What do you enjoy about Stone Academy for Troubled Youth? Marie stared at the question until the words stopped looking like words. She twisted her long blonde hair around her slim fingers, looked through the warmly lighted library and tried to make up an answer. The real answer was of course:

Nothing. This place tortures kids and I was forced to come here because my parents think I’m a criminal.

Marie’s little misconduct should have been just your basic violation, breaking and entering. But here’s the thing that made her a “special case” compared to the other kids. She had no idea why she broke into her neighbor’s house, which people seemed to think made her crazy.

Ever since her dad had gone missing, she had trouble remembering things. The forgetfulness started small, forgetting what she ate the night before, or her homework. She never paid it much mind, but after a while, it became more serious. Marie would be at school doing class work, and then wake up in her bed the next morning, with no recollection of the previous day. Marie was left with only vivid dreams that felt like stumbling into someone else’s memories. However, when she woke, the dreams were fuzzy, and she could never think of them clearly. She tried talking about it, but her mother had completely checked out since her dad had gone missing, and all of Marie’s friends were exhausted from carrying all her baggage, so there was really no one left to confide in. She had begun to tire of running in endless circles and never getting anywhere.

Then came her big crime, where the gaps in her memory opened to Grand Canyon width. She remembered driving home when the blackout came, and the next thing she knew, the police were suddenly standing over her on the floor of her neighbor’s house, pointing at her with guns and flashlights like she was some type of animal on the loose.

The worst part was the questioning. The police showed her security footage from the house, where she picked the lock and started breaking things in the house. She couldn’t even think of how she would do something like that, let alone why.  That’s exactly what she told the police, who had a persuasive chat with her horrified mom, but mostly Marie’s therapist, and they then agreed to send her here.

Marie had always questioned her shrink’s methods, but this was a new level even for her. Whenever Marie drank the woman’s “relaxation” tonics, she never felt relaxed, only more confused than before she’d come in.

So far at Stone, Marie had made zero friends and zero progress on recalling what happened that night. The guilt only got worse with time, she discovered.

She felt as if she was trying to walk through a tunnel that had no end, destined to always see the light at the exit, but never quite able to reach it. All she could think was that her dad would never have made her go here. “Marie!” Marie snapped her head up, startled, to find the round faced librarian waving a hand in front of her face.

“The library’s closing. Go back to your dorm.” Marie looked at the window to see that it was pitch black outside. Marie gathered up her survey questions from guidance and stood up to her full height, nearly a foot taller than the age worn librarian.

“Yeah. Okay. Sorry.” She maneuvered herself around the librarian before she could express her concerns, and pushed the doors open into the brisk fall night.  The brightly colored trees drooped over her, as if they were trying to protect her from the darkness of the night. She breathed in the comforting, earthy, autumn smell deeply. Marie decided to take the route that led through the arb, which at Stone was short for arboretum, because she had decided it was the only thing she liked about this place. The people here might not have been welcoming, but the trees always seemed happy to see her. As Marie walked down the winding stone path through the arb, her eyes remained on the overflowing flower boxes and the vines that twisted up the trees, as if they were trying to choke them out. It seemed her and the trees had more in common then she could’ve thought. She sighed deeply with longing for home, and saw her breath puff out in front of her. Marie stared at it questioningly.

It felt like the temperature had dropped 30 degrees in a matter of seconds. Zipping up her jacket, she quickened her step, suddenly feeling nerves clutching at her stomach. Marie heard light footsteps behind her, and a shadow seemed to loom in her peripheral vision. She whipped her head around but saw only the cobblestones behind her.

You’re fine, Marie. Get it together. Marie cursed her anxious brain silently. She took a deep breath and pointed her phone’s flashlight in front of her, like anything out there would be doomed if the light touched it. The bushes to the side of the girl rustled and shook.

The family you attacked must have have been scared too. An unexpected pang of guilt rattled through her.
“Hello? Alright you got me! I’m terrified!” she yelled towards the bushes as she took a step closer. “Hey jerk! Come on! It’s not funny anymore!” The bushes had gone silent, which seemed to be worse than the noise. It made it seem like it was preparing for something.

Of course, Marie knew she should be frightened, but she didn’t feel afraid like before. It was more like an adrenaline rush.

God, she thought, why am I so weird? I can’t even have normal emotions. Marie found a stick about the length of her arm laying on the grass next to her, and picked it up slowly, as if to hide her plans from the creature lurking in the bush. She could hear her pulse thrumming in her ears and attempted to shake it out of her head. The blonde crept up to the shrub, and thrust the stick into the leaves, flinching back immediately to protect herself. However, nothing emerged from the bush. She exhaled, letting out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, relief flooding her body.

