Brotherhood of the Hunters

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"That's really how you plan to live up to the family name?" Lukas Hunter had come looking for his younger sibling late one evening. It had been left to him to tutor the younger man in things their father never did since his disappearance several years ago. He made it seem like a chore for him to do this, but secretly he enjoyed bossing the other man around, and was actually proud of what they did. He was arrogant enough to believe the world was a safer place because of him, blindly following the guild and their rules when it came to witches.

Evan Amber was sat in a dimly lit bar that evening, the stirrer in her drink slowly moving around the glass of its own accord as she read the book before her. It would have strained the eyes of any normal person, but then witches were hardly considered normal. This was a safe haven of sorts, a bar only known of to other witches. Evan liked it this way, it was the only freedom in a world controlled by the witch hunters guild. While her craft came natural to her, Evan wasn't like most other witches. She had no long family lineage to teach her the ways of the craft, having been born into a family of 'norms', she had instead been left outcast by them to struggle until she stumbled upon a best friend to show her everything.

"Because it's always wiches, Simon." Lukas replied wearily. "Even things imprinted by ghosts, a witch will have had a hand in it somewhere." He added, proving how blinded he was by his hatred of their kind.

Evan wrinkling up her pert nose as she poked her tongue out at her friend. "Well fine... if you don't want me..." She replied with a dramatic sigh.

Simon shook his head. "You're an idiot." He muttered. "You never see anything other than what one witch did to mom. That doesn't make them all monsters. In fact, it doesn't even make that particular witch a monster. But you know what? It's making you one." He hissed. "You're a bastard. It's no wonder dad thought you'd be a better hunter." 

"Drama queen." Belle laughed, bumping her friend with her hip. "Come on. You're stalling."

"And Dad saw what a waste of space you were becoming, and charged me with taking care of you!" Lukas shot back icily. "You think I like sacrificing my life so you can stop you trying to ruin yours?"

"I'm not a drama queen!" Evan declared as she skipped on ahead of her friend. "I don't have a crown." She added, casting a playful glance over her shoulder.

"Then don't!" Simon shouted, giving his brother an angry shove. The glass cut into his hand as he balled up his fist. He was far too enraged to notice. "Fuck off and leave me alone! I don't need you! I don't need anyone! Screw you and your witch crusade!" 
All at once he jerked away from his brother, his entire body shaking as if he were being electrified. In truth...he was...

Belle saw the red glint in her friend's hair and grabbed for it, not realizing she'd yanked out quite a few strands as well. "Damn glass..." She muttered. She peered down at it, seeing that it was now covered in rage. "Men..." She shook her head, then waved her fingers over the shard. "That should bring the fool back to his senses. Serves him right..."

Lukas had pulled the talisman that was always in his pocket out and had the chain it was on wrapped around his fist as he slowly advanced on his brother. "Simon... I need you to focus. Realise that it's magic doing this to you, and you had better still have the talisman I gave you!"

"OW!" Evan howled, rubbing at her tender scalp. "Geez, if you don't like the colour, just say so next time!" She whined, missing everything that Belle had just done.

"It's heavy. I left it in the car." Simon grunted, rubbing his chest. "Don't start on me, Lukas. How do you know that was magic? It could have been from the alcohol."

Belle took in a shaky breath and looked around them. "You need to shake your hair out. Just in case." She said firmly.

"Alcohol randomly makes you jerk around like an electrocuted eel?" Lukas sneered, easing up a little now his little brother was apparently okay.

"Shake it out for what?" Evan pouted. "What's the big deal?" She added, still rubbing at her head. "If it was a bug or something, you could have just told me!"

"If I drink enough of it, yeah." Simon admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "What's the big deal about the amulet anyway? What's that going to do? Help us find a ghost? A wisp maybe?" He used a gentler tone this time, hoping to keep his brother's voice softer as well. Lukas hated it when he revealed how little he actually knew about the supernatural. 

"You had a glass shard in your hair. Those men were tracking you. I think one of them was using blood magic." Belle said, chewing on her bottom lip. "I felt rage coming off it and...we really have to get home. They are getting really close and if you have any more of those shards in your hair it won't matter how much protection I have on it, they'll get inside."

It was too late, Lukas knew that Simon genuinely had no idea about anything he had tried to teach him. "The pendant contains the blood of a witch hung on a Friday the 13th during a blood moon. It renders their magic useless against us." He replied. "It's a very rare thing, given we stopped hanging them centuries ago."

"I still think you're over reacting." Evan replied rather sullenly, now walking without the usual spring in her step.

"Then I guess I shouldn't tell you I broke mine?" Simon asked, unable to hide an impish grin. "I still don't see how it would point us to a witch. It's their blood...bad luck blood at that." 

"Yeah." Belle was looking around her now, more then a little worried. She was all but pushing her friend toward her house. They were running out of time.

"It protects us from their magic." Lukas corrected. "Evident in the way you were just manipulated like a ragdoll because you do not have yours!"

"Geez, it's not like they have any reason to be hunting us!" Evan scoffed. "I didn't break any rules, I never performed magic on them, I certainly never brought harm to them!"

"She is close." Simon held up a hand and tried to quiet his brother. He could feel her, there was more to it than the trembling in glass piece. He could feel her. It made him feel strange. 

"You aren't normal. That's enough." Belle reminded her, making the mistake of turning them down the wrong alley way.

