Chapter 11 ∣ Isolating Grounds

-Mavis 14 Years Old

It had been two years since the fire.

My dad had bought land in Hollywood, California, my great grandpa reminiscing on the days of old when he used to live here an awfully long time ago. It was a city they knew, and it would be easier for them to build security...which had proven very good considering there hadn't been any direct attacks against our coven. There were squabbles in the city, usually between vampires attacking werewolves and vice versa however, over the past two years, we'd seen an increase in humans aiding the werewolves and helping take out the vampires who assaulted them.

As I sat on the bench beneath my windowsill, my legs drawn up to my chest, I thought about how vicious of a cycle this world has thrown itself into. Werewolves get upset because vampires are still 'seen' as the rulers of the world, having the final say over human judgement...then the werewolves get angry all over again and start killing without any direction against the nearest vampire coven. The vampires put them back in their place when my dad orders a mass coordinated attack and the werewolves go back into hiding...

...it's on repeat and I'm sick of hearing the same record.

Right now, my gaze was transfixed on the latest of the scuffles going on in the city and this one also included the humans and hunters. More hunters had decided to shift back to align with the vampires, as their vampiric gene called them to save their own kind... the only reason they had a clear cut side choice now, vampires weren't going after or killing humans. The rogues were the wild cards and the hunters had every right to kill them...in fact, any of the supernatural species had that right as it only caused further chaos.

Now that I had complete control over my actions, every weapon that Zak had placed in front of me, I'd been able to master it within a few days...I was allowed out on my own but not for more than an hour. My dad was still very protective over me, especially over the fire raid attack back when I was twelve. Even though I was fourteen, my mind was clearly ahead of me, thinking strategically about many things before I acted upon my thoughts.

The fighting was growing wider in span, taking on portions of the city as it appeared this little scuffle was getting wildly out of control. My gaze flickered out to the nearby elementary human school that wasn't more than a half a mile up the road from where death was leaving bodies in its wake.

I lifted from my seat, unlocking the hinge on my windows, and pushing them open. The breeze was harsher this afternoon, the sun landing on my skin the second I stepped up onto the windowsill. My dark hair had grown down to my mid back, flying freely as the wind caught the strands and played with them. My eyes searched the ground beneath me, no one lingering around before I made my final decision.

Those children have no idea what's coming their way and I won't have this bickering battle include innocent beings as collateral damage.

I pushed off the windowsill, falling the three stories from my bedroom window and landing on the ground while bending my knees to help absorb the impact. After I hit the ground, I sprinted fast, jumping, and vaulting over the dark iron gate, the sidewalk beneath my boots. Taking off across the street and weaving through the back streets to reach the school, I finally came into the clearing when I saw its small bell tower rise above the trees lining the fence.

It only took me a few more seconds before I reached that fence and ran to the very front gate. My breathing returned to normal as I walked through the open gate, noticing younger children playing with toys in the play yard, an adult watching five to six children on their own. They were startled the second they saw the frantic look on my face, but I had to push back my feelings and walk calmly up to the front door.

Counting in my head to help center myself, I was stopped by one of the teachers who questioned, "Do you have a child enrolled here?"

I'm fourteen...what do you think?

"No, but I need to speak to the person in charge," I acknowledged the woman.

The woman shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, but during school hours w-"

"There are vampires and werewolves headed in this direction and if I don't speak to the person in charge, your school is going to be right in their pathway," I narrowed my eyes on the woman and the second those words left my lips, she took a step back and nodded.

She asked, "What should I do?"

"For now, start getting the children further into the city," I pointed in the direction I had come from and the teachers who were out in the front play yard began to calmly round up the children. There would be no sense in starting a panic, maybe they could pretend they were all going on a field trip to avoid the oncoming danger.

I grasped the handle of the door and pushed it open, walking into the main entrance of the school. There were many children in classes, the doors open and as I was about to walk right down the aisle, a woman at the front desk asked me, "Do you have an appointment?"

"I do now," I turned my gaze on her, my eyes flickering to the office that was labeled as 'Principal'. Without another word, I rounded behind the desk and walked straight for the door. The woman was calling after me, trying to stop me by saying that I have no right to disobey an adult and I'm acting like a crazy teen...and furthermore, the woman will be calling the police.

Good, call the police...I'm sure they'll want to clean up the mess left behind because no one listened to me.

