Hunted「Book One」

「One」

Izzy

I never wanted the bad things to happen, but with the good, comes the bad. It's just the natural order of things. Or, in my case, the awful.

At a young age, I learned that you rarely ever get what you want in life. I was currently reliving that lesson. All I wanted to do was to sleep in for that very special day but alas, duty calls as usual.

I'm one of the three leaders of a group known as the Rescuers; we save werewolves from dying at the hands of the Hunters. They've claimed that werewolves are awful beings that deserve to be put to death, but they could not be more wrong. I learned first-hand years ago that werewolves are more like humans than we tend to think.

Werewolves have been given so many stereotypes over the centuries. They aren't beasts that lose control during full moons - they have complete control over their ability. Every werewolf is given a special ring at birth that is carried with them at all times. When they press the bloodstone gem located in the center of the ring, they are able to control their transformations into a wolf and back to a person. Although the logic behind that is still unclear to me, it's been proven countless times right before my eyes.

Things were going great until the day of my sixteenth birthday. That's when I had this dream; a dream that signified that everything was about to change, and certainly not for the best.

I was walking in the woods with the rest of the Rescuers - basically a normal day for us. It took me a moment, but I finally noticed what was off about the scene before me; we were following someone who wasn't a member of our group. I was certain of that when he turned around to look at us. He didn't look familiar in the slightest. He was a teenager, maybe a year or two older than me. His long, black hair covered his eyes, hiding them from view.

I looked to my side and saw Austin, one of the other co-leaders of the Rescuers and my best friend, standing next to me. His golden blonde hair was disheveled and his bright blue eyes were red and puffy from crying. After a quick examination, most people I looked at were in similar condition. Why was that...? Or an even more important question, where's Liam?

Liam was Austin's identical twin brother, third co-leader of the group, and my boyfriend for six months and counting. Everyone loved him, especially Austin and me. The one time he seems to be missing, we're all in a mess. What could've caused this... Dream or not, that guy was far too suspicious. He did something to Liam and he's planning on doing something to all of us as well.

I looked up at him again and notice that his hair is still shielding his eyes from view. For some reason, that gave me a bad feeling. Like seeing his eyes would be the answer to everything. I know, it's stupid. In a fit of anger, I reach my hand up and attempt to push his hair away. Before I can see his eyes, the scene changes.

Now I was standing on a ridge that overlooked a large town. The sun rose behind the mountain, staining the sky pink and orange. A river flowed down the edge of the ridge, creating a large, glittering waterfall. The river flowed through the town, a bridge connecting the two halves along with a watermill located behind the bridge.

The view was absolutely breathtaking and by the look on Austin's face, he thought the same. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung agape in awe.

I tore my eyes away from the magnificent view in an attempt to try to find Liam. Once again, he was nowhere in sight which only made my stomach churn with fear. Shaking the feeling away, I turned to the mysterious guy. Unlike everyone else, he didn't seem amazed by the view. I had little doubt that it wasn't his first time seeing it. He just stood against a tree with his arms crossed, watching everyone else's reactions. His eyes were still blocked from view by his hair. I grew frustrated, somehow knowing that his eyes would answer all my questions.