Absent parents and killer instinct!

28th October, 2020.

Next Day, Wednesday.

Zane woke up at the crack of dawn just like he did almost every other day to the sound of his alarm going off. He let out a loud groan as his hand searched for the alarm. He got up and let out a yawn as he stretched his himself. He got off his queen sized bed and walked groggily to the sink in his bathroom. He was wearing only the grey sweat pants he wore to bed, showing off his muscular arms, shoulders and chest and his perfect six pack abs.

He turned on the tap and splashed some water on his face to wake himself up and then brushed his teeth. After brushing his teeth, he started his morning exercise. He put on his tracksuit and a pair of his running shoes and went out for about forty minutes jogging session around town. He went back home and worked out for about twenty more minutes before taking a long refreshing shower.

After the shower he dried himself off and put on some clothes. He wore a blue denim jean jacket over a white hoodie and some ripped jeans. He then brushed his brown hair and got ready to head for school but first, he needed his breakfast so he went downstairs and walked to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of orange juice and poured himself a glass and made some toast to go with it.

After making his simple breakfast, he noticed something; the house was quiet. Usually, either of his parents would be up by this time, 𝑖𝑓 they 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 present, that is.

"Mom?", Zane called out but there was no answer.

"Dad", again, there was no answer.

Hearing no response, he went upstairs to check if they were home. He knocked on their bedroom door and waited for an answer but there wasn't any. He knocked again before opening the door and walking inside, only to find it empty. The bed also looked like it hadn't been slept on.

Zane had to clench his jaw to keep himself from screaming out of anger and punching something which might either end up broken or hurting him instead. He took a deep, long breath before letting it all out, alone with the anger that was bottling up in his chest.

After calming himself down, he went back downstairs to finish the breakfast that he made. He picked up the glass of orange juice and brought it close to his mouth to take a sip of it but suddenly threw it away. He threw the glass with enough strength that the glass shattered on impact, the orange juice flying everywhere.

Zane jumped back in surprise at his own sudden outburst. He looked at the shattered glass with wide eyes before letting out a sigh of disappointment. He was disappointed in himself for not having control over his own anger. Not just in himself, but also in his parents. Like how hard is it to just have time for your own son. Zane couldn't help but let out another sigh.

It felt like he was living in a house with two strangers. Strangers that he hardly ever saw. It was okay when he was young. They had time for him then, they were busy people but they still made time for him back then. But ever since he started high school, it was as if both parents thought he was now grown up and therefore didn't need their attention anymore. But of course he did, he was only fifteen then, for Christ's sake.

Now he would be turning seventeen on Halloween and his parents wouldn't even be present, just like how they weren't present during the last two. Zane couldn't help but wonder; just how busy were they? Heck, Carter's parents were also business people but they still had enough time for him. It just made Zane feel jealous of his own best friend sometimes and then disappointed in himself for actually feeling that way.

Zane blinked several times to get rid of the tears that were threatening to leave his eyes. He had to clean up his mess before he left for school so that it wouldn't attract any ants. After cleaning up, he got in his Porsche and drove off to school as if nothing was wrong.

********

Carter jogged down the stairs of their house all. done and ready for school. He wore a red short sleeved shirt over a white t-shirt and black skinny jeans and a pair of sneakers. He walked into the dining room only to witness the haunting scene of his dad and mom were having a very heated make out session. Ivan was wearing only sweatpants showing off his ripped figure while Jacqui was wearing the shirt Ivan was wearing yesterday and just her panties under it.

"Ew", that was all Carter could say.

Ivan and Jacqui didn't even acknowledge their son's presence. They ignored him and went on kissing as if there was nobody there.

Carter rolled his eyes and said, "This is the dining room not your bedroom. If you wanna make out while naked, at least do it somewhere you'll have a better chance of not being seen".

"Where's the fun in that?", Carter's mom, Jacqueline asked as she let out a chuckle.

Jacqueline De León Dahl was a dark skinned woman with long raven hair cascading down her back and piercing grey blue colored eyes. She had a youthful aura around her that made her seem younger than she actually was even though she was only three years younger than her husband Ivan. She was 5"8 tall and had the body of a supermodel. And she wasn't just a pretty face either. Even though she wasn't a Night Hunter like Ivan or an ordinary hunter like Wilson or Hartley Michaels, she had been on a few hunts with Ivan so she certainly had the skills to take down a handful of things that go bump in the night.

Carter could only sigh. His parents were completely hopeless.

Ivan planted another kiss on his wife's lips before they broke away from each other.

"In case you didn't know this is my house and I do whatever I want with the love of my life", Ivan said.

Carter felt like barfing after hearing that. Don't get him wrong, he did love his parents but they could be inappropriate most of the time.

