THE GIFTED

CHAPTER 13

THE HUNTER

Zenora

Curse Malcolm. Curse everyone. I think as I march down one of the many passageways of Ebonite. Rage courses through my veins. How dare he?! I fume to myself. I turn left then right, past a startled Hunted. I wonder if Malcolm will like it I gently push a glass shard into his jugular vein. I smile visualizing the scene.

I push open a door, searching the room. A slumped figure in a navy blue tunic and pants is sitting on the bed, sobbing. Her long black hair pulled back into a fish-tail braid, touches the bed.

"Dinah! What the Hades are you doing?" I yell or rather shout at her.

"Oh," She says as she fumbles around "Hi Zen! I'm just ... mixing a new potion."

"No! No, you're not" I tell her "You're coming with me to teach Malcolm a lesson."

"Zen! Just leave it! Okay?"

"Whatever. But if you feeling like talking or killing, I'm your gal." I say as I close the door and throw myself onto her bed. My stomach rumbles loudly enough for Dinah to hear. I pull the hood of my cape over my very blood-red face. Thankfully, the dinner bell echoes through the whole of Ebonite.

"C'mon, let's go. I'm starving." I tell Dinah.

"Yeah, I can tell." She replies, her voice full of humour. Her eyes look black and puffy. Other then that she is still my Dinah.

"Oh shut up!" I say back and swat her on the shoulder.

"Zen, did you hear about Kaige's new capture. Someone pretty important, I hear." I just nod. I feel bad for the new capture. Kaige is ruthless when she needs to be. That's why she is my favourite. I smile and keep walking.

***

"Look at what the beasts dragged in!" Malcolm hollers. He leers at Dinah. His snow-white hair sits perfectly atop his head. I want to cut off that head.

"Usually it's you" I shout back "after every dual with me, Malcolm." I muster all the hate and repulsiveness I can when I say his name. His face turns dark with anger or embarrassment. I can't tell and I couldn't care less.

I look at Kaige who smirks back in approval. I turn to look at Malcolm. He's gone. The entire room goes quiet. I feel a single breath run down my neck. In my cloak, there are dozens of concealed weapons. But I don't need weapons to take him down, he isn't worth it. I spin around, lashing out with my leg. I aim for the chest. He didn't expect it and flies across the room. All the candles in the room flicker but don't go out, they cast many shadows along the walls.

The room splits into two groups of people, me or Malcolm. In a flash, he is no longer on the floor, across the room, but right in front of me holding a scythe inches away from my neck with a devilish grin on his face, his black eyes gleaming.

"You see general. This is why you will never be like us. You don't have powers. You don't belong!" I falter for a millisecond. Then I reply.

"You can teleport, which is pretty cool. But for me? I don't need powers to defeat a jerk like you." I twist his arm and the sound of breaking bone is music to my ears. The scythe falls out of his hands and onto the floor. Then I flip him over my shoulder and unsheathe

Revenge, my favourite sword and hold it above his dark heart, if he has a heart. I pin both his arms so that he can't teleport away. I also make sure that he can't touch me with his filthy hands and teleport me either. But for the second time that night, the room goes silent. Many of the candles go out and a cold wind blows. Revenge flies out of my hand. Both I and Malcolm are thrown in the opposite directions as if an invisible hand was separating the both of us.

Anger is now replaced by fear as I look at the Master. His hood covers his eyes and nose but his mouth is upturned into a ghostly smile.

"General" his lips don't move but his voice reverberates through the room "come with me, we have much to discuss." I get up, glancing at my close fellow Hunters – Dinah, Kaige, Axon, Deathrow, and Vincent– they look at me sympathetically.

Well, everyone except Deathrow. He sits still watching everything with knowing grey eyes. The scar across his left eye slightly twitches. I look away and follow Master to my doom.

I guess dinner will have to wait.

~