My eyes watched the man called Nathan exclaim his beliefs aloud, “I’m sorry, what. You’re expecting us to believe this… Kid is better than us!?” Nathan was fully grown, dressed in the same uniform as everyone else, and I had to recall the notes in the folder I had studied before I came to know who he was and what he looked like. He was in his late twenties, brown hair and eyes, six feet tall, ranking in the top twenty amongst our group. My eyes pierced through his, causing him to falter a little when he met my gaze. Nathan didn’t know who I was, my position, or why I was here. Yet, I knew exactly who he was, where he lived, his ranking, his strengths, and his weaknesses. In my eyes, he was already dead.

The crowd looked like a wave a darkness, every dressed exactly the same. Black suits, black hoods, black scarves that covered their mouths and noses. Only their eyes showed, and I could see it in everyone’s eyes, they had no fear, because they believed to be hidden. Fools, I wanted to tell them, fools for having confidence in the shadows. You should always be on alert, no matter where you are or what you are doing. Everyone did have something somewhat different from the rest, an array of weapons attached to a belt around their waist. Each one different than the last.

I, on the other hand, stood out like a butterfly in a beehive. Whilst my suit was black, it had intricate blue and purple markings on it, something that I knew no one else had. Uniforms were a code, a requirement, and yet I was the outcast, performing a different job- one that required more skill.

“Trust me when I say, she will be a great asset to our teams,” Ray, our leader, spoke with assurance, “and you will listen to her when she speaks. She won’t talk unless necessary.” Ray’s outfit was the same, but his hoot had two little horns at the top, something that only the Great Leaders wear. I found it stupid, but it was better than a crown, so no one really complains about it. That was another thing, I knew very well who Ray was, even though he knew absolutely nothing about me on a personal level. Of course, as the leader, he knew everyone, and it was at his house I found the records and studied them. Now, standing beside him in front of the entire crowd, no one was a stranger in my eyes.

“Master, I have to agree with him. She is just a kid, how the hell would she have more experience than us?” Another stood, his name being Tyler, and he had been seated two rows behind Nathan. The crowd looked at him while he continued, “I’m not saying that she isn’t any good, but it’s hard to believe that you’re claiming her to be better than even our ranker, who’s been hunting his entire life.”

This guild’s ranker was Maxwell, who was actually Ray’s nephew, though that was a piece of information that I had to really dig for to find out. Maxwell was well built for the job, muscular, but a medium size. It was as if someone took a professional runner and a bodybuilder, and mashed them together.

As light began to shine through the entrance of the cave, our hideout, I knew that the meeting was coming to an end. Everyone needed to return home before others began to notice their absence, which would put us all in danger. Ray took a deep breath and stated his last announcement, “listen carefully. You will respect her, and you will obey her commands. You don’t have to worry about partnering up with her for any missions, but if she tells you do do something, you are to hold it in a higher regard than my own. She hunts alone, and she is the only one allowed to do so. Now hurry home, the next meeting will be the first half moon of next month.”

Everyone in the cave replied the same, knowing there was no going against the master. An “understood” rang throughout the stone walls, and people were quick to leave. I stayed behind with Ray, and when it was just the two of us, he began his explanation, “you’re probably wondering what your special task is, and it’s beyond important that you complete it.”

I merely nodded.

“Because of your listed age, you may be the only one who can pull this off. I need you to attend the local high school that isn’t far from this town, and befriend the werewolf locals. Gain their trust, and extract as much information as you can from them. This will help us in identifying rogue packs, and possibly turned vampire covens.”

I narrowed my eyes, you know, Ray. You know very well how much I dislike people. You also know how much of a risk this puts me at. And you don’t even know what kind of danger this puts you in.

“Best of wishes to you,” he handed me a folder of papers, “take this, the first page contains all the falsified information about your new alias. Read over it carefully, and the address listed there is where I would like you to say. Of course, the two there that will be acting as your parents only know that you’re a hunter in training, and are doing this as an entrance test. During your time there, I need you to find out as much as you can. See if the werewolves would be willing to become out allies, and try to learn what they know about those wretched vampires if you can. Bring back results.”

I tilted my head to the side slightly, the light reflecting off my irises, and a visible shiver ran down his spine.

“Of course, you always do.”

I nodded at him in dismissal, and watched as he turned and left. Now alone in the empty cave, I looked behind me at the master’s throne, knowing very well if anyone caught me sitting in it wouldn’t be able to do a thing. I stepped back and sunk into the chair, crossing my legs and opening the folder. According to the information written out, my name was Rose Evangeline, and my “parents” were Mike and Bianca Evangeline. I was applying for my Junior year of high school at the age of sixteen? I frowned, I’m older than that. After flipping through, I found my classes, their locations, and the last few sheets of paper were maps of the school, the surrounding town around the school, and a map of where the werewolves’ territory was. I went back to a separate page of information specifically about me, and learned that I was allergic to soy products, I had been participating on the track team for almost my entire life, and I was considerably shy.

I was irritated that Ray had already gone through and planned out the entire thing himself. It looked like I was already registered, and was due to start as soon as Monday rolled around. It didn’t help that it was the middle of their school year, so I was going to be very noticeable for the first week or so. I sighed.

Ray, what the hell were you thinking. This isn’t going to work.

I stood from the chair, knowing I had another mission I had to complete before I could do anything else. Sure, we needed information from the werewolves about the growing vampire issue, but I already had some. It was just a matter of eliminating them.

I made my way to the entrance of the cave, the sky finally completely blue. With a deep breath, I took off, racing through the thick forest, knowing my destination, and knowing exactly what was waiting for me.