver spikes stand tall on its top surface. Behind it are large trees that are five times taller than the gates… and the gates are almost as tall as the Empire State Building in New York. I wonder what kind and size of creatures go in and out of this place for the gates and trees to be this big. I look like an ant in front of them. Unfortunately I’m going to have to burn it all to the ground; well unfortunately for them, fortunately for the human race.
At the foot of the gates are three men dressed in black. They’re all hefty. So they’re…possibly…werewolves. I have a sixth sense for discerning a creature just from looking at them, though it’s pretty obvious since werewolves are all muscle freaks. They’re too far away for me to make out their facial features, but I can feel their eyes on me. My guess is confirmed when the one in the middle addresses me.
“Who are you? How did you find this place?” He asks.
Even though he’s so far away and he appears to be talking calmly, his voice booms through the valley.
I don’t bother trying to give him a reply. I just start walking towards them. I turn off my phone and I put it in the pouch hanging around my waist.
“Who are you?” the man asks again, but he asks it as a warning.
I keep walking. I am just standing at the edge of a cliff and below me are the waters of fire; lava, in other words; my anger. I am not too far from losing it and charging at them like a ravaging wolf, but I keep myself calm and in control. I control my heartbeat, which is beating so fast you’d think there’s a tiny man in my chest drumming on my heart, so as not to get too excited. I want to finish this with a cold look in my eyes and know that, to the very end, I was in control.
Whatever was following me doesn’t seem to be behind me anymore. Well, that doesn’t matter. Even if it appears, I’ve already flipped my switch. No more emotions. Just actions carried out with rational thinking. Once this is all over, I’ll never have to deprive my heart of its precious emotions again. But until then…mercy doesn’t exist anymore.
When the man sees that I will not give him any attention, he nods.
A signal.
Then the two men standing behind him rush towards me.
I reach under my jacket and I grab the hilt of my hunting knife strapped to my belt at my back. My hunting knife will be enough to take these guys down. I ready myself for anything, even while walking slowly towards them.
However, when they are just a few feet away from me…something unexpected happens; which is new to me, because I stopped being surprised by anything when I was twelve years old. It made it quite a pain whenever Whitney or Aiko planned a surprise party for me. Something lands in-between us, and I’m guessing it must be pretty heavy, because it lands so hard that it digs into the ground and causes it to cough out a huge cloud of dust with a loud thundering sound.
I come out of my momentary shock and I stay on my toes. Anything that can surprise me…as I am now…is not something that can be taken lightly. The dust settles after a few moments. But…again…I am shocked. Because in the crater that was once smooth ground with patches of grass over it, stands a girl. She looks about my age, I can tell even though she’s backing me. A small wind flows into the valley, catching her stomach-length long auburn hair in its breeze and under the light of the twilight sky…it almost looks like…fire. Like beautiful flames dancing in the wind.
She has an amazing figure, the kind models could kill for, not to mention large hips and a well pronounced behind. When she turns to face me, I take in the rest of her features. She has a voluminous bosom and flawless skin, completely free of any scratch. Her face is the killer. Her beautiful brown eyes reflect the light shining on her from the sky, her perfect pink lips look so inviting, her cheeks are just perfect, not too bony, not too chubby and all together, her face is breath taking.
So let’s review. Perfect hips, perfect rump, perfect rack, perfect figure and perfect face; equals vampire. And how typical, she’s dressed in all black; a black sleeveless top and black jeggings and black boots, all while shouldering a black backpack.  It’s like these creatures have never heard the word ‘cliché’ in their entire unnecessarily long lives.
But one thing doesn’t add up. If she’s a vampire…how did she make such a crater just by landing on the ground? Vampires are strong…but I’ve never met one that can make a crater this deep. What is she?
And the strangest thing is; she’s smiling at me. As in, really smiling at me. It’s the type of smile that you give to someone…you haven’t seen in a very long time.
“Hey.” She addresses me, quite loudly, “I thought I told you not to run off by yourself. You can get into serious trouble wandering here alone. What would you have done if I hadn’t arrived now?” she asks.
