Crimson (Book One)

It’s the next morning after our mission; yesterday, the truck had picked our group up swiftly, driving us to headquarters. A member of the human intelligence team had joined our trip to help with the scared and confused humans we had saved, we needed to keep them quiet when placed back into their homes, so they were sworn into secrecy and would be regularly checked by a member of our human friends high in authoritive positions.
On arrival we were greeted by a medical team along with Felix and Sandra, while Tony was taken away straight away to be healed. We were quickly looked over by the medical team, our wounds stitched and cleaned to heal.
Felix had clapped me hard on the back as he welcomed us back while Sandra hugged us individually.
“I’m glad you’re all okay, well... you’re alive at least, you all did great, get some rest, go home and tomorrow come fresh and you will give a debrief to the Master then” Sandra had said.
We did as she said, Taylor, Dakota, Jett and I all heading to the Cazador home, now also their home too. Mother and father were being debriefed today as they were less tired and worn, so they would come later.
We ate, drank and then all went to our bedrooms, saying a sweet goodnight to each other before entering our rooms and falling asleep.

In the morning we were all awoken by my mothers’ cooking aromas drifting up the stairs, Jett was first to race down the stairs like a little boy on Christmas day, while Dakota, Taylor and I followed groggily behind.
“Good morning my lovely’s” my mothers’ sweet voice sang through the kitchen.
“Morning mum” I say walking up to her, planting a small peck on her cheek, before sitting up at the counter with the others.
Throughout breakfast there was on-going chat going through the house, yesterday’s mission being on our minds.
After breakfast we headed off to the Master’s office for debrief. When we arrive nearly all of the group were there already, all except Blake and Tony.
“Where’s Blake?” Dakota asks
“Getting Tony from the med centre” Alex replies just as the doors re-open and Blake and Tony walk through the door. Tony looks slightly worn but he walks with strength.
“Ah, here we go, take a seat and we shall start this debrief” the Master says as we take our seats.

We recalled what had happened throughout our mission, telling every detail we could remember between us, every detail was written down and stored in a database.
“Well, it seems you guys did extremely well in your first real mission, if I’m correct there were over thirty creatures in that area, we had sent a team to clean up and when they found out that you guys were the ones that defeated them they were surprised and excited that we had produced such a talented young group. I’m very proud of this work” The Master said proudly.
Over thirty! We had gone thinking there were only about 12, now he’s telling us that we were able to take down thirty of them, with a slight bit of help from my parents but that’s still quite unbelievable!
We were praised more and then dismissed; we had a free day to do as we wished. My mother and father had business to attend to so they left us to our wares.

“So, what are we going to do? What is there to do around here?” Taylor asks.
Instantly Alex, Tony and I look at each other, thinking of the same place.
“The lakes” we say in unison.
The lakes were where we always go when we had a free day; by the lake was a great picnic area, with seating, which we would always sit and have a great picnic together. We would go there and just have fun, splashing each other with the water of the lake, swimming and playing silly games, having fun as we didn’t know what could happen at any point in time, for all we knew, it could be our last.
The lakes were the most beautiful part of the area, when the sun rose and set it would hit the lake between two hills, giving the most beautiful scene in the world. Sometimes we would camp out just to see the sun rise and set onto the lake.
As we set off for the lakes Alex and Dakota went to the kitchen to ask for a picnic for us all.
The lake is a few miles north of the ‘barn’ and we get there quickly, only to look upon it as it gleams with natural beauty.
“Wow, this is beautiful” Taylor sighs happily as we start to walk to the picnic area.

“Hey Jett race you to the edge of the lake!” Blake says pushing Jett to the side.
“That’s cheating!” he says as he races of after him. We all chuckle at them and settle down on the soft green grass. Blake and Jett are still by the lake when Alex and Dakota arrive with the picnic, two baskets in hand, big smiles on their faces. Shouts and laughs can be heard from the two boys by the lake as they splash each other having the time of their lives.
I lay on the soft grass, looking up at the bright white fluffy looking clouds as someone lies next to me. I look beside me and there lays Tony, also looking up.
“Tony” I say
“What?”
“Do you think it will always be like this?” I reply.
“Like what?” he says confused.
“Happy, fun, we go out on a mission, come back and everything is back to normal, will it always be like this?” I question. He thinks, taking me in a hug.
“I think life is what we make it, if we want a time to be happy we have to make it, otherwise it’s up to fate, better we choose our fate and not someone else. So, no I don’t think it will be like this all the time but we have to cherish the moments that are” he says planting a sweet kiss on my head.
“Spoken like a true gent” Alex sighs. We all go quiet, thinking of how our lives could end up.

