Hunt Me Down - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Nathaniel's POV
The figure flew by my window with a jolly cackle. I darted downstairs and then into the yard, the cold, misty air making me wrap my arms around my torso. I looked up and I saw her above our house; she was circling our rooftop.
"Vallery Reed, get off that broom this instance!" I shouted at my sister. "You don't have a license to drive that."
She quickly descended, stopping right in front of me and hovered a few feet from the ground, our eyes at the same level.
"I could see so much better from above, bro," she complained. "And we don't need a license; we know how to ride these things," she reassured, patting the polished handle of her vehicle.
"We?"
She extended her hand, pointing behind me and when I turned, I came face to face with another robed person. Lyn's Mohawk haircut was hidden under a black pointy hat, identical to that of Val with a few multi-colored locks falling to the sides of her face. Like my twin sister, she had mounted a broom and levitated a few feet above the sidewalk.
"We," the newcomer repeated with a cackle then her nose wrinkled. "Do you two smell sulfur?"
I inhaled deeply and swiftly put a hand over my nose to prevent more of the vile stench entering through the nostrils.
"Maybe Great Aunt Sarah is around. She's pretty much Satan embodied," Val suggested.
"I'm really curious to meet her," I voice to my side commented and as I turned my head towards it, I saw Hunter jumping over the low wooden fence which separated our yards.
"Are you alright?" I asked when he got near me. "You look paler than usual."
"Are you proposing to nurse me back to health, Natty? I'd love to see you in a doctor's uniform," he teased, his crooked smile revealing two rather long canine teeth.
"Come on, Val," Lyn steer her broom towards the street. "Let's leave these lovebirds; the water in the cauldron should be warm enough by now anyways," she added before I'd had a chance to protest over the assumption she'd made about Hunt and me.  She took off, raising high in the air with my twin close by.
"Don't fly standing on your broomstick; you'll fall," I shouted after them. "Sit down, Vallery! And don't fly so fast; you'll get a speeding ticket."
Even if my sister had heard me, she did not comply to my request and was soon out of sight.
"Why is it that I always have to run after her?" I asked as I progressed down the street.
"Because you are a worrywart," Hunter replied whilst walking beside me, his footsteps soundless.
"I have a good reason for that," I justified. "She always does something rash or pointless. She gets into fights, she drinks, she takes cars for joyrides and she doesn't even have a license," I began enlisting her most common faults. "She has taken rides from complete strangers, she..."
"Stole a turtle?" He helpfully supplied.
"That too," I agreed.
"You know, since we were there and we didn't prevent that, we are her accomplices."
"I tried to prevent it, remember?" My voice rose and I stopped to look him in the eyes. Bright grey, surrounding feral pupils calmly stared back at me. "I tried to but she wouldn't listen and then you told her you'd take the turtle to your house and watch over him." I did my best to keep my gaze steady but the glimmer in his eyes forced me to look away before I blushed. "What happened to Raphael anyway?" I asked and began walking again.
"I bought him some pet turtle food," he explained. "I was going to get him an aquarium too, but he's grown so big."
"How much can a turtle grow in a few days?" I wondered aloud. His reply was to point to the sidewalk at our left where I witness a sight I'd never seen before: Raphael – the small pet turtle we'd taken from Josh – was now almost seven feet tall, standing as if human and wore a red mask over his eyes. He was in the company of a person I didn't initially recognize but once I realized who he was, I ran towards the pair. "Dustin," I addressed him, trying to catch my breath; Hunter's breathing was completely even. "Have you seen Vallery and Lyn?"
"You mean tonight?" He asked, scratching his muzzle, the dark thick fur prominent on the back of his paws. "No, not tonight," he shook his head. "Raph and I were just about to go for one of those ninety-nine cheese pizzas. You want to join?"
"Thanks, but we must find Vallery and..." A loud howl interrupted me and Raph shook his head.
"He would randomly do that when it is a full moon," the talking turtle explained.
"Hey, wolf boy," Hunt reached to the ground and picked up a dry branch. "Wanna play fetch?"
Dustin's lips quivered and a growl left his mouth as he displayed two rows of sharp canine teeth.
"Do I look like a dog to you?" He barked out.
"You smell like one," Hunter replied, then added: "Like a wet one to top it off."
Dustin took a step towards him but I moved between the two, shielding my neighbor with my body; I knew the other one would not use his sharp claws on me.
"Please not tonight," I begged them. "I could use help from both of you. What if Val casts a spell and turns all our neighbors into frogs? It's an option; she could do it if she's bored."
Dustin's eyes grew softer and I was sure he was going to agree to help me but apparently Raphael had other plans.
"This one promised me pizza," he informed, pulling his hairy friend towards him. "And pizza he better get me," he added, his free hand reaching for one of the two blades, strapped to his shell.
