Though Cadence and Aaron could have made the drive from Kansas City to Shenandoah fairly quickly, flying was even faster, and it allowed them to get to Iowa, briefly visit her family, and return to headquarters all before 2:00. Still, the trip had eaten up a fair amount of their Saturday, and Cadence was pondering whether or not to go with the rest of the team on the assigned hunt that night or spend it with her sister. She hadn’t missed a local hunt since she became the Hunter Leader, and while the rest of the team assured her they could handle it without her, she was hesitant to sit one out. Nevertheless, Cassidy had a lot of questions and wanted to see everything, so eventually she decided to turn it over to Aurora and spend as much time with Cassidy as she could. After all, they had always been close, and now that Cadence was no longer at home, they needed some time to catch up.
Cadence unlocked the door to her apartment using her IAC. She had gone back to sleep for a little while, but she was still exhausted, and she stifled a yawn as she gestured for her sister to come in. “Make yourself at home,” she said as Cassidy wandered in, followed by Aaron who had her overnight bag.
“Your apartment is so cool,” Cassidy said in awe as she walked over to look out the window. She had been there once before, when she came down for Elliott’s funeral, but that had been several months ago. “I love your view. That fountain is huge.”
Cadence also enjoyed the view of the courtyard and the surrounding open fields from her window. She had a nice view of a few fountains that dotted the landscape, but the only she liked most was the one Elliott had specially ordered for Aaron, the one that looked like his daughter Aarolyn. “It is pretty nice,” Cadence agreed, plopping down on the sofa. “If you’re hungry, there’s plenty of food in there,” she added, gesturing toward the kitchen.
“I’m fine,” Cassidy assured her, joining her on the couch. “When do I get to see everything and meet everyone?”
“Uh, well, soon,” Cadence replied. “You’ve already met just about everyone. And there’s a hunt tonight, so they’ll be planning that within a few hours.”
“Can I go?” Cassidy asked, a sappy smile on her face.
“Absolutely not,” Cadence answered quickly.
“Your bag is in the guest room,” Aaron told her as he came back down the hallway. “And I need to go check in with Jamie. He said he needs to see me in person. So….”
“What’s that all about?” Cadence asked, a very curious expression on her face.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I have an idea--but I’m not going to speculate.”
“Okay,” Cadence replied, letting it go even though she had a dozen other questions she was dying to ask. “Well, let me know what’s going on.”
“I will,” he said as he stooped down to kiss her quickly on the cheek, sparing her sister any unwelcome PDA.
“Aaron, can I go on the hunt tonight?” Cassidy asked, the same ridiculously hopeful expression on her face.
He looked at her with his eyebrows raised before asking, “Do I really need to respond to that question?”
“It was worth a shot,” Cassidy muttered.
“Not today, girlfriend,” Aaron said over his shoulder as he crossed to the door. “You’ve got a couple more years before you’re ready for that.”
“See you later,” Cadence called after him as he left, nodding in response. “Here’s the remote,” she said to her little sister, tossing it in her general direction. “I’ll be back in a minute, and then we can talk about what you wanna do.”
“Where are you going?” Cassidy asked as her sister stood.
“Must you know everything?” Cadence replied. “To the bathroom.”
“Oh,” Cassidy said, turning the TV on. “I didn’t know you still had to do that.”
“Yeah. I do.” She exited the room shaking her head but trying to stay patient. Cassidy didn’t know what she didn’t know.
The TV came to life in the middle of a news report. “CNN? Bluck,” Cassidy mumbled, looking closely at the remote in an attempt to figure out how to change the channel, but before she could manage to do so, she realized what the reporter was saying.
“A person of interest in connection with the Jogging Path Killings was arrested today in Philadelphia. Steven Gibbon, 32, was transferred to an area hospital after he was critically wounded in a standoff with police outside of Rocky’s Gym this morning. While police are not confirming exactly what evidence they have that Gibbon is connected to the murders of seven women in the Philadelphia area, they did say that his wounds are not life threatening and that he will be taken into custody as soon as he is discharged.”
“Cadence!” Cassidy yelled, as she heard her sister coming back down the hallway. “Did you see this?”
“What is it?” Cadence asked pulling down her sleeves. “They caught the Jogging Path Killer?”
“Looks like it. He’s creepy!” Cassidy replied, looking at the mug shot they had posted. “Is he a Vampire?”
“No,” Cadence assured her. “Not all bad people are Vampires. Some of them are just bad people.”
“Well, I’m glad. Because something tells me he would be even worse if he was a Vampire.”
Looking into his eyes, Cadence couldn’t help but agree. There was something about Steven Gibbon that just looked… evil. “Hey, Aaron wants us to meet him at Jamie’s office. Let’s head over there, okay?”
“Okay,” Cassidy agreed, flipping the TV off again. “Which one is Jamie?”
“He’s the Healer,” Cadence reminded her as they walked out the door.
“The one with the spikey hair?”
“That’s him.” They had to wait a moment for the elevator to reach their floor.
“And I remember Meagan and Aurora. What’s that other guy’s name? The one with the weird accent?”
“That’s Christian,” Cadence replied as they stepped into the elevator. “He’s not here right now, though.”
“Oh, where’s he at?”
“He is working on a special project with some doctor in one of the Guardian settlements. He’s trying to figure out a way so that Guardians can turn back into humans if they want to,” Cadence attempted to explain as the elevator reached the bottom floor.
“Why would they want to do that?” Cassidy asked as she followed her out into the lobby.
“Well, it’s kind of exhausting living forever,” Cadence explained. “Some of them have been around for thousands of years, and they don’t have a lot of options. If they could turn back into people, then they would die, eventually. As Guardians, they’ll just keep on going forever.”
“Unless a Hunter kills them, right?”
“Right. But we hope that doesn’t happen, for obvious reasons,” Cadence agreed. “So, this will make it easier for them to be… normal again.”
It was a little chilly out with a nice autumn breeze, and Cassidy was glad she’d brought a jacket. The cold weather didn't bother Cadence at all now that she had Transformed. As they approached the parking lot near Jamie’s office, Cadence froze in her tracks, her hand shooting out to grab Cassidy’s arm. “Oh. My. God.”
“What? What is it?” Cassidy asked, not sure if she should be scared of a Vampire, or a monster, or something else entirely.
Cadence broke out in a fit of laughter, smiling with glee. “He’s here! He actually came! Come on!” She took off running so fast, she left her sister, mouth agape, still standing several yards behind. Once she realized there was no way Cassidy could keep up with her, she stopped and backtracked, grabbing her sister by the arm, and slowing her pace to a more manageable, human speed.
“But where are we going?” Cassidy asked as she sprinted to keep up with her sister who appeared to be only jogging.
Cadence was too excited to answer, and as she burst through the office building door, it was all Cassidy could do to keep from smacking into it. Jamie’s office was close to the front entrance, and his door was open. It only took Cassidy a second to realize why her sister was so happy.