I knew the reflection but I didn?t want to.

A nose that would always be too big. A Cro-Magnon forehead. Eyebrows that, no matter how I waxed, would end up being a singular eyebrow if I didn?t tend them. And these shoulders.

These God damned shoulders that would never let me look like a Pitt or McConaughey.

I couldn?t tell when or where I had learned this.

And it stared right back at me. In the face.

Drunk as I could get, high as I could get, in the morning the stubble that came back seemingly right after I shaved, and eyes too dark to be called brown, and always too small to be anything but beady, greeted me.

?You again.? I said as disappointed as I could muster, white still caked beneath my nostril.

?You. Again and again and again.?

I don?t know what I expected. It had been almost 72 hours since I?d slept. And no matter how long I stayed awake and checked the reflection never changed. My eyes were rung out. My skin held that greasy sheen from too much body oil and not enough soap.

The room was too nice but I was making good money beating people up for organized crime and not for sport.

I don?t know when it all started.

But I knew for sure how it would end.

I?d lost it all. I knew it. My own mistakes. My own self-loathing. My own fears and insecurities.

They?d never gone away.

When Cavs offered me the ability to become a superhero, and one of the world?s only, I jumped at the chance. The ceremony was steeped in secrecy and traditions I?d never seen before. ??for this is my blood.? The priests chanted. I took a sip from the cup but the candles didn?t light the room quite right. I swore the wine in the chalice was too thick. But it was sweet.

I fell asleep for a few days. And when I woke up Cavanaugh explained the details.

?You?ll be stronger, faster, more agile and damn hard to kill Jo.? I looked around for the bottle I always had handy and picked it up. ?And you won?t be able to get drunk. But you don?t have to worry. You?ll never feel a withdrawal symptom ever again. Your body heals quickly. Remember??

I spent the first few days chugging bottle after bottle with no effect.

After that the only thing that made it better was fighting. Which the Masons were more than happy to train me how to do. Various styles. Various weapons. I sparred every day with another poor sap who left the ring bruised and battered. I threw myself into it with a renewed vigor. I barely ever got tired but the adrenaline rush became better than any bender.

For years I?d been an addict and they took it all away with a magical snap of their fingers.

Too bad things were never that simple.

?If things turn and not as they were seen, I will have the letter burned and send another while you rest. If you remember what happens this will forever be between us. Not your wife, girlfriend, best friend, master, between us." The witch was really insistent on this and I couldn?t blame her. I wanted this to stay between me and her as much as she wanted it to.

So I nodded.

"Most a my life has been a secret darlin'. Yer secret is safe with me.? And as heartfelt as I could manage. ?Thank you.?

The torches in the long stone hallway lit suddenly, leading to the end of the doorway where I could see the night sky and a fire burning in the distance. Hypnotized I walked forward uncertainly.

?Please come with me.?

I wasn?t ready to face them.

But I had to.

We went from underground to the midnight sky and a fire raging not too far off into the distance. The burning embers smelled heavy of wood. The air tasted like summer. My eyes were pulled to the rage of undulating flames. In the distance was a cathedral that looked like the forest had decided to pay homage to the trees.

As we got closer the fire started to smell different. Like winter mixed with wild flowers and the sea.

I took in a deep breath and had to stop.

What was this?

The hedge maze stood at least a few stories high in front of me. I didn?t know if I was ready for this. But I had to be.

?You?re coming with me?? I felt like a boy facing his nightmares come to life as I turned to look at her.

?Yes, I will be there with you. You cannot walk through the fires without an escort. And your secrets will be safe with me.?

She was holding a dagger and I looked down at it. ?Do I need to arm myself??

She shook her head. ?There is no way to arm yourself, you will have to...? She held it out so I could see it. ?Someone has to open the gate, and you aren?t strong enough.? Then pulled it back towards her.

?I have an idea of what I have to do. I know I have to come to face some things I?ve never wanted ta face before. Ta fight demons that aren?t the enemy of everyone but my own. And ta?? I exhaled and paused, unable to say it above a whisper. ?Ta let go.?

Everything was gone again in a rush. The trees gone for desert sand. The fires were only fading red daylight over the horizon of a highway. The constant thrum of the Bronco?s engine was loud in all of its gas guzzling power. No AC, only the windows down to blow scalding hot air in our faces. When I turned to look sideways my vantage point was short. Too short. And mom was in the driver?s seat instead of me. It had been a long time since that had happened.

?But I liked it there.? The whine came from my lips even though I didn?t speak it. The words formed in a high pitched voice I hadn?t spoken with in so long it was foreign to me.

Mom was young again but her brow still creased with worry. ?Jo, I don?t want to hear that.? She looked through her bifocals back out the windshield. ?Again.?

?But I did. I had friends again!? Was I really this whiny sounding as a 9 year old? I caught my reflection in the sideview. The little boy in the fires. The only difference was he had hazel eyes and lighter hair.

?Jo, I don?t want to hear this again. The school was starting to ask for your records. We know we can?t give them over. And no one believes you?re as old as your birth certificate says you are because you refuse to learn anything or do your homework. All you ever want to do is fight the other kids. How could you have friends there? You beat all those kids up.?

The lump in my throat stayed constant. But now I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. She didn?t know! They always wanted to fight the new kid who looked like a little Mexican child in the middle of nowhere Arizona. I fought them because they hated my dark skin and dark features. I fought because they gave me no other choice.

But she didn?t and wouldn?t ever understand.

?Why can?t we just go home to dad and Baba Jarid? Why? I want to see them.?

?Don?t start Jo. I don?t want to hear this again. I?m doing what?s best for you. Some day you?ll understand.?

I hated her for having to do what was best for me.

And she couldn?t love me. Not when she made me suffer. Not when she kept me away from my two favorite superheroes all the time.

Why was I thinking these things? A grown ass-man with mommy issues?