"Sorry," Dustin murmured and followed a very satisfied Raph away.
"Just the two of us again," Hunter purred, the length of his canines surprising me again as he bit his lip.
"Not necessarily," I replied, noticing a solemn blond figure walking just across the street. I strode towards my classmate. I'd rather avoid talking to him but I was desperate to find my sister. "Hello, Matthew."
"Hello," he greeted back. He dressed in all black except for the white collar around his neck. "What can I do for you?" He asked and clutched his old tattered book with a large cross on the front cover closer to his chest as soon as Hunter approached. I ignored the obvious dislike towards my neighbor and proceeded to inquire after my twin.
"I have not seen her," he replied with a heavy sigh. "But I have no doubt she's doing something that would condemn her immortal soul. Your sister needs help, Nathaniel. Perhaps you could bring her to church and the words of our glorious God would enlighten her heart and..."
"Oh, shut up," Hunter interrupted and Matthew glowered at him.
"I shall not take orders from you, creature! You who have sold your soul to the Devil and who feed on the blood of the living..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Hunt cut him off again, placing his hand over Mathew's mouth and pushing him. The boy fell backwards to the ground but instead of keeping silent, he spoke even with more abandon than before:
"Do not trust the creature, Nathaniel," He rose to his feet and keeping his distance, he continued to preach making me regret my decision to converse with him. "It will put its lips over your neck and sink its teeth into your flesh."
"I'd love to give Natty a few love bites," Hunter admitted, amused for the first time since we'd approached the boy.
"The salvation or corruption of one's soul is not something to joke about," Matthew announced grimly. "Be careful who you befriend Nathaniel Reed and watch over your sister; Satan shall claim her otherwise."
I panicked as Hunter narrowed his eyes and crouched slightly, looking ready to lurch at the boy and rip his throat open with his teeth.
"Come on," I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him away, my skin covering with goose bumps at his cold touch. "We don't need to listen to this."
"Who does that boy think he is, telling people if their souls are pure or corrupted?" He asked in a fashion similar to that of my sister's in one of her many tirades against Matthew. As I looked towards him, I noticed he was clutching his cross pendant.
"Shouldn't that burn you?" I asked. Crosses and his kind did not go well together.
"Perhaps," he shrugged. We walk in silence after that, the streets eerie quiet except for the cheep of the bats that flew over our heads.
"You look good," my companion noted. "I like seeing you in your blue polo shirt; it really shows off your physique."
"Thank you," I replied awkwardly and my cheeks heated by this very small compliment. "So where do you think the girls might have gone off to?" I asked in my usual manner of changing the topic whenever his attention was on me.
"Here we are, here we are," someone chirped and I saw three figures – two soaring in the sky and another whose feet were firmly on the ground – moving towards us.
"What do you need us for?" The voice belonging to Karen asked.
"Actually, we were looking for Val and Lyn," I answered the transparent apparition and Kaylyn – her always quiet companion – nodded from her position in the air.
"Were you now?" Irene asked, her eyes darting towards my hand and I realized I was still holding on to Hunter. I dropped his wrist and took a step to the side, his mouth forming a tight line as I separated from him.
"I really like your hair braided but it's nice how you fashioned it upwards; the white streak is a nice touch," I complimented her.
"Thank you!" She beamed and her hand darted towards her fuzzy hairdo. "The white goes well with the dress I think."
"Yes, white streak, white dress... But does it have to be so long and loose?" Karen butted in. It had been a miracle she'd stayed quiet for so long. "You have a nice figure; you don't need a loose dress. She does have a nice figure, doesn't she, Nathaniel?" Before I could open my mount to reply, she'd gone on with her speedy chatter. "You should've gone with something short; so what that you have sewing marks all over your body?"
Irene looked down in embarrassment.
"I don't know where Val or Lyn are but maybe you could ask Lyn's brother?" She shot out. "I saw him and some other undead just around that corner," she pointed to what was going to be our next destination.
"Thanks," I nodded and headed in that direction.
"Do you want me to come with you?" She offered with a small smile.
"He doesn't need you," Hunter commented coolly walking pass her. "He has me."
I saw her frown at him but she did not follow us. The information she'd given me turned out to be accurate – I saw Colin as soon as we turned the corner. As a matter of fact, I would've walked into him had it not been for Hunter to pull me back and into his chest a moment before the collision.
"Thank you," I muttered and at that point even my ears had gone red. "Colin," I then addressed the figure in front of me, doing my best to avoid shielding my nose at the stench of decaying flesh that oozed of him. "Have you seen your sister or mine?"
As he stared at me with empty eyes and unmoving lips for over a minute, I realized he might not be the best person to ask. I looked around and saw many of our neighbors walking aimlessly and quietly moaning. Closest to me was the weird gentleman and owner of Mr. Jingglebottom; I still did not know his name but I decided to address nevertheless.
