Knights v Hunters; The Return

Rafe ran alongside his brother and Ella, his mind miles away. His headache from a few weeks ago, had left a remnant of pain that couldn’t be cured even by his mother’s most powerful concoctions. It dulled his senses, affected his focus and instilled a bit of worry in him. He knew that Caleb was more than aware of this, which would explain why his brother was keeping pace with him this morning, instead of running at full flight.

Caleb sneaked a worried glance at Rafe. Something was off about him. Ever since he had returned a few weeks back from a meeting with Eden, he had not been the same. In training these past few weeks, his reflexes had been less sharp, his focus wavering. For anyone else, that performance would have still been very good, but for Rafe, it was below average. He was one of the best Young Hunters around, their future leader and it seemed strange that he was so distracted. Even in the early stages of his relationship with Eden, his focus had been strong, his physicality unquestionable. Caleb didn’t doubt that Rafe’s last meeting with Eden had not gone well and his brother hadn’t spoken about her at all since then. Since he and his brother could communicate telepathically since they were children and could read each other, he had deigned to read his brother’s thoughts a few times these past couple of days, in obvious violation of their privacy agreement, but Rafe’s mind and thoughts had been Eden-free.

“So, Ella, how’s Becca doing? I haven’t seen her around except at training,” Caleb asked. Ella and Becca were the daughters of Ethan and Maya, close family friends and Jude’s second- in-command. Becca had been seriously injured during the last joint mission with the Knights when one of the Untouchables’ crew had unleashed pepper spray on her, which was harmful to the Hunters.

Ella laughed. “She’s completely healed, but she’s been very busy with Eli recently. Seems as if they’re an item!” Ella knew that her sister was trying to get over her feelings for Caleb by dating Eli, but the young man was growing on her! Becca had been forced to hide her pain and move on since Caleb, a serial dater, had no idea of her feelings towards him and only treated her as a very good friend.

“Well, that explains her absence,” Caleb said, just as Rafe turned and saw his brother’s cheeks redden.

Jealous, much? Serves him right for not making his move early, Rafe thought. “Speaking of dating, you haven’t been on a date since forever. Losing your touch, little brother?” Rafe teased.

“I’ll have you know, I have been very busy since we got back from our last mission,” Caleb rationalised and was met with barks of laughter from both Rafe and Ella. “Not funny. I do have a few dates lined up. Unfortunately, Ruth will only go out with me if I find a date for her sister Sera. I haven’t had time to set this up yet.”

As they raced up a particularly steep hill, Rafe stopped at the first outcrop. “Should I be offended that you didn’t consider me?”

Caleb was so shocked, he almost slipped, which could have resulted in a nasty fall down the hill. “You want to go on a double date?” he asked, barely able to believe what he had heard. Rafe never went out with anybody and Eden had been the only person with whom he had been romantically involved.

Rafe seemed amused. “Well, I’m all about helping a brother,” he laughed. “Besides, I know Sera and she’s great. I would hardly be doing you a favour!” He looked at Caleb, who seemed to be frowning.

“What about….?” Caleb began and then stopped.

“What about ….?” Rafe prompted. Caleb read his brother’s mind and was taken aback. Rafe wasn’t thinking about Eden at that moment; in fact, his brother’s mind in this regard was almost blank!

“Nothing,” Caleb said quickly, trying to cover his shock. He continued to look at his brother. Something was definitely off about him!

“I can’t wait to start dating,” Ella mused. “Seems so exciting!”

“Not until you’re twenty and we’ve checked out every Hunter you’re interested in!” Caleb said and Rafe nodded.

“C’mon, Becca was allowed to date much earlier than that! And, please stop intimidating future dates. Remember John who asked me to the school dance last year? Well, between the two of you, you grilled him such that he cancelled our date, thank you very much! So, lay off!” she warned.

Now it was Caleb’s turn to laugh. Ella was the closest they had to a little sister, someone to torment, but he also knew that they would continue to check out any Hunter who approached her. That was their duty as unofficial brothers!

“We can’t promise anything, Ella,” Rafe said. “You’re family. That’s our role, so deal with it! Now, let’s get going.”

They continued their run up the hill and only stopped once they reached the top. They admired the view before they descended and after dropping Ella off at her home, they walked to theirs, each deep in thought, until Rafe stopped at the entrance to their home and turned to his brother and said, “So, can I leave the arrangements for our double date to you?” Caleb nodded and went in. He needed to talk to someone about this, but who?

Eden, Matthew and their father sat together in his study, discussing their plans to go to New York. Eden was tired; she had slept fitfully these past few weeks, trying to stop herself from communicating with Rafe in the middle of the night. She had tried once, but had heard nothing back from him. He had blacked her out. Deservedly so!

