"Thank you so much sir. Have a good day." Otiz said as he accepted his final payment from his current employer Burnie who owned a tiny construction company; he was also known for giving jobs to Cursed Ones who were on the run, especially since he was one himself. In fact, there was an entire network of Cursed Ones who owned (undercover) businesses; you just had to know where to look. Thankfully, Otiz was pretty good at finding out this type of information. After waving goodbye to his former employer, he left the building, shielding his eyes from the sun as he did so. Even if it was a bit later in the day, the sun was still bright as ever.

With the money he had gained, he first made a trip over to the nearest department store to pick up dinner. What should I eat today...? He thought as he made his way down the street. Otiz had been saving up money for a while so that he could get accommodated in the next city he would go to pretty well and that meant eating mac-n-cheese and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Not that he minded too much, but he had a taste for something else today. He ended up browsing around the nearest grocery store for about twenty minutes before deciding on a microwave dinner with steak and corn. It seemed like a fest compared to what he had been eating lately.

The walk back to his little home was relatively short, which was a good thing since the sun was starting to set and the air was starting to get a slight chill. Heading inside, he greeted the two other Cursed ones that lived there before going straight to his room. After setting his bag down, he grabbed his night clothes and headed to the bathroom where he took a much needed shower. Once done, he went to the kitchen to make him a cup of hot chocolate, his favorite drink.

Once it was ready, Otiz settled down in the little chair provided in his room and used a nearby book as a table before pulling out a clean sheet of paper. It was only after he had found a pen and taken a sip of his hot chocolate did he start writing:

Dear Rhett,

How are you? How's work going for you? Hopefully that asshole of a manager isn't giving you a hard time again. Speaking of work, can you draw me another picture? I haven't gotten one from you in almost a month and I have to make sure you can still draw...lol.

Anyway, I'll be moving again tomorrow but don't worry about me. I'm safe and I hope to see you soon.

Love,
Otiz

Smiling, he drew a small heart near his name before folding the paper and slipping it into an empty envelope. After writing Rhett's address on it, he placed it in his bag. He never wrote his own address on it, mainly because he moved too much to keep up with that nor did he want Rhett to get in trouble just incase Otiz feel under the Hunter's radar again.

Deciding that he would finish packing up what little belonging he had in the morning, the man climbed into bed with his lukewarm hot chocolate and spent part of the night sipping it and daydreaming about the time when he hadn't been cursed. When life was great and he didn't spend every waking moment trying to stay alive.

I don't want to live like this anymore...

Slam!

A graying gentleman tossed a large file on the desk in front of him. It brushed against a name badge with the words ‘Daniel R. Ashford’, obviously the man at the desk. This man, with graying hair had spent a bulk of his lifetime leading the Hunter Task Force as the Commander. And he had earned his respected title.

His harsh gaze fell straight onto the woman standing tall in front of him. He had called her in only moments before she had clocked in for work, so the idea that it was urgent was obvious in her stance. “There’s been an undercover investigation going on for months as you know. A few Hunters have managed to get information about a few secret Cursed groups. Only three to be exact but three is better than none. These people, these rebels are good at hiding their trace. Miss Esen, you’ll be in charge of Group B. It’s in this city and you know this place better than anyone, even my second in command. So I’m trusting you with this task. Your group is already prepared and ready for orders. Any questions?”

A very brief flash of surprise went across Ty Esen’s face. She had never gotten the chance to lead important tasks like this before. Sure she had led missions, but they were minor and easy in her mind. This task had been a big deal for years and now, for only a few short months, did the Hunters have the information they needed to stop these Cursed ones- even if it was just a small portion of them.

These Cursed Ones were going against the norm, attempting to live forever when that wasn’t the way of life. Everyone lived in cycles of life and death, and to go against it was complete anarchy. Without structure, the world would fall into havoc.

Ty’s expression never strayed from its calm state. The young woman quickly shook her head and saluted Commander Ashford. “No sir! I will do my best.” When the commander nodded, she grabbed the file and left the office. Ty thumbed through the file, spotting the address of a construction company and then the address of an apartment not too far from it.

