“I told Dad that I was due east. So why are you following me, Joaquin?” Joaquin and I have been traveling together for 2 days already. He said he was due west.

“Don’t be like that, Evan.” He chuckled. “So… Where are we headed?” Joaquin asked.

I stayed silent as I look at the map. We should be nearing the Francisco-Nevada border. After a few minutes of walking and Joaquin’s nagging, we arrived at the border. A 10-feet tall wall at the border of Nevada and Francisco. “That’s tall,” Joaquin said in awe. “So, how are we going to climb it?” He asked as he smiled.

“We use it.” I answered as I put down my bags. Joaquin looked surprised. Who would’ve thought the goody-two-shoes child of Dr. Eugene would disobey his order?

“Cut the palm. Make a fist. Let the blood drip… and smear it.” I muttered.

“Hey… you really are doing it.” Joaquin was slowly backing away.

The most diverse carcass was used to give us these curses. I always hated this form. “Guess you’re here. Arachne Evan.” Joaquin scoffed. Argh, this form is disgusting. I have so many legs.

“Grab on. We will be climbing over the wall.”

Joaquin held on by grabbing my waist. I slowly crawled up the 10 feet wall. As I was nearing 7 feet, my legs began to slip as I am not used to using it at all. Joaquin lost his grasp and fell. In my panic, my legs detached from the wall, and I, too, have fallen. I quickly sprang into action and tried to grab Joaquin’s hand.

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

I was able to grab him to safety as we fell back down.

“Ack, really Evan?” Joaquin complained as he checks himself for bruises. “Evan?”

“Get… off… of me...” Joaquin landed on my back when I let him go by 3 feet. This is going to be a long night. During our second try, I tried jumping each step. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t work, and I fell again. During my seventh try, Joaquin got bored and had time to buy food and come back.

“Don’t even try to touch my noodles in your spider form. I don’t want your legs kicking everything over.” Joaquin stated. After my ninth try, I was too tired to try again. I ate some of the food Joaquin bought. “Are these spicy?” I asked. Joaquin nodded yes and continued to gobble on the noodles. I sat down and joined him in the feast. After a few minutes, we finished the food and slept like logs near the border. What a night.

I feel someone slapping me. It was Joaquin waking me up. “Hey. Did you transform while I was asleep.?” He asked. I looked confused and he pointed at the border wall. It had 4-feet wide hoofprints. 12 steps in total. Whatever was here. It escaped to the other side.

“What do you think it was then?” Joaquin asked again. “Something dangerous,” I answered. We analyzed the steps all morning. Though it was cut short as the authorities hurried to the site. We hid but we left our emptied food cups. It was our greatest mistake. We witness the authorities inspecting the environment and whatever caused those hoofprints. There were some people wearing thick heavy clothes. “The Hunters.” The back of the clothes says. Hunters? I’ve heard from Dad of people killing and hunting monsters near Ground Zero as a job.

“High Hunter Jackie Fin and High Hunter Monica Cloud reporting in.” The two hunters said in unison. That Jackie Fin person… I feel like she knows where we are. Her light blue eyes scare me. She’s probably the most dangerous Hunter that we have seen. This is a gaffe. Joaquin and I quietly walked away from the scene. Who knows if we will still have our lives if we cross paths with the Hunters one more time.

We went to a different part of the wall. It was a nightmare. There more hoofprints. About 20 to 30 pairs of them. This part of the wall collapsed from the weight. There were even more Hunters here.

“Well, well. I expected the two of you to be at a town nearby. Who would’ve thought we’d meet each other here?” Jackie was holding our shoulders while talking to us. Something about her just shivers our spine.

“Follow us, will you?” Monica said while walking ahead of us. “We have a few questions.” She continued.

What the hell will happen now?