The Other Argent

Ice Pick

I pulled into the gas station, and then got out of the car. I started pumping gas into my car and waited for it to finish when a guy walked out and hopped on his motorcycle. He smiled at me, and I smiled politely back at him.

As I watched him ride away, the lights of the gas station turned off. I got a bad vibe, so I took the pump out and climbed into my car. Reaching for the keys, I felt nothing. I got back out of the car and searched for them on the ground, but they were gone. Suddenly, I heard a ringing and looked around. Then, a bag was placed over my face, and I fell into darkness.

I gasped as I shot awake, tears coming to my eyes. I tried fighting against the restraints, but I couldn't budge. Looking at my surroundings, I saw my dad fighting against the ropes in front of me. Then, I heard a voice, "Ever wonder what happens if a hunter gets bitten?" I looked around for the voice, but found nothing.

"Sydney, do you ever wonder what happens if you get bitten? What do you think your father would do?" It spoke, and I gazed at my dad who tried to break the chair. I somehow felt a little bit calmer as I heard the voice. "What do you think you have to do?"

Finally, my dad broke the chair, undid the ropes, and took the cloth from his mouth. Surprisingly, he then reached out his hand to grab the phone someone was holding. "When all it would take to change everything was one bite?" The voice called from the phone.

As the recording stopped, my dad stated, "Everything changes." He then walked over to me and removed the cloth from my mouth. "Is this how we're gonna do father daughter talks from now on?" I snapped, and he shook his head, "No, this is how we're gonna train you."

I sighed as he asked, "Do you know why we use arrows?" I caught my breath and answered, "They can't heal until it's taken out." My dad then showed me a piece of my arrow that I shot through the hunter when I stalled him, "Look familiar?"

"You were going to kill him." I shot back, and he spoke, "That's right. And if we find Isaac on another full moon we will kill him. That's the hard choice we make. It wasn't my choice." I then questioned him, "Gerard?" My dad shook his head and told, "No." He moved so he was behind me and continued, "You see, our family has a surprisingly progressive tradition. Knowing wars and violence are typically started by men, we place the final decisions, the hard ones, on the women."

My mom, I realized as my dad moved to face me, "Our sons are trained to be soldiers, our daughters, to be leaders." I took a breath before asking, "Why me? Why isn't Allison training as well?"

"Allison needs to advance more in her fighting before she can start training. You are stronger than she is, so I thought I would start your training a bit earlier." He then placed the arrow in my hand that was still tied up, and kissed my head before walking away, "Training starts now, time her."

The guy I saw at the gas station pressed the start button on the stopwatch and walked off. Taking a deep breath, I started to try and cut the ropes. Finally, after two and a half hours, I got free. I walked out of the old Hale house and rubbed my wrists. Bruises would definitely be there tomorrow.

I saw the hunter lean against my car, and he pressed the stop button. "Congrats," He told me, and I got confused. "For what? It took me two and a half hours." He smiled at me and said, "It took me three when I did it." I grinned at my accomplishment, maybe my dad was right, I was stronger.

I opened the door to my car and got in. I waved at the guy as I drove away, and he waved back. Hopefully, I would see him again, but luck wasn't on my side. Walking through the doors of my house, I was met with my mom sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of wine.

"Hey Sydney, how'd it go?" She asked me, and I cringed at the eagerness in her tone. "Two and a half hours." I repeated the time to her, and she raised her eyebrows at me. "What?" I asked, and she just shrugged and said, "I had the same time when I was your age. I'm very proud of you." I smiled and thanked my mom before she told me to go upstairs and get some rest.