Twisted Blood

"Happy Halloween," Dane wished sullenly while he and Ridley were exiting the infirmary. She sized him up and down coldly. "At least, I think it's Halloween. What time is it," he asked searching for his phone. "Ha! It is Halloween." Still Ridley said nothing. Playfully Dane punched her in the arm. "Happy Halloween." Ridley stopped abrupt to scowl at him. "Can you at least pretend to give a shit about something? You used to love Halloween. The costumes, the heavy patrols, the buckets of teeth-rotters, those incredibly gory finger paintings of hunting scenarios you made when we, like, seven."

"What do you want?"

"I want to know how it is humanly possible for you not to feel anything."

"I have better things to occupy myself with," Ridley replied.

"Like what," Dane inquired. "Name one thing you like doing outside of school and hunting."

"Reading."

Dane rolled his eyes. "Do you even listen to music? Who's your favourite artist?"

"In ancient cultures, music was used as a torture device," Ridley stated casually. "That hasn't changed. Music is shit!"

"Wow. What's your opinion on Instagram?"

"Has its perks," was all Ridley said.

"You have Instagram! Holy shit. What's your tag?" Ridley said nothing as they sat at a marble bench and table. "Seriously?" He began typing into to the search bar 'RidleyAxel'. Needless to say he couldn't find her. "Damn. When you hide, you hide. Even on the internet. That's impossible to do." She said nothing and he reached to comb through her black hair. "Unless you use Ryan's account."

Ankh leaped in between them, distancing Ridley from Dane. Still Ridley handed Dane her phone, opened on her Instagram page. "Here. Tell anyone and I'll tear you in half," Ridley replied.

Dane eagley took in the page of 'greyhood'; '0 Followers' and '0 Following'. "Whoa," he replied while Ankh peered over his shoulder. "You're... so..." she turned to him sourly and he swallowed his comment. "It's a compliment," he deflected. "I thought you hated all that girly stuff." She merely nestled into Ankh's neck. "I'm not going to lie; this is fucking terrifying! What's real, Ridley? The disturbingly soullessness or the picturesque goth chick?"

The huntress grabbed her phone wordlessly from him. She sized him up before getting up to leave while Ankh turned to Dane quizzically. She licked his cheek reassuringly while he sighed defeatedly. The grey wolf buried her face into his chest before she leaped off the bench and followed Ridley.

"Women," he commented defeatedly, watching her storm off.

Ridley combed through her hair to shake off the massive mistake she just made. Ankh yipped then followed Ridley to her patrol post, near the library. The wolf growled angrily at her. The hunter said nothing and ignored the wolf. Ryan was also starting duty with her counterpart.

Underneath the Halloween crescent moon, the two sisters watched over the rear of the library while the moon students were going about their night. Ryan massaged her mother's teeth implants in her neck, warming up to Renee. Renee was just pitiful. Alone and unloved, like Ryan.

"Library. Sound out," Jakob ordered.

"West face. Clear," Johnathan declared.

"South face. Clear," Noah added.

"East face. Clear," Ryan stated.

"North face. Clear," Henry concluded.

After that it was silent. The students - both sun and moon - were still cautious of the number of hunters that were across the school. Ryan took in the north garden while Ridley covered the quad. Ankh sat obediently on watch. Her black vest was invisible against the darkness, unlike her fur.

Her fur was a slightly darker grey over her spine and grew lighter down her sides. Her eyes were silvery like the full moon and surrounded by what looked like naturally-occurring eyeliner. She snorted to herseld before scratching behind her ear with her paw, flicking her tail lightly.

"R. D. Axel, report to the hunter's facility immediately."

Ryan huffed then rolled her eyes. "Of course," she jeered in reply to Jakob. Ridley made nothing of her sister's comment. Wordlessly she left for the hunter's facility.

Ankh waddled at her side just as soundlessly as she was. The foyer was desolate but the lights were on. Clarke was standing against a hall patiently with a pensive scowl on his face while paging through a binder. "Axel?"

Clarke closed his eyes with an exhale before he closed his binder. "How was school," he began, knowing she wouldn't reply. Ankh scratched behind her ear with a yip while the principal handed her the binder. "This is the report from the horde attack. Look under pathology." The young hunter mutely obeyed and scanned through the pathology report. "Notice anything strange?"

Slowly she looked deeply into her father's hereditary dark brown eyes. "No."

"Ridley, before a hunter can get a gradus from an event like this, a thorough investigation is conducted to see what they did and what the people around them did. Ryan's hunt was straightforward and there were witness to testify that she made hunt," Clarke explained. "Every single report in here concludes that you didn't hunt a single person."