The office was bustling with workers. Teams were being formed and information was being spread like wildfire. The Hunters Task Force was a lot busier than normal considering their work focused only on the Cursed Ones. The normal police work was left to...well, the police.

“Careful Ty, don’t wanna spill hot coffee on ya.” The woman had been so wrapped up in her debriefing she had nearly crashed into one of the officers holding a pot of coffee.

“Ah, sorry Jackson.”

He gave a nod before moving on. Ty did the same, heading to the West Wing to meet her crew who were all lounging and waiting for further orders. Chatter ceased when Ty walked in. By the way she held herself, it was obvious she was the one in charge and ready for business. That, and of course she easily intimidated most of the men and women there despite having worked for the group for only around four years. “Alright soldiers we’ve got our work cut out for us.” She set the file on a podium behind her, already having most of the information memorized. “By the looks of it, we have two targets here. A construction company down on 18th Ave and an apartment on Lipton Street not too far from there. We’ll be heading to Lipton first-”

“Ma’am wouldn’t it be better to hit the construction site first?”

Ty looked at the officer who spoke and shook her head. “It’s currently 1:45 in the morning. That means there’s a higher populous indoors right now than there are at the site. We can use that. Capture the Cursed Ones in their homes and get more information out of them.” There were a few more nods and she continued to explain the plan. Once it was clear, everyone began to suit up and head out. It was time for the real work.

2:33 am

Task Force trucks stopped in front of the apartment, some quietly driving farther down to patrol for ones that tried to escape. With the clouds hiding the moon, it had gotten even darker than normal. It looked as though it threatened to rain as well.

“Get in formation. Ready your weapons but don’t shoot on sight. There may be decoys here- some may not be cursed.”
“Right!”

They group crept closer and closer to the apartment, and when Ty’s hand raised, the signal was given. The raid began.

They came without warning.

At one moment, everything was completely at peace. Everyone was in their beds asleep; some dreamt about the past and others about the future, but no one expected to have those dreams ripped from them as the police stormed into their apartment. Jordan, who slept in the room closest to the front door was taken first; it had always been hard for him to wake up once he finally went too sleep and was unable to react fast enough to the police's attacks. They yanked him out of bed and flipped him onto his stomach, slamming him hard onto the ground. They wasted no time in putting handcuffs around his wrists and then yanking back to his feet before marching him outside, ignoring his cries for help. However, his capture was not in vain as his cries along with the yelling and stomping of the policemen managed to alert the rest of the Cursed One's in the apartment.

For once, Otiz was glad that he had picked the short end of the stick and ended up with the room furthest from the front door. It gave him just enough time to prepare for the Hunter's attack. However, there wouldn't be enough time for him to change clothes, so he stuffed them into his back pack, along with the few items he had piled up next to his bed, before slipping it into the back. He could hear the sounds of footsteps getting closer as he slipped into his shoes.

Not wanting to waste anymore time there, the man turned to the only window in the room and lifted it before kicking out the screen that stood between him and freedom. Thankfully, he was on the first floor so jumping out of the window wouldn't be a problem for him. Otiz went to open the window, struggling a bit as it protested his efforts. It must have been a while since it had been last opened. Just as it finally began to budge, loud footsteps stopped in front of his door and the doorknob jiggled as they tried to get in. He had locked his door, thankfully, but he knew it wouldn't keep them out for long.

I only need it to hold for a few more seconds. Otiz thought as he worked to get the window open a few ore inches so that he could slide out. His movements got more frantic as the cops began to kick his door and he settled for kicking the frame of the window until it broke before hopping out onto the grass below.

The man ignored the shouts of the Hunters as they discovered he had escaped and bolted down the alley behind the townhouse. I can't be caught here. I've come to far to get caught now!! It had been a while since he had been in this situation and it had his mind jumbled with a mixture of worry, fear, and determination. So it wasn't too surprising that he ended up running right into a Hunter, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

"Oh sh-!" The impact knocked the wind out of him and it took him a few moments to sit up, coming face to face with the Hunter. Otiz was surprised to see that he had run into a blue haired female who didn't look like she would be out hunting people at two in the morning; but Otiz didn't miss the gun that had slide out of her hand during their fall and wasted no more time in getting back to his feet then sprinting down another alleyway that seemed to be void of Hunters. The man knew that the woman would be on his tail in a just a few moments and didn't bother to look back; he just hoped that he could outrun her instead of actually confronting her. While Otiz wasn't fond of hitting women, he was willing to do it if it meant staying alive.

