Page 105 - Hunter - The Vigil

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CHAPTER THREE: HUNTER ORGA N I Z A T I O N S
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The Enemy show party, and you had a few thrilling nights, and now you’re
Ashwood Abbey’s membership does take some care to completely hooked. Risking scars is just part of the fun.
You didn’t mean to end up in the Abbey, but the Board
cultivate relations with other individuals who hunt down of Directors invited you to a private party, and then you drew
monsters. It usually plays out like this: a couple of Abbey the white ball from the bag and before you knew it, it was kill
regulars accompany a group of unaffi liated hunters (or mem- the werewolf (or vampire, or witch, or sasquatch) or never
bers of one of the other organizations) as they track down get promoted again. Sure, you got your promotion, but if you
their supernatural quarry. The Abbey tends to prefer those want your career to advance, you have to keep doing this.
groups that gather information rather than those that weigh Losing your job is not an option. It’s all a nightmare. You wish
in with all guns blazing (where’s the fun in that?) When it would just stop.
their patsies have done the boring stuff, the Abbey sideline You’re old money: your great-great-grandfather was a
them, perhaps giving them false leads, or arranging for them founding member, and every heir of his since then has been
to be conveniently somewhere else. brought into membership, whether they want it or not. It’s
After that, all bets are off. The Abbey use whatever tools
it feels like, from antique broadswords to whips and elephant the family secret. Maybe you love it. Maybe you hate it. But
either way, you can’t drop it.
rifl es. You’re possibly the next District Attorney, and there are
What they do next could be anything. Sex and killing
seem to be equally common these days, and not necessarily folks in the Abbey who are going to make sure you get the
job. Sometimes you tell yourself you’d never be able to indict
in that order. Some get a kick out of torture and dismem- the monsters legally, and this is a kind of justice, but when
berment. Some wonder what it’d be like to snort the dust you’re honest with yourself, you just get your kicks from kill-
from a discorporated vampire (don’t bother — it’s pretty ing things and getting laid, often at the same time.
disappointing). Some prefer to drink vampire blood and You’re the vicar of an Anglo-Catholic parish just outside
swear by its rejuvenating qualities. Some quite like the idea London. Your parishioners have no idea that your enthusiasm
of leather and fur goods made from monsters — demonskin for Victoriana isn’t the only thing you’ve got in common with
shoes, soft pale leather jackets with the look of patchwork, Prince Albert, and they certainly wouldn’t even believe it for
hats made from giant wings. The holy grail is, of course, a a second if they found out what you get up to on a Friday
werewolf-fur coat, but this leads to all sorts of problems, evening after the ladies from the Bible Study Group have left
since the fur vanishes as the werewolf dies. Or, at least, it the vicarage. Fortunately, your clerical vestments easily hide
turns into human skin when the werewolf’s at the point of the scars.
death. Skinning a werewolf alive is something everyone You’re a high-class escort — maybe you’re from Moscow
should try once, the Abbey regulars maintain. and you only trade in dollars; maybe your home is a suite in
Actually, so far it’s only ever been done once. But that’s

not the point. whatever five-star hotel you’re working in this week; maybe
you’re on first-name terms with Presidents, CEOs and Prime

The Abbey’s knowledge of the monsters is woefully
inadequate in many ways. They know some of the basics Ministers the world over. You got into the job because you
wanted danger, and the thrills don’t end with being party to
— silver bullets kill some werewolves, crosses don’t work the President’s infidelity. Sometimes your clients are more

against most vampires, that sort of thing — but mostly, bizarre than you ever could have expected. But sometimes
they don’t even bother. They see no real challenge in as- you’re more interesting than they expect — and you have
sassination. There’s no sport in it. friends.
A lot of members of Ashwood Abbey are missing eyes or
limbs, or sport spectacular scars. Many are dead or, worse, the Cliques
will-less thralls of magicians, vampires or other creatures who Many cliques and worldviews appear and vanish among
have caused several chapters to be hopelessly compromised. Ashwood Abbey’s members as time goes on. Some do endure,
But then, for some, that’s a thrill in its own right. though.
Hunters Competitors treat the whole thing as sport, and the oth-

You’re a senior at an Ivy League college, good at field ers as their competition. They have to do each new thing first,
athletics and heavily involved in the Greek system. But above all. They have to kill, screw or capture bigger, nastier
or weirder quarries than their colleagues. Life is nasty, brut-
you’re nowhere near as rich as some of the other boys in ish and short for this lot. It’s also, to them, a great deal of
the frat house. You didn’t believe your roommate when he pleasure.
told you about his extracurricular activities. Now you be- Members of the Pursuit want to know secrets. They
lieve him. Hell, you had to help cover up his death the day want to know the most awful things they can. They want to
after your first hunt. see and experience, rather than do. While some go out there
You’re a fashion model. And you’re a walking cliché.
God, you’re shallow. The coke wasn’t doing it for you any- and perform unspeakable acts, the Pursuit gather the infor-
mation and record the hunt, circulating DVDs and privately
more. Dating was dull as hell, because no one you ever dated printed documents among their fellows, containing the juici-
was as beautiful as you. But there was someone you met (and est events of the hunt.
might have slept with — you can’t remember) at an after-
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