“The bakery is the obvious starting point,” Matthew said, “but we can’t go in there because we will be sensed immediately, given the number of Untouchables in that place. This time, we have no one to block us,” he added.

Gabe nodded, “Which is why I’ll be accompanying you both. Your father still has a few abilities up his sleeve!”

Eden reared back in shock. “You have blocking abilities, Father?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes, I do,” Gabe responded. “I haven’t needed to use it in years, but it’s still there. You won’t be easily sensed, but your window for getting information will be small.”

Matthew wondered for a moment. “What if we reach out to a few former Knights, who still have their abilities, to conduct the intel on our behalf?”

“That will expose them if they haven’t been in the Untouchables’ crosshairs yet. We can’t take that chance,” Gabe said. “Besides, they don’t owe us anything and I don’t want to jeopardise the lives they have built for themselves there.”

“I agree, but there are a few Untouchables who work in the bakery who we’ve determined to be on the straight and narrow. One of them helped us the last time. Maybe we can speak to him?” Eden suggested.

“We can try,” Matthew agreed. “Remember that his contact is Becca though. He trusted her.” Eden remembered and she also remembered what it had been like to work with the Young Hunters. It had been exhilarating and for a short time, she had felt a part of them. Apart from her feelings for Rafe, she had no idea why she was so drawn to the Hunters.

“We’ll reach out to him. Since he was once part of us, he might be willing to help us. In the meantime, your mother will keep us up to date with what is happening here in the town. Seth has indicated that there is still no information on Noah’s whereabouts. No Knight has been able to track him,” he added, confounded.

“A Hunter could track him,” Matthew indicated. “Knights have never been able to block Hunters,” he reasoned.

“I agree, but we can’t ask the Hunters for help on this. This is our business,” Gabe added.

“Okay,” Matthew said. “I was just stating the obvious, I guess. So, when do we leave for the city?”

Two days after their arrival, Eden and Matthew spotted James, one of the Untouchables, who worked at the bakery. It seemed as if James had taken over the delivery duties from Gage McCall. The Knights decided to approach him away from the bakery, to avoid being sensed and followed him on one of his delivery routes. He was dropping off a birthday cake at a Normal’s house, when Eden, Matthew and Gabe came upon him, as he was returning to his delivery van. James looked at Gabe in amazement. He had not seen the leader of the Knights since he had left Knight town.

“Hello, James,” Gabe said, approaching him and proffering his hand. James shook his hand in wonderment.

“I, uh… didn’t expect to ever see you again,” he started off by saying.

“Nor me you,” Gabe admitted. “I hear that you are doing well and living a good life.”

James nodded. “I’m trying to, although the two Untouchables who were recently killed did try to take me off track.”

Gabe stared at him intensely, which made James uncomfortable. “Have any other Untouchables approached you recently?”

“No, sir,” James added. “The leader of the Untouchables doesn’t know that Gentry tried to force Francis and I to be a part of their team. They are regrouping very quietly.”

“You know who the leader is?” Matthew asked incredulously.

“Yes, I eventually tracked the leader and confirmed that my information was correct. It’s Mrs Ginello, the owner of the bakery. Seems as if Gentry reported to her.”

“What? The grey-haired little old lady who serves at the front counter?” Eden asked in disbelief.

“The very one, except that she isn’t that old. And she isn’t that nice either. Strangely though, I didn’t think that she was a former Knight,” James added. “But she definitely has abilities and she has more information on Knight town than even I had, living there.”

The Knights paused in thought. Could Mrs Ginello have organised Noah’s escape from Knight town?

“Did you hear anything about a Knight called Noah? He escaped from Knight town when we discovered the breach of our covenants. We haven’t been able to track him since then,” Gabe said.

“No,” James responded. “I haven’t heard anything from within the bakery. And on the occasions that I’ve followed Mrs Ginello, I didn’t see her with anyone that looked like Noah. I remember him from my time in Knight town. He didn’t seem like the type to lead something like this.”

“James, do you have any idea what the mission entails?” Matthew asked.

James hesitated. “I can only surmise that it has something to do with both the Knights and Hunters. I think that the Untouchables are planning to disrupt whatever relationship now exists between the two societies, pitting you against each other.”

Eden gasped, yet hadn’t she known that something like this was afoot?

“Why do you think that?” Gabe asked, interested in this Untouchable’s reasoning.

“It has to affect both camps,” he said. “And you think that too, for why else would I run into the leaders of both the Knights and Hunters, in less than a month?”

