Summary
There are Vampire Slayers. And then there are Werewolf Watchers. Neither one of them have the challenges of a Cryptid Hunter.
Strange events began to occur the strange night of a hostage situation. Afterward it appears nothing has happen until about a year later when Wynona Littleowl has finally passed her test to becoming a Cryptid Hunter. Maybe it was by chance or maybe it was because of fate--but from that moment on everything escalated into a war all because several hundreds of Hunters go rogue joining the forces that they try to beat down to create world change. Information of several broke stones as reached the ears of the leader to their revolution. It was the last stone broken down from the Tower of Babel hidden all over the world to be guarded by fearsome creature for whoever combined all the stones together with a little sacrifice--they could create world chaos in ways nobody ever imagined.
Strange events began to occur the strange night of a hostage situation. Afterward it appears nothing has happen until about a year later when Wynona Littleowl has finally passed her test to becoming a Cryptid Hunter. Maybe it was by chance or maybe it was because of fate--but from that moment on everything escalated into a war all because several hundreds of Hunters go rogue joining the forces that they try to beat down to create world change. Information of several broke stones as reached the ears of the leader to their revolution. It was the last stone broken down from the Tower of Babel hidden all over the world to be guarded by fearsome creature for whoever combined all the stones together with a little sacrifice--they could create world chaos in ways nobody ever imagined.
Excerpt from Chapter One
Chapter One
Something flickered in and out of Wynona’s sight while she stood amongst the strangest graves. Trees crouched around her while axes were sprawled across the ground marking the deaths of lumberjacks back to the nineteenth century. Her fingers dug into the palm of her hand while she stared forward at a crooked tree that reached toward her. It’s branches clawed the ground while leaves danced on a non-existent wind. She closed her eyes for a split second trying to recall all the facts that she learned for this day. This one day.
Finally she was twelve and she was afraid she might loose everything in a couple seconds.
Wynona’s eyes flickered open to catch sight of a shadow that was already gone before she could turn to look at her enemy. “Hidebehind,” she whispered to herself no longer able to contain such thoughts. “Hidebehind, the shadow that you see in the corner of your eye, but when you turn to see what it is—it’s gone. They’re always hiding behind something. Known to attack lumberjacks who wander into their territory...” She trailed away trying to recall how she was supposed to stop a hidebehind from murdering. “The territory that I’m standing in…”
Something approached her and she dropped to her knees grabbing onto one of the axes. Right before the hidebehind could crash into her, she swung the weapon into it. A screech tore her eardrums apart. She hoped to see the hidebehind drop into sight but even in death, it found something to hide behind. For a few seconds longer, Wynona paused waiting for another shadow to flicker to life or was that it. Her brother, Patrick, passed this test so many years before and it was the same for her sister, Dale. Although apparently her sister failed because she was unlike the rest of them—powerless.
“Olly olly oxen free!” she shouted at the trees. “I’m waiting.” Nothing moved. She started to back away dropping the axe while chuckling. Wynona scanned the area to see if there was anything moving that would help her accomplish her test. She half expected for somebody to pop out from in between the trees to congratulate her. Nothing. Nope. Nothing at all.
When nobody came she fell against a tree and stared at the axes that cluttered the area. It seemed impossible to start counting how many lives were lost. Wynona couldn’t even comprehend it. Death was always apparent but never quite like this. Something started to move close by. She rose to her feet, bracing for battle. This was a good time to thank her parents. Thanks to mom and dad she was super speed and super strength especially compared to the rest of the human population. But to other Cryptid Hunters, she was almost nothing, it was the same when it came to comparing herself to Werewolf Watchers and Vampire Slayers. Whatever charged toward her came a lot faster than she expected. In the blink of an eye something came up behind her wrapping an arm or maybe a leg around her throat. There was no recorded accounts of a hidebehind and there never would be. She was about to be killed by one never looking into the face of her killer.
