THIRTY

Hunter’s room was just as he left it.  It was a plain room, with two beds, two dressers, a desk, chair, and a bookshelf.  Really, the Academy could be compared to a prison… No computers, no cell phones, the walls were bare, all rooms exactly the same.

His roommate wasn’t there, and Hunter was glad for that. 

He didn’t have any of his belongings, but the Academy had arranged for new items to be taken to his room while he talked to Daniels.  Of course, they already knew that he would be staying. 

In the dresser on his side of the room, he found clothes, mostly jeans, plain white and black T-shirts, and other essential items.

At the sound of someone coming, Hunter quickly laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, pretending that he was sleeping… The last thing he wanted was to talk to anyone.

It was Ethan.  “Great!  Company is all I need,” Hunter heard him mumble.

Hunter surprised himself with the urge to respond; he just couldn’t help himself,  ‘Trust me, this is the last place I want to be.”

“Well, it certainly sounds like you walked in here out of your own free will.”

Hunter sat up then.  “I guess nothing has changed.  I’m not sure for how long you have been here, but however long, you should already know how fast rumors get around.”

“So, why did you come back?”  Ethan asked.

Hunter shrugged.  “That, I can’t talk about.”

Ethan glared at him.  “Well, I guess some of the rumors are not rumors after all.”

“What do you mean?” Hunter asked.

“That you don’t trust us.”

Hunter laughed.  “I suppose you are right.  That was not a rumor at all.”

Ethan ignored Hunter’s comment and kept on talking, sounding almost desperate, as if longing for a friend… wanting someone to talk to.

“Well, I just don’t understand how anyone would willingly come back to this place.”

“It was necessary,” Hunter said.  “What did you do to be sent here anyway?”

“I guess you could say due to ethical issues… Anyway, one little incident that I will be paying for… well, for a long time.”

Hunter didn’t ask any more questions.  He had his own mistakes to worry about and he wondered whether Daniels had already made his choice on who was going to help him get Kayla.

Hunter didn’t even expect to be told of what was happening, so he was surprised when he opened the door to find that the person knocking was Daniels’ assistant, letting him know that they had left.  That was however, all of the information that he was given.

Not long after the assistant left, there was someone else at the door.

“Who is it?” asked Ethan, not bothering to get up.  After all, he knew that whoever was out there wasn’t there for him.

“It is Ember.”

“Just go away, Ember,” said Hunter.

“Come on, I heard things… I’m sure you want to know who left with Mr. Daniels.”

Hunter thought about it, but thinking there was nothing that he could do to change what was happening, he decided it was best not to know.  He also didn’t want to give Ember any information, well, any more information than what she had apparently managed to gather.

“There is nothing that I want to know.  Just leave.”

He could hear the sound of Ember’s heavy combat boots as she walked… well, stomped away.

“This is about a girl, isn’t it?” asked Ethan.

Hunter ignored him.

“Look, I get why you don’t trust them, well us, being that I’m a Fallen just like them, but you really shouldn’t stereotype.  I just got here, I barely even talk to anyone, and I share your opinion on trusting most of the people here.  Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to trust me, but it would make things easier if you could give me the benefit of the doubt since we are sharing a room.”

Hunter looked at him, “I’m sorry, but how can you even talk about trust, aren’t you here because of a little ethical issue?”

“Yes, but it is not like that—“

Hunter lay back down, ignoring Ethan.

Ethan sighed.  “I’m here because I – well, there was this girl…”

“Oh save it.  So what, you are like Ember then?”

Ethan seemed appalled.  “No!  It was nothing like that.  It wasn’t… lust, it was… Well, what I’m trying to say is that I shouldn’t even be here.  I shouldn’t be one of the Fallen.”

“Right!  None of us should be here,” Hunter said in a sarcastic tone.

Ethan was getting more and more frustrated, but he just wanted to tell someone.  He wanted to have someone in there who could trust him, and most importantly, Hunter had been out in the ‘real’ world.  He hoped that Hunter could help him get out and find the reason for him being there.

So in spite of Hunter’s lack of interest, Ethan continued.  “Before… I used to help people transition between humanity and the Otherworld, and sometimes, even past that.  When they sent me to her… well, I was just supposed to help her feel better until it was time for her to move on.  She was never supposed to see me, but she did.  She was just so sad, so scared that I started to try and find ways to save her instead of doing what I was meant to.”

Hunter was listening attentively.  “Did it work?”

Mr. Daniels suddenly walked in the room, interrupting their conversation. 

Hunter hadn’t even realized how long it had been.

Hunter quickly stood up.  “Is Kayla here?  Is she okay?”

“No, Hunter.  She is not here.  I have the others watching her, but I need your help.”

“What do I need to do?”

“It is Chase.  He won’t allow anyone to go near her until he hears from you.”

Hunter smiled.  He could always trust Chase.

“I need you to summon him,” Daniels said.

“Mr. Daniels, with all due respect, we both know that he will not be coming to the Academy, no matter who summons him.  I can go with you, I can help that way.”

Daniels sighed.  “Let’s go.”

Hunter was surprised by how easy it was to convince Daniels to let him go.

Ethan quickly intervened, “Can I go?  I could help.”

Daniels glared at Ethan.  “You know very well you can’t leave the Academy, and you can definitely not be near that hospital.”

Ethan felt frustrated and relieved at the same time, his first thought was ‘She is still alive’… his second thought was that she was likely still in pain, only now, he wasn’t there to help her and he didn’t know if anyone was.

“If you are going, we need to leave now,” Daniels ordered.

Hunter walked by Ethan who was still frozen in place, and following Daniels, he left.