Everything was going smoothly so far. The task force first collected everyone from their apartment- as many as they could, and when they were escorted outside, the Cursed ones were weeded out from the ones that were decoys. Ty sent a squadron around the sides in order to catch any that tried to escape, but it occurred to her while they were driving that there was an alleyway connecting behind the apartment.

She mentally cursed for not covering all her bases. “There’s an alley behind the apartment, I’m going to circle around to make sure no one gets through. Cover this area first and then send for back up!” Ty didn’t wait for a response. She was already on the move, racing to reach the alley before anyone could escape.

She had expected for one to try and stray from the apartment, but what she didn’t expect was to run right into one. Ty coughed as soon as she hit the ground, trying to catch her breath. Fortunately for her it didn’t take long and she was already scrambling up and grabbing her gun. “You’re only making this worse for yourself!” She didn’t expect her call to have much effect, but she hoped the guy wasn’t as stupid as she thought. Then again, he’s running from the cops so of course he’s dumb.
There was no way Ty was going to let her first real mission be a failure because one managed to escape. “-kssh- Ty, we’ve rounded them up! We’re heading your way.”

“We have a runner. I’m hot on their trails. Hurry and get here!” She let go of her walkie talkie and rushed after him.

It didn’t take long for the alley to end and for them to end up back on the streets in the public view. There wasn’t much of a ‘public’ considering how late it was, which gave them both an advantage of not having to run and push people. “I don’t want to shoot, but you keep running and I will!” It was her final warning. Ty had already raised her gun, attempting to keep a steady and non lethal aim while running at him.

Her first shot missed.

So did the second.

Ty grumbled under her breath planning to shoot the runaway in the leg. It was all she needed in order to catch up and take him in. Before the Cursed ones were executed, they were put through questioning. And the way this one was running, he probably had a few answers the Hunter Task Force needed. “That was your last ch-”
Her mumbled banter was interrupted when something knocked her over. She was on the ground when she realized it was a heavy barrel now rolling through the streets and a dog and its owner running the opposite way. With a closer look, Ty noticed it was several barrels and they were coming towards both the Cursed one and her. “What the-” The man chasing after the dog yelled something that she assumed was an apology, but she was a bit dazed by the hit. One of the barrels had broken and she realized it was assorted fruit that hit her. No wonder it hurt.

Realizing her target was still escaping, Ty slowly stood up with a hand to her head in attempts to quell the pain in her head. The sudden blaring of a horn made Ty whirl around to see a 16 wheeler attempting to swerve out of the way of the random barrels, only to lose control and head right for the store Ty was in front of. Seeing nothing but headlights coming at her, Ty couldn’t help go into a paralyzed shock.

Just as predicted, the hunter woman was hot on his trail after their initial mix up and it was proving to be much harder to shake her off than he had originally thought. Then, to make matters worst, she started to shoot at him! Otiz immediately tucked his head in and began to run in zigzags, hoping that it would throw her off. He tactic seemed to work and he breathed a sigh of relief as both bullets failed to hit him.

But he wasn't out of the woods yet.

Otiz was sure that she was planning to shoot at him again but he could no longer run in zigzags like before not that they were on the main street. There were way too many thing he had to look out for, light poles, fire hydrants, trash cans. Now it would be easier to shoot him unless he could find away to completely lose her for good. There was a loud clang behind him and he paused for a moment to look back, only to find that his prayers had been answered in the form of some random barrels. Not that he was complaining; any distraction was a good distraction.

Just as Otiz was about to leave, he saw a truck rolling towards the barrels that now lay in the middle of the road and it didn't look as if it would be able to avoid them. Much to his dismay, his prediction was true and he watch in horror as the truck lost control and began hurtling towards the girl who could only stand there in shock. "You need to move!!"

