"Nice try. -Jay." Cade reads aloud.
"Sam?" Hazel calls from the door.
"Shit." I say a little too loudly.
"What is he doing here-what the heck?!" Hazel exclaims in a shocking tone.
"I accidentally hit Jay in the head with a blade." I say playing with my fingers.
"What?!" Hazel screams.
Cade immediately grabs her and pulls her next to the bed. He cuffs her mouth and motions me to hide. I duck behind the bed and watch as Cade does the same with Hazel in his grasp.
Suddenly, I see feet enter the room and listen as the boots crunch against the broken vase. I hold my breath and close my eyes, praying it isn't a demon.
"What the fuck?" Ash's voice rings through the air.
"Oh my god, you scared me." I say getting to my feet.
"Sam?" Ash asks as Cade quickly shoves Hazel out of his grasp.
"That's right, run." Hazel snaps at him kicking him in the stomach hard.
I help Cade to his feet and sit him on the bed.
"What. Happened?" Ash demands angrily.
"Sam almost killed Jay, who claimed Jay tried to kill her first, and now she's gone." Hazel sums up.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Ash demands frowning at Cade.
"Emotional support?" Cade says with a shrug.
"I could kill you right now." Ash says as his eyes turn to a dark purple.
"Okay, stop it you two. We've got more important matters to deal with right now." I yell over the ruckus.
"What are we going to do?" Hazel asks.
"I don't know." I say honestly.
"We have to hide this. If the board gets involved, who knows what will happen to Sam." Ash announces.
"Okay, so we clean it up and hope that Jay doesn't come back for revenge?" Cade sarcastically agrees with.
"Yes, do you have a better plan?" Ash snaps at him.
"Anythings better than that." Cade hisses back.
"I'm not listening to anything coming out of that mouth." Ash raises his voice back.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cade barks.
"Okay that's enough!" I yell.
The room goes silent as everyone waits for me to initiate the next conversation topic.
"I'll clean it up. You guys go and tell the administration that Jay snuck away and hasn't been seen for over 24 hours. Go. Now." I order getting to my knees beginning to clean up the mess.
Everyone leaves except for Hazel. She gives me a sympathetic look before slapping my arm.
"Ow. What the heck?" I demand.
"That's for being stupid and not talking to me about anything." Hazel snaps angrily before pulling me into a tight embrace.
"Stop doing stupid things without me." Hazel orders.
"Deal." I say wrapping my arms around her.
We cleaned up the remaining vase pieces before I put the room back together as Hazel went to the janitors closet for cleaning supplies. After we finished with the room, we made our way to our dorm. I wanted so badly a good rest, but just as I lay in bed, a solid knock came from the door. I rolled my eyes while Hazel peeked through the key hole. She looked back at me in confusion before opening the door. A man in all black approached me and spoke in a calm, firm tone.
"Samantha Baker? You're needed for a level 1 hunt. Report to the science hall by 2:30 pm tomorrow night." He said before disappearing down the hallway.
"Level one? Why?" I ask Hazel.
She shrugs, "maybe to start you off easy in the game again."
"But a level one?" I repeat in utter embarrassment.
Hazel lets out a chuckle, "knock em dead." Before turning off the light and going to sleep.
...
I slept well that night, for once in a long time. Once I woke up, I realized it was nearly 11. By the time I showered and got ready, it was 11:30. Only a half hour to eat breakfast. I nearly ran down to the cafeteria, gathering up as much food as possible. I ate it all within ten minutes and was back in my room in three. I had packed all my equipment, utterly terrified of people's reactions after they realize I'm going on a level 1. I made my way slowly to the science hall, I still had thirty minutes. I saw many people on the way that I used to label as my friends, but they didn't even bother smiling my direction. What did I do? I opened the door and a wave of relief washed over me as I met eyes with Cade. Wait, why am I relieved? He's a douche.
"Alright, is that everyone?" Mission Commander says appearing behind me.
I stop myself from jumping as I make my way over to Cade and the four other eighth graders. This is so embarrassing.
"Isn't that the Top Class girl that saved us from the bomb?" One asked her friend.
"Shh! I heard she has super hearing." The other responded.
"Or you guys just whisper really loud." Cade whispers loudly before rolling his eyes and smirking.
"Hey." He says shyly.
"What? No smart-ass remark or stupid joke to start off the mission?" I ask before Mission Commander interrupts.
"Let's get a move on, soldiers. It's a long car ride." He says.
We all file out of the room and into the truck. I find a cozy seat in the corner of the truck before counting the seconds.
Mission Commander wasn't kidding. The ride was a whole three hours. Cade was completely still with a blank expression on his face as he gets lost in his thoughts. I couldn't help but watch him. After all, there was an original reason I fell for him. His eyes were focused and hard, but when he smiles, they become soft and vulnerable. His body was well-built with large shoulders and big arms, made for killing things. His jawline could cut, and his facial features were well defined. After my eyes met his, I pulled away quickly. I realized all the eighth graders were asleep. As if on cue, the truck came to a sudden stop, sending the sleeping kids face first to the bed of the truck. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. Mission Commander opened the doors and me and Cade stepped over the kids to get out.
"This house has had reports of a rabid animal attack, but it has hit multiple times. Witnesses claim it was a demon dog."
"So we're dealing with a haunt." I announce.
"Yes. I want it dead. Don't call for us until the job is done." Mission Commander orders before hoping back in the truck and driving off.
I looked around, realizing we were in an actual neighborhood.
"Take cover, the first rule in combat is you cannot be seen by humans."
I didn't realize how hard that task would be.