“Captain Kirk! Captain!” she started to shout trying to roll her head far enough to stare into the eyes of the hidebehind. Her gaze almost caught sight of the shadow but it slipped away into hiding. Short of breath, Wynona collapsed landing on her knees. She kept her hand pressed over her throat, not sure if there was anything to be said. Whatever attacked her lurked behind a tree somewhere ready to attack again. She rolled to her feet, darting across the clearing to grab an axe. With a weapon in her hand she had more of a chance to survive when it came to battling a hidebehind.
Wynona cleared her mind while she stared at the ground calling upon her peripheral vision. Maybe it was a bad idea to start kids out in the field when they turned twelve. Her sister took the test and almost died—turned out, she was only human. At least she knew for a fact that she was strong but still a little weak compared to a lot of her other classmates and other Hunters such as her beloved brother. The thought of her family was what kept her clinging onto life when the same shadow flickered to life darting behind tree after tree.
“Here we go,” she whispered to herself.
She swung the axe around, it sliced through air only to crash into a tree. Something hit her knocking her into another tree. Bark split while the tree violently shook. Leaves showered over her almost covering her vision giving the hidebehind any chance to attack. There was no reason to hide when the victim couldn’t see the attacker. She moved at what she considered the speed of light heading straight toward the hidebehind only for her captain to run before her. He grabbed onto her pushing her backwards before he flung his other hand forward. This hidebehind shrieked like the other. For a second, she caught a glimpse of the creature when her captain somehow threw the creature backwards without ever laying a finger on its body.
“Captain Kirk!” exclaimed Wynona.
He turned around to face her while chuckling. There was no sign of the hidebehind because once again—it found someplace to hide. Today was not the day somebody captured the first image of the creature. Instead, she turned to face the handsome creature before her. Even at twelve she knew that her captain was a good looking guy. In her opinion, the best in all of the Cryptid Hunters, which her sister would agree with. He had personality, too along with smarts even though he was extremely corny but that came with a name like Tiberius Kirk.
“That was interesting,” he said.
Wynona nodded while she tried to hold her jaw shut. He stood there looking as gallant as ever especially with his slight southern accent. Tiberius had a mess of dark hair hanging around his round face and what she considered “understanding” deep brown wells for eyes. He carefully watched her observing her every move, which was the air moving in and out of her chest while she gawked at him. What a lucky girl she was since her official crush would now have to spend almost every moment of his day to train her to become the best Hunter she could. Life was good
“Did I pass?” Wynona finally asked.
“With flying colors, I guess you could say,” replied Tiberius pulling out his cell phone. He snapped it open without even dialing a number he reached the one person he wanted. “Salve Orwell.”
“I don’t know what salve means,” she replied.
“It’s hello in Latin and with a Roman name like Tiberius—I thought it worked.”
“I thought you were named after a character in some stupid TV show?”
“Salve Orwell! Just wanted to let you know that your lovely little sister has passed. You should be proud and tell your idiot brother what happened.”
“My brother isn’t an idiot,” protested Wynona.
“Yes, yes he is.”
“Tell Dale that I said hi.”
“Um hold on. The most important rule, we talk to either Orwell or Oracle. Orwell being your sister because she’s like Big Brother and knows everything while Oracle can predict the future. She’s getting old though so we rarely hear from her,” corrected Tiberius. “Don’t call her Dale because that’s her real name and your breaking the most important rule.”
“I thought stay alive was the most important…” whispered Wynona.
“No, that’s the third most important rule,” shrugged Tiberius.
“What’s the second?”
“Admiring my looks—of course.”
“Isn’t that a little conceited?” Wynona asked cocking her head to the side.
“Isn’t that word a little too big for you?” he replied.
“What?”
“I’m only kidding. Hubris leads to your death—always. In other words, Wynona Littlowl don’t you ever become a bluenose bozo.”
“What?!”
“What I’m trying to say is when you start thinking you’re all hotsy-totsy you better hit the road before Zeus decides he wants to kill you. I guess—the number one rule is don’t be arrogant then stay alive and then call your sister Orwell instead of Dale.” When he stopped, he left Wynona staring at him in more disbelief instead of in aw. “…Good job, Wynona. You rock. Congratulations on becoming a Shadow Hunter—I named our team all by myself.”
