The Hunter Series - Penelope

Jeremy laid on a long hard couch, unmoving. The room was ill-lit by candles, making it dark and murky. On the side table there was a five pointed star scratched into the wood.

The boy was dead. Which was a major inconvenience as he was needed. When Mason came back with the dead kid, it ticked her off. He wasn’t supposed to eat him, just kidnap him and bring him here. It wasn’t difficult but the stupid vampire clearly doesn’t understand basic instructions. So, he met his end by being the sacrifice for The Great Cause. He still laid on the floor in the corner with a stake in its heart.

The boy didn’t look dead. He still had colour in his cheeks and hadn’t moved to the next stage of being dead. All thanks to a genius spell she created. The spell was going to bring the boy back from the dead. It was extremely dangerous as the spell needed dark magic. Magic you’re not supposed to use. Unless you want the devil to own your soul. But it was the price she was willing to pay for what the boy could give her.

The magic running through his veins came from a strong and powerful witch. There were three ancient powers she desperately wanted. The boy was a direct descendant of the original witch. Throughout history this particular line only had girl descendants. Until, this boy was born. It was the reason why she had been so intrigued by him. It broke the chain. It meant if anyone would have those powers, it would be him.

Jeremy’s eyes flickered, his head rocked from side to side before opening his eyes. The boy panicked as he saw the corpse across the room. Desperately looking around for a way out. It was dark with only the candle light flickering and making shadows.

“Shh… You are fine. See the vampire that killed you?” she gestured over to the corpse. The boy nodded. “Well, I killed it.”

“Where’s my mum and dad? Where’s Poppy?” He asked, so innocently. “Who are you?”

“My name is Eleanor. You’re Jeremy, right?” Keeping her voice sweet. He nodded. “You need to do something for me, Jeremy. Do you think you can say ‘yes’ when I ask you a question?”

“What question?”

“Now, that’s not the answer I want to hear, is it?” The sweetness in her voice slowly turning sour. The boy looked scared. “If you do this for me, I’ll take you back to your family.”

“Okay.” He said. “But what…”

“Hush.” Then, closed her eyes. “I’m trying to concentrate.”

While Eleanor’s eyes were closed, she hummed. A breeze came out of nowhere making the candle light flicker. Jeremy thought he saw the shadow on the wall move, slithering down to the floor and disappearing. It scared him. Which was exactly what he should feel when witnessing pure evil.

“Hear the words of the Witches,

The secrets we have kept in the night,

The oldest of Gods are invoked here,

The great work of magic is sought.

In this night and in this hour;

I call upon Ancestry Power,

To the one that is seeking,

Hear us speaking!

We want the power!

Give us the power!”

Eleanor knew the words by heart, she had the same ceremony at eighteen. Then, watched each one of her coven have the awakening ceremony too. Each one of them had better powers than herself. The ability to orb or time travel or use their own force field. While she got premonition. It was a useless power in battle and she had no interest in saving anyone.

An orb of power came and hovered over the boy. It was only one but there was still a chance it could be any of the three special powers.

“Do you accept your power?” Eleanor said, nodding at him with a stern look.

“Yes.”

The orb reacted to his acceptance and shot into the boy’s chest, it winded him for a moment.

“What do you feel?” She said, incredibly inpatient to know which one of the powers it could be.

Jeremy tilted his head to the side, squinting his eyes at her as though he was trying to figure something out.

“I feel the darkness in your heart. You’re not a nice person.” He said and it enraged her. “You feel angry because you didn’t get something you wanted. What do you want?”

EMPATHY? He had the ability to feel emotions! What use is that to me?

“Be quiet before I rip your tongue out of your mouth! Clearly you are no use to me.”

“I want to see my mum and dad. Where are they?” He badgered on. “Where is Poppy?”

“Forget about them, kid. You won’t see them again.”

Eleanor left the boy and didn’t turn back. There was no other counsellors working at the office that evening. However, there were two bounty hunters waiting to transport the child over to Enukeador for slavery.

“Time for plan B, boys. The kid is yours. I have a new plan. A plan that depends on Jeremy never coming back to this world. While his family grieves from his death, it will help me get close to Penelope Hennessey. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. I will have those powers and I will become Queen of Enukeador.”

The bounty hunters frowned at each other, holding in a snigger. “Yeah, alright then.”

“The bounty hunters brought me to Enukeador to be a slave. The vampires beat me, fed on me and made me do anything they wanted. When I turned thirteen, a vampire named Mercy took pity on me and bought me. Mercy took care of me. She gave me proper meals and let me sleep in a bed.” Jeremy said. “Mercy cared about humans. She told me, I needed to be part of the supernatural to live in this kind of world. Otherwise, I’d be nothing more than a pet. I’d be enslaved for the rest of my life. I wanted to be strong like her, to have freedom. When I turned sixteen, I agreed to become a vampire.”

“How old are you now?”

“Too old. I’ve been in Enukeador for nearly a century. All those years thinking I would never see my family again and would outlive you all. That’s of course until I saw you in the village with Nan. You’re so young and I’m so very old. It didn’t make sense to me because I heard your heartbeat, you’re mortal. It crossed my mind that maybe I was imagining things or it was someone with similar features. So, I followed you. You introduced yourself at the Royal Hall when you made your speech. It was so empowering. It showed you actually care about us. I’m so proud to call you my sister.”

