PROLOGUE

Hunting monsters is not your typical Friday night venture and I'm anything but typical. Instead of the movies or a club, I was spending my Friday night in a cemetery with a monster lurking about trying to find his next victim.

The graveyard is completely empty with fog dancing across the tombstones. The fog is so dense, you can’t even see the grass. Not seeing anything with my eyes, I close them and reach out with my power to find the monster. He was just up ahead and I could sense someone else too.

Before he comes into view, I hear a faint gurgling noise and a growl. As I make my way around a massive crypt, the outline of a man with something large dangling in his grip comes into view. It’s the ghoul I came to hunt and he’s holding his attempt at dinner by the throat. Before he could sense me, I quickly send out two spells at once. One to shoot an energy blast at the ghoul, and one to gently lower his victim to the ground. I take a quick glance and breathe a sigh of relief when the young girl shows signs of breathing.

The ghoul, still shocked by the attack was having trouble getting up. He didn't get the chance as I sent another blast of energy that gripped him by the throat and dangled him just like he had done to the poor girl moments ago. A smile tugged my lips as I watched him flailing in the air trying to grab the invisible force gripping him. Serves him right for trying to kill an innocent teenager.

Letting him dangle for a moment, I focused my attention back to the girl. She was maybe 15 years old and still unconscious. This was probably for the best, maybe she wont remember the horrid event from tonight. After ensuring she was okay, I went to work on the ghoul. He was starting to free himself from the energy grip and looking at me with venom in his eyes. With a wave of my hand, I sent him crashing into the ground (mindful to miss the tombstones) and back up in the air.

"Mucelini Dumrow, do you choose forfeit or death?" I asked him.

"I will never bow to a witch. I will take pleasure in eating your heart since you chose to ruin my meal!" He spat back at me with an evil smirk.

Yes, I could have easily done a killing blow, but I find a slight enjoyment in making the evil beings suffer a little. Plus, I get paid more if I deliver them alive. Mucelini here broke the law. Ghouls have centers where they can obtain flesh to survive. When several ghoul attacks started in the area and the Paranormal Enforcement Agents (PEA) couldn't find the culprit they called me. Freya Blackwood, paranormal bounty hunter. I take on hunting ghouls, vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night. I am the best of the best and have the highest rate of returning criminals alive. PEA prefers them alive so they dish their own punishments.

Rolling my eyes at Mucelini's attempt to break free again, I slammed him into the ground a few times for good measure, then cast a sleeping spell to hold him until I could get him to my truck which was altered to fit an indestructible cage perfect for transporting it’s unwilling passengers.

Using more energy, I levitated the young girl and Mucelini toward the parking lot. I’m thankful the cemetery is so abundant in magic, allowing me to easily transfer the energy into lifting the two of them while keeping the ghoul asleep. Cemeteries have a strong level of energy. This doesn’t come from the dead who reside here, but from the loved ones who come to pay their respects and pour their hearts into the area. It also comes from the rituals sometimes performed here too. This energy imprints into the land and makes the graveyard stocked full of power. Power I happily borrow to stop evil beings.

I navigated around the tombstones while gently levitating the two unconscious bodies in front of me. As we approached my truck, I lowered the girl into my arms and gently slid her into the passenger seat and buckled her in. I walked around to the back of the truck and opened the door to the modified truck bed. From the outside, it looks like one of those trucks with a camper top, which I guess it sort of is but this one is glamoured to withstand any beatings or attempts at escape by anyone but me. I didn't even attempt to lift all 350 pounds of Mucelini myself, instead just continued to use the energy to force him into the truck bed.

Shutting the door, I got in the drivers side and made my way to the hospital. I have a special entrance where I can drop off any victims I might come across without any questions. Once I pull up, Dr. Fenton opens the back door to greet me with a soft smile.