Not long after Sofia left, I grabbed the bag I packed the night before and got out of my bed. My heart weighing heavily on me and a lump forming in my throat, I snuck into Abby’s room first. I smiled upon seeing her pink, star-shaped night light and the way she was clinging to her stuffed animal, Colin. At her age, she still sucked her thumb when she slept. I approached her bed and twisted a tendril of her blonde hair with my forefinger. “I’ll miss you, dwarfette.”

I was kicking myself in the head for being so overly dramatic. It wasn’t like the hunters were going to take me captive and keep me from ever seeing my family again, but I knew that the choice I was making was going to break my family’s heart. My next stop was my parents’ bedroom. I snuck a peek at them cuddled in their bed, a reminder of how in love they still were with each other after all those years – something I felt I could never have now that Sofia had left me. I slipped through the door and snuck inside the room, careful to be as quite as I possibly could. I saw my dad’s car keys above their drawers and took them. I took one last look at my parents and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

I then headed off to the car and made the drive to the airport. I had no idea where to go or what to do. All I had was a name and a number and I was prepared to fly to any destination I was asked to go to.

Once I got to the LAX airport, I headed for the nearest coffee shop and ordered an overpriced cup of coffee. Seated on one of the plush couches, I finally found the guts to call the number that Eliza gave me.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I dialed the number.

“Hello?” A deep, gravelly voice answered.

“Hello. Is this Reuben?”

“Who wants to know?”

“I’m Ben Hudson. A girl named Eliza referred me to you.” I paused, wondering to myself if I sounded crazy saying my next sentence. “I want to join the hunters.”

“Eliza?” There was a pause on the other side of the line, the only sound I heard was that of his heavy breathing. I thought it was going to be the end of our conversation, so I was relieved when he said, “Perfect. We’re looking forward to meeting you, Ben. I was hoping you’d get in touch with us.”

He was hoping? Why and how would he even know I exist? To that, I didn’t know how to respond, so all I ended up saying was, “Great.”

“Where are you?”

“At LAX.”

“That won’t do. One of our men will have a private plane waiting at Van Nuys Airport in three hours. Does that suit you?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Of course.”

“See you soon, Ben.”

He hung up and frowned, confused by the conversation I just had. I took a sip of coffee and set it on the table before returning to the car. It didn’t take long for me to reach the city limits of LA and get to Van Nuys, where private, chartered and small commercial aircrafts flew.

I had arrived early, so I was waiting a while before a tall, lean man approached me. Tattoos crawled up his arms and his head was completely shaven.

“Are you Ben Hudson?” he asked.

“That would be me.”

“I’m Fly. Ready to go?”

I nodded and he motioned for me to follow him to the tarmac where a private plane was already waiting. I was impressed upon seeing the jet’s comfortable interior; white leather reclining seats, a large flat screen television and a small bar were the first things to catch my eye.

“We’ll get cleared to fly in a few minutes or so. Make yourself comfortable.” Fly told me before motioning to go to the cabin.

About three hours into the flight, I walked up the cockpit to ask Fly where we were headed for.

“All you need to know is that we’re going to Hawk Headquarters. Anything beyond that will be revealed to you in time.”

I returned to my seat and looked out the window. We were about to land. On the ground below I could make out a large private estate somewhere in the country. Acres upon acres of orchards lined one side of the estate, while a vineyard lined the other. Rows of various villas lined one area of the estate while what looked like an interconnection of buildings with one big dome in the middle represented what I assumed was the center of the hunters’ headquarters. It wasn’t long before we touched down on the the estate’s runway.

The moment I got off the plane and stepped onto the tarmac, I was greeted by a petite young woman with short, blue-streaked black hair and a wide smile.

“You must be Ben Hudson!” she exclaimed. “We’re so excited that you’re finally here! I’m Zinnia Wolfe.”

I immediately noticed the small scar on her left cheek as we shook hands. I thought to ask about it, but decided not to. I was still somewhat bewildered by the warm welcome. Why are they expecting me? Why do they even know me? “I’d introduce myself, but it seems you already know me.”

“Well…” she shrugged one shoulder. “Who doesn’t?”

I motioned to get my bags but she shook her head and waved the notion off.

“Don’t worry about your luggage. We’ll have them brought to your room later.”

We began walking side by side out of the runway toward the ‘Hawk Headquarters’. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the responses I was getting from her.

“After Vivienne Novak was captured, you and Sofia have been the talk of the town.”

About a thousand internal warning alarms went off at that statement and I found myself stopping on my tracks before we could reach a block section of the estate. It had steel gray exteriors and large glass windows from floor to ceiling. I gave the building a wary glance, no longer certain if I wanted to be there.