“Jude was here?” Gabe asked quickly.

“Yes,” James confirmed. “And no offense, but the Hunters have better, more reliable intelligence than the Knights.”

Walking back to their car, Gabe acknowledged that James was correct. Jude was probably closer to understanding the mission than him and he had come to investigate without the Young Hunters in tow, meaning that he was putting the pieces of the puzzle together before he shared it with his Hunters. And if he had the final piece, would he let the Knights know via his children? Surely, he wouldn’t have any information on Mrs Ginello’s abilities if she had been a former Knight? But, he sighed, he was talking about Jude! There was very little the leader of the Hunters couldn’t find out!

Caleb reflected on his double date with his brother from a few nights earlier. Ruth was terrific and funny and he had enjoyed her company, but something was missing for him. She had agreed to see him again, on their own this time, so maybe it would be different this time around. Strangely enough, Sera and Rafe had hit it off immediately. His brother had surprised him, Caleb realised, as he completed his 100th sit-up. Rafe had seemed carefree and happy and he and Sera had laughed and joked together as if they had known each other forever. Ruth had confided in him that she thought that Sera was quickly growing very strong feelings for Rafe! Several times during the evening though, Caleb had caught Rafe rubbing his temples, almost as if in pain. Questioning him later, Rafe blamed it on tiredness.

Caleb’s confusion over his brother’s behaviour grew on a daily basis. Not too long ago, Rafe had been head over heels for Eden and Caleb had developed a soft spot for the Knight who had captured his brother’s heart and yet now, Eden was not even a thought in Rafe’s mind. He seemed to have wiped her from his life, and Rafe now behaved as if Eden had never mattered. His enjoyment of Sera’s company was genuine, Caleb realised and maybe he should be happy for his brother, for at least Rafe could be with her in the open, instead of having to snatch a few moments of time, in secret, like he had to with Eden. Rafe did deserve better than that. Maybe Sera would be good for him. But what about Eden? What happened between the two of them?

A few miles away, Rafe was also thinking about Sera. He had seen her again after his double date with Caleb. She was great and he enjoyed her company. She was also beautiful, her face framed by a pixie haircut, which highlighted her delicate features and her beautiful blue eyes. Whatever happened, he knew that they would be great friends. Caleb, meanwhile, had been miles away on his date. His brother had been thinking about Becca, inadvertently comparing Ruth to her! Rafe wondered if Caleb realised the depth of his feelings for his childhood friend. Nevertheless, Becca’s new relationship had brought to the surface long denied feelings. If only his brother could see that!

Ethan and Jude both felt that they had enough intelligence collated to be able to share their developing theories with the Young Hunters. Their wives were already apprised of the information and had decided not to attend the meeting that had been quickly scheduled.

There was a hush in the control room as several of the Young Hunters found their places. Caleb noticed that all the Young Hunters who had been invited were in attendance, including Becca who was sitting next to Eli. She turned to look at him and smiled as their eyes met. She looks happy, Caleb realised, momentarily distracted. Jude took his place at the front of the room, with Ethan next to him.

“Good day, and thank you for turning up at such short notice. I would like to thank the Young Hunters at the back of the room that I’ve taken away from the important business of completing our furniture orders. I have no doubt that you will meet the deadlines nonetheless.” The Hunters designed and manufactured custom furniture and their Arrow products were so popular that it provided an income to sustain their entire compound. “You will have noticed that Ethan and I have upped the training of all Hunters these past few months, both young and old,” Jude continued. “We believe that there is a battle coming our way for which we must all be prepared. Ethan is going to share some new intelligence that we have gathered of which you must take heed,” Jude said, moving, so that Ethan could take centre stage. There was complete silence in the room.

“As you know, one of our last missions required that we eliminate condemned Untouchables,” he began. “These Untouchables had retained their abilities and were forming a team to execute a mission. We have identified the leader of the Untouchables now. She is the owner of the bakery where our last two known condemned Untouchables worked.” He gave the room a minute to absorb this and noted his daughter and Jude’s children’s disbelief.

“This is Lucia Ginello,” he said, pointing to her photo on the evidence board. “Her role has been confirmed both by an Untouchable and our own investigation. She has surreptitiously been recruiting members of the Untouchables and is also trying to recruit former Knights to her team. This time, they haven’t been killing former Knights who refuse to join them. They use a different tactic – they insinuate that they are trying to benefit Normal society but so far, they haven’t been able to recruit any former Knights. Apparently, they have been successful with quite a few Untouchables though.”

