A Guide to Surviving Against Monsters

Trench coat, weapons in every spot, all black attire. Short cropped, spiky hair that fell over one side of my face. Heterochromia in the eyes, one blue, one green. Pale skin, short stature, bags under the eyes.

I stared at my reflection in distaste. The mirror was familiar, a glaring reminder of my school years.

I lived in a country known as Aurina. Half the population were normal people doing normal things. A quarter of it were asshats who tried to run everything. The rest of us were hunters, humans trained to destroy the monsters that hid in our world.

That's right. Monsters existed. Big ones, little ones, liquid ones, solid ones, and overall, nightmarish ones. I'd been raised as a huntress, and after an experiment in my second to last year of the Academy, I was damned to be a huntress for the rest of my life.

No one else in my family could be. They were already gone.

"Emmalyn?"

I glanced in the reflection. Wendy Jameson stood behind me. We'd graduated in the same year, and while I was definitely a heavy hitter, Wendy was more of a healing type. She was trained to be a medical professional, able to save people while in the middle of a fight with supernatural monsters. Wendy was a redhead with bright green eyes, standing at five foot ten. The two of us got along decently well, and we'd both been called to the Academy.

Aurina's hunter Academy had another graduation at the end of the month, and it was already the twentieth of December. After the group graduated, Wendy, myself and several other respected hunters would be charged with watching over them on their first missions. It was our job to keep them from dying right away.

"Do you feel alright?"

I nodded. The short, black hair in front of my right eye kept the fact that it was green hidden. Most people gave me sideways looks when they first saw the different eye colours, and when they were distracted, they were open to an attack. It probably didn't help that, every so often, a strange pattern of swirls and stars would flash purple around the pupil, mixing with the green iris. Quite the side effect.

"They're waiting for us," Wendy pointed out. She was talking about our team; the other hunters who would be helping us keep the newbies alive.

"Alright," I sighed, "let's do this."

We didn't seem close, but in reality, Wendy and I had spent years together. When our shoulders brushed as I passed by her on the way to the door, it was comforting instead of alarming. Outside the women's bathroom were five other hunters, all of them male. Since guys were usually stronger than females and less soft, they made better hunters. Or maybe the industry was sexist. Who knows.

I could kill them all, so I didn't bother with being offended.

"Everything okay?" One of the guys asked. He was around my height, and therefore short, his brown hair sticking up in curls around his head. His eyes were dark brown, sparkling with constant amusement.

"We're good," Wendy replied. "Nice to meet you all."

We had about a half hour before we were set to meet the graduating class. Wendy and I joined the circle of hunters, nodding to the others.

"I'm Mateo Grimm," the same curly haired boy grinned. "This is my cousin Theo Grimm."

Beside him was an average height, sandy haired hunter with gray eyes. Theo didn't say anything, though he did smile warmly.

"I'm Wendy Jameson."

"The healer, right?" A third boy asked. He was a ginger, his grin nearly infectious. Wendy nodded, and his grin only widened. "I'm Miles Sawyer, secondarily talented as a healer."

Wendy perked up. "I've heard about you!"

They smiled at each other, and I swore I saw her blushing. With three boys down, I glanced at the last two hunters. One had his eyes half closed, his hair long enough that it brushed his collar. The colour was close to mine, but shinier. The other boy was observant, carefully watching each one of us. A bow was slung across his back, his dark hair extremely short.

The observant one noticed me looking. He offered me his hand, talking loud enough for the others to hear despite him only paying attention to me. "Weston Isles, pleasure to meet you..?"

"Emmalyn," I supplied, "Emmalyn Foxit."

A surprised look crossed his face. "I've heard about you."

"So have I!" Mateo chirped. His cousin nodded.

The last boy who had yet to be introduced open his eyes fully to look me up and down. "You're the special one, eh?" He grumbled. "For the record, I'm Luca. Just Luca."

We all hummed, committing the names and appearances of each other to memory. The seven of us swapped stories about different hunts until our time was up, an assistant teacher appearing in front of the door to the lecture hall.

"If you all would follow me, the class is waiting."

All it would take is a minute, and I could be gone far, far away from this hellish school.

Yet, I was still moving toward the door. Wendy stuck close to my side as we went in, the teacher unfamiliar to me. Everyone was unfamiliar, but the room was alarmingly the same as it had been when I came to the Academy.

"Oh, there they are. Class, meet your supervisors. I hope you recognize some of them."

My eyebrows quirked at the man's words as the seven of us walked down the steps and to the floor where he stood. The students sat in rows, each one staring at us intently.

"I'm Professor Michaelson. Introduce yourselves, please."

Mateo stepped forward from the rest of us. "I'm Mateo Grimm, graduate of five years."

Theo was next, his voice much deeper than his cousin's. "Theo Grimm. Graduate of five years."

Weston waved from the back of the group. "Weston Isles. Graduate of five years. Pleased to meet you all."

I heard one girl coo over him, and I rolled my eyes.

"Miles Sawyer," the next boy grinned, "hunter and novice healer. Graduate of four years."

Wendy lifted her hand, getting the attention on her despite being surrounded by taller people. "Wendy Jameson," she smiled, and a few students murmured in awe, "huntress and full time healer. Graduate of two years, counting my extra schooling."

"Luca," was all the stoic sixth member of our team grunted. "Six years."

Eyes passed to me, the short, spiky-haired woman who was silent the entire time. I stepped to the front of the group, brushing my hair out of my right eye. The green iris got quite the reaction from everyone, and I didn't need to say anything to get their attention.

"Emmalyn."

The professor sucked in a nervous breath as his students eyed me up and down.

Then, one of them made a stupid, stupid move.