At least six more teams were on our trail. And I wondered if anyone else also heard the Tibetan team talk, or if they heard us discussing. One of the teams which was the closest to our trail was from the USA, the second team from the country. All members were men, carrying rifles and other heavy hunting gear. They looked like some elite hunting squad and I started to question whether they really were pupils of an academy or if they were actual, certified hunters. They looked too professional to me. All brooding, not much intelligence, only intent showed on their faces, all five looked almost the same, safe for different skin colors and tones.

One of them noticed me and halted in his tracks. Our eyes met and I understood they were tracking us. They must have heard us talking, not the other team. The one that stopped held his gaze to mine and after a while he continued on, relaying the encounter to other members. They just looked back at where I stood when I was seen, but I was already gone ahead, and back to my own team.

“I recon, we were heard,” I announced. “They seem to be tracking our trail, not the Tibet team’s.”

I looked back again, listened, and found many more footsteps following suit, but this time they were much faster, they were running.

“It just became a race. Run.”

Dark began to run, throwing caution out the window, she realized it was the matter of speed now. Miller and Rodd ran ahead of the petite girl and overtook her almost instantly. Wann lagged behind her, picking her up every time she stumbled over her own feet, or a twig, or a bigger pile of snow. Exhaustion was slowing her down and he knew it, so he took the responsibility over it. Even though he was a complete and utter turd biscuit, he was thoughtful when it most mattered. Like a real pack leader, which I only now realized.

“I can’t run at full speed, so I will have to exceed you here and overtake everyone by a little bit,” I warned the two cousins. “I’ll be right behind the Tibetan team, then race them to the end. I will fight them if I have to, just be there, when I ring the bell.”

Wann nodded and I ran faster, overtaking the two in front and leaving them in dust by a good couple of paces.

The further North we ventured the thicker the trees became, it was getting hard navigating the maze of trees and bushes. The snow, however, was getting lighter, less deep, it was easier to run, easier to pretend I couldn’t run faster, since I didn’t need to sink my feet into it on purpose.

This was one of the reasons why I wanted heavy boots - to sink into snow. I had feather feet, so to say. Cold Walkers, especially Pure-bloods and Nobles, walked with no sound, no prints, the only evidence they left of their presence was a heavy smell of death lingering in the air. I was the same. Though I had many years to learn how to sink my feet into the ground, how to leave the prints pressed into the soil or snow, to give myself some presence other than the feeling of death.

I glanced back to make sure the team was still following me, and they were. Only now all their faces were set, like sculpted from stone, to victory. They believed in my ability to race everyone, but they did not want to seem lesser to me, they wanted to be right behind me for the moment when we win. And I had to make sure we would. I was not letting this one go. I had my freedom on the line and I was desperate not to lose it again.

As I was gaining on the Tibetan team I started to feel a strange foreboding feeling. It felt like I was thrown into the den of Moon Walkers, or was surrounded by the Creations. It left a chill on my body, but I moved on not giving it much thought, even though it nagged me at the back of my mind.

As I heard voices to my left, I saw how the other team hastened their advance. It made me aware of other teams gaining on us, trying to overtake me. I kicked the ground harder, shot a bit higher from the frozen soil, flew further than I should have in normal circumstances.

After a while I was running side by side with a Congo team’s captain; the same man I fought the day before. He grinned at me and hastened his pace. I nearly stopped in my tracks, I was shocked by his insolence. He dared grin at me when I was the one who beat his sorry existence into defeat.

I furrowed my brows, I think I even pouted, but instead of stopping I bolted faster, nimbly avoiding all the trees in sight, taking out the sharp turns to avoid crashing into one of them. When I passed Congo’s captain, the grin on his face fell off like a badly stuck on mustache.

My haste alerted the Tibetan team which already was running at full speed. I overtook them easily, though, I did try not to run too fast. I was starting to feel the strain on my lungs, my legs wanted to give in on me, and something in my head screamed at me to turn away, to run the other way.

My instincts told me of danger, it warned me of the course I was taking and it wanted me to turn back, to not reach it. Which allowed me to take over the lead from the Tibetans, and run at a speed fast enough to win over the lot. I didn’t need their guidance anymore, I knew where I was headed and it was the feeling of imminent threat. I had to run to the place that reeked of supernatural, of vile intent, of anger and hate.

