Another a yawn escaped her body as the car’s engine hummed like a lullaby as they travelled down the motorway. But even with its temptations Rosa couldn’t sleep. Whenever her eyes shit, her thoughts transformed her mind into a warzone, contesting where they could possibly be travelling.

“I told you we’d be leaving early and that you should get some rest” Louie said.

“I did rest” Rosa snapped grumpily, “I just didn’t expect you to wake me at four in the morning”.

Louie chuckled to himself. “Unfortunate”.

‘Pendejo’.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be long now” Louie added.

He flipped on his signals and began to move across lanes. The car then left the motorway and drove down a slip road. She glanced up at the sky, after travelling inland for over two hours, light was finally beginning to crack the night darkness. For the last hour they’d been in areas you could barely consider urban however, now there wasn’t civilisation in sight. They drove down long winding roads through woodlands and fields coated in shadows, never spotting another soul. They entered another forest and accepting that she wouldn’t be able to figure out where they’re going, Rosa relaxed back into the car seat and closed her eyes, hoping to maybe catch a little sleep.

Her hand brushed down across her leg and landed comfortably on her dagger, which was now strapped to her thigh. This morning Louie had gifted her a sheath, just like he said he would. Bathing in the insurance and safety the weapon brought, Rosa tried to concentrate on the car’s hum and vibrations hoping they’d would carry her to rest. But after ten minutes of failure she accepted her mind was too active, no longer on the possibilities of where they’re going but on yesterday’s events. The day had created too many questions, the hunters organisation and whatever the mutations are, what was that strange surge of power she felt inside her during the battle with the camaz? Giving up on sleep, her eyes eagerly snapped open and she turned to Louie. Like the whole trip he was a statue, Gaze locked forward and his body focusing on nothing but driving. He kind of reminded her of a robot in how once he

set himself a task, his life would revolve around nothing

else until said task was complete.

“Louie” Rosa began.

“hmmm” he mused, his focus never leaving their environment.

“What are the mutations?” Rosa asked.

“In biology?” he asked, clearly confused by her abrupt question.

“In terms of hunters” Rosa specified.

“Where did you hear about that?” Louie asked his eyes leaving the road for the first time to focus on her.

“Sam” Rosa answered.

He sighed and his head sunk slightly. “It’s a grim process hunters and some officers go through … It preserves us in our prime condition, enhancing our physicality and senses, making us more equipped to combat monsters and the supernatural” Louie explained.

“Is that why everyone looks so young then?”.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Louie nodded.

“Are hunters immortal?” Rosa asked.

“No, hunters live just as normal humans. I mean it is possible buy very rare for the mutation to extend life expectancy. Longer life will commonly be due to other aspects”.

“Wait so, this mutation process helps preserve your prime and therefore youth”, he nodded, “so how old actually are you all?” Rosa asked curiously.

“I’m Twenty-eight”.

“What?!” Rosa asked shocked, she knew he wasn’t twenty like he looked but she never expected he was nearly thirty.

“Don’t” Louie stated and Rosa quickly looked down, stifling a grin.

They surfaced from the forest and Rosa found herself entering into a lone valley, which was faintly lit by dawn’s navy light. The car took a right turn off the road and onto a poorly made dirt path. They must’ve drove a mile, becoming fully encased by the towering mounds of the valley, when the dirt road came to a sudden end. Louie brought the car to a stop and parked up at the end of the dirt road.

“You’ve brought me to an empty valley?” Rosa asked, confused at their surroundings, there was nothing in sight. For the first time in her life Rosa felt like she could say she was actually in the middle of nowhere.

“We need to walk from here” Louie told her, “around two miles”.

“Two miles! Why can’t we drive on further?” Rosa questioned, looking at how flat the ground ahead was.

“My car’s not made to go off road and I don’t want to damage her. Come on, a walk will be good for you” Louie said before getting at the car. Rosa grumbled but still proceeded to out the car, a two mile a walk was definitely on the list of the last things she wanted to do this morning.

Instantly her body shuddered as a cold breeze bit at her skin. Great, ‘cold and exhausted’, she felt her teenage angst complain. Thank god she’d brough her winter coat.

They wandered down the valley for what felt like an eternity and Rosa wasn’t ashamed to admit she sulked the entire time. However, the one thing wouldn’t admit was that Louie was right, After not even a few hundred metres the valley had become a treacherous field of rocks, mud and absolutely no flat land. Louie had tried to cheer her up with conversation, but it was clear that Emma was right, he still hadn’t regained his ability to socialise. It was honestly a little entertaining. He would awkwardly try and ask about the weather and temperature, and despite his efforts the conversations would only last a few moments. But to be fair he had been trying, Rosa considered, she’d just been grumpy and refused to entertain them.

“Sam drank this strange liquid before fighting the camaz” Rosa said.

“Cloudy and opaque?”.

“Yeah. Do you what it is?” Rosa asked.

“Noctrm. It’s a serum hunters and any mutated can consume to fully awaken their abilities. For a limited time it further enhances our physicality, senses, reflexes and any other abilities the consumer may possess” Louie explained.

“For the mutated” Rosa mused, “I take it that if an ordinary person took it”.

“Death” Louie confirmed, “Hunters can also only take one dose at a time otherwise they’ll overdoes and suffer the same fate”.

Rosa happily satiated her curiosity with the new information. She decided to shoot for the biggest question that had been bothering her.

“What happens during the mutation process?” Rosa asked carefully, from his answer earlier it sounded like a sensitive topic. However despite her concerns, Louie showed no sign of irritation or disturbance. But he also gave her no answer.

“I’ll tell you another time” he eventually said, “We’re here”.

Rosa’s brows furrowed as she glanced around in confusion. Despite the sky almost reaching full light, there was nothing insight. Just grass, mud, rock and the towering valley, they’d been walking through for over a mile. She took another stepped forward and the air suddenly shimmered, as if she’d stepped through an invisible portal. Stunned, her body spun round scanning her new surroundings. The valley had vanished and she found herself in a vast, flat, grassy field. The field was completely empty except for a lone wooden shack that sat in the distance ahead.

“It’s similar to how we hide the HQ” Louie explained, “Just a more ancient method”.

“What’s that?” Rosa asked. She pointed ahead at the lone shack. Despite being the only thing in sight it looked … insignificant. Poorly, constructed from old wood, it wouldn’t surprise Rosa if the wind took it down any moment. However, as every moment passed it continued to stand strong, not trembling for even a moment.

“That is our destination” Louie informed, “One of the very few places left that allows you to convene with people elsewhere. Functions off old magic. We’re talking thousands of years old”

“Who are we meeting?” Rosa asked.

“The Vampire covenant”.