June Arett's Story

"Thanks Benny-Boy." Jason jumped up and walked over to the main hall. "Don't call me that Jason!" Ben yelled and proceeded to watch the two humans beat the crap out of each other. "Humans are so stupid." Ben muttered and fell asleep on the couch. Jason walked into the main hall and began to close his blind cane when he came upon Heather and his parents. Oh god, what have they been talking to her about? He thought and silently placed his hand on her shoulder ushering her to the staircase. "Jason always did pick the best company." Linda chuckled and moved her husband back to where Ben was.

"So I see you met my parents. Did they also tell you about our lineage to Irunar, I guess that's why there obsessed with him." Jason said as the two walked up the staircase to a large dining hall filled with BLOOD members. "Hey Jason, your moms crayfish are amazing!" One said while chewing on the tail of a small lobster like crustacean. "Good to know. Heather do you want to stay for dinner, or do you want to go back to the campus?" Jason offered her some buttered corn and crayfish with a big smile on his face. "I owe you some answers don't I?" Jason asked while sitting down on a large wooden table and ate a lobster tail.

_____________(Somewhere in Hunter's Paradise)__________

"Well... I... Uh. You know you don't always have to be so mean to me." Victor gave her a piece of paper that had his plan on it, along with locations and a long list of suspected 'students'. The file went into detail about the werewolf child and how they could flood the campus with hunter's once the child opened the barrier surrounding the school. "Its a bit devious, but I think it will work. Trusting you have the man power." Victor goaded the girl seeing if she would break under the idea of slaughtering a bunch of college kids. "Hey where's June?" Victor asked looking around the very dimly lit room.

The edge to Leanne’s expression dulled just a little at Victor’s next words. Unlike some assumed, it was rare that she was consciously mean. It was just the way she was. All the same, she was a little less severe as she took the paper and gave it a quick look over. Well, she had to commend him – Victor had done his research. There was an exhaustive list of young adults, some names vaguely recognizable, who were suspected to be students at this school. Quickly looking up the location on her cell phone, Leanne was troubled to find that it wasn’t all that far from the Hunter’s Paradise. How had they not known of this before?

Tucking her phone back in her pocket, she heard yet another voice pipe up from the doorway. It was Kayla Jordan of BlackBird, like Victor, questioning the whereabouts of a certain younger boy. With everyone wondering where he was, it seemed June was rather popular amongst the hunters… who would have thought. With a slight nod in greeting, Leanne simply replied, “I don’t keep track of him.” That was actually inaccurate. She made a point of trying to monitor the whereabouts of all her hunters, but that boy was a highly irregular case. There weren’t many hunters who commuted to the city everyday in order to attend a school, and even less that insisted on living a normal life. That being said, it wasn’t that she ‘didn’t’ keep track of him, it was that she couldn’t. Unfortunately, he made sure of that.

“Since you’re here, Kayla, take a look at this.” Leanne held out the packet of paper for Kayla before continuing to Victor, “But regarding the plan, I have a few points of concern. The main problem is that if it’s an academy, there’ll be more than just students. There’ll be a mass of older and more experienced creatures too… mentors, teachers, or the like. I’m also assuming your list isn’t complete, meaning there’s likely an incredible number of them as well.”

The next words were almost stated to herself. “I don’t want to risk too many casualties on our side.” But they very well couldn’t just leave all those fledgling monsters be. She learned long ago, the harder way, that even the little ones will grow up to ruin lives. “If we can get a better feel for the campus, know how they work, we might be able to devise a better strategy to maximize damage there and minimize it on our side. It’s better than charging in aimlessly.”

At that, there was a knock on the open door as someone stepped inside. “Sorry. I heard my name a couple times, but I was reading in the other room. Am I needed?” the new arrival asked with book tucked under his arm. Well, it seemed June had finally decided to show up.

“It’s better that you hear this,” was Leanne’s curt response before turning back to the two older hunters. “This isn’t a situation we can just brush off – we need to devise a proper plan of action. I’m open to any ideas you might have.”

