Someone knocked twice on the mahogany door before it was pushed open. Two men walked in on either side of a little girl who couldn't be older than twelve. She had straight black hair that fell well past her shoulders. Her delicate facial features gave away her Italian heritage but the soft blue color of her eyes showed some signs of American parentage. Most likely from her mother, Michael surmised since her father was clearly Italian.
The girl was huddling a blanket around herself and although she seemed to have calmed down a bit, Michael could tell she was still more than a little shaken by the night's events. As soon as she entered the room, she dashed towards her father who had risen out of his chair when the door opened and threw her arms around him. Light sobs wracked her small frame as she embraced her father tightly while the man consoled his daughter softly.
The scene wrenched Michael's heart and he forced himself to turn away, his resolve to find out the truth hardened even further. A hand touched his shoulder and Michael looked up to see one of the men smiling thankfully at him.
"We really appreciate your help back ther, kid. You really saved our heads."
Michael felt a slight indignation rise within him for being called a kid by someone centuries younger than him but quelled it instantly and smiled politely.
"It was nothing," he said and turned to the injured man. "How's your arm?"
The man looked down at where he had been impaled by a bone arrow with a small grimace on his face. The wound had been cleaned and bandaged. The sleeves of his suit and shirt had been torn off for whomever had treated him to get to the wound, leaving him looking a bit strange. When Michael looked at the bandaged area however, his face fell in a frown.
The injured man failed to notice this, preoccupied as he was with trying to move his left arm. When he failed to do so, his face fell in a slight frown.
"Here let me try something," Michael said after a moment of observation. He raised a finger and lightly pressed it in the wound. A small burst of gray aura exuded from his finger and traveled quickly through the bandaged wound. The man nearly leapt back at the sudden sensation, only relaxing when he realized the numbness he had felt previously was gone.
"The weapons of those creatures are often laced with poisons that induce sleep and paralysis," Michael explained. "When the wound was treated, it only got slowed down. Not removed entirely. If you had fallen asleep again tonight, there would be a ninety percent chance you would never wake up again."
Antonio, who had been listening with one ear while consoling his daughter, had finally had enough.
"How do I stop these things from coming after Anna?" He asked with all the seriousness of a concerned father.
Michael looked at him silently for a while before glancing over to the small child clutching at the man's hand quietly. A tired sigh escaped his lips and he moved to kneel in front of the girl. The young man set his face to look as gentle as possible which was not too hard for him, considering his predisposition to humans on general and children in particular. The latter were the ones most likely to suffer in the hands of unscrupulous supernatural beings after all.
"Anna, come here for a second," he beckoned softly to the little girl. Her first reaction was to tighten her hold on her father's leg and stare up at him as if asking for something. When her father nodded encouragingly, her shyness disappeared immediately as she shot forward in a blur to embrace Michael.
"Thank you," she sobbed quietly into his shoulder.
Michael calmed her down with a few words of comfort while stroking her hair softly. Inwardly he was glad that she was so open to him. That would make his next action easier.
"Alright Anna, I need you to listen to me," he began as soon as she had quieted down a bit. "You are a special girl, do you know that?"
She nodded slowly. "My mama used to tell me that. It's silly."
"Well maybe but that depends on how you want to look at it. Your mama was correct when she said that." Michael skillfully avoided that mine with his words and continued. "You were born with a beautiful gift inside you."
"I was?"
"Yes you were. But you can't use that gift now because you're too young. Anna, I want you to understand that there will be people that may want your gift."
Her voice fell to a whisper. "People like the ones that came tonight?"
Michael nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder in a calming manner. "Now I doubt you would want to lose your gift because then you'd just be like every other kid. You don't want that right?" A shake of her head let him continue. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small talisman. It was the second one of the pair he had had Jade make for Mia and Veronica.
He reached into his pocket again and took out a silver chain that had a cross in it. Carefully he opened the hook and threaded the thin chain through the talisman. Then he encircled the metal chain around her neck and hooked it in place.
