Hunting for the Right Note Pt. 02

Alucard let out a burst of half deranged laughter as he stopped near the body of the vampire, before tearing its head off and plunging a hand through its back. I heard Kaylee squeak in fear and shrink behind me even more as her hands clenched into the back of my cowl. The body now started to dissolve into ash, along with the pool of blood that had come from the body. My swords clattered to the ground into the pile as he stood again.

"You lived, didn't you? I can hear the report now, a Silver defeats Maurice von Glickerstein with zero innocent casualties in the fighting, sustaining damage in the process. The fact you aren't dead is a feat itself."

I couldn't stop the growl as I sat up quickly to retort, but that was a mistake, Kaylee still hadn't let go of my cowl. Her fingers wrapped in the fabric pulled it from my head, revealing my face. My vision blurred as the adrenaline had left my system, and the blood I had lost was making my eyelids heavy. I saw the fuzzy outline of Alucard's hat as he pressed a hand to my leg. I think he was trying to stop the bleeding, but I didn't care. As I went under, I heard Kaylee shouting at me, begging me to stay awake, but I was already too far gone. I couldn't fight it anymore, and I succumbed to the sweet embrace of darkness.

Chapter 8

"How could you both keep this from me?!"

I came back to the land of the living to Chloe shouting, at who I assumed was mom. Who else would she be yelling at? My body woke up sooner than most of my mind, however, and it was aching. I groaned as the ache pulsed, and the room grew quiet. Even though I had a headache, I figured I'd end the fight, but I kept my eyes closed, as the lights from above were trying to stab into my eyes, if I would only open them. There was a tang in the air, one I was familiar with. This was the Hunter's hospital, I assumed in one of the low care wards, my injury was relatively minor, especially in this line of work. I grumbled as I clenched my eyes against the light that wouldn't stop trying to get past them.

"We kept it from you, because this is the exact reaction we knew you'd have. You wouldn't understand that I chose this lifestyle, I wasn't forced, I wasn't coerced, I enjoy it."

I paused for a moment, and moved one arm to cover my eyes, the lights were getting really annoying now.

"Mom, mind turning the light down?"

I sighed in relief as the lights dimmed to a manageable level. Now, I opened my eyes and tried to sit up, but I felt something on my other arm. A glance down showed me what, or rather who, was on my arm. Kaylee was curled up in the hospital bed with me, my arm trapped between her breasts as she tried to keep me in place. It felt, right, like something that had been happening for years, and I couldn't say why. I looked up to the two women that had always been in my life in confusion. Chloe refused to look at me, and I could feel the hurt and betrayal radiating from her. Mom, on the other hand, shrugged, a soft smile on her lips.

"It seems like she won't leave your side, nearly broke down when we tried to send her home with her sister, so I had to vouch for her. It seems you have a true fan now. Alucard went off to clean up the leftovers, seems there were a couple more newborns in the area."

I nodded, but before I could say anything, Chloe interjected. She was pissed, and I could hear the hurt in her tone.

"How could you keep me in the dark?! It's us against the fucking world, Jason. What the fuck happened to that!"

I saw mom move over to the door as Chloe began speaking, tapping a series of runes that I knew fairly well. It was for noise suppression, so that the patient in a room wouldn't be a nuisance to the rest of the people on the floor. Good, because Chloe touched a bit of a sore spot. I took up this job so that I could also defend her, make sure she never had to fight the things in the night mom talked about when we were younger. The things she scared so her kids didn't have to worry. So, I snapped back with more heat than I should have.

"I chose this, Chloe, so that you wouldn't have to face the fucking world. I can handle myself!"

She narrowed her eyes, and they began glowing a malign blue as her anger took hold.

"I deserved the chance to make my own choice in this!"

"You fucking did, you became a Guide. Instead of taking on the hard work of putting things down, you chose to ferry souls to the afterlife! I did this for you! So that you wouldn't have to ever see the shit that mom has, that I have!"

She recoiled from me in horror, I guess she wasn't aware that I knew about her job. I was a Hunter, and a Silver at that. I had the clearance to know the Guide's working in my area, so that I didn't accidentally try to kill one because they gave off a deathly aura. It was standard practice, Hunters who were allowed to work solo got access to the records of Guides for the area they were doing a job in. It helped keep confusion down, and that's how I had known Chloe was a Guide for almost three years now, ever since I made silver.

