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Shadowdarke--- Hunters: Quarry Cornered

by J.Darksong


        I sighed deeply, glancing out the window of my apartment... or as they locals
called it, a 'flat', waiting anxiously for the weather to clear. The rain had lasted 
for the past three days, and I felt as waterlogged as the people walking outside
my window, even though I had been holed up in my room even before the first downpour.
Glancing up from the dreary landscape, I turned to a sight much more exciting and
invigorating, at least in my eyes. He slept soundly, the gentle patter of the rain
no doubt helping him relax somewhat. A part of me wanted desperately to crawl into
bed with him, to clutch him close to me, and feel his warm hot flesh close to my own.
But alas, he had set me a task to perform first, and I was not about to disobey.
        My Master was a very exacting taskmaster.
        So, I turned back towards the window, staring straight ahead, letting all the
moving shapes dancing before my eyes float by, my eyes glazing slightly, my mind opening
itself completely as I sought out the woman that we had traveled so far seeking. It was
dangerous, leaving my mind so completely open, so attuned to the slightest hint of
psychic power. Once, it would have been akin to suicide. But, my Master told me, since
the disappearance of someone he called the Salamander, Europe had become a much safer
place to visit. I could only gather that my Master meant that it was safe for me to
use my powers here without attracting any undo attention. At any rate, he was attuned 
to my mind, and would come awake instantly to any aggressive attack on me.
        My Master was a very careful, very cautious man.
        The moments drifted away, and I scanned and scanned and scanned the aether, from
the white cliffs of Dover, to the famous University of Cambridge, skirting Portsmouth,
to Stonehenge, and along the town of Bath. By the time I completed my circular scan at
the city of Birmingham, it was late evening, and my entire being felt empty and drained.
Blinking my eyes to restore my sight, I glanced around the darkened room, at my Master's
bed to find... he was gone!
        My Master was a very SECRETIVE man.
        I was a bit taken aback, at first. I mean, how could he have vanished like that,
exiting the room without me at least sensing his passage? Then, of course, I remembered.
"Well, DUH," I said aloud. "He doesn't call himself ShadowDarke for nothing." I had
no idea how he did it. It was a trick I had yet to learn, assuming it was something
I could learn, and something my enigmatic Master would deign to teach me. Still, it
amazed me that he could simply wrap himself in shadows and disappear from sight, 
popping up elsewhere as if by magic. I had learned, with much practice, to simulate 
the effect in a crowd, by clouding people's minds, making them think I had simply
disappeared into thin air. Unfortunately, gifted people could still sense me, if not
see me exactly. Mr. Darke, on the other hand, could completely vanish, without a sound
or anything. I tried scanning him, and even though he was Tagged, I couldn't find 
him while he was cloaked. It was annoying, sometimes. As a matter of habit, I tried
scanning for him now, even though I knew it would be utterly---
        THERE! He's there! In the middle of town, heading towards the children's hospital.
Getting up from my bed, I quickly put on warm clothes, and rain gear, and sprinted out
into the darkening sky. For several days now, I had awoken to find my Master gone, 
departed in the middle of the night, on walks. Once, I questioned him about this, and
he merely replied that he had gone out for a breath of fresh air. I persisted, but
he deflected my questions, changing the subject, or, if I was particularly stubborn,
stroking my naked mons until all thoughts of anything but pleasure. I knew it useless
to expect an answer from him, but as I made my way through the wet and rainy streets 
of London, I found myself growing excited to think I might find the answers I sought 
by myself.
        My Master had something to hide.
        I hailed a taxi, and thanks to the bad weather and time of night, I was actually
able to catch one. I instructed him to follow Mr. Darke in the taxi ahead, and we
left Hanover Square on a trip around the city. I was a bit surprised when he stopped 
at the hospital on Crown Lane a while later, but I instructed my driver simply to
wait there. I followed Master into the building, wondering what on earth he was 
doing in such a strange place in the middle of the night. 
        My Master was piquing my curiosity.
        Moving silently along the hallways, I lost sight of him for a moment or two, but
my Gift led me to his final location. I found him kneeling beside the bed of a young 
child, a young girl with long brown hair and green eyes. It would have been a heart
warming sight, had the girl not been very sick. Master spoke a few words to her, 
and she nodded and closed her eyes, and then he placed a hand to her chest. I watched,
fascinated, as he used his Gift to heal the girl, sending his strength and life
essence into her frail weakened body. After a moment or two, he removed his chest, 
and stood up again.
        "You can come inside the room now, Janice," he said without glancing up at me.
"We can talk if you like, but be quiet. The children need their rest." Sighing, I
walked inside, as he pulled me over to a quiet corner away from the beds. "Go ahead
and ask," he said wearily, rubbing his temples. "The question is all over your face,
and I know you are dying of curiosity. Since you went through all this trouble to 
follow me, I will answer your questions."