"Anna, I have to leave now. Some time in the near or distant future, your life may be in danger. When that happens, I want you to hold this and think of me with as much confidence as possible okay?"
She looked up at him through slightly watery blue eyes. "Will you come for me if I call you?"
He smiled warmly and patted her shoulder. "Always."
Before he left, he exchanged contacts with Antonio with the latter promising to keep Michael informed on any unusual happenings in the city. As he made his way towards the college, Michael decided that he had let things go on long enough. Whoever controlled the skinwalkers had become confident enough to launch an assault like this one on an innocent child even with the presence of the Hunters confirmed. That meant they are either really desperate or really brave. Either way Michael did not care. Whomever this person was, he would have to remind them why the Hunters were known as such.
*********
With their cover as good as blown, the Hunters had no reason to remain out of sight any longer. After he had been informed of the attack on the vampires while he was away, Michael decided that it would more beneficial to show their faces around more often. That way, their enemies would more aware of their presence and thus less likely to engage in random attacks. At least that was what the idea was supposed to be.
To that end, Jade and Lee had taken it upon themselves to make the most conspicuous entrance the following Monday. With the natural charisma he radiated, it was acceptable that Lee would draw attention to himself. More so for Jade, whose fashion sense had compelled a good number of stares to accompany her as she strutted over to an occupied table, one of many in the half filled study hall.
Without so much as a by-your-leave, she sat down on the seat facing the the initial occupants of the table.
"You know, some people might find it impolite not to ask for permission before sitting at their table," Whitney glared at the Hunter.
Jade gave her a cocky smile in return. "Then I guess I'm glad you're not one of those people."
Mia snickered lightly at her reply but quickly covered it up when Whitney's glare turned on her. Jade watched the two of them amusedly before Mia spoke up.
"Hey uh Jade, did you really have to draw so much attention to yourself like that?"
The girl in question shrugged. "It wasn't that hard."
"That's not really an answer-"
"What's he doing?" Whitney cut her friend off midway when she looked in the direction of another table. Jade noticed that her eyes were now gray in color. It was likely that she wore contacts to disguise her unusual eye color when in public. Mia followed Whitney's stare to where Lee was sitting with a group of male students, none of which were supernaturals. They seemed to be getting along quite well with how the boys were laughing alongside the white haired Hunter.
"He's working," Jade answered simply.
Mia turned to her confusedly. "Working? How?"
"I see," Whitney said calmly as she turned away from the boys. "Jade's unsubtle entrance was to divert attention away from Lee."
Jade smiled and winked at her. "Bingo. You are a lot smarter than most of your friends."
Whitney frowned at the jab at her fellow witches while Mia struggled to make heads of what had been said.
"But why?"
"Michael wants us to start looking into things around here," Jade answered. "Something happened on his way back from his trip that made him a lot more serious about this whole thing."
"Hmm," Mia hummed thoughtfully before suddenly rounding on to Whitney. "Hey, have you told them about that thing yet?"
"Be quiet," Whitney hissed at her.
Jade's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "About what?"
"Nothing." Whitney's answer was sharp and curt. She got up from the table and gave Mia a glare. "I have to go."
Jade noticed how Whitney absentmindedly pulled down the sleeve of her left arm with her right hand, even though the sleeve had not been rolled up. A small hum slipped out of her lips as she watched the witch retreat with hasty steps. Mia quickly followed after her friend, muttering a quick apology to Jade on Whitney's behalf.
Jade smiled at the fact that in the witches' haste, they had left their study items behind. A well manicured hand reached over to close the books, except for one which she decided to leaf through. Arcane symbols and multiple texts that had no place in a normal tertiary textbook adorned the pages. On the sides of pages Jade saw several notes written in fine handwriting which she recognized as Mia's since the book has been lying in front of her initially. Her dark eyes flicked through the notes and the rest of the bookmarked page. A delicate eyebrow arched slightly in surprise.
'Why would she be looking at Arcane Magic Symbols and Diagrams? Shouldn't they be over this already?'