He seemed nervous but I needed to hug my brother. I had spent too many years without him. After a few moments, his shoulders relaxed and embraced the hug.

“I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through your whole life without us. Enukeador sort of runs on a different time to this world. Every month is a year in Enukeador.”

“I figured that out when I followed you here. It’s not changed much since my human years.”

“I can’t believe its you, Jeremy. It’s been eight years since you died. Now, you’re my not-so-much little brother. You’re older than me.”

“It’s crazy, right?” he said.

“I want you to know. There’s not been a day gone by without missing you. I became a hunter to save kids like you from being murdered by vampires. We’ve saved so many people from slavery and all the awful things you must have gone through.”

“You did that for me?”

“Yes. My whole world collapsed when you died. Mum took me to counselling and I met Eleanor. After months of sessions with her, she began to teach me how to hunt.”

“Eleanor? Poppy, that’s the woman who stole my power and gave me to those bounty hunters. She mentioned your name but I don’t remember what she said… You know what this means?”

“She knew about me before meeting me. About my family, the witches and my powers. She planned this! She used me.” I said with a deep rage.

The realisation overwhelmed me. The woman who I trusted to guide me into the right path. The woman who mum trusted in good faith to help me with my emotional dilemmas. To help me with the grieving process of my little brother. All of this was part of her plan to get me to trust her. So, she could shape me into a fighter and when the time came, she would steal my powers. She’s not a good witch. She’s a Night Crawler. A clever, devious and manipulative Night Crawler.

“We have to tell Mum. The coven needs to know she’s a Night Crawler. We’re not safe here. The protection spells are not going to work against her.” I said. There was an urgency to my voice. I was on the verge of panicking.

“You should go tell Mum. I can’t…” He stammered.

“Of course you can, I can invite you inside.” I said, grabbing his hand but he wouldn’t budge.

“It’s not that, Penelope. Why would they accept me? I’m not their little boy any more.”

“Nonsense, they’ll be thrilled to see you! They just don’t know you’re alive. Jeremy come on!”

“Poppy, I’m a monster. I’ve killed people because of my hunger. I have to drink blood every day. Do you really think they would want me in their house?”

“Jeremy, listen. You’re my little brother and we’re family. It doesn’t matter that you’re a vampire. You’re blood and we stick together.”

The wind brushed passed a chilly breeze. The hairs on my arms raised and my gut had an awful feeling. The trees swayed, the leaves rustled and some fell to the ground. A dark long shadow came from the darkness. It slithered over the grass until it stopped close to us. We moved back, seeing another figure come forward.

Eleanor seemed different. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair had grown much longer. Instead of the beautiful blonde, it had once been, it was now darker, messier. She wore a black dress with bell open sleeves, it fit tightly around her boobs and waist. The gown flowed to the floor. It was the kind of dress you would wear in Enukeador.

“So you’ve finally found your way home just to squeal about your poor tormented life.” She said, amused. Her eyes moved towards mine. “I’ve come for what’s mine.”

“These powers belong to me! I’m not giving them up without a fight.” I snarled.

“You think you’re so brave. The Princess of Enukeador. You could have been Queen and ruled the Kingdom but you chose to let that filth live. I taught you to feel no remorse for these monsters.” Eleanor said, gritting her teeth. “Look what you’ve done with my generosity!”

“You’re insane, Eleanor! You’ve let the darkness control you. It’s draining you from the inside. Look at yourself! You’re a mess!”

“Shut up, you stupid little girl!” Eleanor yelled. “I don’t need to hear this any more! Take the powers from her!”

The shadow moved and morphed into a tall black figure. It had stick thin legs and arms. The fingers were long and sharp. It’s eyes were red and it had razor sharp teeth.

My hands flew up to try and freeze it.

Nothing happened.

I tried again but my powers weren’t responding. It grinned and showed off its wet and sharp teeth. It’s hand raised in my direction and my body stopped moving.

Jeremy pounced to grab hold of the creature but he went straight through it, like a ghost. The creature grabbed hold of Jeremy’s throat and threw him into a branch. A piece of wood stabbing through his stomach. Blood spilt from Jeremy’s mouth and his head sunk into his chest.

The creature set its sights back on me. I tried to move, to do anything but I couldn’t move a muscle. Its long fingers sunk into my stomach. The excruciating pain felt like someone had stabbed me with a burning hot knife. My body began to sweat and shake uncontrollably. I cried out for help even though I wasn’t sure if anyone could hear me, or if I was even making a sound. When the shadow creature pulled out his hand, he held three white orbs. My body violated and abused.

The creature offered the orbs of power over to Eleanor. The orbs were not so willing to go into her but the shadow creature forced them into Eleanor’s body.

How am I supposed to stop her now?

“Take her with us. I want the whole Kingdom to see what a failure she is to the world. She can’t rule Enukeador. She’s too weak. But I will…” Eleanor said to the shadow.

A light flickered on from the house and caught our attention.

“Burn down the house and make sure it kills them all.” Eleanor ordered.

“No!” I screamed. The red eyes glared at me before punching me unconscious.