"So, how far away is this place?" Veda asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe another 30 minutes or so." The two had finished their school day, and were now on the way to meet with the infamous Isran. Veda opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again in indecision. "Something on your mind?" Ian asked, the tone in his voice oddly serious. "Yeah, kinda. What is he going to be able to do to help me? It's not like someone is terrorizing me. I just, I'm not sure. I don't want to hope that this guy will help me get away from the 'prophecy' as you said." She laughed.
"You are...basically being haunted. You're just cocky now that you have a blade to warn them off. I would be more careful, as soon as they think it's safe, they'll come for you." Ian warned. "But it's not safe for them to come. You are living in my house, you're a hunter." Veda added. "Not for long. My parents come home from their trip in a couple of days, so I won't be there. You are going to have to learn to take care of yourself. No hero." He kept his eyes on his feet.
"What is your issue? Are you just nice when we're with my parent's? Oh god it's happening again. Sorry." Veda excused herself.. "Mhhm." He kept walking. When they stopped, they had reached a building that looked abandoned. "Is this the 'base'?" She made hand quotes. "No, it's the barracks that lead to the base. No air quotes." Ian sighed, and shimmied his feet. It pushed a keypad out of the otherwise solid wall. "Wow." Veda murmured. "Can you-" "Yeah." Veda turned around, as to not see the "secret code".
"Sorry, protocol until they accept you." Ian apologized. "No it's fine." She responded. The door next to the pad swung open, displaying a short corridor with yet another door on the inside. She followed Ian, who opened the door without a passcode this time. When they entered, she saw about 20 bunk beds with a crowd of people occupying the room.
An older man came up to them, and patted Ian on the back. "Hey, my man! She a new recruit?" He asked. "Not exactly. We need to see Isran, where is he?" Ian asked. "Ah, he went out. Said he'd be back by sunset." The man replied. "Of course. I called to tell him we were coming too. Do you want to call your parents? Tell them we're going to a party or something." He turned to face Veda. "A party. You act like you've never met my parents." She sighed, "Yeah, give me a minute." She picked up her phone, and dialed her father. On the first ring, he picked up.
"Hey Ve! What's up?" He asked. "I just wanted to let you know, I'm going to be out late tonight. My friend, uh, LIly is having a get together. Ian said he'd go with me, but she invited our whole group." Veda lied. "Yeah, okay. What time will you be home?" Her father asked. Ian snapped to get her attention, and placed his head in his palm, imitating sleep. We might just spend the night if that's okay." Veda asked, though as more of a statement. "Sure. That works well. Your mother and I need to talk, so I'll let her know." He added. "Is everything okay? No-no fighting or anything like that, right? I can come home if I have to." Veda stuttered. Ian mouthed, no you won't.
But Veda wasn't paying attention. "Yeah, everything's fine. "No, go have fun at your friend's house Ve. I'll talk to you later. Love." He hung up the phone. Veda then slipped her phone into her pocket and began to think about love. They had started saying, "love". instead of love you after their grandmother had passed. It just didn't feel right anymore.
"Veda? Hello?" Ian waved his hand in front of her face.. She straightened, and looked at him. "Sorry, zoning out. Should we just wait then?" She asked. "Yeah, why don't you get to know everyone? I'll introduce you, we can waste some time." Ian suggested. "Yeah, okay." She agreed. The man that had been talking to Ian reached out his hand. "Hey-o. I'm Ivan." He introduced himself. "You guys have a lot of I names here." Ivan chuckled. "Yes, it's a nice trend between us. It's nice to finally put a face to the name. Veda?" He smiled. "Yes, have you heard of me? I didn't think I was very popular." She laughed politely. "Well, just about everyone here knows about the prophesied girl. Not everyone seems to care, but take what you get."
They held eye contact for a moment before Ian cleared his throat. "Can I ask a sort of, personal question?" Veda asked. "Hit me." Ivan offered. "Why are you a hunter? I'm just now hearing about anything supernatural more than a childhood fairy tale. You never believe these kinds of things until they chase you out of a forest." Veda sighed slowly. Ivan made an odd face, crossing his arms over his chest. "My family was massacred. After that, I realized that the witches that are supposed to work with the spirits and take after the earth, are truly the ones destroying it. I started going out of my way to find crimes that seemed like they could be connected to a witch, and eventually I found this group of hunters. This is my family now, and we all take care of each other. Plus, I get to kill off more and more of the witch race, so I'm content." He smiled, releasing his arms.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. At least the story seems to have a happy ending now, though. You're doing what you feel like is right?" Veda asked. "Damn right, I am. Let's give you a tour, Miss Veda." He tipped his cap and reached his arm out, guiding her away from the door. He stopped and added, "Ian, Via's in storage. She has a new assignment waiting for you. I'll show her around." Ian nodded.
