Fifteen minutes later, Dan sat at the table with his guest. Michael had a cup of tea in front of him from which he took small sips until the other man finished his meal. After cleaning up, Dan returned to the table and stared at Michael pointedly.
"So what does the leader of the Hunters want with me?"
Michael cleared his throat and leaned forward on the table. His eyes returned to their default coldness as he explained the details of the peace exercise to Dan.
"So you have to look after some children? That's hardly a reason to seek me out."
"Watching them shouldn't be a problem," Michael said and his features hardened. "But it becomes one when skinwalkers are involved."
The other man's eyes darkened immediately and he frowned. "That's not right. Where did you say this school was?"
"Starlight Bay. It's a city on the coastline between Providence and Boston."
"That's not too far from New York. Skinwalkers are not supposed to be found in this area."
"Yeah, I thought the same too," Michael sighed and threaded his fingers through his hair. "They've been active too."
Dan looked up at him. "Active? How?"
"Life drain curses. Some of the students were already affected when we got there so I'm guessing they must have been there for a while. However, one of them cursed some witches on the first day deliberately so I suppose they must've known about the program."
The American Indian man clasped his hands together under his chin in thought. "Skinwalkers do not usually behave like this. Moving around in packs, mass cursing, none of it makes any sense."
"Glad you're seeing it my way. That's why I need your help."
Dan eyed the Hunter in disbelief. "What for? With your magic, removing those curses would be nothing."
"You're right, I can erase any curse. And then what? The skinwalkers would simply curse them again and I'll have to start all over. And I can't investigate deeper into this if I'm stuck erasing curses all day long.
"You know more about these things than anyone else I know, Dan. Your expertise will prove invaluable if you help us."
Silence reigned for a few moments in which Michael considered his next actions should Dan refuse. His options were not much. He had not been flattering the man earlier with his words. There were few people he knew with barely as much knowledge in these matters as Dan and none of them would be willing to work with a Hunter.
The tea in Michael's cup was almost cold when Dan finally answered.
"Fine. I'll help you but only because I cannot stand the thought of innocent people dying at the hands of those creatures."
The two men rose up from the table to shake hands. There was a small relieved smile on Michael's face. For a moment, he had really thought the man would refuse. This was not the first time he had approached Dan for assistance in matters like this. In a normal setting, he never would have needed to. Everything would have been solved with a single mass extermination hunt. But that would not work in a situation like this. The unique powers of skinwalkers made them troublesome to hunt and the fact that there seemed to be some sort of large scale operation in place made the whole thing more delicate.
He gave Dan some information on the school and the program before leaving the man's home. The night air had dropped in temperature by a few degrees, enough to make a grown man shiver. Michael strode down the street with his hands in his pocket. His eyes fell on the shivering form of a homeless man on the sidewalk. Shrugging off his jacket, he handed it over to the man with nothing but a kind smile and left him alone. He did not get too far before the wind carried the beggar's grateful thanks to his ears.
Sauntering along the road in nothing more than his long sleeve shirt and jeans, Michael barely felt the cold. His unique brand of magic prevented the chill from touching his skin as he walked in the night. His mind flashed to the appreciative look on the beggar's face and he smiled slowly. That was why he had been given this power. The presence in his soul had long made him privy to origin of his power and Michael had echoed the sentiment. The service of humanity in all forms and its uncompromisable protection would forever be his goal. Right to the very end.
"Should I call Jade?" Michael thought then his eyes looked up at the bright moon above. It was almost full. "No, I'll manage. Besides, it's been a while since I've had a good run."
He looked around to make sure no one was watching. Even if someone was, all they would have seen was a cloud of black smoke covering a young man as he disappeared into the forest nearby.
*********
Dean's eyes shot open when he sensed multiple strong malicious presences in the city. He had been meditating on the couch in their common room for the past hour. Due to the conditions surrounding his particular brand of magic, he often had to put effort to restrain his power. Meditation, he had discovered, helped to do so quite efficiently. It also allowed him to hone his perceptivity to the point that he could detect even the smallest amount of ill intent in a person.
The range of his perception increased greatly when he was focused, being just able to cover half the entire school. As a college filled with young men and women, there was no lack of negative characters in the place and he had learned to tune them out during his calming exercise.
The sudden spike in malignancy however gave him cause for alarm. Despite the environment, he knew no normal student should be capable of harboring such kind of evil intent within themselves. After debating inwardly whether he should take action or not, he decided to do what his leader would have done.
Luckily enough, the person he had thought to call walked into the room with an unopened drink in her hand.
"Jade," Dean called out just before she could plop down on a chair.
"What's up?"
"I felt something. Three evil auras are in the school. Could you go check it out?"
The girl positively pouted as she gazed longingly at her drink. "Seriously? But I just got this..."
"If you don't wish to go, you can send me–"
She waved him off with a hand. "No, it's fine. Might be something important anyway. Just keep this cool for me would ya?" she said and tossed him the full bottle.
Turning on her heel, Jade strolled over to the witches' door and knocked loudly.
It opened after a few seconds to show Whitney's irritated face. "What?"
"Since we're actually doing this whole peace thing, I think it'd be good for you guys to see how we go about our...activities," Jade finished with a Cheshire grin.
Whitney returned the smile with a glare that did not even faze the other girl. "Why on earth would we want to do that?"
"Because I know your type," Jade replied, smile still infuriatingly wide. "You like challenges and our very existence is the biggest one of all. I know you'd leap at the chance to monitor what could easily be your worst nightmare. You appreciate information and this is your chance to get it. For free if I might add."
The dark skinned girl glared heatedly at the female Hunter before giving her a small nod and slamming the door in her face. Jade rolled her eyes at the witch's behavior and turned back to Dean for the location of the evil auras.
A few minutes later, Whitney and Mia joined them in the common room. Jade gave their outfits an appraising look and nodded in approval.
"So where's your other friend?" Jade asked.
Whitney bristled slightly. "Elena has some... issues to resolve right now. She won't be coming."
"Yeah right," Jade scoffed with a knowing smirk and turned away from the two girls. "Don't worry about her. She'll be alright eventually."
"Do you know what happened to her?" Mia asked hopefully.
"Skinwalkers have the ability to instill fear in the minds of their victims through eye contact," the female Hunter explained. "Your friend must have been afflicted with the technique and Lee's transformation only served to make it stick."
"Is she going to be okay?" Mia asked again.
"She'll be fine once she gets over her fear. I'd recommend getting her to hang around Lee a bit more. It should help her recover quicker."
Jade channeled her magic into the space in front of her to open a dark purple colored portal. The two witches watched her actions with interest although Whitney made sure to keep hers subtle.
Mia on the other hand, did no such thing. "This is actually Space-Time Manipulation magic! I've never seen it up close before."
"Well it's not very common magic you know. It would be a bit dumb to hunt supernatural creatures with the same power they have."
Mia's eyes widened slightly. "Wait, so you all have your special type of magic?"
Jade turned halfway to flash her a grin that showed her sharp canines. "We wouldn't be so successful otherwise, would we?"