But I wasn?t grown. I was a kid. My knees were knobby and my legs skinny and dark. And I was rocking a bowl cut like nobody?s business.

I sniffled and pulled my hand away from rubbing my eyes. Be a man you big giant vagina! Life isn?t easy.

But as hard as I tried, even back then, I wasn?t.

The fire came back into view.

The tears were still salty on my tongue and fresh on my cheeks. The statue of the little boy was me now. More recognizable when the world came back to where I was. I could see the mile wide chip on my shoulder and defensive stance. And the sadness.

?You were trying to do what was best for me.?

?I understand now.?

I took those steps forward, through the flames. Behind me Ella was singing prayers to gods the worlds had long forgotten. Singing songs that came from the earth, from the root of the worlds, from the root of creation.

I made it through to the other side. Unscathed.

I swirled, and swirled, and sunk, circling, circumambulating, hovering at the drain.

Then I saw the fires again.

It wasn?t vomit or urine soaked bed sheets. Or the police and paramedics that were called with a frantic 911 call from Faye. It was sweet sweet recognition. Sweet sweet breath deep down into my lungs. Another part of the visions from the fires.

But the statue was moving. Eyes rung out and tired as it looked. Made of stone its chest rose and fell. Bruises on its face it started coming at me with all the textbook basic boxing moves I?d learned as a kid.

Too bad for it I?d grown a lot since then.

The dagger. I felt it cold in my hand. And started slashing while the stone me started bobbing beneath my strikes. It wasn?t me. Not anymore. There weren?t as many lines in his face. And the grin he wore was way too empty.

?It?s time for you??

I feigned a downward slash. He bit trying to come up and around on me Mike Tyson style with a cross.

But I knew this move. I had $%^&ing trademarked it long time ago.

He was wide open.

My elbow bent, and with all the force I could muster through my shoulder and triceps I plunged it down into the center of the left pectoral.

?To die!?

I secured both hands on the hilt, twisted, and kicked the statue straight in the gut with the bottom of my sandaled foot. It tumbled backward, bleeding while the fire grew even bigger.

?It?s what you wanted.?

I stepped over the bloody statue and it melted in the fires.

An old man stepped forward and handed me a breast plate while we stood, watching the statue melt. ?For your fight not against flesh and blood, but against all the darkness of this world and forced evil. Therefore put upon yourself the full armor of God.? Another, from the East, handed me a belt. ?Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness.?

Bitching.

Then from the South. This spirit a child holding a shield, helmet, and sword. ?Take the helmet to protect your mind, the shield to ward off evil, and the sword of spirit.?

Now I was ready for the fight of my life.

I was little. A lot younger than in that first vision. And dad?s nose was broken. At least it looked like it was. It bled profusely. I was almost beside myself in tears while a police officer tried to calm me down. His partner was interviewing my father.

?Can I tell my son I?m alright?? Head tipped back, and a blood soaked rag in hand, he clutched it tight.

It wasn?t until then I realized that the old man towered over everyone, even the police officers. My reference of perspective was skewed as a kid. I always thought of him as a giant. But he was. Even in their uniforms and vests dad?s torso was impressive, and his forearms thick with muscle and veins. He?d come to a dead stop on a side street in Downtown Sac when he saw two men attacking one outside of a bar in the mid-afternoon. Shouting at me to stay in the car.

Peacefully, I remembered while I was sniffling and the cop was doing a terrible job of trying to get me to stop. He had tried to do it with his words until they turned on him. In seconds there were two shorter, stupider guys on the ground, while the third took off running.

I didn?t understand what the adults said. But dad came over, took the rag away from his nose. It was straight again, and with one final wipe all the blood was gone, along with the laceration over the bridge. He winked at me and tossed the rag back to the medic.

On the way home he looked at me in the rearview mirror still sniffling and choking on small sobs.

?What those men were doing wasn?t right Jo.? His voice always boomed when he spoke, commanding, demanding. As a kid he didn?t have to do anything but utter the word stop, or give me a look, and I would.

?If one had a problem with the other then they should have given him a fair fight.?

?But why did you have to stop daddy? You didn?t know that other man.?

?Because it?s just as wrong to sit back and do nothing while you?re watching something unfair go down than it is to be the one committing the act. And you saw how easy it was for me to help. So why shouldn?t I when someone needs it??

?But you got hurt.? The last world made my world crumble and the tears fell again.

?Sometimes that?s the risk you take. And it?s okay. I?m okay now. My nose doesn?t hurt at all. But the guilt from sitting back and doing nothing??

The turn signal made a clicking noise just before we turned down the road to our street and into our driveway.

?That would never go away. Now don?t tell your ma about this. Or she?ll kill me.?

He smiled through that black and white beard.

He was always my favorite hero.

Blink.

I was an absolute beast when they finally let me off the leash.

I was so damn good at this it was sickening. Good enough that the Masons were going to give me some time off. In the first time in what they claimed was the history of the Hunter, I had earned some R and R.

I decided to spend it back in Sacramento. Dad retired and never left. He kept the house I grew up in passably clean, with a bigger bed in my old bedroom.

Locally I knew the best kabobs in town were at a place named Best Kabob, and I had a craving.

When I walked in she sat there. By herself, munching on fresh cooked lavash that Best Kabob made with their own special stone and all. A book in hand.

There was something about her creamy skin that had me intrigued. Something about the way she, without fear, sat at a table all by her lonesome when there would have been a line out the door of guys willing to take her to lunch. A ring check came back negative.

Countdown started.

By this time most people were addicted to their cell phones. But she was reading ?The Looking Glass Wars? and didn?t give two @#$%s.

I waited for the host to greet me. She set the book down. Two chameleon colored gems shone bright, and she smiled at me.

Teeth check clear sir.

We are go.

I did what any brash, impetuous, arrogant SOB would in that moment.

I sat down at her table like she was waiting for me.

?Scuse me miss, are your legs tired??

