“Stop speaking,” Hunter said to Benji as he looked at the girl and squinted his eyes.
“Why?” Benji asked.
“Change the subject, anything, say anything.”
“I got a new bike, you wanna see it?”
“Yes,” Hunter said, as he jumped up from his chair and out the front door.
Benji didn’t know what was going on but he got up out of his chair and followed Hunter out of the coffee shop.
As Benji left he could have sworn he saw the girl make a gesture at him. He didn’t know what she meant by it, though, and figured he better get out fast. He’d never seen Hunter act like this and he figured it was for a good reason.
When Benji got outside, he felt the weather changing. The sky grew dark and the trees were howling in the wind. Benji couldn’t understand what was going on.
Benji looked for Hunter, but he was nowhere to be found. Benji then went out to the parking lot and saw Hunter, sitting on his bike waiting for him to arrive.
“Benji, do you know who that was?”
“What’s going on, Hunt? This is weird.”
“Her powers, she can hear anything and everything. I should have warned you but I didn’t think she was on campus.”
“Who?” asked Benji.
“Violet— the girl who came into the coffee shop, long black hair, remember her?”
Of course Benji remembered her, he knew something was up with her, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. Benji couldn’t stop thinking about the gesture she gave him.
“You’d better get out of here,” Hunter said. “She’s bad news.”
“Yeah, I’ll go. I just wanted to tell you what happened.”
“You will be shamed,” Hunter said as he put his hands on his head.
“I’m going back to our ancestral home, to get away from things for a while,” Benji said as he took his motorcycle helmet out.
“Please stay away from here. If I need you, I know where to find you,” Hunter said. “It’s not safe here now.”
The two brothers stared long and hard at each other, then suddenly, quickly, Hunter turned and fled, hurrying down the path. As Benji watched him go, he felt a sense of sadness that his brother wasn’t more understanding, didn’t take his side. It made him wonder why he’d come all the way up here to begin with. He remembered a different Hunter, one from centuries ago, who used to always listen carefully and advise him on the best solution. Now, Benji felt more alone than ever.
As Benji drove out of the long windy driveway of Mount Pines, the sky opened up, and it began to pour. He drove faster and faster, and didn’t ever want to stop.
Chapter Seven
As Hunter walked back from the parking lot, he knew he had to do something, and quickly, to fix the problem his brother, Benji, had created. Now, his coven was in danger.
Hunter felt a cold tap on his shoulder and he quickly turned around.
“What’s that I hear?” Violet said, in a shrill tone.
“Nothing,” Hunter snapped back.
“I heard what your brother told you,” Violet continued. “Now what are you going to do?”
“You didn’t hear anything,” Hunter said.
“I heard every word. It rang through the walls of my dorm, and I came right over. Don’t question my abilities, Hunter. That will never serve you well.”
Hunter was scared. He didn’t know how to get out of this one. Violet was the most evil Vampire he had ever met. She was part of a different coven, called the Greslin Coven. She was so nasty – one day she would be your friend and the next, she would completely turn on you. Hunter had seen this go on for years now, so he would typically stay out of her way, but now, he knew she was on to him.
“Listen, Violet, what you heard was nothing. Benji didn’t mean it.”
“You can stick up for him all you want, but you can’t convince me that what I heard was untrue.”
Hunter knew that Violet always had a thing for him. She had liked him for years, but Hunter never acknowledged it. He barely spoke to her because he’d seen how she treated other guys she’d dated. He didn’t want to get mixed up in her evil ways.
“I’m late for class, I gotta run,” Hunter said, as he began walking away from Violet.
“We’re not done talking, Hunter. Meet me after class, I’ll be waiting for you in my room,” Violet said as she batted her eyes.
“Fine,” Hunter said. “I’ll meet you there.”
He knew he had to get to the bottom of this with her. If he didn’t, he knew she was capable of doing horrible things to him, Benji and their entire coven.
Hunter walked away with a sharp pain in his chest. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. If things were bad for their coven before, now they were even worse. He didn’t know how he would get out of this situation, but he knew he only had one class period to think about it.
Hunter had been looking forward to today’s class topic since the syllabus had been distributed over the summer. He loved painting night scenes and he loved using dark colors to express himself. Hunter thrived off of making and creating art, and he must have made over one million paintings. Many hung at the family castle, but he kept some of his favorites for his dorm room at Mount Pines. His favorite scene of a wolf with blood coming out of his mouth was front and center on his wall. One could describe his art as eerie and violent, but to Hunter, it was beautiful.
As Hunter walked into class, the teacher greeted him and said, “Hunter, the day has come – are you ready to learn about the realm of darkness?” the teacher laughed as Hunter took his seat.
“Can’t wait,” Hunter said back, trying to sound excited.
Hunter’s talk with Violet and Benji had completely ruined his mood. He no longer felt happy to be in the studio, or eager for the lesson on darkness to begin. All Hunter could think about was Violet. He only had one hour to strategize how he was going to get through the night.
As he sat there, with his hand to his head, thinking, his mind drew a blank. He couldn’t come up with a solution to this problem. He wished Benji had never come up to see him today, and he especially wished that Violet hadn’t heard what he said. He wished she didn’t have the power of supersonic hearing.
Hunter sat there listening to the teacher explain how to create the illusion of darkness. He decided to forget about this whole thing and start painting. After all, painting was his therapy. He could deal with any problem when he painted.