Chapter 78

78 Chapter Seventy Eight

The battle had raged only began and Sandra, who had not been hit yet, felt like they’d been fighting forever. Samantha had stationed two of the junior hunters on both sides of the field so that the shied was rendered useless. That left two of them at the base which meant moving the shield to a different position during their formation was not a smart choice as it would open them to three lines of fire instead of the two they were currently under.

Lawson had told them the plan once they were cornered in this kind of situation. Having confirmed that none of the players on the field was the leader, they were to wait for Samantha to make her move, a decision that was fatal in judgement, by they took it due to lack of any other options. Once Samantha had made her move, Lawson swung the shield to the side flank that she was trying to access, blocking off two lines of fire at once. It all came down to the last call they had to make.

“Jason, go for their leader now... they left him in the base. I’ll hold off Samantha, but my best guess is that we have thirty seconds before this window of opportunity closes. Make haste, you don’t have much time,” this might have not been war, but it pained Jason to leave Sandra behind in pursuit of the leader that was the key to their victory.

Shaemus immediately covered Sandra and opened fire in the direction that had been left open, shielding Sandra in the process. Thanks to the time he’d spent working for Henry he’d become quite the marksman and finally got a chance to blind the junior hunter on that side of the field. He continued his rapid-fire at the spot he was hiding to delay the boy’s recovery.

For the moment, everything was looking good, until Lawson hooked one hand around Sandra and spun the shield in the other, following the hunter that was trying to get around them and shielding Sandra from the junior hunter on the right side.

Sandra and Shaemus immediately picked up on his intentions and lined themselves along the field, leaving Sandra open only to the enemy base where the leader was meant to be preoccupied and their base, a position now blocked by the shield, “That’s some unique strategy you came up with. I’ve never seen anything like it. Using yourselves as human shields. I’m jealous, Sandra,” Samantha joked running to the side Shaemus was on.

“Shaemus switch positions with me...” there was no need for more words as Shaemus was not new to orders given by someone who already had a plan in mind. Switching quickly and having blinded the player on the other side, it was possible for Lawson to swing the shield about and continue their evasion of the female hunter. “Jason, hurry, we can’t keep this up for much longer.” Sandra used the chances she got to score hits on the other players given she had excellent aim with a gun, but watching the battle that was taking place was seeming to be more interesting than taking action.

The scoreboard all of a sudden began to shoot up on the side of the red team... Jason had found the leader of the other team. No one, but Samantha noticed the smirk on Jeremiah’s face when he noticed they were about to win. Out of a desperate attempt to win, the female hunter ran at the shield and stepped on it using it to shoot upward in an attempt to get a visual on Sandra. Once Sandra was in view, the finger didn’t stop pushing the trigger. She managed to score three hits on the girl’s head and back before the shield blocked her view once more. The bell that signalled the end of the game sounded. The red team had won the match. Jason had finished the job and Sandra was still in shock that they’d beaten Sandra.

“Ah, damn it... You won by a hair,” she spat, frustrated.

.....

“We still won, didn’t we?” Lawson asked placing down the contraption of wood that he’d vandalized.

“That you did... I don’t think Henry will be happy about that though,” Samantha replied. The junior hunters came to group up with them. This battle only succeeded because there was one hunter on their team who could make up for Samantha’s speed with strength.

“I would have complained about you vandalizing the base of the red team, but that was one hell of a match to watch. It was totally worth the vandalism,” Henry laughed boisterously coming into the site from the entrance, “If you don’t mind, the next teams want to play. That was the most interesting match I’ve watched in a very long time. Hunters never seize to impress,” the man continued to muse.

Jason came jogging up to them to Sandra’s side, matching her steps and walking up to her so they walked at the same pace. He was covered in pain, just like Shaemus. Lawson, on the other hand, wasn’t as dirty as he ought to have been given that strategy he gave. If Jason hadn’t enjoyed himself, he would have found himself accusing the man of coming up with the plan intentionally to get him dirty. However, he was not feeling so bad about it. “You guys are quite close, aren’t you?” Lawson asked after noticing the obvious signs.