"Big deal."

"It is a big deal! The horde's body count was seventy-seven! We had sixty-three fatalities and fourteen arrests," Clarke jeered. "Ridley," he sighed, "your fighting style is malicious. Every cut you issued was deep but not lethal and truthfully that could be an advantage but not with a threat this potent. Especially since she's familiar with us and the school. I need everyone on point at all times. You and Ryan, especially."

The principal beckoned her to following through the maze that was the hunter's facility. The buildings on top housed the gym and training facilities along with the residence for the hunters, both human and canine. However, underground - away from any student activity - were more confidential facilities. The elevator dinged and Clarke led Ridley deeper into underground base.

Surveillance, where Jakob worked; research; a morgue; various sorts of laboratories from pathology to ballistics; the weaponry vault; the canine training facility; and a dungeon. Or more accurately, a prison. Most of the underground was white wall and the hallways were mostly brightly lit.

Everyone down there; the scientists, the detectives, the investigators, the security guards, even the janitor who was mopping dusting the glass panel over a florescent light. They were all hunters with the gradus to prove it. They all had the completed Nonentity series and the Mana gradus. Some had other gradus, like the Civil gradus to show they weren't hunting but still helping the hunting community in some way.

At the end of the hallway was a safe door with a padlock and palm scanner. Ank curiously sniffed the new terrain but Ridley knew too well where Clarke was taking her. The reinforced steel door revealed the metal stairwell that was heavily lined with cameras. The stairs only went down.

Ankh practically pranced down the stairs ahead of the father and daughter duo. She tilted her head curiously then started sniffing the other reinforced safe door. Clarke laid his hand on the palm scanner. The bars clapped out of the lock before letting out a hiss before opening.

Ridley entered before Clarke did and took in monitors of the prison cells. There was only one hunter, Lyle, watching all the monitors. "Anything in C-13," Clarke asked, taking in all the monitors.

"You missed a temper tantrum and some wall scratching. Nothing interesting," Lyle replied boredly. He was lightly swinging on his chair to stay awake. Clarke patted his shoulder then turned to the another door and Lyle pressed a button on his keyboard that sounded a blaring buzzer. "Have a good time," Lyle sang.

What was beyond the door was unfamiliar territory for Ridley and Ankh. They were in the prison and it was bone-chilling. The cells, at first glance, were more inhuman than the average. Concrete walls and floor and in place of beds, there were only chains bolted to the walls.

The chains would clink, from the inmates being cuffed to them. It put Ankh on edge. She whimpered then trotted closer to Ridley. The hunter could sense that it was to protect her. Her grey fur stood up uncomfortably.

The stretch of walkway was dark brick with dim lighting. Most of the cells were empty but because there was no light before the steel bars and the laminated glass, all of them may as well as been stuffed to the brim.

Clarke and Ridley were demure externally but internally, Clarke was conflicted. He let out a shaky breath, despite his square disposition. He took a corner and Ridley followed him, with Ankh beating beside her. The principal-hunter paused abruptly and turned to the cell on his left. On the laminated glass, 'C-13' was printed on the bottom.

He cupped his daughter's lower back and passive-aggressively nudged her closer to the cell. "You know better than anyone I despise Richard's methods," Clarke began softly, with a faint fear in his voice. "But I'm doing this for your sake," he admitted. "I need to know that not only can you hunt but you can protect people who can't protect themselves."

His eldest nonchalantly turned to him. "Why're we here, Axel?"

Clarke cupped her cheek ruefully then swallowed hard. He closed his eyes then looked up at the camera above the cell. "Open it," he ordered Lyle. He obeyed. The laminated glass parted and revealed the steel bars beyond that rattled loudly as they slid aside. "You have to make hunt. You need to be able to kill without hesitation."

Gently he ushered her inside and when Ankh began to follow, Clarke held a hand out to her. The wolf huffed then obediently sat down. Ridley entered the dark cell and the chains inside rattled lightly. Ankh could hear the second heartbeat inside. It was erratic, like the Class F's breathing. He snarled angrily and Ankh matched his snarl.

"Stand down," Clarke ordered sternly to the grey wolf. Ankh snarled at him defiantly.

"Ankh," Ridley called coolly from inside the cell and the wolf huffed. She turned away from the cell and laid down, growling under her breath. The low lights in the cell turned on and revealed the Class Feral man, chained to the wall. "Uncuff him," she directed to Clarke.

Clarke sighed. "Ridley..."

"This isn't a fair fight."