A strange wooden and metal construction was right in sight, right in front of me. And then the smell hit me. The smell of fear so strong I nearly tripped out of the confusion. The construction looked shabby, put together out of pieces of light wooden panels, fortified with iron bars on all four walls. From the looks of it, the construction had no actual roof, safe for a plastic cover slightly waving in the wind. It had no holes for windows or doors. It looked like a huge box for disposal. It made me sick, because I knew some living beings were inside it.

Right before the wooden construction there stood a pedestal with a copper bell hanging on an iron rig. To my left, I saw an Indian team member running up towards the bell. He was much closer than I was, but he hesitated when he saw me. I located the gong stick lying right beneath the bell itself. I kicked the ground harder yet again and jumped into air blocking the Indian passage, and grabbed the instrument, skidding past the bell some ways away.

The man smiled at my misfortune, but I just smiled back and rounded the bell striking it with a force enough to shake the whole supporting rig of the bell.

The sound came loud and deafening, reverberating through my whole body, eliciting the creatures in the wooden box growl and howl at the vibrations of the bell.

The clearing near the bell became crowded right before I struck the bell. After the strike, everyone, without exception, froze in their spots, some even stooped to the ground for cover, when the sounds of terrified creatures filled the air, overtaking the song of the bell itself. The roar that rent the air was so paralyzing, so atrocious, even I wanted to cover my ears and duck to the ground to lessen the burden.

When the sounds died down and no growls came from the box, the air was left with confusion and terror. A lot of hunters in the clearing had faces as lost as their hearts felt. Some of them boiled with excitement.

I was teeming with rage. I had to reign it in, the casualties were already there – I broke the gong stick in my effort not to rage out.

Before I could calm down, the ten-person comity came out of the woods, followed by all the assistant instructors. Vince was right at the front, eyes set on me, face as grim as death itself. I could understand him, he must have felt the same as I did. I bet he could feel others just like him, locked up in that box, confined like some animals.

Albrecht was clapping, congratulating our efforts, praising the final leap. He came closer to me and clapped his stinking hand on my shoulder, I almost growled at him. He pressed on my shoulder and while grinning, he threatened me to behave, “Be a gut madchen, and go back to your team now, Little One.”

I dropped both halves of the stick to the ground and stalked to where my teammates were standing, stunned and a bit worried. When I reached them and positioned myself to look right back at him, Dark with Rodd stood in front of me as if shielding me from the man. The action brought a smile to my lips, but it was not enough to reach my eyes. They were burning with hatred, with anger and contempt for the man so abhorrent with his actions, I was starting to wonder whether he was actually a monster of some unknown kind.

“Kongratulations to zee vinning team from Huntig akademy. Zis fictory just earned zem zee first spot at zee current result table. Now, now, lads, don’t get discouraged. There ist still one more task left. It might turn zee tides yet again,” he grinned at me. “In zis house,” he motioned to the box behind the bell, “lies your next, and your last mission for zis convention. As you might have already realized, inside zere are creatures zat vee, as hunters, are trying to rid the vorld of. Zey are zee reason vee, as hunters, exist. And zese filsy animals vill be your last task come tomorrow. Zere are sixteen creatures in total. Four of each – Kold Valkers, Moon Valkers, Vendigos and Faye.

“Yes, vee managed to capture some of our forest dwellers for this year’s convention. And tomorrow you may feast your eyes on zem, if you are fortunate enough to hunt zem down.” There was a wave of murmuring interrupting his speech, but he raised his voice and there was silence again.

“As I said, zere are only sixteen of zem. Which means, you vill all be playing by zee first come, first serve rule. Efery team has a chance of capturing and killing at least one beast. Hovever, zee team which manages to kill more will be indisputable fictors of zis year’s hunter convention.”

There were whoo-hoos and hell yeahs echoing through the clearing. As excitement at the speech rose, the initial impact wore off and everyone was eager for tomorrow to come so they could go and slay some monsters.