They were nice. I had noticed that. She wore a colorful sundress and I probably was already drooling over what it showed in the cut. Even in the harsh dust bowl sun her skin looked like, naturally, it never saw the sun.

?Because you?ve been runnin? through my mind all day long.?

She laughed.

We have liftoff.

Blink.

I had a love/hate relationship with airports now.

They took me away from her.

But they also brought us together.

This wasn't such a bad time, I thought as I waited, she'd land and we'd get the next few days to spend with each other.

Blink.

Wait, no, why the fires? Put me back. I want to go back.

Why did I want to go back?

I knew what was coming next. We were going to learn that hard lesson only experience could teach you.

We were going to learn that love itself wasn't enough to keep two people together.

Blink.

She had told me not to park but I did. I'd pay the couple a bucks to help her with her luggage and be able to bring her flowers so everyone else could see. I'd put my hands on her recently protruding stomach and kiss her inappropriately.

I waited and waited after her flight arrived. An hour. Two. All passengers were off the plane but she was nowhere to be found. In a panic I flipped my cell open and dialed.

The ringing stopped and I heard breathing on the other end.

"It's too much Jo."

"I know doll. I know. What I do ain't easy ta cope wit'. Ya got yerself a difficult road ahead a ya."

"No, it's not that. I can't look over my shoulder when it gets dark. All the time. I can't sleep most nights when you're not home and even when you are I lay awake. What kind of parent am I bringing a child into a world full of monsters that no one knows about?"

"Just like every other parent out there doll. Just in tha know. And with tha one guy on tha planet who can definitely keep ya safe."

"But that's the thing. You're never here. You're always off somewhere else. Most times you can't even call and tell me where you are. I only find out you were somewhere like Morocco or China after the fact."

I felt the sting because it had happened in that year since we got engaged. More than once.

"Tha Masons keep ya safe darlin'. They watch after ya when I'm not around. There are a few incantations around tha apartment that won't let anythin' in. And just like I taught ya. A Sucker can't come inside unless ya invite them."

"But what about you? What about your safety?"

"Tha Blessing doll. Remember how I showed ya? It makes it so I'm damn hard ta kill."

"Damn hard, but not impossible. You could be dead and I'd never know it."

She had this habit of being right that I was starting to hate.

"That's fine. But these are things ya coulda told me when we was talkin' about ya comin' out here ta see me. Or even yesterday before you was supposed ta."

"I'm here. I just thought you were going to send Cavanaugh to get me again. Or tell me to catch a cab. Where are you?"

My heart dropped. I looked up at one of those monitors and realized I had the wrong gate.

"I'm coming. Don't go far."

I knocked over an unsuspecting tourist and pushed out the door.

Blink.

The building loomed with multiple wings, straight out of Roman times.

Right in the heart of DC.

When I stepped in the guards and secretary waved me past to the elevators. The first I took the lowest level, then I headed to a corner. My thumb print on a black tile opened up an iris scanner. I adjusted my head so it would flash light into my eye. The wall groaned loud as steel bolts opened and it swung backward.

Men dressed in black combat suits approached, automatic rifles leveled at my head.

?C?mon Jay. Bill. S?just me.?

?We know Jo. But it?s protocol. Father??

A thin man in a frock stepped forward and passed a Bible over my head. He chanted something in Latin I was never going to understand. I shivered, even though I?d been through this a hundred times by now. He opened his eyes and his pupils overtook the entirety of his irises. That always unnerved me.

?Jochin. It?s so good to see you again.?

?You too Monsignor. How?s tha big guy upstairs been treatin? ya these days? Tell ya anythin? more insightful about my next mission??

Jay and Bill relaxed and waved us both through.

?Yes. We have a task for you.?

Torches only lit these hallways of ancient stone. Cut from what Cavanaugh had told me long ago was medieval France. And brought, stone by stone, by ship, to the U.S. before the revolution. Then buried again beneath this building.

We stepped into a random room where two of the Monsignor?s priestly underlings stood in front of an odd?I couldn?t explain it. Two crescents sculpted from gold stood a few feet apart. And steps led to the opening in this circle. Candles only lit the room.

And sitting, waiting for me, was Ed Cavanaugh.

?Cavs. What?s tha word on tha prostate these days? Bigger or smaller??

The man was unflappable. He just smiled at me like I was his grandson and came over to lead me to a seat.

?This is really important Jo.? His voice matched his demeanor. Always like I was 5 and he was teaching me how to fish.

?Sipen is gone. Literally. Haven?t heard from him in months. No one has even seen him.?

?That?s a good thing?? I looked between the three holy men present, trying to get them to agree with me.

?No, it?s not.? Cavs sat down at the other side of the table and put his hands out. He was short. And always carried a medical quad-cane. ?It means he?s gone somewhere we?ve never had to go.?

My eyebrows bunched. Somewhere the Freemasons had never gone? After we had gone straight to North Korea three separate times without issue? After all the times we?d literally been to Hell and back?

?Wait, are we going ta tha seventh level again? Jeez Cavs, ya know we could buy a vacation home there by now.?

?No Jo. It?s somewhere that?s not on the map. It crosses the boundaries of this reality and touches all of them.?

What?!

I didn?t say it out loud but I sat forward and put my jaw into my hand. He unrolled a map and showed me.

?There?s a place that connects all the realities. We?ve never been able to get there from here. Not without space technology we?re just not capable of. It?s called Rhy?din.?

?Better or worse than Hell??

?This is where we think Sipen?s gone. But only to hide. The problem is the rules are different here. Vampires walk around in the open with their fangs out. There are other..things there that we?re not too sure about. Humans that they live with. Some reports say dragons.?

?So how do we get there boss??

?The Priests have figured out a way to open a portal for a very short time. Sipen?s figured out a way go incognito there and stay in touch with Earth. He?s calling all the shots from a different dimension and we can?t do anything to cut these communiqu?s off. But the good thing about it is he?s only got clout and pull in the capital city proper. Shouldn?t be too hard. We go in, gather info, and take him out. Then come home.?

