Free Hunter's Curse by Ginna Moran

1. SAVE THE WORLD
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    HUNTER
     
    The monster bangs on the glass, baring its blunt, rotting teeth, and I stumble and hit my back on the wall. Through the window, it snarls and glowers, threatening my life with words I barely understand. I’ve never seen a supernatural creature, or what I like to call a super, like this before and it’s unnerving that it walked among the human population, vowing to kill and torment every human it could. Luckily for me, I don’t have to worry about running into this super on the streets. An agent from the Human Preservation Agency managed to tranquilize and bring this beast to the termination facility, where it won’t ever harm another person again.
    I straighten my shoulders and cross my arms. “What the heck is it?”
    My mom taps her pen to her lips before jotting something on her clipboard. “I’m not sure. His DNA is in the same family as trolls, but he’s three times the size and much more violent.”
    The monster hits the window again. “I’m going to kill you when I get out of here!”
    My mom saunters to the door and looks the super dead in the eyes. “That’s highly unlikely, Creature 1149. Your violence and unwillingness will only get you euthanized more quickly. We have everything we need from you unless you think you can convince me otherwise.”
    The monster’s face shifts and human-like teeth slide over his rotting ones. His jaw cracks while his skin ripples and smoothes, and within a few seconds, the super takes the form of a young, twenty-something man with dark hair and eyes. The only thing I can see that distinguishes him from a human is how his ears curl into a cone shape. The feature isn’t obvious enough for humans to realize he’s a monster.
    He peers through the glass at us. “And how do I do that?”
    “Start by telling me what you are,” my mom says.
    I grin when my mom does and watch as Creature 1149 considers answering. His bushy eyebrows knit together and his mouth twists to the side. He’s eerily normal now, and if I hadn’t seen him in his true form a few minutes ago, I’d have never guessed he wasn’t human.
    The super narrows his eyes. “If I tell you what I am, you’ll release me?”
    I shift on my feet and lean against the wall. “So you can kill more people?” I mutter.
    The creature swings his eyes to mine and he snarls. Fear washes over me and I take a step to the side, keeping my back against the wall, until he can’t see me. My mom turns her head to look at me, eyebrows raised, before turning back to the monster.
    She taps her pen on her clipboard. “What are you?” She doesn’t answer the super’s question, but persists with her own.
    “I’m not saying anything until you tell me if you’ll release me if I comply.” The super’s shoulders rise and fall as he sucks in deep breaths. His jaw cracks and he looks ready to transform again.
    My mom shrugs. “I guess you’ve made your decision.” My mom reaches into her coat pocket and tugs out her cell phone. She hits a number on speed dial and says, “You may remove Creature 1149. We’ve gotten all that we could from it.”
    The monster roars and beats his fists on the door. My mom turns on her heels and click-clacks down the corridor. I don’t move from my spot, but instead just observe how violent and vile this super is. After a few minutes, heavy footsteps echo out and two agents, dressed in all black with weaponry belts draped around their waists, stroll up next to me.
    Agent Chris punches my arm. “You staying to see the show, Hunter?” He grins as he yanks his tranquilizer gun from its holster. He straightens his back with his feet in line with his shoulders and holds the tranquilizer gun up with steady hands.
    I step a few more feet away. “If you’re cool with it.”
    His partner, Agent Janie, winks at me. She slides her knife from its sheath and holds it in her left hand before touching her hand to the door to enter her pass code.