Carter took a seat at the dining table and took a plate. He filled the plate with some of the pancakes Jacqui had made and poured some syrup on them. He then poured himself some juice to go with it. Ivan and Jacqui also took their seats around the table for their breakfast. They filled their plates and all three started eating.

"So Carter, how's school lately? Seeing anyone lately? Any boys or girls?", Ivan asked, a mischievous smirk blossoming on his lips.

"School is still school and nope. Single as a dollar bill", Carter answered.

"What?!" "What?!", Ivan and Jacqui both exclaimed at the same time.

"What about that indian girl; the cheerleader? Ah, What was her name again?", Jacqui asked, searching her memories for the name of her son's now ex-girlfriend.

"Kelly", Carter answered.

"Ah, yes. Kelly. Kelly Sharma, right?", Jacqui asked to which Carter nodded in affirmation.

"We broke up", he said.

"What happened?", Ivan asked.

"Yeah, what happened?", Jacqui also asked.

"Well, we weren't really working out so we decided that it would be better if we separated and maybe try to see other people", Carter explained.

"Aw, I liked her very much. She's a really nice girl", Jacqui said before going back to her breakfast.

"So now that I know that the supernatural is real and you're a Night Hunter and I'm a Night Hunter too", Carter started. "...when do I get my, uh - you know".

Ivan's face immediately fell. He knew exactly what Carter was talking about. He looked over to Jacqui who shared the same expression on her face. Their eyes met and for a second, they considered if they should tell him what would when he starts to get his powers.

Carter was of course pretty excited about this. He had only just found out about the supernatural being real. To him, it was thrilling to know that cool but dangerous beings like witches, werewolves and vampires existed. These were basically people with cool superpowers that made them incredibly dangerous. The most crazy thing was that his friends were supernatural, that he himself was also one and that he would eventually be getting superpowers. Who wouldn't be excited about something like this?

Ivan cleared his throat and prepared to tell Carter. "Maybe you shouldn't be so excited about that".

Carter suddenly became when he saw the looks on the faces of both his parents. He asked, "Why?".

Ivan sighed and put down his cutlery. Seeing that her husband was going to tell Carter about that, Jacqui also put down her cutlery.

"You can be that excited when you learn to control yourself after getting your powers", Ivan said.

"Control myself?", Carter asked.

Ivan starting to explain, "Yeah. Take a vampire for example. There's a good side to being a vampire and there's the bad side. When a vampire first turns, apart from their usual weaknesses, their emotions are also heightened. There's also their almost insatiable thirst for blood".

"Where are you getting at?", Carter said.

"Be patient", Jacqui said.

Ivan continued, "New vampires easily lose control when around blood and would do almost anything to satisfy their hunger for human blood even if it means ripping apart the nearest person, even if that person is close to them".

This made Carter think about something. Were Jason or even Alvin like this when they first became vampires?

"That is almost how a Night Hunter is when their powers start to awaken", Ivan said.

Carter's eyes went wide after hearing what his father said. He wasn't aware of this. He thought it was going to be like in the movies where people get superpowers and start doing impressive and exciting things. He wasn't expecting something like this.

"Along with having our senses heightened, our instincts are also heightened and with that, we are capable of several things. Things like sensing the supernatural. Night Hunters, like the name suggests, are hunters and we hunt the supernatural. When we're around a supernatural, our first instinct is to kill. That instinct takes over and then we black out. In that state, we'll do anything we can to kill the said supernatural as long as we can sense them or die trying", Ivan finished.

Now Carter was too stunned to speak after hearing what his dad said. He looked from his dad to his mom too see if they were just messing with him but the looks on their faces told him they were being serious.

"Are you being serious?", Carter still couldn't help but to ask.

Both Ivan and Jacqui nodded. Ivan himself had been through that before when he was in Spain He had killed a lot of supernatural people. During that time, his father, Hector De León who was also a Night Hunter, wasn't around much. He was always on hunting trips and wasn't around to guide Ivan through it. Ivan was going through a lot of emotions back then. In fact, if he hadn't met Charles back then in Spain, Ivan was so sure that he'd still be a mess.

Back then, Charles had literally beaten him black and blue whenever he lost control. Charles was the one who helped him through those emotions and also helped him learn to control himself around other supernatural people. That was how the two became friends.

"Then..." Carter right now wasn't worried around his friends. He was worried about himself and for the right reasons at that. He had seen the strength of the twins and Jason. He had also seen how Bryce dealt with the werewolf Cashel with the Illusory pain spell. These people would soon be beating him black and blue. Carter couldn't help but shudder.

Jacqui seeing this placed a hand on Carter's shoulder to comfort him. "But you can to control it".

After saying that, she urged Ivan to also say something.

"Yeah. I can teach you how to control yourself and with Charles around, you don't really have to worry", Ivan said.

Carter nodded. But he was still worried though. He grabbed his backpack and got up.

"I'm gonna be late", he said and immediately left the house. He got into his car and revved up to school.