“I think now would be a good time to show those two what real men are, don’t you Tony?” Alex says with an evil glint.
“Oh yes I do” Tony says as they both run off leaving the girls and I to ourselves.
“He likes you Charlotte” Dakota says sidling up to me.
“Of course he likes me, he’s practically my brother, like all of them are” I reply
“No he really likes you, more than a brother or friend” she says
“I think so too Charlotte” Taylor says. I look at them to see if they are joking, they’re not.
“What do I do?” I ask
“Do you like him too?” Taylor asks simply
“I don’t know, I think I do” I say unsure of my emotions
“Then go get him, grab him and tell him how you feel, you know as well as I do that he loves you, so go!” Aala says pushing me. I start walking, looking back scared to do what I’m about to do, is it the right thing? Will it work with me and him? What if it went wrong, would it affect everyone? All those were questions in my mind until they were bumped from my head, literally. Both Blake and Jett had decided to tackle me, pinning me down, Jett holding my arms and Blake on my waist, both laughing.
“Got her!” Jett laughs shouting at Tony. Tony and Alex both saunter up to me with evil looks on their faces.
“Well, look what we have here boys, Charlottes come down for a dip” Alex says.
“Don’t you dare Alex” I say giving my best evil look
“And what are you going to do about it, it’s four against one, good luck with that” he chuckles as both him and Tony with the help of Blake and Jett pick me up heading to the lake.
“Girls! Help me!” I shout half laughing and half screaming. All I hear are their giggles from the picnic area, safe from harm. Some help they are.
We get to the edge of the lake, as they begin to swing me back and forth before throwing me into the lake with a big splash. I decide to trick them, holding my breath for longer than usual and staying under the water, the boys begin to worry, looking for me to come up from the water.
“Tony, where’d she go?” Jett asks worryingly
“I don’t know, she should have come up by now” he says coming into the water. Just a little further and I could get him.
He walks far enough for me to grab him by the ankle, dragging him down, plunging him into the lake and I come back up with a big sigh of breath.
Alex, Blake and Jett all stand there laughing like a bunch of hyenas, as Tony rises up in front of me.
“That was not funny Charlotte” He says splashing my face as I giggle.
“Gets you back for throwing me in doesn’t it” I say as I begin to swim towards the edge of the lake, where the rest of the boys had left to go join the girls.
“Oh no you don’t” Tony said as he dragged me back by my waist until I was flush against his body, his arms wrapped around me and he buried his face into my neck. My eyes closed at the feel of his body around mine, electric shocks and butterflies course my body, giving me feelings that I had never felt so strongly before.
I turned slowly in his embrace so we faced each other, looking into each other’s eyes, our face lips drawing closer together, inch by inch.
That was until Taylor decided to do a long wolf whistle at our developing scene, as all our friends turned to watch, Tony and I chuckled at them as we turned to each other once more.
Our lips grew nearer once again and this time we finished the distance as our lips touched in gentle embrace, smiling into the kiss.
“You’re shivering” Tony said as we slowly stopped kissing. He was right I was shaking from the chill of the lake.
“I’m fine Tony” I lied as I kissed him again, but he pulled away.
“No, come on Charlotte, lets’ get you out of the lake and dried off” he said as he lifted me into his arms walking out of the cold lake.
“Thank you Tony” I smiled as he settled me onto the short green grass and wrapped a large red towel around us both.
“I’m glad you’re all healed after the mission Tony, I don’t know what I would have done without you” I said as I snuggled into his arms
“You would have survived Charlotte it is what we were born to do, to survive. But I’m glad too as I got to do this” Tony once again kissed me, this time with a lot more passion as his hands slowly crept up my arms, past my shoulders and into my hair.
“Wow” I murmured into his lips as our foreheads touched, panting from the loss of breath.
“Charlotte, you mean the world to me, ever since we were kids I’ve loved you but I’ve never been able to tell you, but today... when I nearly died it made me realise just how much you mean to me, Charlotte Cazador will you be my girlfriend?” Tony said as I cried out in delight kissing him passionately.
“I’ll take that as a yes” he chuckled as I nodded and our faces grew massive grins. We kissed once again before choosing to join the others on the blankets, changing our clothes and sitting embraced in each other.
“You two really should turn the heat down a bit when you’re thinking of doing that in front of us again, there’s kids here you know” Alex says cheekily as I notice his and Dakota’s hands are also enveloped.
“I’m twelve, not six Alex” Jett groans.
Tony and I get changed into the extra clothes Dakota had thought to bring with them, then joining the rest of the group to eat our grand picnic.
The feeling of content surrounded the group as we enjoyed our time together, watching as the sun began to set.
Together with Tony as the sun set we held each other in total bliss as he gives me a sweet longing kiss.