Before Chloe could respond and defend herself, the door was all but ripped open. Thankfully, whoever did it stopped the door from slamming into the wall outside. In walked the Unlife King himself, the clicking of his shoes a dead giveaway. He was grinning like a lunatic as he brushed the nonexistent dust off his shoulders.

"Done and done, they didn't even fight, after you killed their master, they went completely catatonic,"

He looked down at one hand, turning it around, as if examining it for anything out of place. Once that was done, he clenched into a fist, as if crushing something as his smile became sadistic.

"Like a puppet with its strings cut. You did well, and if I had any kind of political pull in this place, I'd put you up for Gold."

My mother coughed as she glared at him. He just laughed softly, but my attention was pulled to the woman wrapped around my arm as she began to stir. I really had no idea how the fight between Chloe and I didn't wake her up, but I guess she was a heavy sleeper. I looked down as she yawned softly, her stunning green eyes now open, but unfocused. It brought a small smile to my face, she was just amazing, even now.

It took a few blinks, and another yawn, but Kaylee's eyes were now lit up as they normally were. She looked around, taking in her surroundings, before she turned back and met my eyes. They went wide, before she surged up and wrapped me in the tightest hug I had gotten in a long time. I could hear her soft sobs as she buried her head into my shoulder. She started murmuring 'thank you' and 'I'm so sorry' over and over again as her tears fell. I instinctively hugged her back, my arms around her neck as she wept into my chest.

We stayed there for a bit, her sobs and words trailing off as I held her tightly. She tapped my back, letting me know she was ok, so I slowly let her go. I was disappointed when she pulled away, only for her to peck my cheek before turning around and settling against me, so much like a couple cuddling.

I was about to ask her what she was doing, but the sound of the door nearly slamming shut made me look up. Chloe was nowhere to be seen, obviously having left. I moved, trying to go after her, but the second I tried to put weight on my leg, pain shot through my body. I would have collapsed, if mom hadn't been at my side in an instant, pushing me back into the bed, where Kaylee wrapped her arms around my shoulders and kept me there.

"Jason Mori Graves, you're not supposed to be walking by yourself for at least another week or so. That bolt turned out to be coated in a toxin that suppresses healing magic, it was a miracle that Alucard's blood magic worked enough to clot the wound."

I allowed Kaylee to settle into my side again as I simmered. I was down for that long? I knew it was within the waiting period, but still, I hated being down like this. I glanced over to Kaylee as she pulled my arm around her. I let out a sigh as I relaxed against the redhead.

"At least I'll be back up and running by the next time I can take a job."

I saw mom wince, and I knew her next words were not going to be ones I liked.

"About that, a couple of Plats and myself agree, you're not in the right mental state to be performing missions, so we are putting you on leave for two months."

My head whipped around to her as I got angry. I know it wasn't meant as an insult to my skills, but fuck it felt like it. I pulled this mission off damn near flawlessly, even if I got hurt, it was worth it.

"Are you fucking kidding! I'm one of your best Silvers!"

Mom's eyes narrowed as she let off her commander's aura, that's when I knew I fucked up. I could get away with an awful lot of shit with my reputation, but not when I was reporting to my mother. While she was concerned about me and the messes I could get into, she was also far less likely to let me slip around some rules to get my job done faster or easier.

"Alright, make that four months of leave, is there anything else you have to say, Silver Graves."

I shut my mouth, I knew she would extend it and make it a year if I was insistent on arguing with her. So, I shut up. Four months was a long time for me to be away from the job, the longest break time I would take only lasted a month, tops. My normal breaks would only be as long as the waiting period, then I'd take a job, and get my adrenaline fix for a couple weeks. Rinse and repeat. But now, I needed to find something else to do for the next four months.

Mom shook her head before leaving with Alucard to get me signed out. This left Kaylee and I alone. She shifted in the bed so that she was facing me. She ran a hand through her hair, straightening it before addressing me.

"So, you're a Hunter."