“Sorry. I heard my name a couple times, but I was reading in the other room. Am I needed?” This statement was the truth. However, it also implied that June hadn’t been listening in, which was not quite as honest a fact. He had, in fact, been listening quite intently to the conversation and was aware of exactly what was going on. Although he feigned curiosity, the boy didn’t like this situation. Not at all. Well, firstly he had never considered the fact that the supernatural had their own school – it explained why none ever hung around his own – and he didn’t like being in the dark. But were they seriously planning to raid and wipe out a school? He already knew the answer to that, and worse was that he knew he couldn’t dissuade them. Not in this situation…

“Scoping’s a good idea,” June said, adding his two cents. “Are there any people around the same area that we can just blend into or does this mean covert ops infiltration?” Any reply was cut short by a sudden fit of yelping from… Victor’s back? Alarmed, he couldn’t failed to suppress his growing disbelief when the man slipped a werewolf cub from his bag. June’s expression fell momentarily into one of muted outrage at the man’s words. As if mindless killing weren’t enough – since when did the hunters turn to such blatantly unethical tactics?

Grimacing, he turned his attention back to the two women. He heard Leanne give an exasperated sigh at some remark of Kayla’s that he’d missed. “When Victor’s set on something,” she said, “no amount of threat or reason will get him to understand. The best we can do is prepare for when it does go wrong.” Ah. Past experiences definitely dictated that this was the best solution to the inevitable mess to come. “I want to minimize casualties,” she continued. “We’ll gather a small team with capable people and head out to scope the campus whenever Victor’s done playing games.” She then took the packet of paper, presumably filled with Victor’s notes, and handed them to June who took it without hesitation. “June, give that to your uncle as soon as you can. Brief him about the mission for me.”

“Will do,” the boy replied with a slight smile, raising the delivery in mock salute. Yeah, no. Those papers would never reach that deluded, manipulating old man if he could help it. Everything other sentence out the man’s mouth was a lie, he just knew it… but most hunters simply accepted it as the truth. June learned a long time ago that it was better to be compliant and take matters into his own hands than just be defiant and shot down.

“Kayla, we prepare for the mission. Stealth is priority,” were the leader’s final words before taking off herself.

June gave a dry wave, fully knowing she didn’t see him. “There’s never time for pleasantries with Lee,” he murmured wryly before thoughtlessly glancing at the papers in his hand. His brain registered the words on the page before he even realized he was reading. Shoot. It was always like this with him… and well, it was too late now. Sinking into a nearby seat, his own book was set down beside him as he swiftly flipped through the thick packet of papers. “So, Kayla, what do you plan to do?” he asked, still perusing the plans. In a place like the Hunter’s Paradise where everything was everyone’s business, one has to learn to multitask to some degree.

As Leanne left Kayla couldn't help but shake her head slightly. Always buisness. Woman would even find a way to bring buisness to a party. A soft grin erupted on Kayla's face. She knew if she ever even thought about throwing even a little outing, Leanne would have a cow. And a few baby ducklings to go with it. June's voice interrupted her little daydream.

"So, Kayla, what do you plan to do?"

Kayla blinked, thinking for a second. "Sleep." was the only thing she could say. It was the only thing she felt like doing at this point. "And yourself?" she asked, leaning agaisnt the wall, hands in her pocket. "I know your not going to stay here looking through a bunch of papers" she said yawning. "But hey, who am I to judge?" she said shrugging as she began to chew on her bubblegum again. The flavor had completely vanished. Sighing, Kayla began to blow a large bubble. After it was a good size or so, Kayla inhaled and the bubble deflated, going back into her mouth. She grinned, as she managed not to get it outside of her mouth. Kayla chewed on the gum for a few second then bent over spitting it to the nearest trash can. "Success, once again" she chuckled to herself.

Jason awoke to see that Charin and Sam were still sleeping on his chest and that his new roommate was still sleeping soundly. "Oh damn." Jason got out of the bed without waking the two sleeping succubi and walked over to Lucas. "Hey wake up. Breakfast is in twenty minutes, and if you don't get there on time you don't eat." Jason shook the boy awake and took his clothes out of his dresser. "Come on you two, chow time." Jason pulled the two out of the bed and the floated into the air.

