Dan paid the cab driver and turned around as the car drove off. In front of him, Starlight Central Academy stood in all its glory. Not that Dan cared though. As far as he was concerned, the place was little more than a hive full of ignorant and immature fledglings who had no idea what awaited them in the real world. How could they, when they were still utterly unaware of the creatures that cohabited the school with them.
As he strode through the gates, Dan felt a familiar pressure wash over him. It was one that would be completely undetectable to anyone,no matter how sensitive one was, unless he or she was affiliated with the people who had put it in place. That was the only reason he had been able to detect it. A suppressed shiver threatened to escape him as he felt the evil nature of the spell fade away after he went past the gates.
Dan frowned for a moment before continuing on his way. If that amount of malevolence was the standard for the curses he had been invited to deal with, then these kids were in more trouble than they realized. At that point he felt a bit glad that he had decided to come after all. Michael would have probably been able to handle everything in the end but more than a few lives would have been lost inevitably. If his presence here would help preserve even one of those lives, then he would do all he could to assist Michael.
Enough lives had already been lost by his actions. He would not be the cause of more.
Suddenly a different aura washed over him and he felt his breath hitch slightly. Before he could regain himself, another aura joined the first and the combined pressure nearly made him frown. It was not that he felt threatened, the auras were devoid of ill intent of any kind. Not even the sheer strength of these auras, as great as it was, had been the reason for his uneasiness. Rather it was the nature of the auras that gave him reason to pause in his walk. One of them felt unstable, as if it was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He couldn't even get an accurate read on the exact location of the projector.
The second however, he could pinpoint as easily as breathing. Reason being the sheer bloodiness the aura contained. It was not the bloody feeling that could be found around a serial killer. Instead it gave off an intensity that projected the sensation of the raw power contained in the life force carried by blood.
Stopping beside a large tree, the tall man swiveled around to the source of the aura and saw two youths walking towards him. Even though they're steps were relaxed and casual, he could tell that they would be able to react to any sudden threats in an instant.
"Hi, my name is Jade and this is my friend Lee," the female of the two welcomed him with a charming smile.
"You must be Michael's friend," the boy, Lee said. Dan could tell he was the one with the bloody aura. As for the girl beside him, were it not for the fact that she was right before Dan, he was not sure if he would have been able to detect her at all.
"Friend is a strong word," he replied. "We're barely acquaintances as it is."
Jade did not look bothered by his dismissal of her leader. "Whichever it is, we're thankful you're here. There's something seriously dangerous happening here."
All thoughts of the possible risks these two posed to him fled Dan's mind instantly. In that moment, all that mattered was the lives of the innocent students at stake. His features hardened and he drew himself up fully.
"Tell me more."
*********
"Everyone this is Daniel Whitestone. He is very familiar with what we're dealing with right now so I called him in for back up."
Veronica looked amused and made no effort to hide it. "So even the Hunters have to ask for help sometimes."
Dan's coal eyes landed on her with an intensity that wiped the smirk off her face. "It would be folly to face an enemy of whom you know little about without adequate preparation."
"Sounds familiar, doesn't it princess?" Jade grinned at the vampire who simply huffed and ignored her.
Mia raised a hand to draw the Amerindian man's attention. "Uh Dan right? Michael said you're quite knowledgeable on all of ... well this, right?"
"Yes, that is true," the man replied. "I have a wealth of experience in these matters." His eyes hardened gradually as he leveled a piercing stare at Whitney who sat beside Mia on the couch. "So it is very easy for me to detect someone who has been afflicted with a curse. Especially when they are in the same room with me."
The increase in the intensity of his tone of speaking and its hidden implications was not lost on the other people in the room. Every pair of eyes in the room fell on Whitney who to her credit, did not so much as flinch even a little.
"What is he talking about?" Michael asked firmly.
The fire witch sent him a scathing glare before turning to the medicine man with a less stern expression.
