Hunter: Blood Moon

Chapter Twenty Four

Three long, boring days I’d been kept in this strange compound. The majority of my time was spent walking around a garden with cats. If I had disliked the shifters who got their mutt fur on my pants, cats were another story. Even demonic cat creatures shed like it was change of season and my black jeans and shirt were suffering for it.

There wasn’t a way out. The garden never ending and even trying to test the obvious barriers they put up, I couldn’t find a weak spot. Climbing on the roof of the house didn’t help either though thanks to the ornamental design, it was easy to get onto. It wouldn’t have mattered if I did find an exit because there was at least two cats with at all times.

My patience was wearing thin and on the fourth morning I got up and went to join them in their sunrise session of something that I think was tai chi. It turned into a more gruelling work out that a Pilates class and as they lined up to inside for ninja training, I joined in. I had no chance in keeping up with them. Backflips weren’t exactly my specialty and these women moved like they were made of rubber. I’m pretty sure they only let me get involved as a form of entertainment and after hitting myself repeatedly with the nun-chucks, Toyo threw me over a samurai sword.

“After that, is this a good idea?” I asked doubtfully, admiring the blade as I pulled it from the sheath.

“How will you learn if you do not try?”

“I can learn another way without slicing off any of my limbs!” I rubbed my arm where I had hit myself and at least the knock to my head hadn’t been bad enough to do any actual injury.

“No. You have nothing to fear so will be lazy.” She bowed and the cats all surrounded us to watch.

We barely made one strike against each other when Ailin returned. “Elise. Your phone call has come.”

“Now?”  I whine, actually keen in learning something from these things while I was here. While we get trained in a variety of combat styles and weaponry, we don’t really specialise in anything. The thought of returning as some kind of kick ass black belt ninja hunter appealed to me.

She says nothing and I follow her back to my room where I small wooden table now sat beside my cushion and walking in the phone rings to interrupt the silence of this part of the house. The door is slid shut behind me and sighing, answer.

“Hi there, you’ve reached Elise Bunting. Hunter extraordinaire. I am unable to come to the phone at the moment so please your message after the beep. Beep!”

“Really Elise?” Mums scolding voice comes down the line, clearly unimpressed.

“Mum?”

“Please tell me you are behaving yourself?”

I’m being held hostage, again – and she wants to know if I’m behaving myself?

“No, I’ve been sneaking the cats in catnip. It’s not pretty.”

“Elise!” My Father warns and instantly I smile.

“Yes Daddy?”

“We are here with his excellence, President Ronaldo Vinci.” I feel like I should care about that tiny piece of information. The President is the one currently running the Treaty Keeping Council, so a call from him probably means I am deep shit. What’s new?

“So?”

Dad groans and the demanding voice that follows has me paying attention. Ronaldo was once a Hunter before he got involved in the politics of our kind. He didn’t really do much before he got elected into Council either so to me, he didn’t really deserve it. Then again, I wasn’t going to tell him that.