"Sir?" I tried hesitantly. "Excuse me, sir?"
He was holding his pet cat in one hand, stroking the animal with the other one, a large portion of flesh and muscle missing from the area around his elbow.
"Have you by any chance seen two girls in dark robes?" I inquired and his moan sounded like a low growl. Not sure if his reply was a positive or a negative one – not sure that was even a reply to my question – I went on: "With pointy hats and perhaps flying on brooms?"
Emitting another quiet growl, he turned around to leave, his arm detaching at the elbow.
"Erm, sir... You dropped your arm," I shouted after him, hesitating whether I should take it and carry it over to him. I settled on not doing that seeing as he was fine without it and I had no desire to touch the rotting limb.
"Wise choice," Hunter nodded as if he'd read my mind and realized my dilemma.
"Where should we look for them now?" I wondered.
"How about at the pumpkin field?" He suggested.
"This town has a pumpkin field?"
"Yeah, it's close by. I'll show you." I was just about to thank him when he teased: "Do you want to hold my hand again?"
"I'd rather not."
"Are you scared that someone might see us?"
I did not reply.
"Come on," he prompted coolly once he realized I was not about to speak.
As we distanced ourselves from the dead, I relished the cold but fresh air and eagerly took lungfulls of it. It wasn't long before we reached the oddest of pumpkin fields; it was indeed full of the round, orange edibles, but they were all carved, some filled with candy, others lighting our path with the gleam which came from their eyes, mouths and noses.
... And when a girl kisses him to break the spell,
he'll turn back into a douchebag, yes, he shall,
but here's where we put a condition
to this spell's new edition...
"See, we found them," Hunter said, his tone back to normal, and pointed to the two figures who were chanting and dancing in a circle around a large boiling cauldron. My sister and Lyn still wore their hats but had replaced the robes with short, frilly dresses – bright pink for Val and black for Lyn – a pair of black and pink-striped knee-length socks for each and glossy, pointy black shoes.
... The girl must kiss him on her own volition or...
"What do you two think you are doing?" I demanded to know.
"Making a potion that would turn Josh into a frog," my sister explained. "But now that you interrupted us, we'll have to start with the chant from the top."
"I knew it!" I shouted. "I knew that if I were to leave you to your own devices, you'd start frogging people."
"I'm not frogging people," she protested. "Just Josh."
"And he's a douche," Lyn added.
"That doesn't give you the right to transform him," I reproach. "What's in this stuff anyway?" I leaned over the cauldron but immediately took a step back as I felt the need to gag. "Are those human body parts?" I asked, disgusted.
"Just a few," Lyn shrugged.
"They fell from our neighbors so Lyn and I collected them to put them to good use," Val said. "So don't go around telling me I'm unpractical, bro."
"Vallery, you can't walk around the neighborhood, collecting people's discarded limbs and eyeballs..."
"Hey, the eyeballs are from frogs," she corrected.
"This is all wrong," I began to step away from her. "This is all wrong. I need to..."
"Why don't you write it in your diary? It might help you get a grip," Hunt suggested handing me a notebook.
I took the item off his hands and frowned. "Hunter, this is not my diary."
"Of course it is; I took it from your room."
"My diary is not black and it doesn't have the inscription 'Death Note' on the front cover," I commented.
"And you can't use that one to write because...?" He waited for me to finish his sentence.
"Because if I write a person's name in here, they'll die," I pointed out. "Haven't you seen the anime?"
He shook his head, looking bored.
"Will this accursed night ever come to an end?" I threw the notebook to the ground.
"Actually, it's coming to an end already," Val pointed to the east where the light was slowly chasing the darkness away.
"Natty, the sun is about to rise," Hunter stepped towards me, his eyes narrowing alluringly and a purring inflection creeping into his voice. "Can I hide into your bedroom? I promise to be naughty," he added a little louder so I could hear over the tones of a familiar melody which played somewhere to my right. He came a little closer, his hand brushing my cheek. The melody was getting louder, clearer, and I felt a certain drowsiness in my mind.
"I..." I gulped and tried to calm the fast beats of my heart. Before I knew it, my hand was covering his. "I suppose..." I could now recognize the melody as Tiësto's Break My Fall and I sat up in my bed, my hand automatically swiping over my phone's screen to turn off my alarm.
I was alone and in my bedroom. No signs of mists or pumpkin lanterns; no cauldrons or brooms; I was sure that if I were to walk outside now, none of my neighbors would be at a state of decay. I placed a hand over my check, searching for any leftovers of Hunter's touch but of course there were none.
It had all been a dream. A bizarre, unnerving dream. And Halloween was yet to come.