"You feel witches now?" Lukas asked, worried that the witch had done more than simply sky on his baby brother.

"Not normal? Well thanks a lot for that!" Evan snapped, her own playful humour gone now as she glared at Belle.

Simon turned his head, his eyes now resting on the familiar hair. It was her. The glass had led him right to her. He could no longer think of anything else. His brother was all but forgotten. He began walking toward her, abandoning Lukas. 

Belle grabbed her friend's jacket and yanked her backward, stumbling toward the way she came.

Evan's pastel coloured hair whipped out behind her as Belle suddenly started dragging her. "Belle! What the hell has gotten into you?! You're acting like someone is actually chasing us!" She hissed, stumbling over trash that was littered on the ground.

Lukas was chasing his brother now, not used to such blind determination from the younger man. As far as he knew, Simon only cared about booze and getting laid.

Simon appeared before the two women, for once using his hunter abilities. "Going somewhere, ladies?" He asked them, his eyes on Evan. "You called for me. I'm here."
"Hardly." Belle's fingers shook. She held them up, ready to send this man into agony should he try anything at all.

"I called for no one." Evan told Simon firmly, pushing Belle behind her. "I don't know who you are, but you will regret trying to do anything to us!" She warned, though didn't mean that she would use her magic.

"My name is Simon Hunter." The younger brother pushed a mass of dark hair out of silver eyes and gave her a sideways smile. 
Belle pinched Evan hard in the back and snarled in her ear. "What did I tell you? Hunters from the ancient line, no less. We need to run."

"And why exactly are you accosting two women in the dead of night?" Evan asked, able to see right through the fact that Simon no doubt had women falling at his feet with that smile. Usually.
Lukas was in the shadows as he watched his younger sibling. He had identified the two woman as witches, but as of yet he had no real reason to arrest them. He hope it wouldn't backfire on him allowing Simon to take charge like this.

"I said it before. You called me here." Simon said evenly. Again he held out the glass shard to her, ignoring the fact that it was now covered in his blood. "I saw that hair...those eyes...why?"
Belle could sense another nearby and turned her head, searching for him. This was about to get much worse she could sense it. She needed to open a portal for them. She knew if she didn't they were going to die.

Evan looked down at the glass, then back up into Simon's eyes. It was like drowning in two pool of mercury, and that terrified her. "I think you're mistaken. We have never met, and I certainly didn't call you!" She huffed, continuing the charade that she and Belle were simply two normal women.
Belle wouldn't see Lukas. Unlike his brother he kept to the shadows when hunting. Witches rarely saw him coming until it was too late. He could all but taste the fear coming off the redhead, and smiled slightly. She would slip up. She would given him reason to put her down, and justify his plea to the council that all witches should be put to death, regardless of whether they break the laws or not.

"We are leaving." Belle yanked the back of her friend's jacket and continued to pull her toward the exit. Half way there she stopped, her chest heaving. She was staring at the shadows where Lukas stood, her stomach full of butterflies. What was this odd feeling?
"I'm not going to hurt you." Simon said gently. "Either of you. I swear it."

Lukas leaned forward just enough that the light caught his golden eyes, making him seem even more foreboding. "Boo..." He barely breathed the word, but he knew the woman had heard it.
"Belle!" Evan whined as she stumbled backwards after her friend. Even though she was protesting, she couldn't take her eyes off the dark haired man who had confronted them.

Lukas would find himself on the ground several feet away. Belle grabbed her friend's jacket and ran with her, no longer giving her a choice. Terror tore through her slender frame and pushed her onward. She didn't dare look back. 

"Luke! Damn it! Get up!" Simon hissed, trying to yank his larger brother to his feet. "You screw up everything. What the hell did you do that for?! I had everything under control and you ruined it!"

"Are you insane?!" They had run for at least five blocks before either of them even spoke. Evan was leaning forward, breathing heavily with her hands on her knees. "You lecture me about being careful, and then you throw a guy across and alley?!"

Lukas was actually smiling for once as he shook off Simona's aid to get to his feet himself. "We can free reign now. She used magic on a human, those witches are as good as hung."

Belle wasn't sure exactly what had happened. It took her several minutes to bring in a sobbing breath. "He did that on purpose. The whole thing was a set up. Oh...I hate Hunters!" She shouted.

"You did that on purpose. They weren't doing anything wrong." Simon muttered. "You know killing witches isn't going to bring dad back, you ugly son of a bitch."

"I don't even know what happened!!" Evan hissed. "I had a handle on things, then you spazzed out and then there was shouting and we were running!"

Lukas merely snorted and rubbed at the scar on his cheek. "I didn't do anything to them."

"We should go home. We should never have stopped to play. I'm such an idiot. I almost got you killed just like..." Belle shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. 

"You scared that red head." Simon grunted, rubbing at his chest. It wasn't until he removed his hand that he noticed the glass shard was gone and his fingers were covered in blood.

Evan was oddly quiet on the return walk home. It was very unlike her. The younger woman had never encountered hunters first hand before, least of all so close. It troubled her how that had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Not my fault she's easily spooked." Lukas snorted. "Surprised you even noticed, given the way you were fixated on the other one."

Annabelle all but shoved Evan into the door and sealed it with a wave of her hand. "We can't leave here again. Not until I've called for help."

Simon kept staring at his fingers, trying to understand why there was blood on them. He'd lost the power to argue. All he could do now was hold out the hand to Lukas and then point to his chest.