Teen Ink

Prologue

Lucas squinted into a pair of night vision goggles. He could see the girl, admiring herself in her mirror in her room. She was dressed in a Halloween costume, of all things. She cocks her head, obviously displeased with something. Closing her eyes, she brings her hand up to her face, bringing with it a dense bronze fog, which encircles her face. After a moment, she waves the fog away, and it fades away, and a checkered mask is left in its wake. Finally satisfied, she grabs a handbag from her bedspread, and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. Lucas sighs. Such a trivial use of essence. Obviously, she doesn’t know what was coming her way. Soon, her world would be much different. Different, as in her not alive in this world anymore.
Seems so simple, Lucas thinks, to kill the girl and just be done with it all.
“Are you sure it’s her?” Mr. Goodman asks, interrupting his thinking. Lucas nods. If he was wrong- he could be dead by morning. And his own father would help. Lucas knew just how much was riding on this assignment. Because it wasn’t just an assignment. It was an assignment that could finally end the Supoili- once and for all. He’d spent his entire life, hunting them, hating them. He wanted to be one of the main instruments in creating their downfall. Even if he was partly one of them. He hated them more for it. The race that made him a freak- a monster. He would never be just a human hunter, or just one of them. He was a monstrosity living in both worlds.
“Good, good. Finally, after twelve years, I can finish what I started. The girl turns seventeen in a week and a half. We need to kill her before then- before her powers strengthen.”
Lucas agreed with him- what else could he do? He was going to capture the girl, and deliver her to her death. He was finally going to get back at the people who made him different. And he didn’t feel one bit bad about it.
He didn't feel anything at all.