Half and half

chapter 3

Chapter 3

For the rest of the day, I circled the neighborhood, passing houses of every size. From mansions, like mine, to shacks. Finally, when the light started fading, I got a brilliant idea. “Ethan, do you want to go to the cemetery?” He didn’t answer for a long time but finally, “where are you?” I grinned, looking around. “In front of it.” There was a moment of stunned silence in the other end of the line. “On my way.” He informed me. I grinned and shut the cell phone. I only had to wait for about 10 minutes until a sleek Porche appeared around the corner. I got out of the Hummer. It had started to drizzle. Ethan got out of his dad’s car and headed toward me. In the semi-darkness, he looked pale and silvery, like a ghost. I shook those thoughts out of my head. “Dude! Where were you at school? The weird new guy didn’t come either, although we have a totally hot new girl. It’s ridiculous how guys just swoon at her feet like she’s some kind of goddess.” He snorted and rolled his eyes but I could make out his red cheeks. Apparently, the other guys hadn’t been alone on that. I coughed to hide my laughter. “I got sick.” I lied, “tomorrow I’m going again. You miss me?” Ethan laughed and said teasingly, “so much I want to cry.” Then we entered the cemetery. We both fell silent. It was creepy at night. I had gone thousands of times to meet my father, but never at night. I looked warily over my shoulder, sure we were being followed. Then I laughed and shook my head. It’s just nerves, I told myself. I automatically headed towards my father’s grave, Ethan following. I stood at the foot of a beautiful marble slate, where the next words were inscribed in curly handwriting.

Mason Hunt

1967-2013

The best soldier, loyal and brave, did many great

deeds.  He will be missed.

I frowned. I didn’t know what ‘good deeds’ meant. As far as I knew, he was only a good politician. Of course, I barely knew anything. I never saw my dad. He was always away, traveling to who-knows-where. I heard a muffled exclamation behind me. I turned and saw Ethan had frozen, his head turned so that he looked behind him. I couldn’t decipher his expression doubt? Shock? And by the way, by frozen, I mean literally. He wasn’t even breathing. I turned in a circle. I was starting to get freaked out. Then I saw something that made cold daggers shoot up my spine. A bird hovered in mid-air, frozen in place. His wings weren’t beating. He had his beak half-open with a tape worm dangling from it. The tape worm wasn’t moving. Even the constant breeze had stopped. “Dylan.” A chilling voice said right behind me. I wheeled around, without thinking, crouching into a defensive position with my arms raised. I froze in shock at what I saw. The boy I had met at the bathroom, whose eyes had freaked me out, was leaning casually against a tree. He had shades on even if there was no sun which made absolutely no sense, but also relieved me. He seemed to be staring right at me. He was dressed much the same as the first day. Black jeans, black shirt, black hair, black shades. Seriously, this dude had an obsession with black. The chosen color made him blend into the dark landscape, making it difficult to focus on him. I got the impression he preferred it that way. I straightened. “What happened to Ethan?” I asked. My voice sounded wary. The boy cocked his head, but didn’t answer. I scowled. This boy annoyed me. I felt my eyes flash. The boy straightened from the trunk and the corner of his mouth curled up as if something he suspected had come true. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll try to revive my friend.” I snapped and turned around. I could sense he was surprised. I walked toward Ethan and waved my hand in front of his face. I clicked my fingers under his nose. I cuffed him on the ear. I punched him in the stomach. The guy didn’t even move. “I need to speak with you.” The boy said, right behind me. It was uncanny the way he could move without making a noise. Especially since the ground was littered with dry leaves. I managed not to jump. I turned and there he was. Not five feet from me. I scowled, then made my expression lighten, “then by all means, please do!” I said in a mock-polite voice. His sunglasses lit up from the inside, giving the impression of a lightning strike. I blinked in surprise and when I opened my eyes, his shades were normal black. I decided it must have been a trick of the light. “Your last name is Hunt.” He stated. I scoffed, “dude, if you’re here to freeze my friends and tell me increasingly obvious stuff like. ‘The sky is blue’ you should probably go home.” It probably wasn’t the most polite comment but this guy made me lash out. “I wasn’t done.” He said. Then he took a deep breath, as if he dreaded telling me the next words. “The name Hunt is not a surname. It is brand. A brand of a clan that hunts starcks, thus the name.” he tried to decipher my expression. Then he continued, “We are a batch of chosen children. Your father was one. He died on the job. You see, the wearers of the starcks are not exactly powerless. That is why most of us don’t make it to adulthood. I doubt you’d find an adult Hunter. Your father pushed his luck. Yet you didn’t inherit the title. You were one of the chosen. By accident or fate, I don’t know but it is rare a child of a hunter gets chosen. They’re too unpredictable, moody even. They tend to cause problems. Be too powerful.” By this point I was ready to make a run for it and call a nuthouse. But somehow, I know I wouldn’t be able to outrun him. So I decided to record the conversation so I could show the police and they could arrest this guy. I wouldn’t leave Ethan alone with him. I slipped my hand into my pocket and shivered, pretending to be cold. I had experience in texting without looking at my phone, thanks school, so I was able to press the record button pretty easily. “uh-huh.” I said just to make him talk again. “Dylan, this is serious. If you don’t learn our ways, she’ll destroy you. She’ll notice sooner or later. With my presence, your powers will probably start lashing out. We can’t have that happen in public, and I can’t leave.” He said seriously. An image flashed across my mind, the shears hovering in mid-air in front of my nose. I hesitated, “what kind of powers?” I asked. He seemed satisfied I was past the questioning phase. “Powers like levitation, persuasion, mind breaking, teleportation, and time freezing.” He hesitated, “and some actually... what do you think we hunt Dylan?” he asked suddenly. I shrugged, “I don’t know. Powerful beings, according to you. Probably not monsters because they would be easy to find. And they have or are something called starcks. The thing you hunt.” I said, listing possibilities in my head. He nodded, approving my train of thought. He continued, “Do you believe in God?” the change of topic took me by surprise. “No. my father never took me to church. After he died, my mom stopped believing.” I shrugged, “so did I.” he considered me carefully. “Well, God’s real enough. Only not the God you probably know. Heaven is divided, just like Earth. There is the supreme God, who rules all. And there are some sorts of... politicians, I guess you could say. Those ‘minor gods’ yeah I guess that’s better than politicians. Well, they have children who guard the gates, who act as loyal guardians. Those are angels.”