Chapter 3: Guests

Avery wasn't as nervous as he thought he would be approaching the top of the stairs. If anything he was agitated. He was angry that he had to be there, the closer he got to the main floor the more angry he became. They were just steps away from the light still hidden in the shadows and they could hear their father still rambling on about them. Usually they liked hearing about how proud he was about them, what kid wouldn't like that, but still Avery was just agitated beyond belief.

"Why are you breathing so hard?" Roz asked tugging on his hand. Her voice broke him out of his angry reverie. Then it was all gone, as if it had never been there, as if it wasn't his anger to begin with. It was a relief if anything, he knew he had to check into these weird mood swings he kept going through. Finally their father motioned to them holding his arm out to the top of the stairs as some grand gesture. They both took a deep breath and stepped into the light. They moved in unison, but only because their mom made them practice several times before the party started. Avery spotted her in the back of the group motioning for them to smile. It felt unnatural to smile at a group of people where half of them hated you. He spotted Max and Kit whispering to each other and laughing. He made a point to smile directly at them, reminding them that at this point in time he was better than them. This hunt made Roz and him the top two in the deadly dozen, formerly number two and four. Max the former number one and Rei Maki being number three. Kit was somewhere around number eight. Avery intended to stay at the top with Roz and he made sure smile was a wordless way of telling them that they were going to have to fight him for it, or at least fight supernatural creatures to take the place away from him.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and gave their dad a hug before he turned to the guest and announced. "Roslyn and Avery Bishops, the next generation of hunters has arrived!" The crowd, well the parents mostly began to cheer and clap happily. Avery raised the hand holding Roz's and waved to them.

Roz waited until the crowd quieted down before she spoke. "Thank you so much, we are so glad you are here to celebrate with us." She turned to her brother smiling. She was doing exactly as their mother told them.

"We will do our best to uphold the legacy your generation has left for us," Avery began, he turned to Max and Kit who were still whispering to themselves. "Roslyn and I will gladly lead you all into the next era for hunters." He made sure to stress the word you. Max and Kit's whispering stopped and they glared daggers at him.

"I can't wait until the rest of you follow in our steps." Roslyn added holding her sight directly at them as well. The room fell into a silence, everyone knowing the Battaligna's old customs. The fact that Roz was at the number one spot now was an insult in itself to them. Avery lead Roz away from the stairs and towards the guests. They began thanking them individually and making small talk. They made sure that they spoke to all the parents first, mostly out of respect but also because they knew that when dinner would be served they would be separated and forced to sit with the rest of their contemporaries. Only half an hour had passed and the group had already divided. Their father had led the rest of the "men" into his study to talk about God knows what. Their mother pulled the women into her closet to show them her newest garments and jewelry. Roz and Avery had been left in the living room with the rest of the "kids". Only a few could actually be considered kids, Kit, and the Cruz twins since they were all nineteen. The rest of them were in their early twenties...very early twenties. Roz and Rei were the oldest at twenty four and twenty five respectively, the rest fell in between. Avery was at twenty-two, but to the adults they were all still kids.

"I love your necklace Avery." A quiet voice whispered from behind him. It was Florence. He had almost forgotten that she was there, he wasn't used to here being around since she was not a hunter.

"Thanks Flo," He motioned for her to sit next to him. Even though she was a Battaligna he had nothing against her. "What have you been up to? I haven't heard from you in years." She shrugged and walked around the sectional to join him.

"Not much really," she fidgeted with her skirt until it sat just right. She was a beautiful girl olive skin, caramel hair, and her family's signature gray eyes. As much as he hated to say this the Battalignas were a good looking group of people. They offset theirs looks with their horrible personalities. Except Florence. She had always been soft spoken from what he remembered but he figured that was because of the way her family treated her compared to her brothers. "I'm almost done with school." She added.

"Yeah?" Unlike the rest of the kids here she had gone to normal schools, she was in college now, she was twenty-one which meant she was probably in her senior year. "Interior design right?" She always had a way with decorating. Her smile faded and she shook her head.

"No," her finger began to play with the texture of her skirt. It was a hard color to distinguish, a coppery gold color with brown lowlights. It complimented her skin tone perfectly. "My father didn't approve of that." She looked away from him for a second. Avery hated seeing her so disheartened. He didn't know her too well but he knew that she deserved better than what he family had given her. "He made me switch to computer engineering." Her eyes looked up to his, he felt his heart skip a beat. "He said it would be more useful." Avery couldn't force himself to look away from her face, he had always thought she was a beautiful girl but how had it not make a difference to him before?