"Jeez, you drill sergeant! All you need is a bugle!" Sam yelled but her mouth was covered by Carin who was also pointing at Lucas. By the time the two settled down Jason was dressed in a new plaid shirt and blue jeans. "He always was a fast." Carin pouted and the three left the dorm room for the cafeteria where every student got their breakfast, Lunch and Dinner were to be gotten either off campus or also in the cafeteria.

"Hey, you gonna tell her?" Sam whispered in her friends ear while discreetly pointing at Carin. "Ugh fine. Hey Carin I forgot to tell you last night, I have a date today. Isn't that awesome?" Jason laughed thinking about Heather warmly in anticipation of the two's date. Speaking of the date, where do I take her? I can't believe I didn't think of that! Somewhere that she can remember. Perfect! Jason thought of the perfect place to take Heather on their first date.

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After a night of taking care of the little werewolf girl and feeding her a memory altering drug that he created himself, Victor had crashed from some exhaustion. Before he joined the hunter's he was the most gifted student/assistant of a neural and biological technician. Until he found out that he was a man who was using alchemy instead of science. Upon learning this Victor murdered the alchemist and was adopted by the hunters, taking his vast scientific knowledge with him. Now he uses his ability's to make poisons and conducts experiments on monsters for the hunters

Victor was jolted awake when someone knocked on his door for a change, so he climbed out of his experiment chair and answered the door to see his neighbor Alina. "Hey you brought the clothes, thank you! Its been getting weird treating her without clothes on." Victor woke the dazed girl up and had her dress herself. "You never have shown an interest in my experiments before Alina, what's so special about this one." Victor studied the girl as she ate the food that his neighbor brought her.

"Well the other hunters and I are going to use this girl in some way to break into a school and kill a bunch of supernaturals, but their the plan maker's I'm just the mad scientist that turns poor little girls into traitors. Sometimes I hate what I do to these little creatures." Victor never did like hurting children or small creatures, something his mother and father taught him as a child.

Victor was both a Hunter and a man of science, traits that Alina Valent holds in high esteem. He says he's a mad scientist, but Alina knew her neighbor well enough to understand that there's a method to his madness. Whatever crazy plan Victor seems to get involved in, Alina finds herself completely trusting him. The girl dressing up in her clothes was no exception.

"You never have shown an interest in my experiments before Alina, what's so special about this one."
Alina laughed. "You mean I can't be concerned when my neighbor, a full-grown man, tells me he has a naked fifteen-year-old at his place?" She joked then glanced at the girl eating her breakfast. "She's a lovely thing. And young. Treat her gently, Victor." she added involuntarily remembering the occasional screams she had heard living next door to him.
There was a brief silence as the two acknowledge the fact that "gentle treatment" was never an option.

"Anyways, I'd better be off to HQ to drop off the new bullets. Busy day ahead for me, since you're telling me you've got a recon op planned. So, uhh, come over for dinner tonight to celebrate the mission? Or beer, if you'd prefer."

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Headquarters was not far away from Alina's workshop, even when she took indirect routes to hide her path. Alina left without letting herself hear Victor's answer to her invitation. Two years as neighbors and colleagues and never has he been over other than for business. It was the same with the other Hunters. They visited her workshop but none stayed for dinner. Alina wanted to make a kind gesture to Victor, especially with his latest experiment on the young girl. But she can't handle immediate rejection. If he comes over, great. If not, we're still cool, Alina reminded herself. Such were her thoughts along the way to BlackBird headquarters.

She met none of her colleagues at headquarters. Normally she would at least have found Kayla, whom Alina considered very approachable. Alina became unsure if she wanted to look for team leader Leanne. She was a bit intimidated to approach her directly. Not without anyone else or having Leanne come to her--it felt presumptive. Being the most inexperienced on the team by far, Alina often wondered if Leanne considered her a hindrance in the headquarters. Not that Alina had made any attempts to check otherwise. It remained an insecurity of hers. In headquarters, I'm the weakest link. I hate that.