“How did the hunter race really begin?” Jett asked
“No one is really sure of how we really came to be. There are many legends of our races beginnings, the one I believe to be the most likely and most proven is that of natural selection. Our race started off as mere humans fighting a battle of good and evil, this made us adapt to our surroundings. We became strong, fit and had better agility, this began to pass through our genetics” Alex explained
“So why haven’t anymore humans gone through natural selection?” Aala asked
“The government stopped humans from knowing about supernatural creatures, any knowledge of them is merely passed as a myth or story” I said
“Not just the government, the royal families knew too” Alex said
“So your saying the royal families know about supernatural’s and are keeping it from every human imaginable?” Jett said
“Yes, can you imagine what would happen if they knew?” Alex replied
“World panic” Dakota mumbled
“Yes, humans would go into world-wide panic and I doubt they would think nicely of us either, even if we are bred through natural selection we are still a kind of supernatural, even if we are here in order to protect them” Alex stated
“But surely if they knew they would adapt into hunters too” Jett said
“You would think that... but unfortunately humans have lost the ability to truly adapt into hunters, no one knows why” Alex replied
Everyone went quiet in serious thought looking out onto the shining lake.
“What about the humans that get taken into the clutches of creatures? What happens to them when they are saved?” Jett asked breaking the silence.
“They are given a drug” I told him. He looked confused.
“A drug? What sort of drug?”
“Many years ago the royal families and hunters used to have to give so much money to those taken to keep them quiet and kill any that would try to tell others about them, this was too cruel and made us no better than the beasts that slink in the shadows. So slowly but surely a drug was made. The drug made them forget. Unfortunately in the beginning it wiped every single memory, but as years went on science improved, so now the drug wipes only a year of memory, depending on how long they have been in the clutches of the creatures. They are then sent to sleep and placed near their homes for the police to ‘find them’” Alex explained
“So the police know of us too?” Aala asked
“Not exactly” Tony said
“What do you mean?” Aala asked
“The only people that know within the police are the big guys, the chiefs. They have the power to get their guys to do things, no questions and no investigations asked” I told her
“Oh” She said quietly
“Wow that must be horrible to lose your memory” Jett said
“Would you rather that or remember all the harsh and scary things done to you by the creatures” Tony replied/
“Good point” Aala whispered

“How did vampires, werewolves and shape-shifters happen then?” Jett frowned
“It’s still unknown; yet again there are many theories but never anything solid. Some say genetics, some say aliens...”Alex began being interrupted.
“Aliens!?” Jett laughed
“I never said the theories were great. But in my opinion I think that they are just evil blood beasts on this planet there has to be good and evil to be a sense of equality in the world” Alex said and I nodded in agreement
Everything good had to be shown as good and the only way to do that would be to have the evil side too,
“Bloody hell” Jett said making us laugh at him.
The rest of the night went quickly and soon it was time to head home, the moon high in the sky and the bright stars twinkling great in the dark night sky.
Soon Tony left me for his home as did Alex, Blake and Aala, Tony leaving me with a sweet gentle kiss on my cheek.

We talked and laughed on our way home, joking around about the day gone by.
“Tony and Charlotte sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G, First comes...” Jett begins to sing
“Shut up” I say blushing
“Okay... Dakota and Alex sitting...” he begins
“JETT!” Dakota shoves him but he does not stop.
“in a tree K.I.S.S.I.N.G, First comes...” I cut him off again, hearing a rustling noise from behind the tree.
“Jett, really shut up, did you hear that?” I say covering his mouth to keep him quiet, raising my finger to my lips, lifting my hand off my mouth to gather my knife from within my boot.
I signal for Dakota and Jett to stay put while Taylor and I scout the tree, creeping around it.
As we round the corner so does a man, he’s a handsome man, black hair and strong facial features.
“Move out from behind there” I tell him, he moves slowly out from behind the tree.
“I mean no harm young hunter” he says with a callous voice
“Who are you? What are you?” Taylor asks quickly, pointing her knife towards him
“My name is Corbin; I am a shape shifter and I am just looking around the area, like I said I mean you no harm” he said raising his hands
“Just looking around the area? Sounds like a scout to me” I state, just as I say this, my parents walk up to us, looking confused at the scene.
“What is going on here?” My father asks
“We found him hiding by that tree over there, he says he’s looking around the area” Jett tells him
“Lower your knives girls, he’s here with the Shifters leader, Christian Tick, I am so sorry Corbin, just a misunderstanding on their part” he says
“Don’t worry, next time I shall be cautious and try not to frighten little girls with knives, goodnight” he chuckles and walks off.
“Ohhh, if I could get away with it I’d go tear his head off! I’m not little girl!” Taylor says angrily
“Same, but we can’t just let it go Taylor we probably won’t ever see him again” I say as we arrive at the house.
“You’re right, good night guys” she says walking to her room.
“Us too, good night kids” my mother says
“To bed we go!” Jett says excitedly, Dakota and I laugh and follow him upstairs, saying goodnight as we depart to our beds, falling into dream filled sleep.