Hunter Unknown

Cards on the Table

    Sam sat at the end of the heavy wooden table, laptop in front of him.  He was taking down notes like those typists who feverishly take down dialogue in court rooms.  Dean had finally pulled out a chair opposite me, and had started the interrogation. 

"Name, age, date of birth?" Dean questioned as he sat elbow propped on the arm of the chair and cheek resting in his hand in a bored manner.  He was in a state of false calm, I could tell that he could explode into anger at any moment if I said something to trigger him. 

Although I knew this I couldn't help but through a smirk at Sam who had knowingly looked up from his computer screen. Dean caught our glances but turned his attention to me as I answered him.

"I was born Desdemona Daniela Kera Benetta, born October 31, 1990, at 12 am.  I'm currently 24 if you can't do the math.  Oh, and I changed my name so it's Iliana Eliza Priscilla Renata now."  I hid my grin as my name rolled off my tongue. 

Dean looked annoyed and puzzled all at once. "Seriously." He shook his head but quickly continued his questioning me.

"Parents' info?"

"My mother's name was Deirdre Merula Benetta, born December 13, 1962."

"And your father?"

I looked at the table in front of me, focussing on the lines made by the dark grain in the wood.  "I don't know." I said solemnly.

"You don't know?" Dean asked skeptically.

"No. I don't know my mother never mentioned him and I learned not to ask.  I have no idea."

"So your mother was a hunter then?"

I shook my head, thus receiving a curious look from Dean once again.

"Okay...so where are you from?"

"We had a small house in the suburbs of Crow Creek, Montana."

Sam looked up from his laptop with concern on his face as his eyes met Dean's.

"It says here Deirdre Merula Benetta died in a house fire under suspicious circumstances.  Her daughter, fourteen at the time, was presumed dead."

Dean looked at me incredulously, so I decided to explain in as little detail as possible.  Even though I keep my word and promised to tell them the whole truth, I couldn't help my natural instinct to protect myself.

"It says that because they didn't find a second body, so they assumed I had been burned completely. My room was in the basement so if I had been in there they would be right, I'd have been burned to ashes."

"It says you were fourteen, where did you go?"

"I became a hunter.  I left, I started walking and didn't stop until dark.  The next morning I started again until I was far away."

"How did no one notice a fourteen year old walking around by herself?" Dean again unconvincedly questioned.

"Because I didn't look fourteen.  No one suspected a thing, I just kept my head down. Eventually I got a fake ID with my new name on it, so that helped."

"Ok, well what are all of these?" Dean asked while gesturing to stacks of files lying on the table. 

"Well there's two kinds of files there.  The first contain every monster I ever researched.  In the beginning I wrote down every creature I came across in my studies whether I believed they existed or not.  Those files contain their countries of origin, reproduction/ repopulation methods, modus operandi, how to kill them, etc."

"And the second kind?"

"Hunters."

"Uh hunters?" Sam now suddenly interested.

"Yes, hunters.  Every name I heard, everyone I saw is in there." I stated matter of factly.

"I thought you never met any hunters?" Dean questioned further.

"I never said that, I said no one knew me.  I ,however, know plenty of hunters."

"Care to explain." Dean retorted clearly annoyed.

I leaned forward, resting my forearms on the table. "Like I said in the early days I studied; lore, then different types of hand to hand combat, weaponry, and so forth.  I eventually started hunting, but at one point I had to stop.  I needed time, so I decided it would be smart to study up on these other people who knew the things I now did. I quickly learned that alcohol is a staple.  It wasn't hard, hunters are easy to find.  I hung around old rundown bars and small town cafes.  It's incredible how sloppy hunters are, they would openly have conversations about their latest hunt or gossip about other hunters. I mean it was so easy to find them and gather info.  They didn't even notice me most of the time."

Dean had his arms crossed, looking slightly perturbed. I leaned back in my chair and Dean finally responded "so it got to you huh?  Hunting's not all peaches and cream especially for a kid."

"It wasn't the hunting exactly, just a result of the lifestyle." Once again flashbacks of that night berated my mind.  Just two years after the fire, after finally being free, after assuming a new identity and life, I was brutally reminded that the worst kind of monsters are humans.  I was fucked up for a while, hell if I admit it I still am.

"Hello, earth to uh whatever the hell you said your name is." Leaning toward me, Dean was snapping his fingers in my face.  I hadn't realized that he was trying to speak to me.

After quickly clearing my throat I reminded him that he could call me Eli or Ren.

"Right....well it looks like we're done here for now." He replied pushing himself up from the table with both hands.