?Sounds too easy boss. What?s tha catch??

?It?d only be me and you there. No hope for back-up until we can get operations established and recruit."

?Been workin? by myself fer years now Cavs. Only ever really needed help from tha cavalry in dire situations. We should be okay. Won't even take more than a week or two. You'll see.? I kicked my boots on the table and put my hands behind my head.

?When do we leave??

?Tonight.?

We were already on shaky ground. There was no way I was going to be able to explain this to her.

Blink

The cell was familiar now. In fact I should have started calling it home. The Watch was either really lucky or really good at what they did. Because somehow I ended up here more often than not. Maybe I was doing it just to see her. Caramel skin. Killer legs. Great smile.

I'd have to move on eventually, right?

Blink.

The fires frothed. Raged. I was seared and comforted by what was seared. The Witch sang so loud it sounded like she was screaming. Maybe she was.

Blink.

May. Oh May. I never wanted to put you on this list. I shouldn't blame myself for it. Maybe I was doing it on purpose to see you. I think you caught on too because you offered me your phone number and told me I could take you to dinner and drinks. It was a friendship I would always cherish. It was something more I would always regret exploring. Because you died for it. For me. For this stupid mission I inherited but never really wanted. You died because of all my fears and fuck ups. I'd give anything just to "run into" you like we always did. You knew where I was going to be then end up there. I never cared. You were my best friend here. And blurring that line between our friendship killed you.

I wouldn't say this. Why wasn't I saying this? C'mon Jo. Say it! Instead all I did was flirt shamelessly and hang a huge hand through the bars for a cigarette. You were admonishing me again. "You just can't kill in public Jo. Not if you don't want the Watch to respond. I can only do so much from my department."

"I know Ashanti. But what if these Suckers deserved it?"

"It's not much different here than it is back home Jo. If they deserved it then let the Watch handle it. You forget we're a town full of vigilantes and powerful people. Most of them are smart enough to operate clan destine. I'd say you kill in broad daylight but we both know that isn't true."

"Alright, alright. Can you let me out now? I promise next time we run into each other I'll take ya out to that Korean place we both like."

You sighed. Even that was bright. Nothing you did was subdued. You opened my cell anyways and I grinned.

"Thanks darlin'. You got a great ass, you know that?"

"Get outta here Nagadari."

I'll never stop missing you.

But that...thing. It's an abomination. It's not the culmination of that one night you came to me, terrified of something, but you just didn't know what. I knew you were. I didn't even need to smell it before I saw it. Felt it. In the way you trembled between my massive, calloused hands. It wasn't nerves or what we were about to do. Not you Ashanti. I should have offered my help but I knew you were too proud. I should have given it whether you wanted it or not.

I should have never let you go the next morning. You knew how dangerous it was to be involved with me. There was no way you had your regular meetings with my "handlers" and didn't know.

Blink.

There it was. The other side. I stepped through the fires and came out on the other end and had to blink a few times. The spots in my eyes were starting to fade. I knew exactly what was waiting for me regardless. Do you see him May? If I said he looked more like you I'd be lying. Except that smile is only full of cruelty. No mischief. No mirth. And even though its big, revealing all those teeth against a background of skin that is somewhere between my shade and yours, no confidence. That was what was in yours I always admired. You stood in front of all these terrifying figures, beautiful, tiny, and never backed down. I had no idea what department was yours in the Rhy'din Watch but you ran it with so much skill even Cavanaugh saw you as an equal.

But he's here May. Standing right in front of me. An abomination I would never call son. He wasn't born of our bodies but the most vile magic and technology. Aged so he could assume the role and follow orders without question.

He's here. In Rhy'din. He's the Hunter now. And I have to kill him.

I wanna tell you a story.

Ain't got no characters in it but me.

It started off just whiskey and drugs. With some miles of travel and some real good times. But it always ended here. In this dark corner with no windows and no doors. Sitting here staring, shaking like a leaf.

Yeah, that's me.

I think....

I think I was hallucinating again.

What did the Witch give me? It was a powerful incantation even I couldn't break down and analyze. My body had been wracked with DTs for days every time I stopped. I'd soak through sheets and blankets with sweat. But now the dreams were just as vivid as ever. No, not dreams.

These were memories. Relived every time I went on a bender and tried to put myself together again.

The Witch's help was what I needed spiritually. But I still had a physical battle to face.

?You can't get drunk??

Behind a blink of my eyes. Every time I tried to focus she changed. Chestnut hair and hazel eyes that became gray when she was sad. Caramel skin, brown eyes that were darker than mine and a bright smile. A sometimes blue, sometimes purple pixie cut, her body the canvas where multiple artists laid patterns and incredible scenery. Blonde hair and blue eyes that had captivated me the first time we danced under a disco ball. And the sadness in them that destroyed me when I walked out. Which was what put me here. Down in this hole. A sad song, written down, rolled up, and adrift in a bottle once more. And a blonde haired blue eyed bombshell that could have had any man (or woman) she wanted but somehow chose me. Their features mixed sometimes.

The truth was, even though I thought Michelle had destroyed any part of me that could when she terminated our child, I loved them. Every last one of them that I had tried to after her.

?Nah darlin'.? The Blessing kept me from ever having grit in my voice, no matter how hard I smoked or drank, or how hard I had before I was Blessed. ?Ya see, part of bein' tha Hunter, like I told ya, is bein' damn hard ta kill. So my body heals a lot faster. When I drink alcohol or put anything in my system that it sees as poison it just processes it right out. So tha damage yer average person would do ta themselves by sucking down tons of booze and nicotine like I have in my lifetime never hurts me. But at tha same time, I won't ever get that rush from tha first cigarette in the morning, or get shit faced from chugging down half a bottle of my favorite whiskey.? Sami's hair and tattoo's with Harper's face, and as always her eyes patient and understanding, nodded at me. What a combo that was. I blinked and shook my head and it was Michelle again. Lying beneath the blankets of those hotels I flew her out to whenever my job took me far away from Sacramento. In those early days we snuck around like kids.