She glanced around the entrance floor of HQ, hoping to at least find June. But he didn't seem to see him anywhere nearby. She considered leaving the bullets with someone, but discarded the idea as soon as it came. Alina was always more protective of her prototypes. The workshop is a much better place to keep this until they come

She left a note for Leanne, Kayla, and June, posted in their main strategy room.
New bullets, holy water type. Stronger and nastier than the previous ones. Silver tipped. Stop by my workshop as soon as you can. --Alina

Alina left headquarters feeling inexplicably frustrated with herself. No, Alina you don't care what others think of you. she thought. But they weren't just "others". These were her teammates. Different rules apply.

Mornings always started early for Leanne, before the sun even pulled away from the horizon. This day was no different. She sat by the window of her room, and the gun, taken apart in her hands, gleamed in the last rays of dawn. She wiped down each of the pieces with experienced movements, lubricating and fitting the parts. When she finished, she deftly flipped the gun in her hands and simulated a shot. The mechanism was smooth. Satisfied, Leanne stretched and tucked the weapon away into the holster at her hip. “That was the last of them,” she murmured, eying the various pieces of equipment ordered around the room. It had taken a good hour to go through them all. It was a tedious effort, but the woman’s expression was softer than usual. She bore a hint of a smile on her face, seemingly pleased with herself. There was just something so automatic, so intrinsically simple about the tiring task that it was calming. It was always the best way to start off what was sure to be a stressful day.

It took another hour or so before she deemed herself completely prepared for the events to come. The sky was blue by the time Leanne finally left her residence, looking like nothing more than the average citizen. All the equipment that she had prepared was expertly hidden on her person – no normal person would ever suspect a thing. This too, gave the young woman just a small sense of ease. The air still carried that crisp edge to the air that only mornings had – it helped Leanne focus her thoughts on the day to come. However, as soon as she reached the headquarters, which was almost too short a distance from her own home, all trace of that peace disappeared.

Only the most diligent of BlackBird’s hunters were already up and about the headquarters, but none of them, Leanne noticed, were the ones she needed. Well, there was something she needed to get done there anyway. Rapping on the wall to catch the available hunters’ attention, she made her announcement. “You’ve been briefed about the nature of our current mission,” the young woman stated, her voice impassive and a stern threat in her eyes. “In my absence, Haleton is to take command of home-based operations. As always, adhere to his orders as you would to mine. As for this mission, details are to remain undisclosed, and I need the field hotline manned at all times in the case of an emergency on our side.” There was no need to ask if they understood – they were surely used to her way by now. “Let the others know when they arrive.”

After that, she kept her morning rounds short, only stopping by key rooms to make similar arrangements in each, when she reached the main strategy room. There, Leanne spotted a note in familiar handwriting. Alina had developed some new bullets it seemed – how timely. Well, it seemed a good a place as anywhere to meet with the rest of the team. Slipping her cell phone from her shoulder bag, she quickly wrote out a simple text message.

‘Meet at Alina’s workshop. Last minute briefing before we leave.’

The notice was sent out to all the members needed for this mission – at least, the ones whose cell phone numbers she had. Fortunately she kept track of almost all the hunters she associated with. If they didn’t get the digital message, they would still see the note in the room. With that all done and over with, she set off to the designated site.

The workshop wasn’t a place Leanne visited frequently, but she was familiar with its location – just a little too close to Victor’s own residence. She couldn’t fathom the idea of being neighbors with that man… and there was also the issue of a few key points of his plan. All the same, that would have to wait a while longer. Raising a hand and deftly knocking on the door of the workshop, Leanne simply said loudly, “Alina, I saw the note.”

"Lee..." Alina said as she opened the door. Was I expecting Victor? Checking how ridiculous she sounded, even mentally, she focused her attention to Leanne. The BlackBird team leader obviously has more important business, from the looks of it. Alina collected herself.
"Come in, please. Have a seat."