I’m a bit stunned and confused, but that quickly fades away when she winks at me.
I see what she’s trying to do, I quickly conclude in my head.
I sigh and I wear a calm, apologetic look on my face.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t wait. I guess I was just too excited to find the place. You know, since I’ve heard so much about it.” I say with a sheepish smile on, rubbing the back of my head.
She giggles.
“I never would’ve pegged you for the impatient type. Anyways, come on. Stick close and you’ll be fine.” She says.
Vampires are masters of deception and are very talented in wearing masks to hide their true intentions. But this girl…the smile on her face…for some reason…doesn’t seem to have an iota of deception in it at all. Rather…it looks very…genuine.
I hesitate for a second, before walking towards her and standing at her side.
“Just play it cool and this’ll be over in no time.” She whispers without looking at me.
“And what are you doing here?” the man in the middle, the one who seems to be the spearhead, speaks. But this time, he’s addressing the girl.
“Hello again Walter. It’s very nice to see you too. How’s your wife and how’re your kids?” she asks, putting on a condescending smile.
“You know full well that I am single and have no children.”
“And whose fault is that if I may ask?”
“You haven’t answered my question. Why are you back here?”
“Oh please, like I have to have special reason for coming back to my own home.”
“This has never been your home. You’re not welcome here.”
“Hmm…I wonder…will you try and…what’s that word again…‘stop’ me’?” she makes finger gestures at the word ‘stop’.
“You may be protected by that woman in there, but out here she can’t help you. You’re all alone.”
“Oh Walter, Walter, Walter…Walter…it’s seems you’ve forgotten what I am and what I can do.”
“If you take a single step from where you stand, you will be terminated.”
She smirks. She slowly lifts her left leg up and dangles it a bit before placing the sole of her boot back on the ground, a few inches ahead of her right foot.
“Attack!!” the man growls.
Then the men in front of us continue their approach, with much more ferocity this time. I guess they really hate this girl.
I place hand on my hunting knife’s hilt again, but she puts an arm in front of my chest. I turn to look at her, and she’s smiling again. She shakes her head slightly before facing her front, looking at the men. Her genuine smile changes to a somewhat feral grin.
The last time I checked, werewolves were stronger than vampires. It would take two mature vampires to take down a single matured werewolf. And this girl couldn’t possibly be mature enough to help take down a single werewolf, let alone take on two all on her own.
“Watch me.” She says.
I look at her with an eyebrow raised. Her response was in sync with what I was just thinking about. That cannot be a coincidence. Though I already deduced a long time ago, that coincidences don’t really exist in this world.
The men are no longer looking at me. They’re eyes are fixed on the girl. When one of them is just seconds away from her…I flinch when a huge crater suddenly opens up in the wall on the girl’s left side. The man in front of her is gone. When the dust settles, I see the same man who was about to kill her planted in the middle of the crater, not moving.
My eyes widen. What exactly is this girl? I ask in my head.
The other one doesn’t learn from his partner’s demise. He still charges straight forward, moving swiftly from left to right, trying to confuse the girl. But as he too is about to reach her, he is sent flying. In seconds he is blasted so far off the ground, that I bet he can see his house from there.
I do my best to keep my heartbeat in check.
This girl just took out two large werewolves, without even moving. The only way that’s possible is if she used magic…or she’s just moving too fast for me to see.
“Calm your bloody heartbeat down.” She whispers sternly, also without looking at me.
I look at her, and I try not to glare.
“Glaring won’t solve anything. Here, let me help.” She whispers again and takes my hand.
She inter-locks her fingers with mine. I try to protest, but then I notice that my heartbeat is slowly returning to normal.
“If you try to resist, you may actually just blow your cover.” She whispers.
She holds my hand tight and runs her thumb over back of my hand.
A little too intimate for someone you just met, no? But I don’t complain. Right now…I’m at this girl’s mercy.
I’ve been in multiple near death situations, but never have I been as close to death as I am now. This may not end well…for me. Sorry Whitney, I may not be coming back home on time. That is if, I survive enough to make it back home.