?What happens if you decide you don't want to do it anymore?? Her features too blurred, and her voice too shrouded to discern.

I knew my face became grave, even dangerous when this subject came up. ?I kinda don't have tha option. It's either retire and pass it on to my first born son when he's old enough ta take the reins. Or go Rogue. And when tha Hunter goes Rogue it's just..ugly.?

?Ugly how?? Harper again. The hair and the eyes were always hard to suppress. At least she was alive, happy, and healthy. But the guilt would never go away. The guilt was always why I did this in the first place.

?The Masons send everything they have after the Hunter. And it's not to sit him down fer some tea. It's to destroy every last part of him they can. Imagine a government agency with more funding and reach than the spookiest a spooks. We're talking sending fighter jets and helicopters ta napalm my body of out existence.?

?But if the Hunter can only be passed down through your family, what happens if there is no one in your family to take it?? Annie. It was definitely Annie again. Why did I leave you alone like that? Abandon you? Why didn't I grovel and try to salvage a friendship? These are dangerous questions you asked. Dangerous answers I gave you. You could be in their cross-hairs now just for being involved with me. How the fuck could I do that to you? How the fuck could I do that to anyone?

?It's never happened.? I said, shrugging the mountain range I'd built for myself over the years of being Blessed with enhanced strength. ?But the Masons have said there is a contingency plan.?

And I saw it. I won't say him. I saw their contingency plan up close and personal. It has my good looks. Maybe in its early twenties. And ?born? only 4 years ago.

I'm just human now though. Just human and a shipwreck a thousand miles beneath the Black Sea. I could get drunk again.

The bottle was close by and I knew I shouldn't drink from it. But if I didn't I would die. Hating myself with every drowsy movement I reached for the bottle and drank. Leaning on my shovel while I dug deeper.

How was I going to stop a literally bred killing machine?

?...hold on Jo.?

The voice was familiar. How and when did I get a hold of the Zack Morris inter-reality cell phone to earth? I don't even remember dialing.

?We're coming.? The accent. The old man had an accent even though he was born in the States.

All I had to do was hold on.

The cavalry was on its way.

Hell.

And back.

?Don?t be ridiculous.?

Dad?

?Yes, it?s me. Now I?m giving you only one warning. Stop wondering how cute your nurse is. You?re going to regret it.?

But what are you doing here?

?Something I should have done a long time ago.?

Here.

I felt that more than I heard it.

A hand reached in and pulled me out. From my body to here. A dreamscape I normally chose to stay far away from. It was a part of my training as the Hunter I had always rebuked. Baba Jarid had succeeded in getting me to accept the fact that magic was part and parcel to what I needed to do. But wanting to willingly come here was a different story. My studies had always been in the magic I could see and use instead of conceptualize. Maybe this was why they always wanted me to study math and science.

Dad, as towering and intimidating as he ever was, scowled.

?Jo, this isn?t hell. You?ve been there. A bunch of times, remember??

Physical now, we stood side by side, which was good, but could he still hear my thoughts? I guess the lack of response meant no. But I wasn?t going to risk it.

?Yeah, I do. But it?s hell ta me pops. Who would willingly come here??

Dad turned to stare far off into a night sky that stretched on for eons. A billion stars all lighting the night where planets and realities coursed. A river of reality.

?Yeah.?

The old man agreed quietly, wistfully almost, starlight reflected in his dark, dark eyes. ?This isn?t me Jo, but you. Is this what you think of Rhy?din?? It was the Rhy?din night sky. I knew I recognized it. Things seemed hazy, blurry almost. The world around us painted in strange pastels and sliding shades that made each image an oil portrait on canvas.

I stood beside him. From the time mom took me and ran?

?Stop that.?

I guess my earlier theory was right.

?Jo, you?re a grown man now.?

?I know pops.?

?No, you don?t. If I can find it in myself to forgive your mom why can?t you??

?You don?t know what it was like. I missed you. I missed our family. Every time she even thought someone would find out who I was or would see through our stupid aliases we had to run again. I grew up a kid with no friends and no home. She did it to stop me from being the Hunter and it happened anyway.?

?It was my fault Jochin.?

Hard break. I turned to face him. I was creeping up on 30 and he was still taller than me. I don?t know if being the Hunter slowed my aging down to the point that my very last growth spurt was still ahead of me. But I had a feeling dad would always be taller.

?Your fault?? I finally managed to ask.

?Yes, mine. I should have told your mom from the beginning the entire truth. All of it. Before she started to care for me. Before she agreed to marry me and give birth to my children. Our children. Who had the potential of getting involved in this war.? Dad?s skin was so many shades darker than mine. I had inherited some of his skin tone but my mom?s had lightened mine considerably. He turned to meet my eyes.

?I tried that.?

?With Michelle??

I nodded. I took in a deep breath and I told him. I told him everything. I told him how much I loved her and how hell was finding out she would rather terminate our child than deal with the idea of being involved. I told him all of it in rising tones, escalating with anger, guilt and hate. Until I was screaming. Screaming that I hated him for having what I could never have by lying, and ruining my life for it.

?So you tell me old man, what the fuck do you know about what hell actually looks like??

The dreamscape faded to darkness in its entirety. Purgatory. Was I back in my body?

?I?ll show you.?

Air whirred, and monitors beeped. Her skin, it was so pink, almost red and translucent. Jassin set his hands to either side of the plastic isolette and hung his head down to watch the machine force air into her undeveloped lungs. At 26 weeks there wasn't much to do but put her on this machine and pray.

?There is another way Jassin.? His father's voice came commanding from his short, wiry muscled frame.