As Alina welcomed the Hunter she turned and quickly made for the case of bullets on her desk. She had already sorted them out. Leanne sat in her living room, a room decorated in a manner that suggested Alina's guests would be waiting for pleasant company instead of weapons. It was one of the normal, civilian, parts of her workshop. Alina entered her living room with a case of weapons in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. She presented both in front of Leanne.

Alina had no idea if Leanne even drank tea, thus the tea was more of a gesture. The weapons, however, were not.
"The holy water bullets are new. Infused with holy water colloid instead of the liquid stuff. More concentrated, more deadly. I also restocked the silver and light bullets as well. I also included the usual smoke and light grenades. I did tune-ups on the assault rifle should you need it, and I can prepare other equipment as well."

"I got the text." Alina continued as she poured herself a cup of tea. "I suppose we'll wait for the others first."

‘Meet at Alina’s workshop. Last minute briefing before we leave.’ The simple text blinked on the screen of June’s personal phone. In his efforts to separate his life as a student and a hunter, he owned two phones, and countless times, he had told Leanne to contact him only through the hunter number – apparently she realized that he would never get the message that way. Tch.

“She’s as eloquent as ever,” June mumbled through his piece of toast, held in his mouth to keep both hands free. Just what was so pressing an issue that he couldn’t wait until after breakfast to handle it? Well, his school policy stated that with the exception of some terribly incapacitating ailment, all absences were to be reported a day in advance… and with his attendance record, the explanation was going to be embellished and take a while to write. It wasn’t like he would have the time or leisure to write the masterpiece of an excuse that he was going to need in order to keep his absence off-record during the hunters’ little road trip… and he really, really didn’t want to repeat another year. He couldn’t exactly write the truth. ‘I’m skipping school in favor of raiding one exclusively for supernatural beings,’ wasn’t going to go over very well, after all. Everything would just be so much easier if his adoptive family actually cared about what he wanted to do. Too bad life wasn’t so simple.

In a few minutes, signatures were meticulously forged, the message was faxed, and he was well on his way to the workshop. Looking at the packet again, there were too many holes in this ‘plan’ to raid the school… not to mention way too many moral implications that the hunters were overlooking... He was thinking too much, as always. It was no wonder he was always so aggravated before a 'mission'.

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The weapon’s workshop was certainly one of the more unique establishments in the Hunter’s Paradise. Leanne was never sure what to make of the welcoming décor and coordinated designs. She supposed it suited its owner, for she could never completely figure out Alina either. Every time she visited, Leanne couldn’t quite adjust to the little gestures of welcome – such as a simple cup of tea. Quietly, she took it up and tried a sip. It was hot and surprisingly pleasant.

Well, unfamiliarity aside, it didn’t change the fact that the younger huntress was good at what she did. As always, Alina had outdone herself. Leanne listened to her words intently, looking over each of the newly modified weapons before her. They were just what the mission would need. Quickly she mentally checked for anything they else they could possibly need, and it was just at this time that another visitor arrived. “Kayla,” Leanne murmured in greeting, setting down her tea. Not missing a beat, she continued, “This is the equipment we’ll be using on this mission. Alina will explain how to use it once the others arrive.” At that, she glanced at her cell phone once more. If the rest didn’t come within the next ten minutes, she wasn’t going to be very pleased at all.

However, she needn’t have worried about one of the two. With impeccable last minute timing as always, June entered the workshop, giving a wave with one hand and holding one of his own phones in his other “Lee, I have two phones for a reason,” he said, sinking into one of the seats in the workshop. “Use the right one.” Well, perhaps she would have if he ever responded to his allotted phone for hunting. It wasn’t just once or twice that he’d kept them all waiting, and if there was one thing Leanne despised, it was waiting idle for others to arrive…

… which was apparently what was happening with Victor just then. Ignoring June’s inquiries on the purpose of each of the modified weapons, Leanne asked, “Alina, do you know what’s happened with that werewolf Victor’s decided to take in?” The last words came out a little wry. No matter what the intent, she didn’t approve of anyone ever dragging a supernatural creature into a plan. She knew from experience, it never ended well. Depending on his level of progress, she decided it might be easier just to give the cub a swift end before it complicated things… children always complicated things. “If he doesn’t come in the next three minutes, just tell us how these weapons work. We can relay information later,” she added with another impatient glance at her phone.