See Marie? There’s nothing here. It’s not the bush’s fault you’re a psyc-

Marie’s thought was cut short as something jumped out on top of her and pinned her to the ground. She tried to scream, but the sound disappeared in her throat.

“I’ve been searching for you for a long time Marie,” she struggled as the man turned her face to look at his. His eyes were black pits and he smelled metallic.

Like blood, she realized with a jolt.

“How do you know know my n-name?” The man moved his hand from her wrist to her neck, leaving her gasping out the last words.

“I’m a... I guess you could call me a friend of your father’s.” He said, chuckling to himself with no real humor. “My name is Vessa, but the vessel I’m inhabiting is called Luke.” Marie felt her blood go cold. “He had two kids and a wife. I killed the kids and used the wife as leverage to make Luke let me in. Of course I could enter him without permission, but where’s the fun in that?” A grin was plastered on his face as he looked at her drooping jaw.

What have I gotten myself into?

Marie twisted her body underneath him in attempt to be free, but was quickly shut down by the hand clamping tighter around her throat. “Not so fast my pretty little girl. I have to tell you my story.” She gasped against his freezing cold hands for air, but found none. “Your father was hunting me about two years back out in Kansas. I wasn’t even being that bad. I took a few souls to hell a month but nothing despicable.”  

What is he? The devil or something? No, no this can’t be true. My dad sells cars.

“I found him lurking around outside my private warehouse. I jumped him, and man, you should’ve seen the look on his face.” Vessa looked into the distance, as if reliving the memory. “He begged me for his life.” He dragged his finger down his cheek to mock a tear. “Said he had a kid and a wife at home, only that was his biggest mistake, because after I threw his dead body in the river, I began searching for you, and boy was it worth the time I spent.”

He’s dead? Tears slid down Marie’s face silently.  Marie thought about it. She thought she’d just been upset... But could her blackouts have something to do with this?

Oh my god. This is crazy. Her brain felt strained, trying to remember something that just wasn’t there.

“The child of the hunter is the ultimate prize, and I’d love to keep you, but sadly I do have to kill you to make sure the hunter gene doesn’t reactivate, because then I’d be the one being hunted, and well, we can’t have that.” Marie struggled against his grip and tried to speak.

“Plea… Please don’t.” She rasped.

Help! Someone help! Her mind was screaming out.

“Don’t you worry sweetie. You’ll be alive awhile longer, I’m taking my time with you.” He looked her in the eyes as he removed his hand from her throat and she sucked in the cool night air deeply. Just as her eyes finally focused again and she could see the starry sky, the man with black eyes pulled out a dagger engraved with foreign symbols, and began to carve up her right shoulder. The blade burned like liquid fire, and black spots began to fill her eyesight, blotting out the light of the stars. Marie screamed wildly as she thrashed in his grip. With the next cut of the blade Marie thought she saw an image dance across her vision.

Am I dying already? Is this what it feels like? I thought I would at least get to say my goodbyes, but then again, she thought, who would I even say them to now?

The next slice of the blade brought even more pain and she felt as if there were  gaps in her mind being filled.

Oh. My. God.

Her mind flooded with memories and images. What the demon said was... true. In fact it made sense. She was a hunter and so was her dad, they trained to kill things like this demon, and she was pretty good at what she did. He was an amazing father, and mattered to Marie more than any car salesman could have. They made a difference in the world, by killing the things that weren’t meant to be here. For the first time in years, Marie didn’t feel lost and useless. She felt only rage for the loss of a good man like her father. The pain seemed bearable, so long as her mind felt this sharp. Now Marie was the one chuckling to herself.

“I’d quit the laughing kid,” he whispered into her ear. “The only place that’s getting you, is into a shallow grave.” Marie whimpered, painless moment gone. “Don’t worry, I’ll bury you right next to daddy dearest.” He grinned and began to raise the blade behind his head. The blonde closed her eyes and prayed in the only way she could.

Please, please, don’t let heaven suck as much as here…

Suddenly, she felt the weight of the man on top of her lift from her body as she rolled onto her side, clutching her shoulder, and finally feeling the pain in a force that rushed over her like a tidal wave. Through her splotchy vision, she saw a tall dark figure over the body of her captor, a few feet away, and she could’ve sworn as the mysterious man stabbed Vessa, a flash of red light erupted from his body.

Guess that means he’s dead. Hallelujah.

Marie barely saw the young man who’d just saved her life rushing towards her, before the splotches on her vision took over completely, and she was left with the dark as her only companion.