?No. No dad. That is not natural. And what do I...what do I tell my wife when I bring home a child who has aged a year in the span of a few months??

?Bring her to the light. Tell her everything. All of it. You would let her believe you are a graveyard shift security guard? You would not even give your wife the choice to save her child??

?Because I know what she will choose. What any parent would choose.?

?What any parent would choose but you.?

Jay could feel his hands begin to clench so tight he had to take them off the isolette or it would shatter. He turned to face his father. In the face of this decision he would not let guilt drive him. Even if it was tearing him apart with every heartbeat that beeped away on the screen behind him. The noise deafening in his own ears, signifying every last opportunity Shereen was losing.

?Because I know better. And Olivia doesn't. We don't know what affect...that thing can have on a child. It is not natural. It is a contingency plan in case the Hunter dies without leaving any heirs. There's a chance the Masons won't even let me use it for my daughter. We don't even know how it works. How it can work. It takes genetic material and turns it into a human being. Shereen is a human being already. We don't know what it would do to her. How it would change her.?

?I have spoken to them Jassin. They would make an exception. It is your choice.?

Jassin turned and put his hands on the isolette once more. He hung his head, getting it as close to the thick plastic as he possibly could, examining every line in her tiny palms and feet. She was just right there, if it wasn't for all the tubing and hoses and machinery he could lift her in one of his palms to his chest and cradle her. He wanted to.

This time instead of fading everything crashed. Ripping apart. Reality tearing in on itself until there was nothing left. Leaving nothing left but the comforting darkness, the senseless emptiness and anguish, of the void.

Something digital beeped. But it wasn't the constant staccato of medical equipment from the 80s so this wasn't another one of dad's memories. Instead it was a low hum, a low warning sign. A true musical note just familiar enough for me. ?Good samaritans? often dialed 911 when they saw someone lying in the street unconscious even if they reeked of booze.

It wasn't a struggle, more like my body didn't want me to, but I opened my eyes and...

This was my room above the Inn. I was lying in my bed while a small monitor displayed my vital signs on the night stand. When Baba and dad said they were bringing the cavalry they weren't lying. But why would the Masons send any help if I wasn't the Hunter anymore?

It was night but there was a low light emanating from the floor. Just enough to keep a dried out and DTing patient from tripping and falling on their way to the bathroom. Dad and Baba Jarid were gone. They probably got a room of their own nearby. But there was a cot at the foot of my bed and the sleeping form of my caretaker was definitely feminine.

Hoo boy the old man was going to be wrong. By the time he or Baba came to visit me in the morning me and nurse mystery face over there would be cuddling in my bed. I actually mustered up the energy to move but felt the tubing connected to fluid drips tug on the IVs in my forearm. The occlusive plastic they placed over it pulled just enough on my arm hair to send pin pricks of pain up my nerve endings and to my brain. When it registered I groaned.

My nurse moved, drawing the cover she was sleeping under from her body. Not bad, not bad. Even in scrubs. She put a lab coat on and I could see the outline of her face in the low light. Nothing seemed too out of proportion. Dad was gonna be so wrong. I worked moisture into my mouth and readied a terrible pick up line when she reached and turned on the wall lamp that was closest to her.

What was I going to regret about making this pretty little nurse laugh at my corniest pick up lines? My eyes adjusted to low light that shouldn't have even woke me up, but was blinding right now. How long had I been out? Finally I could make out the details in her face and...

?MOM?!?

I sat up even though I felt like I couldn't roll over.

Come now.

That?s what the spell his father cast said at least.

Come now.

We are here.

There was nothing about the night that should have been any different. At the end of the day the sun set, just like anywhere else, and the sky was plunged into darkness. Even if Rhy?din?s sky was crowded with so many pinpricks of light, blaring white pinpoints, of other systems, other realities. Even if that sky was overpopulated. The night here was like any other.

Jassin knew it. He knew it deep down in his bones. All the way down in instincts he thought long dead once the Blessing passed from him to his Son.

This was their night.

He couldn?t recall the last time they had done this. Straight backed, almost stiff, intimidating at their massive discrepancies in height they stalked the street. His father might have been short, wiry, his hair may have started to thin in areas and turn bone white. But the old man, his eyes slanted almonds, his eyebrows and face completely uncaring, overworked leather, could be terrifying when he wanted to be. Right now? It wasn?t a matter of want.

Father and son, stalking the streets, predators even though their prey was the Hunter.

There was no time to marvel at the city proper?s composition. Long standing brownstones in red brick, ancient oak, or gray stone. Pock marked stone streets that were worn smooth, almost completely flat, from incalculable travel. And the fetid, purulent bowels of the WestEnd where blood dolls and their hungry masters eagerly awaited.

They moved through them. Dark eyes meeting, speaking volumes each time the vampires walked freely through the bar with their fangs exposed. Their bartender even greeted him with his fully on display. ?Get you something?? They shook their heads almost in unison. Absolutely silent and stark still like sentinel statues. They watched. There would be time for horror and disgust later. For now they hunted.

That was where the whispers started. Of a plague. Some called it an ill wind. Sea level turbulence, a disturbance that only left ash in its wake. Some were avoiding leaving their homes all together. Others were only traveling in packs and going to ground when they weren?t. They nodded at those whispers. Asked questions. Cajoled and encouraged others who had witnessed this vampire destroying oddity to tell their tales. No one knew where it came from or where it went when it was gone. But it only ever stalked the street at night.

That was all they needed. Only a glance shared between them and they stepped out into the streets. Jarid walked a half dozen steps from the door, clapped his hands together and shouted in a tongue long lost to any ear even in Rhy?din. Fire flared momentarily and brimstone jutted out from his wide splayed fingers before crumbling to ash, caught in an oppressive summer breeze.

Come now.

We are here.

And we are waiting.

?What happened Jo??