Ethan paused, before talking through more information. “I’d also like you to meet Harper and Leo Zolfar, both highly successful in Normal society, both of whom seem to be circling these Untouchables, including Mrs Ginello.”

“What abilities do the Zolfars and Mrs Ginello have?” Rafe asked.

“This is what’s so interesting. It took us a while, but we’ve found out that the Zolfars are former Knights who took the Choice to live amongst the Normals. I am not sure of their Knight names, but Harper Zolfar was a Guardian, one of the few female Guardians that the Knights ever had and Leo Zolfar is a Seer. There is more than a strong possibility that they retained their abilities once they left Knight town, given the pattern we’ve seen in the past few months. Mrs Ginello is an oddity. She was never a Knight, former or Untouchable.”

“So why is she involved in all of this?” Becca asked. “We did consider her initially, but she looked like Granma, so we discounted her!”

“We’re still trying to establish the “why’”’, Jude answered. “We found out though that both her parents were former Knights. She was born when they had already been living amongst the Normals for years and by all accounts, they were cleaned of their abilities before they left Knight town. Funnily enough, they kept journals of their lives as Knights before they left which they inadvertently were allowed to take with them and which Lucia found as a teenager. Of course, her parents couldn’t help her with any information because they couldn’t remember anything of their former lives, so she deliberately sought out former Knights and the Untouchables from those journals. Although they had no memories of their pasts or their abilities, she watched them, even befriended them in some instances. Her obsession grew and as she grew older, she met more dangerous Untouchables, some of whom had benefited from the Cleaners who had broken Knight protocol.”

“Does she have any abilities herself?” Eli asked.

“We believe she does, but it’s something we’re trying to define ourselves. All we know is that she has an affinity for the Untouchables, has trained them, provided them with employment in some instances and is helping to co-ordinate them on this mission. She also has links with Knight town and a few current Knights have definitely been helping her with intel about the town.”

Jude once again took centre stage. “You might be wondering what this has to do with us. Ethan and I strongly believe that these Untouchables plan on invading our compound.”

Silence had fallen over the room once again as the Young Hunters faced the dawning realisation that they would soon have to fight an enemy on their own home front.

“Why would they do that?” Rafe asked. “We haven’t been involved with them for centuries.”

“Their exact motive is still a mystery, but they know that we won’t take kindly to being attacked by Knights, Untouchable or otherwise. I think that they hope that we will launch an attack on Knight town in retribution,” Jude surmised.

“Would we ever consider that?” Caleb asked.

“Only if necessary,” Jude hedged. “We also believe that they plan on taking over Knight town. Imagine the power they would have if they equally defeated both Knights and Hunters!”

“Do the Knights have the same intel?” Becca asked.

“We know they also chatted to James from the bakery, so they should know about Mrs Ginello. Maybe they might zero in on her abilities. We have to contact the Knights and inform them on what we believe is coming their way,” Ethan answered.

“Why would they believe us?” Rafe asked.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Jude asked in confusion. “Our engagement with the Knights on the last mission was based on mutual trust and co-operation. I have no doubt that Gabe will heed what we say.”

Rafe tried to not let the confusion show on his face and yet he felt Becca and Caleb’s equally confused stares directed at him. When had they worked together with the Knights? He remembered the last mission, but the only Knights he had interacted with had either been the Untouchables or the former Knights.

Jude continued, “I want all of you to be on full alert over the next few weeks. Even when you are out on missions, I want you to execute them quickly and return to the compound. We’re safer when we’re together. As of today, all our borders will be secured so we will know whether anyone enters uninvited. We have cameras installed just about everywhere and it will be constantly monitored. These Untouchables are very knowledgeable about the Knights and Knight town so we have to assume that they might be knowledgeable about our compound. Keep an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious and use your abilities wisely.”

With the Young Hunters being dismissed, Jude and Ethan composed the mail to Gabe stating the scenarios they had envisaged and the intel they had gathered. While they were busy with this, Jude’s mind wandered to his eldest son. Rafe’s broken heart seemed to be confusing him, rendering him less focussed, he thought. He would have to ask Caleb to keep an eye on his brother.

At breakfast the next morning, Caleb reflected on the conversation he had had with his brother the day before, after the meeting at the control centre. Rafe had grabbed his arm to stop him as they walked back and had asked him, “Have you noticed anything different about me these last few weeks?”

Caleb had always been truthful with his brother and his response was no different. “Yes, you seem a bit off. You’ve been saying things that don’t make sense and you’re less focussed. If we were attacked a few weeks ago, you would have been in danger because you didn’t move as fast, weren’t as sharp, but you’ve improved and seem to be getting better.” Rafe closed his eyes at that. He would have placed the entire compound at risk if that had happened. What was wrong with him?