The color from my face drained, the feeling of helplessness seeped into my bones and I wanted to cry for some reason. But all I did was to sit on the cold, snowed up ground and think. I never wanted to kill any other supernatural beings if I could help it. But if I didn’t, it meant my own doom. And in succession it meant Vince getting hurt, because he would not let me go without a fight, I knew it for a fact.

“Shit,” I heard behind me.

I looked up, Miller was pale as a ghost, shaking all over, muscles tense and eyes restless. The boy was not ready to face his first real hunt. Wann was looking at him with a strange expression, almost as if he wanted to stop him from shaking, but lost of what to do.

Heavy footfalls approached us and stopped still quite far off, hesitating to make the last couple of steps. Finally, the next set of footsteps followed and overtook the first pair and came right up to where I was sitting. Vertig dragged me to my feet.

“Stand proud, don’t be a disgrace,” he reprimanded. “Good job, everyone. Now the easiest part awaits.” He smiled.

“Easiest?” came Vince’s voice, heavy with sadness and anguish. “They will have to kill, professor. How could that be easy?”

“Of course, how could you know, Bloomer. You never killed anyone, just let every last monster you came by escape. You are a shame to all the hunters. I regret keeping you at the academy. I thought I could grow you into the man you were supposed to become,” he scoffed.

My blood boiled, but Vince stopped me.

“I understand I will never be the hunter I was expected to be. I also know I am not welcome anymore, yet, I still have my duties as the assistant instructor for the team, and I want to finish it, if I may.”

“I do not care what you do, as long as you don’t get in their way,” Vertig said, and basically shooed the boy away. “I hope tomorrow you will come on top again, given the fact we have the deadliest hunter among us. Do not disappoint me,” he said it to me mostly, but he looked every each of us in the eyes as he said so.

After he was done, Vertig stalked away, probably back to the warm quarters of the judges. They had a sturdy construction, which was made with much better materials and in better quality than the rest of accommodations.

“What does this mean?” asked Wann looking right at Vince.

“He was fired,” I supplied and stalked to the boy. The team followed.

“What do you mean, fired? For what?”

“For being late this morning, for not listening to the instructions, for just-” Vince began listing off the things he believed he did wrong.

“Hey,” I hugged the boy on the verge of tears, then pulled his face down bringing our foreheads together, “it’s alright. I won’t let anything happen to you. If I have to, I’ll tear the remote from his cold dead hands-”

“No! No killing, Fey. You cannot kill for me, understand?”

“What. Is. Happening?!” Wann raised his voice and leveled me with his eyes. “Explain. Now.”

“You’re his lap-dog, you should know.”

“Just because- because I’m his dog, doesn’t mean he tells me everything,” Wann barked out. “Explain.”

I didn’t even feel the need to make fun of his admittance of being Vertig’s dog. I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Vince was grabbing at my arm, trying to calm himself down.

“Vertig put something in Vince. The time you broke his jaw, he used the opportunity to put something inside his chest. You saw what it can do when we got out of the bus on the first day. It could kill him easily, if Vertig so wanted.”

“If he kills Bloomer, we’re all dead,” he mused.

“Yes. If Vince dies, I won’t have a reason to hold back anymore,” I admitted. “The point still remains, he can hurt him enough to make him want to die. I don’t like it. I also don’t want to kill any other being.”

“But… if we don’t win this, Albrecht will-” Dark began, but I interrupted.

“I know. That’s why I don’t know what to do.”

“Okay, what about the part where he was fired?” asked Rodd. “If I understood correctly, he’s like a hostage to keep you in check, then, if they ‘fire’ him, how will that work?”

“My guess is that Michail doesn’t know about this either,” I said. “If he’s fired, Vertig will probably lock him up somewhere, where I can’t reach him.”

“I still don’t really understand what is happening,” started Rodd, “but what I do understand, is that somehow, Vertig is the bad guy. I mean, Vince is like the best hunter I know and he’s like the kindest person, too.”

Wann grumbled at his words, but the boy was right, Vince was already a certified hunter, while Wann was still a pupil of the academy. Even though Vince couldn’t kill, which made him a useless hunter, and in turn, Wann was able to take out the target with no problem, yet he had trouble catching up on the theoretical parts of the art of hunting.