“You could say that,” Sandra answered while she handed the equipment back to the bulky man.

Jeremiah removed his safety helmet a tad bit too fast and watched as the mask that obscured his face fell to the ground. Sandra froze at the sight in front of her. It was someone she knew... no, it was someone Katie knew. “What are you doing here?” she asked Lawson, a mixture of emotions welling up inside her. Jason was as confused as he could ever be when he saw this reaction. He pulled Sandra back defensively, a reflex that werewolves always had when they were protecting their own. Since Jason had no knowledge of the man before them, there was nothing else he could do in the situation.

Sandra placed her hand on the paint-covered shoulder of the sweet male in front of her. She would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy the way he was always ready to protect her. Even during the game, these protective instincts had taken over him and he’d covered her when Samantha first attacked them. She couldn’t hide behind him for too long, “Jason, it’s fine. This is just old acquaintance and besides, he’s a hunter.”

“What does it mean for him to be a hunter?” Jason asked.

“Well, for starters, a hunter is by virtue bound to their fellow hunters with a bond that cannot be broken. It’s not similar to that of werewolves, but a hunter can never be found to be a threat to another,” she said.

“What if one doesn’t know that the other is a hunter? Can the hunter then kill the other hunter?” Jason asked.

“Smart question... I asked it a while back and turns out, the concept is a bit more complex. A hunter is only allowed to attack werewolves and not humans. Until it is discovered that the target is a werewolf, a hunter does not have the liberty to attack them,” Lawson spoke up to his defence.

“Was that a threat?” Jason asked, his red eyes flashing brighter.

“Just a mere point of information... I don’t see any need for hostility here,” Lawson said, raising his hands up in surrender.

“Slow your roll, youngsters,” someone interrupted, “Lawson here is a VIP. I don’t know what he’s doing here this early, but he’s to be treated with the utmost respect.”

Sandra had a gut feeling that wouldn’t go away. The only reason she did not see something wrong with Lawson was the fact that Katie also had no reason to have doubts about him. He was a hunter that she knew. “Do I have your name wrong or something?” she asked the man.

“No, you don’t. Lawson is my family name and the one that I would like to be called for clandestine reasons,” he said.

“That’s such a pain... You come this early to see one person, no doubt and stop by here without even going straight to see her...” Sandra started ranting.

“Who says I haven’t seen her yet?” he winked. Samantha pulled her phone from her pocket, her eyes widening as she took in the context of the message she’d just received.

“It’s time for the luncheon with the VIPs. Sandra go get ready, quick... Lawson, hurry up and get back to whatever ‘clandestine’ hideout you are using and find a way back into the group that you came with,” Samantha barked the orders, dragging Sandra off in another direction. Just like that Jason was left alone with Shaemus, colourful and single once again. He turned to his rainbow-coloured neighbour.

“You know a place we can wash up?” he asked.

“Well, I know somewhere you can wash up your face, hands and hair, but the paint is meant to stay as a mark that you’ve been here. If it bothers you that much, you have the liberty of returning to your home for a change of clothes,” he informed him.

“Will it bother you if I ask why you did it? The riot when we’d just come to the school,” Jason asked, going straight to the point, “If I wasn’t any wiser, I would have said you intentionally led all those people there to have them killed.”

“That is true... I did lead them all there, but I did my best to notify Katie as well. I was glad she got my message as I passed out,” he said.

“You told Katie... I didn’t know that bit of information. And I was there the whole time,” Jason said.

“Well, I did tell Katie. It wasn’t through the use of words, but I was sure she could have told that something was amiss when I wouldn’t give up attacking her...”

“Then why did you do it?” Jason asked.

“Because they had my mother... In fact, they still do,” he said. Jason froze at the statement. Sandra’s determination in the bond hunters shared was not that misdirected and neither was her trust in the director. Wait, the director...

“Didn’t Sandra say the Director was your father? Does that mean...”

“Yes, the Director’s wife was captured by rogues and they were using her to blackmail me into having a large crowd of people killed...”