I nodded, not looking at her. It was a point of pride for me that I had kept it hidden. It wasn't strictly necessary to keep yourself fully hidden, just your name and part of your face, but I had managed to never have a civvy catch what I looked like under my hood. Now, not only did my sister know what I had been doing, but her two friends did as well. That stung more than I'd like to admit. It didn't help that I was a bit sweet on one of them. She cocked her head to the side as she shifted, leaning into my side again. It was odd, how she felt comfortable doing this, and even odder that I was entirely ok with it.

"I can get why you kept it from me, but why did you keep it from Chloe?"

I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"She and I would fight about this all the time as kids. She thinks it's too dangerous, and it is dangerous, but I wanted to do it. To help people, just like mom does, and now that I've gotten a taste, I really can't step back now."

She looked up at me for a moment, studying my face before she looked back towards the door.

"You know, I haven't been entirely honest with you either..."

She trailed off, and I could see Chloe out in the hall, pacing in front of the door. She had conflict clearly written all over her face. I wanted to apologize to her, but her words still hurt. I was quickly distracted when a throb of pain ran up my leg. I grabbed my leg as I hissed through clenched teeth. Kaylee laid a hand on top of mine, it was warm, and soft. I was about to ask her what she was doing, but she held her other hand up. She then opened her mouth, and from it came a soft, wordless song. It was beautiful, a truly calming melody with no sharp jumps, just a smooth transition between notes. As the soothing tones lilted and danced around my ears, the pain began fading, and I felt like I could dance around that damn noble with ease. Her song soon faded into the air, but the pain didn't come back immediately. I could feel a dull ache, but nothing remotely near what it was before. Several things clicked into place now, her obsession with sound, the glow in her eyes when she sang, and now, the ability of her songs to influence people.

"You're a siren."

She nodded, looking away from me. It seemed she was embarrassed by it, but I turned my hand over to hold hers. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. If anything, it meant she understood keeping things secret more than Myrlla ever could. Sirens, while not really hated, had some stigma about them that meant it was usually easier to just not say anything about it. As my fingers laced with hers, Kaylee looked up at me, curiosity in her eyes. I had to say something, anything.

"Look, I really don't know what's going on, or even if I'm ready for something new, but..."

I saw her eyes grow wide, sparkling with surprise, and a lot of happiness.

"I wanna see what happens with us."

She quickly wrapped her arms around my neck and yanked me to the bed, now laying on top of me as she planted a firm kiss on my lips. I opened my mouth to deepen the kiss, but we were interrupted by a cough. We both sat up and saw Chloe looking at us with a faint blush on her cheeks. It took her a couple seconds, but she schooled her face into a hard expression.

"Jason, show me the mark."

I knew what she meant by that, she wanted to see my rank, if I was actually a Silver. So, I stood up, my leg actually taking my weight this time, and stripped off my shirt. I heard Kaylee, my whatever-we-were-now, make an appreciative noise, and I swear I saw Chloe's eyes rake up and down my six pack abs and the muscles across my upper half. I worked hard to get this body, and I liked that it was acknowledged. With a familiar movement, I ran my thumb across the tattoo on my wrist, going from the inside of my arm to the outer edge.

Both women gasped, as one by one, scars and tattoos appeared across my body. The last one to appear was my Hunter's Mark, right above my heart. Both of them got close, Chloe placing a hand on top of the skull as I felt Kaylee tracing the blades I had running down either side of my spine. Those represented Duna and Vrail, and between them I had gotten the skull of the Wendigo I killed to get promoted to Silver. It was breathing out a cloud of ice, just as it had when I fought it. Across my shoulders I had a few different skulls. Demonic ones, ones with bat wings, and even one that had a crown floating in green flame. All were different things I had hunted down and killed. I was particularly proud of the one with a flaming crown situated at the base of my neck. That represented a lich, and they are by far above my pay grade. I still killed it, took one hell of a beating in the process, but I was the one still standing in the end.

"You really kept this from me..."

