Moving back to the gas station, I check the mother over who shockingly happens to still be alive, though unresponsive.
Quickly bringing her with my hands over her neck wound, I use my control over this place and all that is in it to repair the damage, replace the blood and make sure there aren't any infections of any variety coursing throughout her veins.
The brave boy who still seems to have a voice, while the other kids do not. Walks over to us and kneels down next to the woman and holds her hand.
"Wi-will Miss Mercer be okay?" the boy asks me and looking more closely at her I see that my earlier guess-stimation of her being a soccer mom is wrong, she's about twenty years old, a ginger and looks quite a bit like Cassidy Freeman.
"I think she will be, is she your teacher?" The dark haired boy with blood staining his face and clothes nods yes to me, his eyes filling with relieved tears.
"Miss Mercer, is our sixth grade teacher…she's really nice. She was dating Rebecca's dad…Rebecca and her dad were monsters." The boy's voice very nearly turns into a whimper, I reach over and rest my not so bloody hand on his shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze.
"My name is Matthew and I'm a Monster Hunter, there are a few hunters like me all around the world, saving people…hunting things…we just call ourselves hunters-"
"I want to be a hunter!" The boy glares into my eyes with a rather profound intensity.
"I won't say no…but it'll be hard, it'll be harder than anything you've ever done before in your life. And you probably won't live to see twenty-five-"
"I don't care, I want to be a hunter so other kids like me don't have to watch as their moms and dads are killed and eaten in front of them while the monsters laugh, and ask if you want to try a piece too!" By the time the boy finishes his little speech he's screaming at me with tears running down his face, body trembling fists clenched right.
"Okay Buddy, I'll train you…if any of the others want to learn I'll teach them too-" At the end of my offer the boy throws himself at me hugging me tightly, pressing his face against the crook of my neck.
Before I can really react I'm dog piled by the kids that are still alive and mobile, as I'm being hugged I check on the kids inside the car…the two that are still alive.
Between the two kids I regrow three arms and two legs, and one eyeball.
And that's when I feel an itch in the back of my mind, my perception expands and I see the female Kitsune crouched down and watching us. Her eyes are glowing, her claws are out and she's getting ready to pounce.
'Sit girl!' I project through my thoughts and picture Inuyasha's cursed necklace around her throat and watch as she gets face planted into the dirt, by an unseen gravitational force that craters the ground below her body.
Now that I'm less pissed about her killing Zoey…I take a moment to really look at her. 'Holy shit, It's Maggie Q! Well at least a woman who looks like her twenty-five maybe thirty year old identical counterpart in her early roles in tv shows and movies that is.
'Okay…this is pretty cool. I mean yeah sure I feel all sorts of complicated feelings over her killing Zoey and my failure to save Zoey, shit just her being here doesn't make sens-e…right Tessa said she couldn't find any of the Kitsune souls. Getting blasted by The Equalizer can explain away why there weren't souls for the boys. But could bringing the remains of a dead kitsune here equate to her soul being here and her gaining a new body without injuries?' My head is filled with questions as a startled and confused voice breaks through them.
"Ki-kids, where-where are we?" Miss Mercer asks in a daze and all the kids nervously circle her.
Returning to my position at her side I gently push Miss Mercer back down, "You need to remain laying down for a bit…Miss Mercer-"
"Cassy, please call me Cassy…how-how did we get away from…from Johnathan and his friends?" Cassy asks me her voice cracking.
"You should have seen him Miss Mercer, he was like a Ninja and Mr.Riggs from Lethal Weapon. He killed all the monsters and then brought us here to this safe place! He hunts monsters, Miss Mercer and he promised me he'd train me so that I can be just like him!"
"Huh…ohh…that's nice Nicholas, I think I'm going to go back to sleep now." Cassy Mercer mumbles and then falls unconscious.
All the kids look to me for answers and reassurance and I give it my best shot. "She's okay, kids, she's just sleepy. I think all of us could use a little nap." I offer and with a flex of my will I clean the kids of everything and make new fresh fuzzy comfy pajamas appear on them while turning the ground beneath into one big cozy mattress.
Then I make the sky an IMAX-like tv and put on the OG Ben 10 series from my memories. The kids one by one lay down and look up at the sky surrounding me and their sleeping teacher.
A couple of the kids give me pouty expressions so I clean myself off completely and lay down to watch cartoons too, and get snuggled by a bunch of traumatized kids.
Falling asleep…waking up a while later to find myself and Cassy Mercer having become cuddle buddies sometime while asleep. While the Kitsune who had been ready to pounce on our little groups is now off to the side is pulling a double duty by hugging the crying kids and passing out snacks.
Shrugging my shoulders I press my face back into Cassy's hair and fall back asleep.
…
Waking up to a somewhat frightened gasp and lots of giggles. I look up to find Cassy Mercer the teacher mostly laying on top of me with big beautiful eyes and all of the kids pointing and giggling at us the girls especially seem to find this situation funny.
"Miss Mercer is like that prince who woke up the princess with a kiss, but she and the prince were both asleep." I heard one of the girls giggling to another while the boys weren't outwardly saying anything. I could feel waves of jealousy rolling off of them.
"I-I have a fiance!" Cassy suddenly stutters out and a couple of the girls sharply inhale and in a combined and very loud voice they shout. "MISS MERCER LYING IS BAD!!!"
The two other girls giggle and are pretending to whisper the words, "Kiss him again, kiss him again!" Like a chant.
'Huh, the girls are my wingmen... interesting.'
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