“I mean, I get it, we are hunters, we hunt the monsters of the night, but as I see it now, it makes no sense to hunt the innocent,” Rodd finished.

“What do you mean innocent? They kill people-” Wann began.

“You don’t know if any of them killed anyone,” Dark hissed out. “Don’t put them all together, not everyone goes out and kills, Argent. Remember the attack at the academy? Those wolves, they just knocked the girls out, the blood they used was from a cat, not a person. They did not really harm anyone, they just left.”

“Because I made them leave,” I pointed out, my sight wandering to Vince, now sitting on the ground and trying to contain his tears.

“Anyways, he said there are Cold Walkers among them, which I doubt, will be Nobles, most likely there will be Creations, which means we can kill all of those, there’s no hope for them. All they can think of is killing and drinking human blood. But Wendigoes, Moon Walkers and the Faye, whoever they might be, they have a choice, and none of them kill without a reason. So if we just stick with Creations-”

“Those might not be enough,” Wann said. “There are only sixteen of them. There are four of each. Four might not be enough to win.”

“He’s right,” said Miller.

“But as long as we get four and others only get three, we still win,” I argued.

“She’s not wrong, either,” answered Rodd.

“Then what do we do?” Dark was about to panic.

“We wait for tomorrow,” I concluded. “We measure the options, see what kind of individuals they caught for this, and then decide – kill or not.”

“Even if we don’t kill them, someone else will,” Wann pressed. “And I much rather have it on our count. Also, you’re a hyp-hypocrite. It was you, wasn’t it. You killed that woman.”

I remembered clearly how I chased her, how I attacked her, and how I regretted not killing her when I had the chance, but I was desperate, and I was still not human enough, I was still chasing the cause, the meaning, still chasing my own soul. I was the cause of many more deaths following my indiscretion, but I did not kill her.

“It was Viscardi that killed her, not I. Though, I admit of attacking her,” I said. “I did not kill her, because I thought it wouldn’t cause a ruckus, I did not take enough blood to kill her, and the puncture wounds were not big enough for her to bleed out.”

“That’s not what I was talking about. You killed, in the past.” Wann insisted.

“Yes. Yes, I did. I slaughtered countries, villages, I killed other supernatural. But only when I was not in my right mind. Beheading makes me lose my sense of stability, then I just go berserk until I remember what I am.”

There was a loud sniffle behind me, and I felt the sleeve of my coat being pulled. Vince wiped at his eyes and nose, and looked up at me.

“You should not be discussing these things out in the open,” he reprimanded.

We all agreed to head back to our base first to clean up, and then go get some food.

Vince still looked defeated, he barely managed to hold in his tears. He kept to the back of our group, stumbling sometimes on his own legs, just because he was out of focus, distracted. The others were trying to give him space, let him be on his own for a while, I, on the other hand, couldn't do that and kept falling in step with him, trying to breach the silence, but he wouldn't let me. Vince ignored every and all of my advances, any beginning of a thought was shut out with a sniffle or a ‘go away’.

“I don’t like this,” I complained. “You can’t push me away now. It will just make me feel even more guilty about this whole thing,” I said and hastened my step.

It didn’t take long for me to get in front of the team and stalk sulkily to the camp. No one tried to appease me, or talk to Vince while we changed sweat-soaked clothes. I was still wearing the coat Vince gave me in place of the torn one. He himself was wearing a light windbreaker, but he seemed to be fine with the chill in the air. One of the reasons being his blood running warmer than it should, he was already changing slowly, adapting to the inevitable change of his body. However, before he sprouts fur where it shouldn’t be, until he grows claws and fangs, he is still very much human, just like the rest of them.

After we changed and cleaned up a bit, we headed toward the main camp to get some food. Before we left, though, I felt a chill run down my back, as if someone was watching me. When I looked back, there was Wann staring daggers at me and Vince. His face had a strange pondering expression, like he was trying to figure out what was going on between the two of us. It made me want to laugh. It seemed like he was jealous. Which was so utterly stupid knowing how much he hated me, even though I had not done anything to warrant it, and how he despised Vince for being too weak to take the kill. I glanced over at Miller who was walking ahead and chatting with Rodd and Dark.