Chloe still wouldn't meet my eyes as she took a step back. She looked conflicted for several moments as I had to resist shivering as Kaylee traced her fingers over the scars that I had, a jolt of electricity running through me as they danced along a set of claw marks I had across my ribs. Chloe finally seemed to come to whatever conclusion she was trying to, and finally met my gaze. Her eyes were hard, but I could see the slight tremble in her lip.

"I will allow you to keep doing this, but I want something in return."

I raised an eyebrow. She'd allow me to keep doing this? I don't think she really had any kind of say in whether or not I would keep being a Hunter, that was mainly mom or Death himself at this point. Unless she would actively try to hinder whatever was growing between Kaylee and I, but we both knew that she wouldn't. I saw her eyes soften, and knew she was just worried about me, I wasn't Threya's blood child, but she gave me the energy and abilities that it didn't matter if I had her blood running through my veins or not. I was the son of Threya Morte Graves, and I could fight with the best of them.

"First, I want to know everything, from your first hunt to your last. Second, you never keep something like this from me ever again. Promise me these things Jason."

That was it? I mean, I wasn't complaining. She certainly could have demanded a lot more, these things I could easily do. So, I agreed, the first part was the easiest, as I kept my resume written on my skin. It would take time to go over each image and scar though. Time we really didn't have, as I sensed mom returning. So, I stepped away from Kaylee and sat back down on the edge of my bed, much to her disappointment, which only increased as I slipped my shirt back on. She sat down a few inches from me.

"We can go over them back at home, it'll take a lot longer than what we have time for now."

I just finished getting my shirt back on as the door opened. Mom was the only one there, I guess she finally got annoyed with Alucard's antics and sent him off. Not a bad thing really, I wasn't in the mood to deal with his absolute lack of care for really anything. Mom was wheeling in a wheelchair. I wasn't allowed to walk out under my own power, standard procedure, even if I technically wasn't supposed to be even standing. I didn't like it at all, even then.

"Let's go, Kaylee, we can drop you off at home, I'm sure Kaitlyn is worried about you."

I felt Kaylee tense up, then move closer to me. She easily slipped around me to fit into my side, much like a lover would. She was trembling slightly, at least until I wrapped an arm around her waist. I saw a flash of approval in mom's eyes, but it was gone so quickly I wasn't sure I had actually seen it.

"If, if it's all the same Ms. Graves, I would rather stay with you guys for a few days."

Mom waved her hand in dismissal.

"It doesn't matter to me, and haven't I told you to call me by my name? I really don't mind."

Mom proceeded to do something that scared me deeply, she smiled mischievously.

"Although, by how my son is holding you, maybe you should get used to calling me mom instead."

Of all the things I was expecting her to say, that was the last of them. The only response I could give was choking on my own breath as heat rose up my cheeks. Kaylee on the other hand turned a shade that could rival her hair and buried her face in my neck. Mom laughed softly at us before forcing me into the wheelchair. The second I passed through the exit doors, I was back on my feet and half walking, half limping to the car. Once there, I was none too gently pushed into the back seat, Kaylee taking the spot next to me as mom took us all back home. A few minutes in, Kaylee had her head laid on my shoulder, humming lightly into my ear.

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Chapter 9

It took me a couple days to fall into my new routine for the next while. I would wake up, and Kaylee would be in my bed, cuddled up next to me. The first night we tried having her stay in the guest room, but she couldn't sleep. It had been more than a few days past the 'few days' Kaylee had originally planned on staying, in reality, it was almost like she had moved in with us. The reason was that the night I killed Maurice gave her nightmares, the fear, the things his retainer was planning to do to her... She only really slept soundly when she was right next to me, which led to our current arrangement. She was spooned up against me as I had my face buried in her hair. Just like back in the hospital, it really just felt right. I know mom had made a mention that some souls clicked better with others, but I honestly never believed her, at least, until I met Kaylee. Before, it was just some mumbo jumbo bullshit, now, it really did feel like Kaylee and I had some sort of connection when we first met. Not really love at first sight, but there was something there.

I felt my internal alarm telling me it was time to get up, I promptly told that thing to can it, and pulled Kaylee closer to me. She softly moaned, but settled into me as I felt myself slowly drifting back to sleep. At least, I was, until the door opened and the light made me groan softly. Chloe stood in the doorway, one hand on her hip.