“I don’t understand what you just said. It was like you were talking in Spanish to me. Can we go now?” she asked.
“Of course but we still have to wait a few seconds for the chopper to arrive.”
“A chopper as in a helicopter is picking us up?!”
“It’s in celebration of your pure awesome-ness.”
Wynona started to squeal jumping up and down. She couldn’t think of anything happier then this moment. Before she had seen people flown around on helicopters because they were super special like Patrick, her brother would return with his mentor Joss. “Oh my cheese fries! Oh my cheese fries! This is-this is just too amazing. A helicopter!”
Curious and want to see what happens next? Check out Approaching Night on Inkpop
Something flickered in and out of Wynona’s sight while she stood amongst the strangest graves. Trees crouched around her while axes were sprawled across the ground marking the deaths of lumberjacks back to the nineteenth century. Her fingers dug into the palm of her hand while she stared forward at a crooked tree that reached toward her. It’s branches clawed the ground while leaves danced on a non-existent wind. She closed her eyes for a split second trying to recall all the facts that she learned for this day. This one day.
Finally she was twelve and she was afraid she might loose everything in a couple seconds.
Wynona’s eyes flickered open to catch sight of a shadow that was already gone before she could turn to look at her enemy. “Hidebehind,” she whispered to herself no longer able to contain such thoughts. “Hidebehind, the shadow that you see in the corner of your eye, but when you turn to see what it is—it’s gone. They’re always hiding behind something. Known to attack lumberjacks who wander into their territory...” She trailed away trying to recall how she was supposed to stop a hidebehind from murdering. “The territory that I’m standing in…”
Something approached her and she dropped to her knees grabbing onto one of the axes. Right before the hidebehind could crash into her, she swung the weapon into it. A screech tore her eardrums apart. She hoped to see the hidebehind drop into sight but even in death, it found something to hide behind. For a few seconds longer, Wynona paused waiting for another shadow to flicker to life or was that it. Her brother, Patrick, passed this test so many years before and it was the same for her sister, Dale. Although apparently her sister failed because she was unlike the rest of them—powerless.
“Olly olly oxen free!” she shouted at the trees. “I’m waiting.” Nothing moved. She started to back away dropping the axe while chuckling. Wynona scanned the area to see if there was anything moving that would help her accomplish her test. She half expected for somebody to pop out from in between the trees to congratulate her. Nothing. Nope. Nothing at all.
When nobody came she fell against a tree and stared at the axes that cluttered the area. It seemed impossible to start counting how many lives were lost. Wynona couldn’t even comprehend it. Death was always apparent but never quite like this. Something started to move close by. She rose to her feet, bracing for battle. This was a good time to thank her parents. Thanks to mom and dad she was super speed and super strength especially compared to the rest of the human population. But to other Cryptid Hunters, she was almost nothing, it was the same when it came to comparing herself to Werewolf Watchers and Vampire Slayers. Whatever charged toward her came a lot faster than she expected. In the blink of an eye something came up behind her wrapping an arm or maybe a leg around her throat. There was no recorded accounts of a hidebehind and there never would be. She was about to be killed by one never looking into the face of her killer.
“Captain Kirk! Captain!” she started to shout trying to roll her head far enough to stare into the eyes of the hidebehind. Her gaze almost caught sight of the shadow but it slipped away into hiding. Short of breath, Wynona collapsed landing on her knees. She kept her hand pressed over her throat, not sure if there was anything to be said. Whatever attacked her lurked behind a tree somewhere ready to attack again. She rolled to her feet, darting across the clearing to grab an axe. With a weapon in her hand she had more of a chance to survive when it came to battling a hidebehind.
Wynona cleared her mind while she stared at the ground calling upon her peripheral vision. Maybe it was a bad idea to start kids out in the field when they turned twelve. Her sister took the test and almost died—turned out, she was only human. At least she knew for a fact that she was strong but still a little weak compared to a lot of her other classmates and other Hunters such as her beloved brother. The thought of her family was what kept her clinging onto life when the same shadow flickered to life darting behind tree after tree.