“Shouldn’t you be staring at Miller and not at us?” I teased.

He looked at me with a face telling me clearly he thought I was an idiot. Vince also stopped to look back. When Wann said nothing, I egged on.

“I mean, he was just sitting in your lap the other day and now you’re lusting over one of us. Dude, how horny can you get?”

“Fey!” Vince cried out. “What are you going on about? Can we just go eat?”

“He started this,” I argued.

“What did I do?” Wann’s arms went wide in question while he looked around trying to understand the situation.

“You… That face, right there, I can’t figure out if you want to kill one of us, or fuck us both.”

“I’m not into freaks of nature,” spat Wann and passed us both with a scoff.

“He didn’t say anything about you, though,” I smiled to Vince, he kicked some snow at me. “Hey, I’m serious. Maybe he’s into you, after all. He just doesn’t know how else to express his huge crush on you, but through violence and insults.”

Vince looked at me wide-eyed, mouth hanging open. He followed the retreating back of the bulky short man full of rage and hatred, and something in his eyes switched, his face became sharper, then redder, much redder.

“Why are you blushing, you dork? I’m just messing with you.”

“No,” Vince whispered. “You might be onto something here. I never thought of it that way...”

“Vince, dear,” I softened my voice to sound more like a mom than a sister, “that boy is bad news and if you are thinking of pursuing my idiotic idea further, don’t. Kill and digest those butterflies before you end up broken apart and missing a heart.”

“I’m already in danger of losing it,” he said, voice cracking.

“I’m working on it. I just need to get the control device, and we’re good.” I tried for a smile, but it didn’t work. I probably made a disgusting grimace and made him even more uneasy.

“Let’s just go eat. They will leave us behind.”

After that, we again walked in silence. Once again I noticed the lack of birds, and once again I felt like someone was watching me, but I let it slide. It could as well have been the constant reminder we were being watched by surveillance cameras installed all over the fenced-off area.

We were the last ones to come to the canteen. Strangely enough, no one rushed to finish their meals and go back to their respective camps. The atmosphere was uneasy, some, however, looked restless and ready to go bust some monsters’ asses. The majority, though, looked spooked, some terrified.

I could see a lot of pale faces, even though they all braved it and joked about it, the laughs were strained, unnatural. The silence pressed and egged them on. The small number of girls seemed to have shrunk, none of them seemed ready for this at all. They tried to put on brave faces, but their eyes still told a tale of fear and unwillingness.

We grabbed our food trays and headed for the table our team was occupying. Before I managed to notice, Vince turned away and stalked to the other assistant instructors, sitting right at the last seat and involving himself in the conversation going on there.

The stab I felt in my heart was a first of a kind, but I knew how it was called, I felt betrayed, ignored, punished. I never wanted to feel like this again, but that was how humans functioned – they were fickle, they had their own opinions and feelings. And at that moment Vince had an opinion of separating himself from me, feeling it best to give me time, give himself time to adjust to the situation. Maybe, to cool off, even. Both of us were still hot on emotion from the last night and the encounter with the box full of supernaturals. We both were feeling drained, not just physically, but emotionally, too.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Wann.

“Besides the being kicked out of the academy part? Everything,” I deadpanned and bit into a chicken leg.

“What do you think about this?” he asked again, chewing on some pasta.

“I think fuck Vertig, and Michail-”

“Really?”

Four pairs of eyes stared at me, waiting for me to say something. Wann was daring me to continue the thought. Well, what else could I have said at that? It wasn’t my fault the two old men were such pricks, it wasn’t my fault Vince wasn’t strong enough to kill his own brother, it wasn’t my fault…

“It’s all my fault,” I uttered after realization struck me. “I should have just stayed where I was. I shouldn't have come here. If I stayed where I was, nothing- Vince would still be fine. He wouldn't be in this forsaken mess,” I felt dampness staining my cheeks. “If it wasn’t for me, he would still have a chance at a proper life. It’s my fault-”

I felt a sharp pain pierce my shoulder, then another right through my neck, the next stabbing me just below the heart. All around me there was a loud noise. Someone? All of them? There were screams and shouts, and more stabbing pain all over my hands and abdomen. My visions swam in red. And then it was all quiet.