Mikala smiled brightly at the pink hair girl. "Great and-" Mikala stopped mid sentence. "It's so kawaii!!!" she shouted, looking at the cat that was peeking over Karne's shoulder. Mikala clasped her hands together, looking up at the small fluffy cat called Nani. "Where did you get it? It's it boy or girl? Oh it's so cute!" she gasped, wanting to reach out and hug the cat. Mikala was easily distracted, having the attention span of a gold fish (maybe exaggerating). Mikala turned, back to Kiran, a frown on her face as she placed her hand son her hips, leaning forward. "Why didn't you tell me your sister had a cat?" she said, almost angry but her frown quickly turned back into a smile as she turned back to Karne.
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Kayla couldn't help but laugh as Leanne asked about Victor's little werewolf. "I can't wait until this goes wrong" she said placing her chin on the palm of her hand and leaning her elbow on the table. God, of course Victor would be the last to show up. Can't say I'm surprised though" she thought and let out a small "Tch" sound.

"You can't rush Victor...you know that." Alina sighed, pouring tea for her other guests.
To be completely honest they couldn't exactly rush her, either, but then again her workshop was conveniently the meeting place. She sipped her tea and savored the mild anticipation as Leanne and Kayla expected her to proceed. As added gesture she twirled strands of her long orange locks with her free hand. Words like ruthless, cunning, and powerful are often used to describe the best of Hunters. "Terse" would be Alina first choice in describing Hunters. They are determined, that is true, but the side effect is how impatient they can be. She sighed again. The tea tasted lukewarm.

"She looks charming in the clothes I picked for her, I think." Alina began. It took a moment to register that she was referring to Victor's werewolf girl.
"But what does it matter?" she moved in a quaint manner combining a dismissive wave and a shrug. "You two know what happens to Victor's subjects. Complete rewiring of their identity, but at least you don't hear the screams. I know that look, Lee. I think we're better off without using her. But this is one of his moments and...it's not like there's a risk on our side, so to speak."
Alina was not sure if that was entirely true. Every supernatural is a threat to Hunters. She would never challenge Victor's expertise; she was merely analyzing the risks associated with Victor's plan--something Leanne had taught her when she first joined the Hunters.

She placed her teacup and disappeared into her workshop, shortly reappearing with Kayla's and June's share of weapons.
"I gave just about the same set to Lee, to restock your ammo. Several of the bullets are prototypes, especially the holy water one. You're my best beta testers, don't let me down. I'll need to check your rifles afterwards to finish the experiment. Sorry, Kayla, I know how attached you are to yours. Just bring it with you the next time you come here."
Telling Kayla that I'll need to take her rifle from her, however briefly, was probably not a good idea. Alina wondered how long it would take for Kayla to show up after testing the bullets.

"Flash. Spice. Shock." Alina said with a smile as she handed June's share of equipment to him. Flashbangs, pepper spray, and stun gun were June's preferred weapons. She wondered how June fought with just these, though confident of his fighting skills. Alina found June enigmatic: he was one to appreciate subtleties while she herself thrived in the superficial. She feels as though June is her polar opposite, and yet not. Both of them had a closer tie with normal human living than the other Hunters. He's rather difficult to approach, as they didn't exchange much work due to June's school life.

"Still have a few minutes." she sighed as she and Leanne both glanced at the time.
Alina had thought about creating a serum that could paralyze the supernatural as she worked on June's equipment. But she dropped the idea almost as soon as she thought of it. Stun guns, when put to good use, can physically paralyze werewolves and vampires. At least temporarily. But to effectively paralyse the magic-users, the mind must be disabled as well. When properly synthesized, the serum would both stun the mind and body. But Alina does not know any method of doing that--disabling all but the rudimentary brain functions of a supernatural. To her knowledge, that was not even possible.
I'll have to ask Victor about that soon, then.