"Fine," he replied. "Lyle, release inmate C-13."

The chains clanked loudly before the feral fell to the ground. He cracked out his neck bones before towering over Ridley. She inhaled deeply while unsheathing her karambit knife. The man's veins around his eyes were black and thick drool dangled from his flat lips.

The man was breathing heavily and his breath was strongly sour. Slowly the two started circling each other, gazes never wavering. There was a deafening silence between them and even Clarke was mute. Eagerly watching. The Class F was the first to strike. He pranced! Ridley slid underneath him and slashed him in the arm.

Another monstrous snarl escaped the Feral man. He leaped into Ridley, pinning her to the wall. She spun the karambit with her finger in the ring then struck the man in hip. She slammed her head into his and he stammered backwards. Again she banged her head into his and he fell to the ground.

It was Ridley's turn to tower over the man, with a dagger she pulled out from her inner blazer pocket. Even there - with darkness masking the man's face - Ridley could see his eyes accepting his face. Moreover, she saw the life leaving her grandmother's eyes. "She's not here," Ridley whispered shakily to herself, though the principal still heard her. "She's gone."

Ankh sat up then glanced over her shoulder to take in the scene. She could feel everything Ridley did. From the adrenaline of the fight down to the droplets of sweat forming under her arms. More than that, Ankh could see Barbara Axel's face as clearly as if the dead huntress was dying in front of her at that moment.

Ridley turned away from the man and buried her face in the wall, sniffling weakly. The man rolled over to his feet and Clarke stiffened while Ankh stood, ready to attack. Ridley straightened up, hearing the Feral get to his feet. She swallowed hard then tightened her hold on the karambit.

"Pathetic little girl," the Feral stated. "You'll be easy pickings!"

She sighed then spun to punch the man so hard that he crashed into the opposite wall. The curved tip of the karambit also made a knick on his cheek. Ankh whimpered then edged closer to the cell but Clarke glowered warningly at her. The wolf snarled at him then continued to the cell but Ridley held up her hand to stop the wolf.

"I'm fine, Ankh."

The wolf huffed then continued into the cell, nestling her head into Ridley's waist. The man forced himself out of the mound he made in the concrete wall. The wolf snarled at him but her master lightly shoved her out the cell. The feral licked his lips hungrily while Ridley turned to her father.

The feral turned out of his cell, as if noticing he was a step away from freedom for the first time. He took in Clarke and underestimated the principal-hunter. He ran for the hunter but Clarke merely stood there. Ridley grabbed his shoulders and flung him back into the cell. "If I wanted a wrestler, I'd have put you in wrestling," Clarke ordered coolly.

Ridley threw her karambit at his feet in reply. She pulled out identical sai daggers. "Hm," the Feral purred. "A meal that comes with toothpicks! What fine dining," he taunted on.

She threw one sai into his eye. "Dine on that."

She sighed defeatedly, watching the man just stammering into the wall, clutching his eye and careful not to touch the dagger perfectly impaled into his head. Coolly the unmarked huntress ripped the dagger out. "Bitch!"

"Is that your strategy," Clarke interjected, "wait? Wait until he dies from blood loss or pain?"

"I can't do it," she replied demurely while her victim was huddled in corner, grunting and straining his agony. "Killing someone... it's... it's barbaric."

"Says the girl who flawless skinned a mouse while it was alive then kept it as a pet."

"That was grief. This is..."

"This is an excuse. A weak on, at that," Clarke cut in. He leaned into the cell behind him while Ankh, Ridley could feel, was disgusted by what she saw. A father have a casual conversation with his daughter whose the middle of torturing a Class Feral. "Ridley, we don't have time for this! Somewhere, out there, Renee is planng to kill us for God alone knows why! If she gets you cornered, you have to be the one who comes out."

"I can't do it so stop pushing!"

"It's just like flying," he began tenderly, dropping his hunter tuition. "Remember when we first got into a plane? When we went to Denmark. How you and Ryan were terrified of the height. Then when we came back, it was less scary because you knew what to expect. Experience is the best teacher. What you lack in experience, you always made up with skill and instinct. That path has reached its end. You need to know what it feels like."

"I know exactly what it feels like," she roared angrily, making the entire prison rumble and causing feedback on the camera. "Do you know why Barbara called me 'harbinger'? The real reason she called me that."

"Ridley," he replied stunned.

"Do you remember that horrible children's show, Hannah the Hunter?"

"You mean The Hunt's excuse for Dora the Explorer? What about it?"