"Sometime last week," she began. "We fought off a bunch of skinwalkers. After I killed one of them, this appeared on the back of my hand."
Whitney then pulled back her jumper sleeve to show them the tattoo. The circle had all but disappeared already, only a tiny arc remaining alongside the black rope encirclement. The moment Dan laid eyes on the mark, a deep frown appeared on his face. In two long strides, he had arrived before Whitney and seized her hands to closely examine the mark.
"Be grateful you have such a friend, girl. Your arrogant confidence in yourself will bring you more harm than you can imagine."
Michael and the other Hunters moved closer to them to observe Whitney's hand. As soon as Dean got within a few feet of the witch, he notified them of a dangerous amount of malevolence wafting off the girl.
Michael turned to Dan with a stern look in his face. "What's going on?"
"Your friend was cursed by a skinwalker," the Amerindian man replied without stopping his observation.
"So?" Lee spoke up from his position on the back of the couch. "Michael can just erase it–"
"Not this one." Dan cut him off immediately. "You'd do well to avoid attempting to remove this curse. It's nothing like the others. Where most curses affect the life force of the victims, this one affects the victim's fate."
"Fate?" Mia repeated confusedly.
"Destiny, soul path, whatever you want to call it," Dan delineated. "It's very complex dark magic. Whoever cast it on you must really have a reason to hate you."
Whitney thought back to how she had incinerated the skinwalker and the amount of pain it must have been in. "Yeah, I can think of one or two."
"Not the time Whitney," Mia admonished. "So why can't it be erased?"
"Michael's magic can erase just about anything," Dan admitted calmly as he released Whitney's hand. "However, this goes beyond the realm of normal dark magic. While there is a possibility of him successfully erasing the curse, there's a far greater chance of him affecting the flow of your fate."
"I'm guessing that's bad?" Mia surmised.
"Very bad."
The constant talk about her as if she was not present in the room had begun to grate on Whitney's nerves and she felt she had heard enough. "What does the stupid mark even mean?"
Dan gave her a look as if to remind her that she was in no position to be giving orders. But he answered her nonetheless. "They are both Native American symbols. The rope signifies the binding effect of the curse. That keeps it in effect until the conditions for the curse have been met. The fading white mark symbolizes how much time you have until that happens."
Michael unfolded his arms and paced about thoughtfully. "Is there any way of knowing what those conditions are?"
The older man shook his head ruefully. "Unfortunately no. But until we do, I will have to do something to delay the curse."
Mia's face lit up like a lightbulb. "You can do that?"
"I have a way of increasing the duration of the curse." Dan turned to look at Michael pointedly. "But I can only do so up to one additional week. So you guys better make sure you resolve all of this by then. I'll try to assist you to the best of my ability."
Michael nodded gratefully. "Thanks a lot Dan."
"You can thank me by taking care of this as soon as possible," Dan replied as he took a seat beside Whitney. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pen and taking a nearby notepad, he scribbled a list of items on a piece of paper.
"I'm also going to be needing a few more materials to create protective talismans for the rest of you. I brought some of my own materials but it seems I greatly underestimated the level of this threat. What I have will not be enough."
"Dean and Olivia will get you everything you need." Both of the named Hunters nodded in acceptance of their leader's orders. Michael then turned to Lee and Jade. "You two have something to do right?"
"Yeah, come on pretty boy," Jade drawled as she dragged Lee out of the room.
Michael faced the rest of the room's occupants, a serious look on his face. "There's no need to emphasize the importance of being careful out there. These guys are not afraid to fight dirty. You all should know that by now."
Aiden and Caen shuffled slightly in their position behind Veronica. The memories of the last attack were still fresh in their minds and they felt uncomfortable hearing the Hunter remind them of it. Having been taken out so easily before the fight had even began and then forced to sit and watch while their charge fought for her life, it was easy to imagine the amount of indignation both men felt towards skinwalkers. If the latter hated their race so much, then they were more than willing to return the favor in full and more.