"I'm so sorry," He put his hand over hers, it was soft and small. How had he not noticed her before. Anxiety began to build inside him. He wasn't very good at talking to girls when he actually liked them. "You're a really good designer." He really had no idea what to say, he wanted to run and hide because he was sure his face was beginning to turn red. She put her other hand over his and squeezed it, a silent thank you. "Your family doesn't treat you the way you should be treated." Surprise scanned across her face. Avery was not sure if what he had said came across as good or bad to her. He had not meant to say it. She was still holding his hand so he figured it couldn't have been that bad. Regardless he still felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

"What are you ladies talking about over here?" Kit said approaching them, he had made sure to wait until the adults were out of the room before he said anything to either Avery or Roslyn. The whole room noticed and their eyes moved in the two boy's direction. Without their parents in the room there was no need to be cordial. They pretended until they were sick when their parents could see them. Flo pulled her hands from Avery's before her brothers noticed. It irked Avery, mostly because even if she did like him her parents would never allow it, not with him. "Are we trading recipes?" Kit said cocking his head to the side as if talking to a toddler.

"Kit, alway so charmingly primeval." Avery smiled making sure he sat up straight, he was not going to give the younger male anything to see as a weakness.

"Pretty necklace." Kit almost laughed. "Did you forget to take it off when you and your sissy were playing dress up this morning?"

"Thought I'd try something new," Avery leaned forward in challenge. he felt territorial, as if he had to defend not just himself but his home. "Not everybody's mother picked out our outfits for us." Roz tried to stifle a laugh only fueling the fire. “White shirt, black tux, how refreshing.”

"Since when do hunters wear such extravagant jewelry?" Kit asked looking around the room. "Nobody of royal blood would be so tacky." The room fell silent at his mention of Avery's adoption, as if it was something Avery wasn't aware of. Still Avery felt his blood begin to boil at the thought that people thought he was winning.

"Hunters adopting?" He said fake flabbergasted. "Next thing you'll know these common bloods and women will be ranked higher over the others." He looked at his older sister who was standing a few feet away. "Oh wait, I guess it already happened." All the girls aside from Flo smiled and whispered among themselves. Avery was not sure what was coming over him, usually any snarky remarks Kit made would roll right past him but now it felt like the younger hunter's anger and jealousy was feeding his anger. Kit opened his mouth to spit his next punchline but he was cut off by the sound of a crystal bell. Mrs. Bishops stood at the archway entrance into the dining hall.

"Children please freshen up, dinner will be served in five minutes." She smiled leaving the room. Kit glared at Avery again. Avery just smiled knowing how much it would piss him off, kill them with kindness, literally.

"Thank you for joining us to celebrate our achievements." He over pronounced the word our. His smile didn't fade. "In a second our staff will show you and the others where to freshen up." He nodded and made his way up the stairs, Roz followed him looking at her phone the whole time way into their shared bathroom. "Does he always have to be such an ass?" Avery asked turning on the faucet. He could feel his skin heating up. Roz just leaned on the edge of her half of the sink still looking at her phone she just grunted in agreement. He used a cold towel to cool myself off. "I mean why does every time we meet it has to turn into a fight?" He knew he was starting to raise his voice but he and his sister were the only two upstairs so it didn't matter. She still focused on her phone. "Also I think I might like Flo." He added closing his eyes and leaning against the nearest wall. Now that he said it out loud he wasn't sure if he did like her or not. It was weird when he was sitting next to her he was so sure there was something but now...eh. With all these recent mood swings he was having, it might just be one of those. Not that them being together would ever work anyways.

"Well I got something that will cheer you up!" She handed him her phone. It was an article on. Some newspaper app. It read Another disappearance in Arapaho National Park.

"Roz! What the hell?" He asked clearly she had forgotten the meaning of cheering up. "Why would a missing person report cheer me up?" He handed her phone back.

"Ok so maybe that was a bit vague," She said putting her phone away. He waited for her to elaborate. "But this is the sixth person in the last year. Nothing but their belongings found. All the people went there hiking or camping and disappeared. Some even in clear daylight." She watched him for a response. "It could be a supernatural thing, a hunt for us. Police have found nothing, I have been researching this the last few day but all they know is a general area of where they were." Her brother nodded waiting for more. "I hacked into their files and found picture of what seemed like bloody scratches on trees. Alway three always horizontal always on the side of the tree facing north."

"Something is marking its territory." Avery said asking for her phone back to look at the article. "But I don't know what creature marks its territory like that." The article had a video of a local news channel, he turned the volume up to watch it.

"Local police think it's a serial killer leaving his insignia like zorro or something." Roz said walking over next to him to watch the video.

"But the marking makes no sense it's almost hum....." He began. There was a knock on the door, He pressed the button to lock Roz's phone to stop the video.

"Avery?" It was Flo. "Everyone is waiting for you guys downstairs." He looked at Roz.

"It's gonna have to wait until after everyone leaves." He whispered heading to the door.

"That's fine I got one of dad's connection trying to find more info on it for me anyways." They opened the door and headed down to the dining hall with Flo.