"Hannah had wolf sidekick called Harbinger," Ridley went on. "Whenever Hannah went on adventures and a Class E or Class F tried to stop her, Harbinger had to bark three times to stop them. One night, a Class E broke into her and Richard's house. It was back when you took night classes at university. It came into our room. Ryan's scream is what woke me up."

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?"

"The Class E pinned her to the bed and the next thing I remember is that it was lying on the floor bleeding and I held the broken bottle neck from the vase in my hands. Barbara came she killed it right in front of us," Ridley went on, completely ignoring her father. "She told me I called for her. That I saved Ryan." Clarke was stunned wordless, Ankh too. "She saw how I was shaking and she told me something that I can't ever forget. She said 'when you hunt, don't think about what you're ending but about what you're allowing to continue'. Then you killed her. You killed my grandmother right in front of me and told me to go sleep? We're supposed to hunt to protect. I can't hunt because I protect. I have to be Ryan's Harbinger."

"Ryan," he finally spluttered out in genuine confusion.

"Ryan is the one person who can actually hurt me. That night left a scar on me. A scar that is constantly telling me that if anything happens to Ryan, then there's nothing left for me in this life," she confessed with her victim going quiet. "Ryan is all I ever had. When you had to go to class, when we were in boarding school, when we left Lanasia for Dunon Town. All I have in this world is Ryan. She's literally and figuratively a part of me. I have to be her Harbinger and Barbara Axel is the only other person who ever knew-"

"Ridley!"

She spun around to be met with the Class F's fist in her face. She stammered backwards while failing at kicking him. She used the steel bars to recover simultaneously drawing a fourth knife while Clarke leaped in to intervene. Ridley bounced back with the knife aimed at the Feral's arm but Clarke grabbed hold of her as she plunged.

Clark's hand ensnared Ridley's and in place of slicing off the Class F's humerus, the knife went into his chest. It struck the heart; the handle pulsated when Clarke released his daughter's hand. Ridley too let go of the black handle. The Class Feral fell to the ground lifeless, but it was not an official hunt.

In instances like these, uncommon but in existence, it was a fortuity. A fortuity was an invalid hunt, which meant that Ridley didn't make hunt. Clarke's intervention compromised that. He knew that and she knew that but what the seasoned hunter did next was punishable by desecration, which meant he could be expelled from the active hunting population. Permanently.

He gathered Ridley in his arms, dragging her out of her cell from her knees caving in from the sudden burst of shock. Ankh barked lowly then nestled into Ridley's waist.

"Clarke," Lyle called urgently over the intercom. "Status, Clarke. Give me something? Need medical? Backup?"

"All clear," the principal replied while Ridley straightened up. She picked up her karambit then caved against the wall next to the cell. "Draw up a report, we've got a new fledged hunter on site," he lied and Ridley shot him a warning glare. "I will call the tattooist with the update," he went on, unfazed by his daughter.

Ridley shook her head at him then marched back with Ankh following her. Lyle was already typing up the events of what happened and that's when Ridley noticed that she didn't have evidence to suggest otherwise. The camera that faced cell C-13, didn't have clear vision into the cell.

She could fell from how unclear the Class F's body was. Only a foot was visible. She couldn't prove she didn't make hunt and The Hunt was strict when it came to claims against its high ranking hunters. More than that, Ridley - even if she wouldn't admit it - didn't want her father, of all people, to be permanently removed.

Ankh rested a paw over Ridley's black Van's reassuringly. It took a moment before Clarke came through the thick door and Ridley shook her head before leaving the hunter's building, Ankh still at her side. In the cold brush of 03:00, Ridley took a moment to collect herself before rejoining Ryan's side.

"Have fun," Ryan jeered coldly, knowing that Ridley wouldn't answer. "Thought as much. I hope you..."

"R. D. Axel, report to the tattoo artist for Hunter gradus," a voice boomed into their earpieces.

Ryan's jaw hit the ground. Ridley rolled her eyes to herself. Ankh winced then shook her head then buried her snout under her paw. "What," Ryan asked, shocked to the core. "W-wha...? How?"

She ignored her twin and trudged home to get her bicycle and cycled down to town with Ankh at her side. Despite the early hour, Dunon Town was as active as it was during the day. The square where Morien's tattoo parlour was was especially busy.

Some of the restaurants were closed but most were open. Morien was polishing the round mirror across from the only tattooist seat in his establishment. He didn't show any signs of tiredness, as was the way of goldbloods. They relied on less sleep then their non-ampyra cousins.

