Heaven's Eclipse: Star-crossed Fate.

Chapter Four: The Big Bad Wolves.

Nia.

Present Time.

I woke up to the darkness of my room and it took my eyes a few seconds to dilate and adjust to the lack of light. I scanned my room on instinct without turning my head, just as my dad had taught me. No sense in letting any creatures know your awake, until you want them to. Some of the simple everyday routines I performed are parts of my training. 'Stillness is the first element of surprise, the second being that you're just a nineteen year old girl. They won't be expecting you to be able to do all that you can, so use it to your advantage.'. That was the first time I heard my dad's voice in my head. One of his usual mantras, repeated as clear as if he was saying it in front of me, but inside my own head.

Once I'd made sure the room was still secure, especially after last night, I put my feet down on the floor and got up. I had been one of those kids that was afraid something would grab on to my ankles, if it was dark. I knew the real monsters were outside, not under my bed. I massaged the back of my neck to relieve the stiffness my uncomfortable sleeping position had brought. If I didn't sleep quite right, it would aggravate an old injury, from when I had been thrown against a wall on a training hunt, by an Exile. I thought about the voice in my head. Whilst it wasn't unusual for me to have visions and 'gut feelings', I had never outright heard voices in my head. The possibility that I was going crazy was unnerving, but came with the territory. There weren't many hunters after all who died peacefully in their sleep, after decades of hunting. Not to mention all that knowledge and having hardly anyone you could talk to, who wouldn't try to lock you up in a psychiatric ward, was pretty isolating. Hopefully it was just a new physic sense developing, I didn't exactly meet the definition of normal, so who knew what could happen. It was one of the reasons I'd valued Samantha so much, she had been the definition of normal and safe for me back then. My thoughts went to my parents and decided to go see if they were wake and back yet, they were long over due after all.

I padded across the hallway to my parent's bedroom, passing the tall clock, that ticked away to itself in the silence of the house. The clock face told me it was almost midnight. Wearing only my oversized sleeping t-shirt and boxer shorts, I rapped quietly on their door, knowing they would hear me if they were in there; even if they were asleep. It was no good being a Hunter if you sleep like a log after all and usually the reoccurring memories kept any form of peaceful sleep away anyway. When no answer came, I slowly pushed open the door to reveal the completely made up and not slept in bed. With a frown creasing my brow, I went back to my side of the house to get my phone, thinking maybe they had messaged me by now. Either way they could have communicated with me by now.

I wandered back in to my bedroom and sat staring at my phone for the remainder of the night. No messages or calls ever came through. Morning came and I rubbed my hands over my tired eyes, just as a knock came at the door. I wasn't expecting anyone and so tip-toed to the front door and peeped through its spy hole. Samantha standing there with a cup of coffee in each hand. I backed away a couple of steps, not knowing if I should open the door. Past memories and feelings were at war with the new knowledge about her. In the end I just slid down the front door and ignored her knocking. With each knock the temptation to open the door grew.

"Come on Nia I know you're in there, we need to talk." Her voice was like a knife through my heart, so familiar and warm. I wanted to throw open the door, have her hug me and tell me it had all been a bad dream. That she was still the Samantha I knew and not one of the creatures my parents hunted, a creature that if they found out about, I would have to eventually kill. Maybe if I ignored her she would go away, then when my parents finally came home I could convince them to relocate. We'd been having issues with nosey neighbours for a while and the welfare checks from the police were increasingly irritating my parents. Convincing them to relocate us and start over again, where no one knew us shouldn't be too hard. It would mean leaving her behind, but at least she'd be safe from them and alive.