Episode 2: A Bite, a Death, and New Friends: Part 4

Quill is not that great at hugging...shocker, I know.

Quill stuck his hands into his pockets, not noticing the weight of the golden bracelet around his right wrist. He had worn the dull golden Halo for so long now that he couldn't recall what it was like to have it removed. He had only been on this job for a year, but had been in the life for seven years. He was thirteen when the Holy Man knocked on his mother's door and took Quill away to be in the war.

He still checked in on his mother, who lived in the town of the Twelve. His father had died when Quill was seven in a bar fight. His mother told him he was drunk, but later, Quill found out the truth. His father was like him; they shared the same mission in life, and he died without seeing the monster come up behind them. The beast shot him in the back before running out of the bar.

His mother never told him the truth because she didn't want Quill to follow in his father's footsteps, but God had a different plan. After all, it took a special kind of blood to carry out this holy mission. The person had to have the right heritage to wield the angels' power in the endless fight between good and evil. Women could use the magic, but it was rare and didn't often happen except for the two sisters Quill grew up training to be Hunters. Poor Dolly. I hope Eve is okay.

Quill didn't mind. It was hard work, and he wasn't sure he liked the idea of having women in the front of this fight after seeing what happened to Dolly. But he didn't make the orders; he only followed them. He was here at this college, working a second job as a campus police officer under his master's orders.

There was something big going on here. Something the Powers That Be wanted him to handle alone. This was his first mission alone, but he knew they were watching; he was happy they trusted him. He did everything he could to become the best soldier in this war.

He kept a close eye on his food. No sweets were the worst.

He worked out, learned to kill, and studied all the history books on war to become perfect. He not only learned theory like you did here, but I put it into practice which was the whole point.

The kids his age stared at him, almost looked down on him, and Quill thought about letting the Night eat them. They had no idea what he was doing to save their judgment lives, but then again, it was his calling, and he had to keep them safe.

Once he saw the Duval girl walk on campus, he knew he was in the right place. He had to keep an eye on her. He didn't like the Duvals. They didn't pick sides in the Great War. They worked for whoever, but in the end, they didn't get picked. They stepped back and watched.

They were cowards and fence-sitters in Quill's mind, and their Dead Magic was a disease on the world. He wanted to get rid of the whole lot of them, burn their Empire to the ground, and salt the land afterward. He had no idea why they allowed them to live.

He shook his head at the thoughts glancing ahead on the path between the woods. He walked this path most of the night. It is where most people get hurt, mostly getting mugged and nothing more. Some of the kids on campus had started calling it the Rape Walkway, and the stories of rapes happening in the woods were simply stories.

But Quill did kill the bloodsucker in these woods the other night. The one who got Tony McCall and May.

He stopped noticing a signal person walking towards him: a short girl with colorful hair over her face, her bright clothes standing out in the night. He knew her; she was the odd girl with the Duval. He had seen them talking. She was the one standing outside the party, talking to the guy who was throwing it. There was never a need to bust up the parties during the first weeks of school or at any time, as long as things didn't get out of hand.

"Ma'am," Quill said flatly, trying to hide the annoyance of her walking alone, but she didn't look up at him. She was only a few feet in front of him, and he saw her hair filled with leaves. He could hear the tears falling from her face, but couldn't see them.

"What happened?" he said, dashing forward. She looked up at him, weakly smiling and dropping her head right into his chest. He didn't move or make a sound as she cried. "What is wrong?"

"A lot, I'm weird, and this night sucks," Oliver said. "All I need is for you to hug me."

Quill pulled her back from him, staring hard with his snowy-gray eyes, and asked, "Are you hurt?" He couldn't tell in the dark.

"This is not a hug," Oliver pointed out. "I don't think I'm hurt, but I did see a dead body in the woods missing its bones, and some dude with fangs tried to eat me."

Vampire? But he couldn't utter the word. The Sons of the Sun, along with the Children of the Night, tried their best to keep the war out of the public eye. No one knew the truth; the world had never been ready for the truth. There was more evil, true evil, than any of them knew.

"Did it bite you?" Quill asked.

Oliver shook her head, "No, I rainbow his face off."

This girl is so weird.

"Take me to the body, can you?" Quill asked.

"Uh, sure," Oliver said, spinning on her heels, "but it is like super nasty." He didn't know why there were so many bloodsuckers in this town, but something was pulling them here, and he was going to stop it. "I still need that hug, by the way."