        "Why?" I blurted out. "Why did you leave in the middle of the night, alone, without
me, to come here and heal some little girl? Is she someone special to you?" I glanced
at the young girl, who had fallen asleep. Already, she looked much better, and her
color had returned somewhat. 
        Jonothan Darke turned to the window, glancing out at the stars, beginning to shine.
"Its not a choice with me," he said slowly. "Its a part of who and what I am. I'm a
Healer. That means I have a great and wondrous power, but with it, comes certain
restrictions and responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is that I am bound,
against my will, to help those who need me. That young girl... she was dying of a very
nasty form of bone cancer. According to her charts, chemo and radiation treatments 
were not working. She had zero chance of recovering. So, in a way, her soul was 
calling out to me, begging to be Healed." 
        He turned, gazing into my eyes. "It was almost an audible sound, her voice crying 
out softly in the back of my head, leading me here. In this place, all these voices cry 
out to me, to some degree, but none louder than hers. I couldn't ignore it, like a tiny
itch in the center of my mind, begging to be scratched." He shook his head. "I'm not
making any sense to you. Its something only another Healer would understand. Let's
just say that I NEEDED to Heal her as a way of Healing myself."
        "But," I said, gesturing to the other sleeping wards in the room. "What about all
the rest? This is the Home for the Incurable? All of the patients here could use your
Healing? Why stop with just one girl? Why not cure them all?"
        He laughed softly, and I think, bitterly. "Yes, that seems like the easy choice,
doesn't it? But think on how it would look if a strange man suddenly showed up in the
middle of the night, laying hands on people and Healing them all, completely? What
would the doctors say in the morning? How could they explain it? And why stop there,
why not go from hospital to hospital, Healing ALL the sick and injured, restoring them
all to perfect health? Believe it or not, that is pretty much my whole purpose of
being. My reason for existing. In essence, I'm nothing more than a tool... but a very
dangerous one. What do you think would happen if the general public knew about me, 
about what I could do?"
        In my mind's eye, I could envision it already. He would be hailed as everything 
from an alien invader, to a mutant freak of nature, to the anti-Christ. Private citizens
would flock to him for their needs, from everything to a stumped toe, to a cure for
STDs. Private companies, some like my former job, would seek to recruit him for their
sole benefit. Governments would seek to learn the secret of his powers and want to 
experiment on him, dissect him, or perhaps kill him outright, just to keep the 'other
side' from getting him.
        "I cannot even comprehend all the possible ways the general population would
react, " he continued. "But I know for certain what the other Ancients would do if 
my identity was exposed publicly. I would be hunted down by the lot of them and 
taken down in... what is that American phrase? Oh yes... 'Executed with extreme 
prejudice'."
        "So you play God," I said, not condemning him, just trying to understand him.
"You pretty much pick and choose your targets, deciding who lives and who dies." He 
looked at me for a moment, a pained expression on his face. Then as always, the impassive
mask slid back into place.
        "You could call it that, yes," he replied. "Even if I had nothing to fear, no
reason to hide, I couldn't be everywhere at once. I couldn't cure EVERYONE in this 
world all by myself. So, yes, I pick and choose. It is better than the alternative."
        "You there! What the bloody hell are you doing in this room!"
        I gasped, turning around as the lights flipped on. Two nurses and a doctor were
standing in the doorway. "Visiting hours were over at seven. I don't know how on earth
you managed to slip past the night watch, but I'll have to ask you to leave immediately."
        "Yes, yes, of course," I stammered, thinking fast. "Sorry. I must have just lost 
track of time. Let's go, dear," I said to my Master, holding out my arm. Unfortunately,
he merely walked around the room to another bed.
        My Master, it appeared, had other ideas.
        "You there! Sir!" the doctor said loudly, stepping into the room. "I must ask you 
to step away from those children! Sir, are you listening to me?"
        "Not really," he replied softly, walking towards a small ten-year-old boy. "I was
listening to him, to his pain, crying out to me to help him. Everything else can wait for
a while."
        I think all of us were a bit shocked at his words. One of the nurses left to go 
call security. The other nurse made as if to try and restrain him, so I reached out with
my mind and clutched her open mind, rooting her into place. The first time I had done so
without help. I would have been proud, had I not been struggling desperately to contain
her. 
        "Now see here, sir," the doctor began, making his way to my Master's position. My
Master stood perfectly still, until the doctor made the mistake of trying to grab his
arm. The older man acted as if he had been hit with a stun gun, simply crumpling to his
knees where he stood. Certain the doctor would be no more problem, he then turned his
attention back to the young boy. He smiled softly.
