The Legacies (Sequal to The Unrated)

Peace

Darkness. That's all Hunter could see. It happened in an instant. One moment he was losing, and then the next...nothing. Absolutely nothing. He felt like he was sinking into nothingness. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. He couldn't hear anything. The only thing he could feel was his heart beating against his chest. The weird thing was...he never felt more at peace. He didn't know if he was dead or not, but he was just happy to be at peace. 

"Are you truly happy?"

Hunter's eyes opened. He tried looking around, but everywhere he looked was darkness. He tried shutting his eyes again, but then he noticed a hand place itself on his shoulder. When he turned to look at it, the world shifted. Suddenly, he was back in his room at Ground Zero.

"Son?" 

Hunter looked at the hand, which turned into an arm, then a person. "Dad?"

"You had a bad dream," Jack said.

"I told you not to eat all that junk before you went to bed. You never listen to me. You know I'm always right," Maria said, walking into the room. 

"She does have a point. Come on, or I'll eat all your breakfast," Jack smiled. he got up and kissed Maria. "See you outside."

"On your way, you can set the table," Maria said.

"Yes, dear," Jack said, leaving the room. Hunter got out of bed and noticed he looked different. The dark circles around his eyes were gone. Not only that. His scars were gone. "Did I imagine it?" He asked himself.

"That's it. No more late-night snacks. That's right, I hear you at night," Maria said, wrapping her arms around his torso. "Look at my big boy. Or should I say, handsome man?"

Hunter turned and put his hand on her face. "Are you real?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course, I'm real. Now get dressed, or I'll give you a real slap. Maria turned and left Hunter's room. Hunter looked around and couldn't believe he imagined all of that. "No way that was real. Assassins? Shadow monsters? Me joining the guard?" He laughed, shaking his head. "Crazy." He picked up a new shirt off the ground and changed. He walked into the living room and saw his parents laughing. "Did I miss something?"

"You want to tell him, or should I?" Jack asked, holding Maria in his arms.

"I think you should," Maria said, smiling.

"Okay, so I know you've wanted to learn how to drive. So, I pulled some strings, and I may or may not have gotten a car. For you. Surprise!" Jack said, walking over and placing keys on the table.

"You can't be serious?" Hunter asked, grabbing the keys. "You got me a car?"

"A good friend of mine gave it to me. I've been fixing it up in his garage, and it's finally done. We can go driving after breakfast. How's that sound?"

A big smile spread across Hunter's face. "No way, this is awesome!"

"Happy birthday, Hunter. I...we...thought you deserved it," Jack said.

"Ah, man! Wait till Zack finds out. He's going to be so jealous." Then Hunter's smile began to waver. He didn't know why but he suddenly felt scared. Every part of his being was telling him something wasn't right. 

"I'm sure Zachary will love it too. Maybe you boys can go out later. Right now is family time," Maria said. Hunter watched as she returned to the kitchen. His eyes widened at her reflection in the mirror. She had a bullet wound in her head, but when he looked at her, she was fine. 

"Mom?" Hunter asked. His legs started to feel like jelly as he stood.

"What's wrong, hon?" Maria asked.