I didn't even knock on the door, barging in on a parent-teacher conference with the principal playing mediator. All eyes landed on me and the man behind the desk rose from his seat informed me, "Excuse me, but we're in the middle of a conference," he pointed to the door I'd just come through and stated, "you'll need to wait or make an appointment."

"There won't be any more appointments if you don't listen to me," I hardly listened to anything he said, the parents gasping when they took an extremely hard look at me.

"A hunter," the woman exclaimed.

Their son giggled and clapped his hands together as he excitedly said, "Cool!"

"What are you doing here?" The man behind the desk questioned, readying himself to move from behind it and intimidate me.

The only thing that intimidated me was when my dad was incredibly angry...this man pales in comparison. Instead, I took a few steps forward and slammed my hands down on his desk, causing the man to fall back into his chair while his eyes grew wide with shock.

"There are a vampire and werewolf squabble heading in this direction," I began with and the parents stood from their seats and took their child into their arms. My eyes lifted from them and returned to the principal, "We need to evacuate the building before they get here and it won't be very long before they do so..." the parents left the room in a rush and I added once it was just the principal and me, "they've killed quite a few humans in their wake. We need to leave, now."

The principal nodded, touching the red button for the intercom system. He shakily announced, "Please head to the nearest exists, teachers will lead their students into the city," when he hesitated, I encouraged him to continue, "don't run, please remain calm."

It was the parents who had left that caused chaos to ensue by saying loudly to the office staff, "Vampires and werewolves!"

The ones who heard it down the hallway continued this chaos by having their students mad dash to the doors, screaming in complete terror. Due to the chaos, everything was blocked, people jamming themselves in the doorways while not caring for the children at all...they were more worried about their own lives than that of those who didn't have the strength to fight for themselves.

I could hear the fighting growing closer, eyeing the window behind the principal, and knowing the front door would be blocked. Bringing my arms in front of my forehead, I had dived through the window and rolled out onto the grass.

When I stood to my feet, I quickly looked out to the street and saw a wolf bite a vampire at the torso, blood spilling as he ripped him apart. Another vampire had taken advantage, sinking their fangs into the neck of a werewolf, and tossing him to the ground. Blood spilled, the smell of it reaching me as I walked slowly around to the front of the school.

When I glanced back at the main entrance, it was just as I thought it would be...completely jammed. Children were crying and screaming, tears running down their little cheeks. My eyes drifted away from the school and back to the threat moving forward. I exhaled slowly, taking my stance and my stand against them.

There were two exceedingly small blades that were exposed on the outsides of my thighs, sown into my pants, and as I breathed in slowly, I brought both of my palms down to my sides. The blades grazed my skin and cut it deeply when I pressed harder against it. I hardly winced as I'd come to know the feeling, drawing on my power as the blood trickled at my sides, gathering on the ground around me.

Learning how to mold and thin it out, keeping the strength while doing so, I suddenly brought my arms up and crossed them in front of my face. In front of me and all around me, a very thin and almost translucent wall formed around the school. The tinge redness of the blood was hard to see because of the thinness.

I growled lowly and yelled, "Stop!"

A few heard me, but none cared as they were too wrapped up in their own fight to care for anything else.

Fine then...

I swung both my arms outward and down, the walk I'd built up coming forward and away from the school. I focused on narrowing it down, readying to project it forward...I didn't want to kill anyone, so I hadn't morphed a lethal weapon. Just as they approached the fence, a werewolf throwing another vampire's body in my direction, I snapped my fingers, my dad saying I reminded me very much of my grandma, the barrier flew forward, knocking all those in its path to the ground.

The force left everyone in shock, disturbing them from their battle and one werewolf shifted back, breathing hard as he snarled, "What are you doing?"

"Saving children because your tunnel vision has blinded you," I stand strong, gathering the blood as it slithers on the ground, flecks encircling, and weaving down my right hand.

He took a step forward and I stated, "I'm not here to hurt anyone...but I won't let senseless killing take place and involve the lives of the innocent...take this elsewhere," I took a step forward to challenge him. The darkness in his eyes threw me off, this older man in his late thirties eyeing me suspiciously.

One of the wolves had shifted back as well, standing near this man as he asked, "Alpha Tristan? What would you have us do?"

"Don't hurt the humans," his voice held resentment toward me, only for the fact that I was the one who had to steer their focus back to what it is they care for as well.

I breathed out calmly when they took off, the wolf named Tristan glaring back at me with a hatred I'd never seen before.

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The True Born Huntress by K. A. Young.

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