Ivan led Veda around, showing her the base. First was the other 10 rooms full of beds, apparently they were overpopulating in the building. Then came the weapon storage room, full of crossbows and daggers. Apparently witch hunters do not favor swords. Next the factory room, a large room that fits its description. The entire area was filled with tables used to craft weapons and means of defense. After that came the main storage room, where Ian was getting the details of his new assignment. That stuck with Veda, was she just an assignment to complete? It wasn't a good feeling. Last came the office rooms. Old conference rooms with cubical boxes where the research was done, and of course the heads' offices. Isran wasn't the only one in charge. Ivan brought her back to the barracks, and began to introduce her to the rest of the "crew".
The first was a man named, and you'll find this surprising, Isaiah. "So Veda, you a new recruit?" She had a feeling she'd be answering this question quite a lot. "Not very many new recruits get this much attention. It goes to their heads." They shared a laugh. "No, not exactly. I'm here to get Isran's help, and then I'll be on my way. For now at least." Isaiah gave her a look. "What's wrong?" Veda looked around to see what he could have been reacting to. "Nothin'. That's just not right. He never lets anyone in the building that isn't already an approved recruit. What's your agenda, you one of them?" Isaiah asked. "One of whom?" Veda looked around, feeling the hostility shooting towards her. "Those damn witches, girl. Are you stupid?" He asked mockingly.
"No, thank you, I am not. I am not a witch either, my dear sir. I am being haunted by secrets, sent by the witches that you despise so greatly. All I want is some help, and then I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible. Promise." Veda assured with just the right amount of sarcasm in her opinion. "Alright." He turned around. "Just like that?" Veda asked. "One thing you might want to note, little girl, is that when a witch lies they have some sort of tick. They were created to help the Earth, and they've gone against their nature. They're supposed to be like, Adam and Eve before the apple if you believe in that." "I don't." Veda remarked.
"Not the point. You would have been snapping your fingers, your eye would have been twitchin', something like that." He explained. "Oh, I guess I should note that." Veda smiled, putting her right hand over her elbow. "I'll see you around." Isaiah walked away, leaving Veda with Ivan again. "Don't mind him, he's just paranoid. If you were a witch, we would all know by now." Ivan laughed. "It looks like the sun's going down, we should go wait for Isran." He suggested. Veda accepted the idea, and they headed to the corridor outside the refurbished conference rooms.
"Give me a minute to collect Ian, he was the one that brought you here. I apologize for being overexcited, it's just nice to have something a little different. The days are getting dull while we're on house arrest." Ivan rubbed the back of his head as he walked away. House arrest. Huh. Guess I should ask Ian. Veda thought
She stood there for a good minute and a half before someone came to speak to her. It was a woman this time. "Oh, are we going to keep fighting the stereotype of this boy's club?" The woman asked. "I'm sorry?" Veda tilted her head in confusion. "You're new here, I know all the women, there's not very many of us. I'm Bella." She added.
"Oh, well nice to meet you Bella. Why are you a hunter? Aren't they mostly men because all witches are females? Veda asked. "That is true, but I have my reasons. I was kidnapped by a famous one named Lizzy. Tortured until I gave up on trying to escape. I watched my son get killed right before my eyes, and now I work to avenge him and the rest who have fallen to those monsters." Bella explained. "Right, okay. My condolences, I hope you get what you are looking for." Veda smiled politely.
After Oliver's funeral, she was used to being the one getting pitied. Being on this side of it brought surprising relief. "That's why most of you are hunters, right? They're the bad ones, oddly enough." Veda laughed lightly. "Yes, and don't let anyone tell you different. We have to take back what's ours sweetie, it's how the human race has survived for so long. They'll get what's coming to them, it's only a matter of time." Bella paused. "Well, I should get working. Come to me if you need anything, you know, girl to girl. Or you just need a break from these buffoons." She laughed and proudly walked away.
Right then, Veda locked eyes with Ian and Ivan, who were walking swiftly towards her. Ian looked concerned, while Ivan seemed as happy as he could be at the moment. She looked down and saw a dark green folder in Ian's hand, with her name on it no less. When they reached her, Ian came close and quietly announced, "he's here."