I held my head in my hands, blood running down my fingers. Real, actual, dark red, human blood. I had spent almost a full decade as this super powered beast so knowing it was my own was jarring.

Mom was explaining as she started to close the flap of my scalp, sewing it closed with precise movements. ?The scalp has more blood vessels than any other area of skin.? I could feel the needle poking through mine dull while she did her work. ?It has to, to support all those hair follicles.? She persisted, even though I could hear her voice waiver.

She had specialized in Toxicology. Because she knew. She had always known. When I called and my voice went through a thousand different tones of clumsy intoxication, when every call got awkwardly personal before I hung up. But instead of working somewhere in a lab doing research she'd chosen the front lines of an inner city ER where she could do the most good. That fact didn't surprise me in the least. ?In residency I always used to volunteer to put these in.?

I felt her wipe my brow with gauze and I finally looked up. ?It shouldn't scar up too bad.?

A scar. I'd only had a couple but should have had thousands.

Actually I did.

They just weren't visible.

?It was a slaughter.? I hung my head in my hands again.

I'd only needed a few weeks training. Both Baba and dad explained why. ?The magic. It is everywhere. And when you retire the muscle memory is still there. You were stronger, faster, more agile, more hardy. Think about it Jo.?

I heard him but he sounded distant. I was lost in the void of the speedbag. In the rhythm and catharsis created when you were concentrating on swaying your body into each slam of fist on faux leather.

?Years you spent training. Making sure that your body would be capable of handling the strain of the powers you inherited. Then when you had these powers they made it so that you could train harder. Longer. Faster. Your body was changing the entire time. Adjusting. Your muscle, bone, and tendon altering at a basic level to accept the strain. Baba and I could probably still give an Olympic lifter in our weight class a run for his money. And we haven't been Blessed in decades. You? It's only been months.?

?The magic.? Baba said while he hovered behind me, spotting the bar while the plates on either side swayed with my movements. In overhand grip, I leaned down and in one clean motion brought the bar up over my head and stood to my full height. ?It never truly leaves you.? He whispered. Words that I knew. The air temperature changed considerably. The sweat rolling off my brow solidifying into a droplet of ice that fell from forehead to the cement floor. That blast of cool air helped me with another rep. But there were only 3 plates on either side. I had lost a lot of my strength.

?You do not need to be the Hunter to use it. It is always a part of you."

But none of that had prepared me, had prepared us for...

Three generations. We stalked the streets for the fourth. Because you see it wasn't his time just yet. It was my time. My responsibility.

It was a waste to do it when the sun was out so all three of us, as natural as it always was, reversed our schedules. We woke up a few hours before sundown to train then hunted as soon as the sun fell.

He wasn't avoiding us. That was the first lesson.

?A slaughter.? I repeated while mom worked on a nasty gash on my shoulder.

The wall blew out from behind both dad and Baba, sending them flying to the stones. I managed to leap out of the way at just the right second and roll. And I saw him. No. No. I saw it.

The Masons had started to insist I let advances in military technology that they were connected to aid me in the war. But all they knew was how to fight it. Not how to wage it. I had refused because I couldn't possibly walk around in armor and effectively find the creatures I was Hunting. On Earth it was absolutely essential I stayed low profile.

But...it had no compunctions with this. In fact I'm sure Cavanaugh was taking advantage of all the advance tech Rhy'din dealt in. A back-flip and landing so smooth he practically glided from the roof of a stone building to the uneven road. I admired his armor, form fitting metal and what was probably some super tough transparent material covering his face. At each elbow was that same transparent material but filled with crackling blue energy. And from what I knew, from what I could still sense, those were wells of magic.

He didn't even cast. I didn't even see his lips move. But the cart I had rolled behind erupted in a fountain of flame, shooting shards of wood everywhere. The pain? I was used to it. Every last time something so much as scratched me I felt it. The Blessing healed it quick but it never took away the pain completely. I'm sure he knew we were alive.

But he left us there, only needing two steps to front flip and glide to the closest rooftop. Magic crackling like lightning in a bottle through the magitech of that suit as he leaped away.

It wasn't a warning.

He was toying with us.

We were way out of our league.

?Our first bout and he absolutely demolished us. That's what happened.?

Maybe it was true. That near decade apart had made him almost unrecognizable. A man stood before him now. A man who had inherited his height and build when all he had remembered before was a dark hair, dark eyed boy. The whispers had been that Jo was the best any of the Freemasons could recall. That when he had inherited the Blessing he was close to utterly unstoppable.

And Jassin could see that now.

He could see it in the zeal with which Jo trained. Never giving up, never relenting until his last rep was so sloppy with exhaustion it looked like he had never learned the form. With the way sweat poured from his brow and soaked through the back of his shirt, so much so that Jo would have to pull it off to keep from weighing him down for each pull up, each forward wind sprint stride, he could tell his son knew how to work hard. They weren?t starting over again. Jochin knew exactly what the job was. He just needed help to get it done.

Olympic weight lifters would work their entire lives to come close to lifting half of what Jo still could. He could beat the best sprinter head to head by at least a full second. Even without the Blessing. And the magic Jo had shied away from for so long? The magic Jassin?s father knew so well? There was no way that?thing could have much knowledge of it. It stood as tall as Jassin, and looked just a few years younger than Jochin. But at most it could have only been alive a year. If you could call it that.

Even though Jo was still the pinnacle of human performance, it still wouldn't be enough.

They talked strategy while Jo labored. The noise of metal striking cement rhythmic each time he plunged the sharpened edge of the rock pick into the edge of each stone that held the wall in front of him together. Jassin had outlined the exact pattern and size and set Jo to work. They had started just before the sun had risen and now the sun was on its way back down to hide beneath the horizon, when Jo stepped back, dusted off his hands, and couldn't stop himself commenting that he had done all that work and no one would ever notice.