“Here we go,” she whispered to herself.
She swung the axe around, it sliced through air only to crash into a tree. Something hit her knocking her into another tree. Bark split while the tree violently shook. Leaves showered over her almost covering her vision giving the hidebehind any chance to attack. There was no reason to hide when the victim couldn’t see the attacker. She moved at what she considered the speed of light heading straight toward the hidebehind only for her captain to run before her. He grabbed onto her pushing her backwards before he flung his other hand forward. This hidebehind shrieked like the other. For a second, she caught a glimpse of the creature when her captain somehow threw the creature backwards without ever laying a finger on its body.
“Captain Kirk!” exclaimed Wynona.
He turned around to face her while chuckling. There was no sign of the hidebehind because once again—it found someplace to hide. Today was not the day somebody captured the first image of the creature. Instead, she turned to face the handsome creature before her. Even at twelve she knew that her captain was a good looking guy. In her opinion, the best in all of the Cryptid Hunters, which her sister would agree with. He had personality, too along with smarts even though he was extremely corny but that came with a name like Tiberius Kirk.
“That was interesting,” he said.
Wynona nodded while she tried to hold her jaw shut. He stood there looking as gallant as ever especially with his slight southern accent. Tiberius had a mess of dark hair hanging around his round face and what she considered “understanding” deep brown wells for eyes. He carefully watched her observing her every move, which was the air moving in and out of her chest while she gawked at him. What a lucky girl she was since her official crush would now have to spend almost every moment of his day to train her to become the best Hunter she could. Life was good
“Did I pass?” Wynona finally asked.
“With flying colors, I guess you could say,” replied Tiberius pulling out his cell phone. He snapped it open without even dialing a number he reached the one person he wanted. “Salve Orwell.”
“I don’t know what salve means,” she replied.
“It’s hello in Latin and with a Roman name like Tiberius—I thought it worked.”
“I thought you were named after a character in some stupid TV show?”
“Salve Orwell! Just wanted to let you know that your lovely little sister has passed. You should be proud and tell your idiot brother what happened.”
“My brother isn’t an idiot,” protested Wynona.
“Yes, yes he is.”
“Tell Dale that I said hi.”
“Um hold on. The most important rule, we talk to either Orwell or Oracle. Orwell being your sister because she’s like Big Brother and knows everything while Oracle can predict the future. She’s getting old though so we rarely hear from her,” corrected Tiberius. “Don’t call her Dale because that’s her real name and your breaking the most important rule.”
“I thought stay alive was the most important…” whispered Wynona.
“No, that’s the third most important rule,” shrugged Tiberius.
“What’s the second?”
“Admiring my looks—of course.”
“Isn’t that a little conceited?” Wynona asked cocking her head to the side.
“Isn’t that word a little too big for you?” he replied.
“What?”
“I’m only kidding. Hubris leads to your death—always. In other words, Wynona Littlowl don’t you ever become a bluenose bozo.”
“What?!”
“What I’m trying to say is when you start thinking you’re all hotsy-totsy you better hit the road before Zeus decides he wants to kill you. I guess—the number one rule is don’t be arrogant then stay alive and then call your sister Orwell instead of Dale.” When he stopped, he left Wynona staring at him in more disbelief instead of in aw. “…Good job, Wynona. You rock. Congratulations on becoming a Shadow Hunter—I named our team all by myself.”
“I don’t understand what you just said. It was like you were talking in Spanish to me. Can we go now?” she asked.
“Of course but we still have to wait a few seconds for the chopper to arrive.”
“A chopper as in a helicopter is picking us up?!”
“It’s in celebration of your pure awesome-ness.”
Wynona started to squeal jumping up and down. She couldn’t think of anything happier then this moment. Before she had seen people flown around on helicopters because they were super special like Patrick, her brother would return with his mentor Joss. “Oh my cheese fries! Oh my cheese fries! This is-this is just too amazing. A helicopter!”
Curious and want to see what happens next? Check out Approaching Night on Inkpop
