The Hunter Version 1

“It wasn't too bad,” Ben assured them and William shot him a skeptical look.
“Hunters are scary, though! Sometimes they come to vacation in the city and I see them on the way to school.” Charlie protested.
“They come...here?” Ben asked, surprised.
“Don't worry, Ben, it's not often. Charlie's only actually seen them once, and they never come to the house.” William assured Ben.
Ben wanted to tell them he was not worried; he was hopeful. There was a chance he might meet Max again. However, he had the feeling they would not believe him, at least not until they heard the full story, so he fell silent. William took his silence as him being tired and ushered Charlie out of the room to allow Ben to get some rest. Ben instead got to his feet and began to pace back and forth. He wondered about Max, if Max would forgive him for not saying good bye, about his new life and if he would ever fit in, if he would ever regain his memories. He paused in his pacing to examine the painting. It sparked a memory in his mind, but he could not quite grasp it. There was something about it that made him want to look away, but he kept his eyes on it instead. Eventually he did turn away as there was a light knock on the door.
William returned, and with him, he brought food. A lot of food...too much. They made a little bit of small talk before William asked,
“Did you see anyone die?”
Ben frowned at his brother as he chewed on an orange slice. The question worried him slightly, but he swallowed the food in his mouth and answered anyway.
“No. Max was very careful about shielding us from that.” He replied.
“Who was Max? Who is 'us'?” William questioned.
“Toby and I, were were...sent to the island together, I guess. We lived together until the Guard came for us. Max was the hunter; he took care of us rather than torment us.” Ben said, not going too much into detail.
He was not sure about William's questions. While Charlie had been around, William had a different air about him, but now there was something Ben did not like. He could not quite put his finger on it, but something was off.
“He took care of you? I wonder why. I heard that the Hunter was never instructed to not kill you. And who exactly was this Toby? Where is he now? You said the Guard came for both of you? What was the Guard like?”
“I'll tell you about it later,” Ben smiled, feeling more and more uneasy.
“Alright. It's a promise, okay?” William beamed and got to his feet.
Ben kept the smile on his lips until he was sure William was not coming back. He swiftly went to the windows and pulled the heavy draped over them and blocked out all light coming into the room. He knew he could have turned on the lights to brighten things up, but he did not. Instead, he stared at the picture again. After a moment's thought, he climbed quietly up onto the desk and pushed it aside. There was a small hole in the wall behind the painting, and within it was a small book. Frowning, Ben pulled the book out and went to his bed with it, allowing the painting to swing back in place by itself. He shoved the book under his pillows and curled up on top of the bed to go to sleep.
Ben woke up later, over heated and desperately needing to use the bathroom. He swiftly went to relieve himself and decided to take a shower while he was in there. Once he was finished, he went to the wardrobe and examined the clothes inside. He found suits, silk shirts, jeans, dress pants, hats, scarves, coats; just about every different type of clothing within, all in black or other dark colors. He picked out a pair of black jeans that were loose on him, but he imagined they had fit perfectly before he had been taken to the island, and a simple black t-shirt. He discarded the clothes he had been wearing-jeans and a silver long sleeved shirt, on the floor and swiftly dressed.
Finished, he peeked out of the windows and found it was deep in the night. He thought about