Ankh sniffed her way inside, lightly triggering the overhead bell. Morien furrowed his eyebrows at the wolf before his business phone rang. "Grey Inkorporated. This is Morien Grey," the Welsh goldblood replied into the receiver while Ridley disdainly let herself in. He turned to see Ridley come in. "Really," Morien replied. "Well then, alright. Good morning." He hung up. "Congratulations, Scary Axel."

She said nothing while Ankh sniffed around eagerly to familiarise herself with the new territory. The walls were bright red with graffiti. The wall by the tattooing section had a graffitified crest of the House of Grey; a squid. This squid had razor fangs and blood dripping from its tentacles and mouth.

"You know the drill," Morien stated, gesturing to the vacant leather seat and ignoring Ankh sniffing his chest. Mutely Ridley sat in the chair. "You're colder than usual. Your first kill seal your trap for good?" Still she didn't speak. "Damn, woman, you wound me."

Ankh leaped onto the chair and nestled into Ridley for a nap while her master rolled up her sleeve. While Morien went to work, Ridley massaged Ankh's forehead with her free hand. There was a great shame in receiving such an honourary gradus. Even for hunters who truly made hunt.

It was a sign that they, the hunters, were now recognised as killers. They took the life of someone who meant something to somebody. They were praised for an inhumane act and society normalised it over the centuries.

For Ridley, there was a greater shame. That tattoo signified a lie. A lie that she took someone's life. The worse part was that a respectable hunter, a Ranger, allowed her to live out that lie. Moreover, that Ranger was her father. Rowan Clarke Axel.

Ridley let out a deep yawn then rested her head into that of her lowly snorring canine counterpart. Morien was surprisingly quiet. Usually he always had a story to tell. He essentially enjoyed telling them to Ridley to annoy her but he was just as mute as she was.

Only then did Ridley take in the full aesthetic of Ankh. Ankh had darker grey fur alone her spine that faded lighter as it went down her spine. At the roots, her black skin was visible, making her fur look slightly darker than it was. Her silvery eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. Her gargantuan paws rested on Ridley's chest as she snoozed and her tail fell limply over the huntress' legs.

Ankh's whiskers tickled Ridley in her neck, not that she minded. It was keeping her awake. The wolf nestled her snout into Ridley's neck, humming her delight. A small smile tugged on the wolf's pointed face from her human pillow that massaged her head.

More than anything, Ankh was distracting Ridley from the pain. The Hunter gradus wasn't her first one but it still hurt as bad as the first three. It took a while before Morien wiped the fresh ink for the last time, after turning off his vibrating pen. "All done," he concluded casually. "You know how to take care of it or do I have to go over the rules again," he asked then started wrapping her lower arm with bandage.

"Ankh," Ridley moaned tiredly and the wolf let out a sleepy yawn. She disembarked her pillow to stretch herself out while Ridley dusted off her accumulated wolf fur on her school uniform. "Morien," she concluded with a nod.

"Scary Axel," he replied, patting her shoulder.

Ankh let out another yawn and Ridley could feel how drained the wolf truly was. Not only does she aid Ridley on patrol but Sayeed too, since she was on his subunit. Ridley sat on the pavement while Ankh shook off her sleep. The huntress combed through her fur, careful of the wolf's ears.

Behind Ankh, just outside the ring of light from the streetlight, were the colourful wagons that the children used to entertain themselves around the square while their parents were shopping. Ridley completely disgarded her shame to focus on her counterpart. She stole a wagon and used her garter to tie it to her bicycle.

"Come on, Ankh. You're exhausted," she egged on. The wolf leaped to her hind legs to smother her tongue over Ridley's face. "Ew," Ridley commented nonchalantly.

Ankh continued to lather saliva over Ridley until her exhaustion grew too much. In place of leaping down, she leaped into the wagon to fall asleep while Ridley cycled up heel with the added weight. Ridley parked her bicycle and cradled Ankh up to her room and laid the sleeping wolf on her bed.

The wolf let out a weak moan that sounded too much like, "thank you." Her voice wasn't distorted like it was when they were caught in the dreamscape. It sounded softer, sweeter and so human. Ridley paused, stunned at the sound.

"What did you say," Ridley whispered, not at all hiding her fright.

"Thank you," Ankh echoed, confirming that she had a human voice. Ridley ran her fingers over Ankh's ribs.

"You're welcome," Ridley replied, seeing ten year old Ryan in place of her ajar. The one night Ryan was crying from a bad dream and Ridley cradled her to sleep. Ryan too said 'thank you' in a matching soft tone. "I'll be back soon. I promise, Rye." Ridley left Ankh asleep in her bed, cupping her paining forearm. "'Don't think about what you're ending but what you're allowing to continue'."