The Shifters: Katrina
Part One - Ch.4: Hunters and Compounds

It wasn't long until I had figured out where I was. The street was a backroad leading out of a town next to Greenhill. The only reason I'd known that was because of the direction the road travelled and how long we'd actually been driving, which was guesswork. All of it was based on the sun, which was still hanging in the sky. That was where my luck ended -- I was certain that my mothers would be looking for me by now, and that Ray would come for my head since I left him alone with the easily worried Mia and Felix.

My feet had begun to throb along with my head, which hadn't stopped pounding since I'd met the shifters. I didn't even know what I was going to do with the information -- Kami had proved their words, so how could I ignore them?

By ignoring them, I told myself firmly, move on. Life is fine the way it is.

My knuckles began to hurt as I thought that, remembering the numerous fights I'd been in. Ever since I started getting into fights, I kept my chocolatey hair cut short so that it stayed out of the way. It was also much easier to deal with bob-length hair, unless it got wet and dried in a mass of tangled waves. Marie had always helped me take care of my hands and hair, because she knew that I'd keep getting into fights no matter what happened. Scars would've littered my fingers if it wasn't for her being able to scrounge up the best scar creams on short notice.

I sighed, continuing to walk in the direction of Greenhill. The shifters would survive without me.

"Hey," someone called. I froze, picturing a large truck behind me with several goons getting out. The road had been deserted for a long time, but now there was undeniably more people here.

I turned around, crossing my arms over my chest as my eyes landed on a man standing in the center of the road without a car. The absence of a vehicle gasped me to gasp in surprise, my confident facade dropping. His eyes were on the brink of glowing like the shifters' would, and I began to back away. He took one look at the fear on my face and immediately softened, relaxing where he was.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I am not a hunter," he said gently, lifting his hands up so that they were on either side of his face. I swallowed, trying to find a way out of this situation. "You got separated from your compound, didn't you? Do you know which one?"

His words made no sense to me, but I relaxed as I watched him watch me in concern. My suspicions arose when I saw him twitch in impatience. I didn't trust him to be genuine, but at the moment, he was giving me more vocabulary than I knew before. There was more to the shifter world than I'd been told, which made sense. An entire other type of human, with powers as well, would be more complex than what I'd been allowed to know.

Compounds. These people live secluded without humans, but they're not all one big happy family. They could just be spread out to hide easier, or maybe they're having something like a civil war, I thought, planning out my next move like I always had in a fight. Those seven shifters back there knew my name, where I lived and that I was adopted, which meant they probably knew more. Home wasn't safe, but there was a chance that I could trick this guy into telling me what I needed to do to make it safe.

"I-I'm new to my compound. It has some sort of complicated name that I can't pronounce right--"

"Ileial?"

I bounced up and down as if it was correct, clapping my hands together. "Yeah! I got lost on a trip to go see some interior designers about the room I have back at the compound," I lied. Greenhill had some well-known desginers living there, and since I'd been heading in the direction of home, it was a safe lie. The man considered it for a second, but even I knew for certain that it checked out. He suddenly grinned, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Well, as luck would have it, I can get you back home. I'm from the Orgull compound."

I flashed him my cutest grin, though on the inside, I was tense and ready to run. The man began walking in the direction of Greenhill and I followed, keeping distance between us but remaining beside him. If I could lie my way out of this, I could avoid the other seven shifters and get myself back home safe and sound.

"What's your name?" The shifter asked, raising an eyebrow. I hesitated, playing with the hem of my sleeves. "Or a nickname, if that helps. I'm Wally."

I laughed at the name, my amusement genuine as I tried to line up the cute name with the burly man beside me. "Kat," I said eventually, the man nodding in satisfaction.

"Are you a cat shifter?" He wondered, peeking over at me in interest. I looked at the ground, suddenly panicking. That was one question I didn't know how to answer.

"I, uh, don't have my form yet," I said slowly, scratching the back of my head.

The man laughed. "Here I was thinking you were some sort of mouse! Lots of kids have to wait for their forms, no need to be embarrassed," Wally teased, chuckling warmly. It reminded me of the laughter of one of my teachers, a cruel man that would laugh like that when someone messed up on a question in front of the class. He would then yell his heart out for the fun of it.

I shuddered, looking out into the forest on the side of the road. I didn't leave Greenhill that much, so I didn't know what it was like to be surrounded by silence and greenery -- ironic considering the name of the flat, boring town was Greenhill.

"Are you sure you belong to Ileial, Kat?"

Wally had stopped, his eyes on the ground as I stumbled to stop as well. While most people would've been afraid, I was determined to push through and convince him that I hadn't lied. I crossed my arms over my chest, tilting my chin up as I thought out my words.

"As I said, I'm new. But I didn't belong anywhere before they brought me there, so yeah, I think I do belong to the compound," I said defiantly, ignoring how those words truly felt to me. The part of me that hated my town wanted the words to be true for wherever the shifters had planned to take me, but the part that was loyal to the family who raised me knew better than to abandon everything I knew for strangers.

Wally frowned, mirroring my position as he stared back at me. "And what did they tell you about hunters?"

This one, I didn't want to lie on. "Nothing."

He grinned, but this time it wasn't a kind smile. It was malicious, and I noticed he had reached around himself when he crossed his arms.

"Unfortunate, young one. Because hunters are hunting you, the vulnerable shifters."

Wally, now with a long knife in one hand, lunged for me. Half my brain was confused on how he could've hidden that from me, but the other half was focused on saving my own ass. I could scream, but that would do nothing. My unlucky ass had to fight my way out of this one, no surprise.

The man, a hunter and not a shifter, apparently, brought the knife down in an arc aimed for my chest. I moved out of the way just in time, back tracking like there was no tomorrow. Wally growled at me, trying to grab my arm to pull me into his blade. With the same surprising strength from before, I yanked myself away and made a run for it down the road, unsure of which direction I was even heading in.

I was almost certain that Wally was going to kill me no matter what I did until a familiar blue van drove past, only to screech to a stop five seconds later.

For once, I thought as both Wally and I stopped dead to stare at those exiting the van.

I'm happy to see Kami's stupid face.

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