Hunt

Chapter 12: Orbital

"Hey Kyle? Kid, you alright? Looks like you zoned out there for a bit." Paul's word shake me from my memories.

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah I'm okay." I say, shaking my head clear. I wipe the tear out of my eye quickly. "Sorry, I guess I was just stuck thinking about that night."

"I know the feeling. Look, try not to dwell too long in those memories alright? You'll get lost in them forever if you're not careful. Not a good thing..." Paul takes a moment, breathing in deep and slow. "Hey, be sure to come by my place if you ever need to talk. It's been far too long since someone's been by just to chat." Paul looked surprisingly sincere, kinder.

"I'll be sure to take you up on that sometime..." I trail off as I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. Fumbling in my pocket I see that I had two missed calls from Reyna and a text from Julie: "Hey can you drive me home? I don't wanna take the bus."

The text wasn't as old as the phone calls, as much as I didn't want to respond to Julie's text I knew I'd never hear the end of it if I didn't go hack to the school. "Hey, I gotta run. My sister can't walk less than a mile."

"Go play taxi, Kyle. Remember, my door's always open if you ever need to talk. I might have a job for you as well. If you think you're up for some solo work." Paul says as he kneels back down towards the memorial. "Be careful out there, okay?"

"Of course, thanks Paul. You too." I say as I begin to make the hike back to my car; The warmth of the sun beginning to lift my dour mood as I walk back up the trail, wiping the tear from my eye that had formed as I walked. It just then hits me that Paul was giving me my green light. That I was ready to hunt solo. My head is a weird cocktail of mixed emotions as I trek back up the trail towards where I had parked.

As I reach my car another is just pulling up, spotting the familiar SUV owned by Nick. I could see he was already leaning out the driver window as I approach. He was looking rather worn out, dark circles visible under his eyes, his buttoned up shirt rolled up past his elbows. "Hey Kyle."

"Nick, how're you holding up?" I ask, as he steps from his car.

He rubs his neck and shrugs, "I'll live. I swear, kids these days... did you just get here?" I could tell he didn't want to confront his demons alone, and I wish I could stay for him. Amelia's death really screwed me up. But it nearly killed Nick. I lost a great friend, he lost his only child.

"No sorry, I got my sister to deal with, I wish I could stay longer. Paul's still in there though." I say as I unlock my car. "I'll see you in class, Nick."

We say our goodbyes and I climb into my car, a sigh escaping through my lips that I had forgotten that I had been holding. Putting the key in the ignition I begin to work my way back down to the main road, wrestling with the thought of calling Reyna. She had called me a few times that I didn't catch and I'd rather not have her worrying any more than she probably was. But I just couldn't seem to bring myself to hit the call button. I'd have to remember to call her later tonight, but right now I think I just need to be disconnected.

As I pull up into the school parking lot I can see Julie standing alone on the sidewalk. Pulling up next to her I unlock the door. Quickly throwing my hoodie into the back, covering the blood that I still had to clean as best that I could.

"Have a good day at school?" I ask as she buckles up.

"Yeah I guess. School is just school. Rumor has it that you didn't even go." She raises an eyebrow at me but her expression shifts rapidly, "Wait, have you been crying? What's wrong?"

I didn't realized that I had been. Glancing into my rearview mirror I can see that my eyes are red and puffy. On top of everything else I was looking more of a mess than usual. "I'm fine, it's just the anniversary of Amelia's death. I took some time to go pay my respects."

"Oh... that's right." Julie says softly, dropping her head. Amelia's death wasn't a secret, just the circumstance behind it. Officially she died in a car crash. Not ripped apart by werewolves on a botched hunt. We take off towards home. I had homework I needed to do and some thinking that needed my attention. "Kyle?" Julie pulls me from my stressful thoughts of calculus. "You just passed the house..."

"Oh shit!" I exclaim as I slam the breaks. The car screeches to a stop as I crank the wheel hard, sliding the back around as I fishtail back to our house, pulling up into the driveway like nothing had ever happened. "There. Home sweet home."

I get a small laugh from a Julie, a terrified chuckle that seems to slip from her lips unconsciously. "S-Smooth."

Following our usual routine Julie and I both throw our backpacks against the walls of our rooms and flip from school mode to home mode. Hogging as much time in front of the microwave and fridge as possible, scrounging for the better scraps before they get picked clean. We were a family of vultures, at least Julie and I were. Eventually, and without any words exchanged between us, we retire to our rooms to do our own business.

As I sit at my desk I finally pull my phone out, the missed call notifications from Reyna sit front and center. My finger hesitates over the call button. I really didn't feel like talking to anyone right now, yet I watch helpless as I push the button anyways. It rings once, twice, th— I hang up. Setting the phone down I grind my teeth, my hands tapping on my desk nervously. Quickly picking my phone up again I send a quick text off.

"Hey Reyna, sorry for the missed calls. I just needed to disconnect for a while."

I set my phone down again and resume tapping nervously on the desk. I just couldn't seem to relax, I just couldn't sit still. Ever since leaving the memorial I've felt wired, on edge, like I'm expecting an ambush around every corner. I was feeling torn between both of my worlds. Pulled constantly between them, I couldn't seem to find equilibrium. It's been distracting, especially as the anniversary of my first hunt had approached. Luckily for my sanity it'll be quite some time before the anniversary falls on the same day again. Even so, the full moon was this Friday and surely I'd be needed in case something comes up. There had been whispers of lycan activity further to the south that Nick and I had been trying to keep an eye on. I needed to be at the top of my game. I couldn't afford to be distracted, especially out in the field.

But the waiting was the worst part of this whole situation. Until I knew for sure of what was going on I'd be stuck. Trapped between the lines drawn bordering the two worlds I live in, hopefully it's only until the full moon passes. Then I could finally relax...