        "What's your name, young man?"
        The little boy coughed, and coughed again, before answering. "Alex, sir."
        Darke nodded. "And how old are you, Alex?"
        The boy smiled. "I'm ten-and-a-half, sir," he said softly. "I'll be eleven next
month." Then he sighed, turning his head away. "If I live that long. The doctor says
that---"
        "Never mind what the doctor says," Darke interrupted, catching the boy's attention
once more. "Tell me. Would you like to feel better? How would you like it to be able to
run around again, and not have to sit here in bed all the time? Would you enjoy that
very much?" The boy nodded vigorously. "Okay then. Just reach out and grab my hand. I
am a doctor, Alex. A very special doctor. Just take my hand and trust me. Don't be
scared, okay?"
        "Okay," he replied, grasping my Master's hand. The nurse had returned with two
security men. I had my hands full, and couldn't stop them. But just then, my Master used
his Gift. Again, for me, it was as if time stopped, as a wave if incredible power washed
over me, a hot burning, scotching energy unlike anything I'd even known. Even the unGifted
nurses and security men seemed affected by it. Then, as quickly as it began, it ended.
My Master visibly wilted, releasing the young boy's hand. Alex, I vaguely noticed, looked
much the better for his experience.
        "You're coming with us," the security men said, grabbing Darke roughly by his 
arms. They began to drag him off, when Alex leapt from the bed. 
        "HEY! Leave him alone! Leave my doctor alone!" he yelled kicking one man in the shins.
The old doctor, who had recovered somewhat, cautioned the men back. 
        "Don't hurt the boy!" he yelled, trying to grab hold of the feisty youngster. "Alex,
calm down, son. You're a very sick boy. You have to take it easy and lie back down!
These men are just trying to help by taking that man out of here. They won't hurt him."
        "He's not some strange man!" Alex protested. "He helped me. Look! I can run around
and jump and play just like he said, and I'm not coughing!" True to form, the young boy
did just that, running and jumping, to the amazement of the others in the room. "He
did it," Alex said, pointing to my Master. "He Healed me. He told me to take his hand
and not be afraid. Even though I was, at first, I just closed my eyes and tried to be
brave. And he did it!" He laughed and ran around the room a few more times.
        "You can take your hands off me now," my Master said to the guards, a low deep 
growl in his voice. I turned to face him, and again I was stunned at the sudden change
in him. After spending several weeks with him, after becoming familiar with his wants
and needs, his strange actions, and his motivations, after learning somewhat to anticipate
his mercuric mood changes, this one always surprised me. His eyes flashed, glittering
with a dark rage, as if some slight madness had overtaken him. I could sense that he
was fighting himself, to keep from reaching out and striking these men down where they
stood. The thought itself was inexplicable, a complete one-eighty from the kind, selfless
act he had performed on young Alex. If there was one thing I had learned from being in
his presence all this time, it was that he was a Healer through and through, and that
he did not take another's life. Yet, he was struggling to keep from crushing these men's
minds into paste. 
        My Master had a hidden dark side.
        The doctor nodded to his guards, who reluctantly released him. "You will have to
explain to me how you did this," he was saying, excitedly. "Whatever it was, it was
nothing short of a miracle. That boy was suffering from an extreme case of spinal 
meningitis. His nerves and his entire respiratory system were slowly shutting down.
But look at him! He's in better shape now that I am! That is medically impossible.
How did you do it?"
        Darke sighed a bit, walking around the room, casually touching everyone in passing.
"It was no big miracle, Doctor. As it is, I am a doctor myself, although my practice
runs more exclusively to the Healing of the mind, rather than the body. It's interesting
how the two are so well linked, though. Have you ever heard the theory of wellness through
the power of positive thinking?"
        The doctor, a little zoned out from the narrative, shook his head. "Um, yes... yes
I've heard of it. A lot of rubbish... just some new-age psychobabble."
        Darke laughed,   making eye contact with the nurses before turning back to
the doctor again. "Well, to a psychologist, even 'psycho-babble', as you put it, has some
merit. The mind is a very powerful part of each person. One's perceptions affect what 
one thinks and feels. It affects one's health to a point as well. Surely you know of 
cases where a perfectly healthy man in an operation dies from a small non-lethal wound. 
That other problems in his life, emotional problems, like the loss of a spouse, or child,
affects the man so deeply, that he simply gives up hope. He loses the will to live.
That, my dear doctor, is in the medical books."
        The doctor frowns, somewhat dazed and bedazzled by my Master's words. The nurses,
and the security guards, too, seemed to be a little out of it. 
