Chapter 2

 It isn’t like most of them choose to be what they are, just like I didn’t choose to be the only daughter of one of the most celebrated hunters of all time.

Not that it even fucking mattered, they had my brothers, what did they need me for? Control. They wanted to control every aspect of our lives, right down to who we’d eventually marry. The high council made all our choices for us. But fuck that, not for much longer, not if I have any say in it.

I rounded the corner, and home was in my sights once more, but I didn’t feel joy when I saw the kitchen light come on, instead I felt dread. If my father was up this early it only meant one thing, it meant that when night came around, they would be going out. They'd be going hunting.

I pulled her earphones out of my ears when I reached the door, pulling the key from my bra and sticking in the lock, my father would know it was me. I didn’t need to make myself known. He'd have sensed me the moment I got close enough to smell.

My brothers were never out of bed before mid-day, though I suppose that it came with the job. Being up all night hunting the undead wasn’t an easy task. Not even for them.

I walked in and placed my earphones onto the small table just inside the doorway, grabbing the towel that I had left there before I left and carefully dying my damp skin. The last thing i need is to catch a cold.

Nathanial was already walking towards me, a second cup of coffee in his hand.

He knew me well enough to know I always had a black coffee after my morning run, it was as old as tradition, though normally I’d scroll on my phone or type out one of the short stories I like to write with the coffee in hand.

I wouldn’t normally drink it with company. Though today, it looked as though my father had other ideas.

I took the cup from him and gave a short nod, “Thanks.” I mumble.

“Why don’t you come sit at the table.” My father suggests, “We have something to discuss.”

Here he goes – I thought – This is where he tells me I have failed him again, for the hundredth time.

I follow him back into the small kitchen and sit down at the table just big enough for a family of four, dreading the next words that are about to leave his mouth.

“I think we have waited long enough.” He tells me as he pulls out his own chair, slumping down heavily, “The high council are demanding you make your first kill before the end of the month.”

My entire mood sours, “I thought you said that these things cannot be rushed?”

“Normally, they aren’t. But it has been a year since you turned eighteen and they have seen no improvement in your behaviour.” he rubs the spot between his eyebrows, “You can’t avoid it forever Mae, it is your duty to do as the council commands.”

I investigate the swirling black void of coffee, wondering if I could disappear into its depths without my father noticing. I just need a little more time, another month and everything will be ready, I’m just waiting for the passport.

As soon as I was out of the country, I’d be untraceable. They'd never find me.

I sigh, leaning my head against my hands, “Then i guess it has to be done, when are they sending the assignment?”

It isn’t like I can avoid it forever, but hopefully I could find a way to let another one go, vampires are more forgiving when you have a stake against their heart. They agree to almost anything.

“They already have.” Nathanial says, sliding a piece of paper across the table, “But we have to come with you, you must have a witness to confirm the kill.”

Great. - I sigh – So much for letting them go.

I look down at the piece of paper, a name and a photo of the creature I am supposed to destroy right there before my eyes, and though I have been trained to feel nothing but hatred towards the vampires, I don’t. I feel sorry for them, most of them are just trying to survive in secret, they don’t want trouble.

But the council believes that all creatures who aren’t human should be destroyed, regardless of if they are truly deserving or not. That is why I had to get away, I couldn’t live this life, and I could not keep lying to myself and to my family.

Everyone says that I was born to be a huntress, but they were wrong, my heart was too vast. I despised the thought of hurting someone who doesn’t deserve it.

No one is born into evil; it is circumstances that make us into something else. Something that we may have never wanted for ourselves.

And I do not want to be a huntress.