?But I guess I?m used ta that by now.? His son quipped, almost finishing off both liters of water in the plastic water bottle he held in his huge hands.

?But it wasn?t for nothing.? Jassin reassured, checking again to see if the section of wall would wobble with a gentle shove. It did. ?Perfect.? Jassin said, then clapped his hands together all while reciting that spell his father had used before. Flame and brimstone shot from his hands into the sky, leaving behind the pungent scent of sulfur.

Father and son, Jassin thought, hefting the rocket launcher to his shoulder. Jassin had been wrong when he had retired. This might not be his job any longer. But it would always be his war.

And I think it's going to be a long long time till touchdown brings me round, I've yet to find.

I'm not the man you think I am at all. Oh no. No no.

I'm a rocketman...

We spiraled up. And away. Rocketing into the atmosphere in a deadly tumble. A battle I knew there was no way I could win. But I had to try.

It was cold up here. Colder than I'd ever thought it could be. Not that I noticed. When that abomination the Freemasons cooked up in a lab started his retreat I'd taken the opportunity to leap on him. Damn the Blessing and how much it had juiced his muscles. Because even though he was surprised, he barely shrugged before he took off into the sky. I don't know how this armor worked but I knew it was damaged. Just not so much he couldn't take off.

A permanent rictus grin set in features that were all too familiar to me. Ever since he was ?born? I had been tailing him, with or without a flask to keep me company and warm. Even with May's genes he hadn't taken Baba or dad's skin tone. It was somewhere between dad's and my own. I'd tried reason the first few times we encountered each other. But all he...all it could do was laugh, snarl, or grunt. A completely mindless killing machine born of magic and technology. And even if he was stronger, faster, and by all the rumors, way better at killing than yours truly...

He still needed to die.

Maybe it had only been a few years but things were different. On Earth I'd never encountered a non-human who wasn't trying to subjugate or use their power to their advantage. Vampires and humans as friends and not a blood doll relationship? Never heard of it.

But the rules here were different. And all those friends, lovers, then ex-lovers turned enemies I'd made over the years were a mix of human and non. Some of the closest friends I'd had in my entire life and loyal allies were the exact things I had hunted on earth. The Freemasons hadn't even bothered to give this...thing a name. They just called it Boy. All I knew of him, with the powers that were handed down in my family for generations, was that he was a storm of blood and ash. Only leaving behind dusted Vampires in his wake. Part of the gift was being able to sniff them out. Literally. And with that ability he did, and murdered without a second thought.

When I'd first come to Rhy'din that's what Cavanaugh had wanted me to do. Eliminate each and every last one of them. So now they had their personal genocide pet. And I had to stop him or die trying.

I could feel bones that hadn't buckled like this in so long begin to break as he rained blow after blow. Maybe the Blessing hadn't been gone long enough for my muscles to forget. But he had all that strength and I had no ability to heal as quickly as I used to.

Rolling with his punches in mid-air, we tumbled and careened. Higher and higher until the buildings beneath seemed like miniatures. I cursed over and over again, doing my best to do any damage with my pathetic strength and his ability to heal. He growled and grunted. An animal that needed to be put down. I was only happy to oblige.

Dad's words echoed now and I remembered. Back when I had this thing's abilities point blank .45 ACP rounds might not have stopped me. But they hurt. I'd secured the boxy black semi-auto in a holster and pulled it free. With a roll I took the dominant position, thrust the muzzle just under its ribs, and began to squeeze the trigger. With that big of a round tearing through his insides there was no way he could concentrate on anything but the white hot, searing pain. Maybe the Blessing helped me heal quickly. But I had felt every last time it needed to kick in just as if I was human again.

Because I was.

Distracted I threw my weight forward and pushed as hard as I could on his clavicles, forcing us to level off, then descend. Not in a free fall. Not even in a nose dive.

We were hurrying back to meet Rhy'din's surface and there was nothing I could do but pull that trigger and empty that clip.

One way or another. This had to end.

The buildings grew in size, and the dark, dingy, and gray surface of the cobble stones rushed back up to meet me. But that last squeeze of the trigger resulted in an empty click. I tossed the pistol aside and he started to struggle. He broke free of my atrophied grasp and crushed my forearm in his grip. I felt that. I heard all the bones cracking. I even cried out a scream that was swallowed by the rush of air. But if I didn't throw my weight to tilt us down, if I gave up, he would aim us back up into the sky.

?The magic Jochin.? I heard Baba croon again. ?It always has been, and always will be yours. Hunter or not.?

I should have paid more attention. The first few spells I had learned had been standard. Latin prayers with a Bible in hand to cast out any demons inhabiting human bodies. And a party trick I sometimes used to light my cigarettes and impress pretty girls.

That was it.

I could feel my shoulder coming out of its socket as he pulled. I could feel him grinding my bones into dust beneath his hands. But I closed my eyes anyways.

And focused.

This wasn't my son. I'd had a son. He had her painstakingly breathtaking eyes. And his name was Ethan. I conjured up the visions the witch had shown me. Of things that should have been. Of things I always hoped could still be. It wasn't the fact that she was pretty that had made me completely comfortable with the idea of a normal life with her. It was how fiercely I found myself loving every last thing about her. But that wasn't enough, was it? All I had ever wanted was you and a little small bit of a normal life for myself.

I could feel the tears even though they evaporated before even hitting my cheek. You know I'd thought I'd lost it all, the day that I lost you? You would have had skin like mine and eyes like hers, if I could decide. You would have learned to box and stuck up for all those kids who couldn't for themselves. I'd watch you grow into a man and teach a you every last thing my father, and his father before him, had taught me. You would assume the mantle and break the cycle of these horribly ugly brown eyes. I would come home from this hell I willingly walked into, every day, without an ounce of recognition, to all that love in a home. An actual home.

I had lost it all the day that I lost you.

But it's taken me until just now, when I knew these very thoughts were my last, to find the truth.

You've always been here, haven't you?