        "So it merely stands to reason," Darke continued, "that if a person's emotional 
state can affect their recovery in a negative way, that the opposite can be true. That
POSITIVE emotional state can adversely affect a patient's recovery as well. I read young
Alex's chart. His symptoms had increased steadily throughout his time here, and even 
the boy himself knew that his chances of survival were not good. He was beginning to 
give up hope, and I couldn't allow that. All I did was give him something he had been
missing. Hope."
        The glaze-eyed doctor blinked. "Hope?"
        "Yes, hope. A little hope goes a long way. Once you have hope, you can find that
many things you once thought are impossible become possible. Such as a kid with an 
incurable disease suddenly recovering miraculously one night. Hope. A young girl, also
with an incurable disease, suddenly and completely Healed. Hope. It was nothing special
that I did to make a difference, doctor. In fact, it might as well have been as if I had
never even been here at all." He walked over to me, taking my hand. "Well, I shall leave
you all to think on this. I hope my words will have the desired effect."
        With that, we walked out. I glanced back into the room as we left, catching a
glimpse of the doctor. I heard his voice from the hallway as he shook off his fugue.
"Huh? What is everyone standing around in here for? Its light's out. Alex, you get back
into bed now, son. And you two, security. What are you doing away from your post? There's
nothing here to see. There's no one here but the patients."
        My Master can be very persuasive.




        On the way outside to the taxi, I heard a beeping sound. Checking my pocket, I
discovered my pager was beeping. Strange. I didn't even recall HAVING a pager, let 
alone bringing it with me. Yet, I felt compelled to answer it. "Just a second," I 
called out to my Master, moving to a telephone booth. I dialed the number and a voice
spoke.
        "Remember your allegiance."
        The room seemed to shift slightly. I found myself hot, and temporarily blind. It
was hard to breathe. The voice seemed to speak some more, but I couldn't understand
the words. Then I blinked, to find the receiver in my hand, the operator telling me to
hang up or dial again. Shaking my head, I forgot the strange incident and ran to the 
taxi.
        My Master looks a little subdued when I climbed in next to him. He rubbed his
temples and pinched the bridge of his nose, the way I sometimes do when I have a bad
headache. "Are... are you okay, Master?" I asked tentatively as I sat down.
        "With me? Yes. But I have been feeling twinges now and again. There's something
wrong somewhere, something that is calling me just as surely as the pain of those 
children called me. Its as if the Great River itself was..." He shook his head. "Never 
mind. What about you? Is everything okay?" he asked, letting his hand caress my tender
thighs. 
        "Ohhh, just fine, now," I said sighing, pulling him close to me. I could feel his 
fingers caressing me, sliding underneath my short skirt, and slipping into to the hot 
wetness underneath. I knew that after using his Gift extensively, he needed to 'balance'
himself with vigorous and sometimes brutally powerful sex. My insides cringed with delight
as I imagined the night ahead. "Mmmm... yes, oh yes, Master," I whispered, feeling his 
hands caress my inner thighs. My hand went of its own accord to my pocketbook. It opened, 
and without even looking, I slipped it inside and brought out the hypodermic needle. My
Master was as surprised as I when I removed the cover and pricked him deep in the neck,
injecting the full load. Turning, wide eyed, he managed to gasp in surprise before
falling over unconscious. 
        "My word!" the taxi driver exclaimed, looking back in the mirror. "Lady, what in
heaven's name have you done? You just killed him!"
        "No, he's not dead," my voice spoke. "Only stunned. He will be out for about three 
or four hours." That was a relief. For a moment I thought I really had killed him. "I
need you to take me to this address, here in the city," I said calmly, reciting the 
address the voice on the phone had told me. Shrugging, the driver carried out my precise
instructions, stopping at the destination. We were expected, it seems, for three burly
men came to the car and carried my Master away. I paid the driver, and followed them
inside. In the elevator, I came fully back to my senses, and gasped, crying in shame.
What had I done?
        "Where am I? Where are we going? Let me out of here!" I screamed, trying to get
to the elevator doors. One man merely grabbed my shoulder, painfully forcing me back.
He turned to face me, locking eyes with my own. 
        "Welcome back, Bloodhound," he said in a voice that turned my blood to ice. "You
above all others should realize that NO ONE leaves the Organization. The Owner wishes
to see you personally, and thank you for a job well done. This man will be an asset to
our company." I shook my head in denial, trying to deny his words. "Poor dear," he said
softly. "You seem so confused. Don't worry. The Owner will explain everything for you 
as soon as we reach the top floor. But for now, its time for you to sleep."
        I struggled, trying desperately to ignore his command, but it was useless. I slipped
slowly into a dark endless dream. My name was Bloodhound, but I was nothing more than a
trained lap-dog. Sighing, I gave in to the command, and slept, letting my sorrow and
guilt wash away in the endless black vacuum of sleep.
        My Master, and I, were in trouble.

(The End)