“What have I been saying that doesn’t make sense?” he asked instead.

“Well, you seem to be highly distrustful of the Knights suddenly and I’m not sure what has happened to bring that about because bro, a month ago, we worked side by side with them to defeat the condemned Untouchables,” Caleb responded.

Rafe shook his head. “When Dad mentioned that just now, I didn’t know what he was talking about. I can’t remember that, though I remember the mission. How is that possible?”

“Have you been feeling different recently?” Caleb asked.

“I had a headache a while back which seemed like a migraine. Since then, I’ve had this constant dull ache, but otherwise I haven’t felt any different.”

Caleb didn’t like the worried look on his brother’s face. Rafe was normally the one to make things right. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this,” Caleb promised his brother. “I’m going to watch you like a hawk, or more accurately, like a Hunter!”

An hour later, Caleb had a similar conversation with his father who asked him to watch out for Rafe. That had never ever happened before, Caleb realised, so Jude must really be worried.

Ava found her youngest son at the breakfast table, chewing his cereal in deep thought. A second later, Rafe and Jude joined them. Jude filled them all in on Ethan’s discussion with Mayor Strong, the Normal who usually served as a liaison between the Hunters and the outside world.

“Mayor Strong says that Knight town is in lock down and the Guardians are not even taking any messages, not from Normals anyway.”

Caleb stood up and said, “Let’s email Matthew and Eden then.”

Within a few minutes, Caleb had sent the email to Eden. He didn’t expect a return message immediately, but he would be notified as soon as she responded.

Back in Knight town, Gabe had been bringing the rest of his family up to date on his findings when an excited Eden ran into the lounge, laptop in hand.

“Sorry to interrupt, Father, but you have to hear this. The Hunters have sent me a mail. They do have more information than us, and they believe that the Untouchables could be planning on invading their compound as well!”

They all quickly read Jude’s message which made sense to them and brought about great concern to Gabe. If the Hunters’ compound was attacked by the Untouchables, then Jude might not hesitate to seek vengeance against all the Knights.

As if reading his thoughts, Matthew remarked, “The Hunters know that it will be the Untouchables attacking them which would be none of our doing, so I wouldn’t expect any retribution from them. Jude is too smart to fall for that.” Grace nodded in agreement for she knew this to be true.

“They want to understand the abilities of Lucia Ginello’s parents and of the Zolfars who might be trying to join the Untouchables team.”

“Well, Kyra, take Nate and extract that information immediately. Send it to the Hunters once you have it. Eden, let us know if they respond. My gut tells me not to share this information with anyone within Knight town right now,” Gabe confided. For some odd reason, Grace shared her husband’s sentiment.

Back at the Hunters’ compound, Caleb received a response from Eden.

That was quick, he thought. Maybe the Knights are also on high alert.

“Dad, Uncle Ethan,” Caleb said as he entered the control room. “We have a response. Seems as if you were correct about the Zolfar’s abilities and Eden adds that they were both highly respected and were considered a huge loss when they chose to live amongst the Normals. Mrs Ginello’s parents were apparently the last of their kind to leave Knight town, in terms of their abilities. The Cleaners removed their memories of being Knights, but not of each other since they were involved.” Caleb showed his father the mail.

“They were Blockers!” Jude exclaimed. “My father used to speak about them – Blockers could render most abilities useless, but they could only focus on one ability at a time, so if they were trying to block one’s ability to track, they couldn’t block Sensors at the same time. They were powerful once and only existed amongst the Knights. Hunters can only block Knights and the Untouchables from reading us and if any Knight is with us, they can’t be tracked, but Blockers can temporarily kill any ability.”

“You think Mrs Ginello is a Blocker as well?” Caleb asked.

“If both her parents were Blockers, she could have inherited that ability, even if her parents were cleaned of theirs. And, given her lineage, she could be super powerful. Which could mean so many things,” Ethan added worriedly.

“Such as….?”

“Such as their ability to hide someone in plain sight. The Knights can’t track Noah because she could have blocked their ability to do so,” Ethan explained.

“Which means… we have to let the Knights know,” Jude announced.

Within 15 minutes of sending her response, Eden received an urgent mail from Caleb that had her head spinning. She was still in the lounge with her family and knew that the contents of the mail would shock them.

“Father, Caleb says that based on the information we just sent them, Jude senses that Noah could still be in Knight town! We can’t track him because Mrs Ginello could be blocking our tracking abilities!”

“So, he’s waiting like the proverbial Trojan Horse to launch an attack from within!”