Cursed

Chapter 7: The Hunter Council

The Council house was a big two story wooden and clay house. The designs on the door and around the windows were in stark contrast with the simplicity of the houses surrounding it. Above the entrance door was the symbol of the Vampire Hunters carved with perfect elegance. The colorful arrow and knife stood out against the otherwise simple wooden circle that held them. The 'X' that was formed by our typical weapons always reminded me of vampire teeth when I was a kid. Now all I saw was the power they wanted to show with that sign.

Coming from the other side of the campfire, which was situated right in front, gave me the full view of the house. On the ground floor, I could see the shadow of someone pacing up and down the room.

Great, they were already waiting.

With my nose in the air, I sniffed up the clean forest scent and enjoyed the warmth of the campfire before I knocked on the door, readying myself to face the ice cold blizzard inside. At least everyone else was too busy enjoying their night to have noticed my walk of shame. Perhaps rumors would stay to a minimum.

Silence settled and for a second I thought no one was going to respond, but then a low voice called. "Come in!"

From the moment my hand touched the cold handle of the door, my body dropped a few degrees. The air inside felt less breathable and a chill wrapped around me as if it held me in its claws. The comforting warmth that nature brought with it was already long forgotten.

The entrance hall was calm and dimly lit by a few candles. A gentle murmuring behind one of the doors was the only sound in the house.

The door on my left opened with a screech and Nike, one of the highest council members of Helfarch, appeared in the light. Her sharp brown eyes found me and made me freeze in my place. That woman scared me. Not only was she the only woman who had ever held a spot on the Hunter council, she had killed at least as many vampires as I did, the only difference was that she didn't possess the blood of a royal vampire. Yet that wasn't the reason for my fear of her, it was that murderous look she constantly wore, as if I was her next target.

"Enter Hunter Sky," her voice was as scarred as the skin on her arms and chest. It was quite a miracle how beautifully intact her face still looked.

"Hunter Sky," the buff, bearded older man on the other side of the table spoke. His voice was a low rumbling that reminded me of thunder during a storm. "Have you finally decided to come?"

Arwin was the leader of the hunting party and the one in charge of my never ending vampire killing missions. As a child, he had seemed impressive. Today, all I felt for him was dislike, bordering on hate.

With my breathing, I tried to calm the anger that was quickly rising. His arrogance was one thing, but his misuse of power to taunt young Hunters simply for his own pleasure was something else. All he had to do was throw the same excuse around, 'it is to make better Hunters of you'. Disgusting.

"Good evening, council members," I said with faux respect. "You asked for me?"

My hands were professionally crossed behind my back and just like Nike, my chin was tilted in the air.

The woman had closed the door behind us and walked along the long table that was filling the otherwise empty room. Her shoulders were pulled back and her fingers hovered not far from her weapons dangling on her belt. The woman had lost a lot of her femininity behind the strong muscles, the multiple deep scars and the short black hair.

"Dear Skylar, you disappointed us. Coming home late with only one deer." Arwin stood up.

"There was a group of five vampires camping nearby. You weren't here to do your job. Do you know what happens to people that don't do their job properly?" Nike threatened me.

They died. I didn't dare to speak so I just nodded. If I had the courage to speak up, I'd point out that they gave me permission. That I had a right to have one day for just me. That they can't blame me for anything. But it wouldn't matter, it'd still be my fault that I wasn't here to accomplish their goals.

"Good, because you're not an exception. You might have extra powers now but you will still do what you're told, otherwise you will face the same consequences as everyone else."

Nike walked to the chair at the end of the table. The table there was covered with drawings of the Green Lands and its mountains. Circles and crosses were covering the maps. Why were they looking into the mountains? That was vampire territory. Not a place you wanted to go, not even with a whole army of Hunters. Fighting on your enemies terrain was stupid and only had you at a disadvantage. So why was the council studying those maps?

Without giving me another look, she continued the work I had interrupted. Thereby pushing some of the maps out of view. Her hand waved at Arwin to wrap this conversation up.

"I'm leaving for Holt tomorrow, you're joining me," his words were a statement, nothing to be read into the way he spoke.

With my lips pressed together, I tried to suppress a sigh. More boring work. Standing on the market and selling dried meat while Arwin kept a close eye on me was not my idea of fun. Instead I nodded, waited for him to dismiss me so I could escape this hell.

Now the hall felt much more breathable than before, but that was probably because the conference room was even worse. In the calmth of the hall, my eyes traveled around. The stairs were much broader than the ones I had in my house, the wood used was more polished and there was a light design on certain steps. I wondered if they had a specific meaning.

Next to the stairs was a notice board, there were drawings and missing items pinned to it. The drawing of a young man made me think of the archives, which reminded me once again about the little vampire I had met today. I kept wondering who she really was. Maybe she did live on a farm, like I first thought. That would be ridiculous, what vampire would farm? They didn't even eat human food, only the humans themselves. Right? Kate didn't seem to be such a vicious killer though, she was nice and friendly. I liked how she seemed to notice small details and ask personal questions.

Quickly I shook my head, trying to get rid of the image of the brunette. Her half smile was too distracting. I shouldn't think like that about a vampire.

Try to fit in, Sky. Try to fit in.

Repeating those words inside my head, I walked out of the council house. Ura sat on the side, watching a group of youngsters playing a board game. She didn't seem to be participating in the game, instead her eyes were fixed on Mordor and his company on the other side of the campfire. Her face was scrunched up, she didn't look happy.

My hand waved in the air to get her attention, but she seemed to be too far gone in her thoughts. I could walk up to the group and rip her from her thoughts, but I didn't want to. All I wanted was to go to bed, forget about this day. Forget about the vampire that I couldn't get out of my mind.

So I walked to my house once more and climbed the poor stairs to the top floor where my bed of straw and sheep's wool was situated. After throwing my knife and boots on the side, I stripped myself from my green shirt and brown trousers. Switching them into my night shirt, I climbed under the covers and let my sleep take over.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.