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Vance
As soon as the student in the second row told me why no-one in my class was paying attention, I knew we had a crisis on our hands.
I walked out.
Can’t worry about that now, I’ll have to face the repercussions later, but I can always claim I became unwell.
I pull my phone out of my suit jacket pocket before the doors have even closed behind me, and send an emergency message to the guys to meet me immediately. I don’t wait for their replies; I know they’ll come. I stow my phone and use the side exit to the building I’m in which brings me out opposite the sports field. From there it’s a short walk to the staff accommodation block.
I have my own place off campus, but during term time it’s often easier for me to stay in my apartment here. It’s included as part of my package for working here, and as it’s a pretty decent pad, I may as well use it. The guys all have keys to let themselves in whenever they need, but they’re under strict instructions not to be seen. While the dean of the university knows what we’re doing here, it would raise too many questions if the rest of the staff, or even the other students, saw the guys coming and going from the staff block at all hours.
I arrive and let myself into the building. I don’t bump into any of the other professors as no doubt they’re all in the teacher’s lounge gossiping. I let myself into my ground floor apartment and close the door behind me. As soon as I’m in the hallway, I pull off my suit jacket, pop open the buttons on my shirt, and move my phone to my trouser pocket. I hate wearing suits but I tolerate it. I refuse to wear a tie though. Unless it’s for a formal event – though I usually try to get out of those too.
As soon as I round the corner into the open-plan living space, I halt.
“You’re already here,” I state.
“Finally!” Bhodi huffs. “Wondered when you’d get here. Did you not bother to look at your phone when you messaged us?”
I’m not in the mood for this kid’s attitude today, even if we normally get on. I’m only a few years older than the guys, hence why I’m here playing the role of the teacher.
“I was busy. Teaching,” I reply dryly. Bhodi snorts and even Cove has to stifle a snigger. They know I hate kids. Hate teaching. Hate this stupid assignment and the twelve long months we’ve already been stranded here. “Shut up and tell me what’s going on.”
Thankfully, I’m spared from having to hear the details from Bhodi as Reef takes over.
“A body was found early this morning, by another student out on a run. The victim – a blonde eighteen-year-old freshman, thought to be Alyssa Carter – was found in the woodland area, close to the edge of the lake. It was pretty gruesome.”
“Who found her?” I ask.
“A human. Senior. On the track team. He’s the star athlete.”
“Matt Richardson?” Cole supplies.
“That’s him,” Reef confirms.
“I want him picked up and brought in for questioning.”
“I’ll speak to him. I know him from the gym,” Bhodi offers.
“Great. Go get him as soon as we're done here. So when you say gruesome…”
“The photos are on your phone,” Reef tells me.
I pull the phone from my pocket and see several missed calls and messages. An email from Reef with picture attachments is the first thing I click on, and almost instantly a series of images appears on my screen.
It’s immediately clear that this girl was hunted by Shikari, the assassins of our species. The total mutilation of the girl’s body is their signature. The body of the victim has to be completely destroyed in order to locate and consume the source of their magic, locked inside their soul. But in every one of us, our souls are hidden in a different location. A kind of safety mechanism to prevent us from being wiped out entirely.
The Shikari possess special magical powers that the rest of our species don’t, which allow them to locate and extract our magic. Originally, centuries ago, they were appointed by our queen to protect our people, but over time their unique power corrupted and distorted their intentions, until they turned from our biggest protectors to our most deadly hunters. Now our numbers are dwindling, and without our queen on the throne, no-one can save us.
It’s why finding the Star is of paramount importance. An ancient prophecy that foretold these events said that the Star would be the only one powerful enough to stop the Shikari, save our people, and reunite our long lost queen with her throne. As the four sworn guards of the queen, it falls to my brothers and me to find the Star and bring her safely back to our kingdom. We are honour-bound to protect our queen from every threat, which is impossible when no-one knows where she is. She vanished over a century ago and we’ve been biding our time for the prophecy to come into play so that we can return her and restore peace to our war-torn kingdom.
The worst thing about all of this is that this victim was very clearly human. Which makes it harder to hide. I quickly fire off a message to my boss and await his instruction. Until then, we have to find the Star. If it was important before, it’s absolutely crucial now.
“Shit. This is bad.”
“You think it’s connected to our mission?” Bhodi asks, scratching his head.
“Obviously. It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise. We’ve been waiting for the Star to show herself and there’s never been any issues on campus before. We knew she’d be hunted, I just hoped we’d have time to identify her and put a plan in place before the others arrived.”