Before his brain could even comprehend his movements, Otiz was running back at full speed towards the girl, hoping that he would make it back in time. As both he and the truck got closer to her, time seemed to slow down. Would he make it there first? Or would the truck crush her before he could save her? Or would he get there in time only to get crushed by the truck as well? Thankfully the truck driver was able to slow down a tad bit, which gave Otiz just enough time to tackle the Hunter girl to the ground before the truck crashed into the spot where she'd just been standing moments before.

For the second time in less than 10 minutes, Otiz found himself rolling off of her, but his recovery time wasn't nearly as quick as the first time. He managed to sprain his wrist while saving her and he had to find a way to move without hurting it even more. Once he was able to get in a comfortable position, he peered down at her with a concerned look.

"Hey, are you okay??" As he waited for her to respond, Otiz spotted her gun a few feet away from where they fell. Wanting to be extra cautious, he reached over with his good hand and grabbed the firearm before chucking it into the street a few yards away.

Just in case.

The headlights of the truck grew brighter and larger but Ty was still frozen. Her first mission- her first real mission and she blew it. The enforcer was well aware that everyone had their ‘death days’ but she didn’t expect her to be so earlier. She was only in her twenties- she had so much she thought she’d live for.

Her hand made the slightest twitch, making her realize this was it. Damn, this- Or, at least she thought this was it. Before she could finish her internal monologue- well, before she could start it, something tackled her to the ground. The second time was no less painful than the first.

At first, Ty couldn’t register what happened. She just knew the wind was knocked out of her and the sounds of the truck crashing followed. Then she heard a voice. While she coughed and caught her breath, she realized that voice was none other than the very person she was trying to capture. Her head was still throbbing, but she managed to reel back and away from the guy to put space in between them.

Suddenly, everything sank in. ’He saved me...He saved me!?’ While the news would have been great to hear, Ty knew what dreaded after. “What did you do!?” Her voice rose in anger and panic. Her gun wasn’t in arms distance so instead, she leapt at the man, expertly pinning him to the ground. “Are you insane?! Do you know what you just did!?”
She should have been grateful…

The cosmos didn’t take long in realizing that the fate of one person wasn’t dealt with in proper. That one little slip up by the universe didn’t go amiss though. It didn’t take long for Ty to feel the prickling sensation go up her arm causing her to pull away from the guy she had just pinned down. Fortunately, she managed to get closer to her gun as well. Ty raised her sleeve and watched in horror as that familiar ‘Cursed’ symbol, appeared on her upper arm.

“Shit, shit, shit…” She mumbled to herself and tried to rub it off, knowing that it would be a failure. What kind of punishment was this!? She was a hunter with the sole purpose of hunting down Cursed ones and now she was one!?

Everyone had their time and going against it was testing the laws of the universe- it was going against the law. Ty reached for her gun and pointed it at the man who did save her, but also single handedly ruined her career.

But for some reason...she couldn’t shoot him.

Instead, she tossed her gun to the side and began taking off her bulletproof vest. “I suggest you keep running… By the sounds of it, the rest of my task force will be here soon.” Ty stood. If she was going to go out as a Cursed one she would go out with her honor and dignity still intact.
Sure enough, sirens were blaring in the distance and with a reluctance, Ty prepared to give herself up to her own crew.

Otiz grunted in pain as the woman suddenly pinned him down, yelling at him angrily. "What the hell? What do you mean, 'what did you do'? I just saved your life you idiot!" The man responded, too angry about the fact that she seemed extremely ungrateful for his heroic act to understand the consequence of doing so, which was funny since it was the reason that his life was the way it is now. However it didn't take him long to remember as the woman moved away, watching as the infamous Cursed Symbol appeared on her arm. His eyes softened for a moment as he watched her attempt to rub it off; it reminded him of the time when the Cursed Symbol appeared on him as well. He had been scared and unsure about what he would do from then on.

When she suggested that he should run, Otiz nodded snapped back into reality and quickly stood to his feet. He was about to run off when he realized that she hadn't moved. Almost as if she planned to let herself be captured and most likely killed.
"What are you standing there for? C'mon, we have to get out of here." He hissed, groaning a bit to himself when she made no effort to move. Feeling quite annoyed with the situation, he went back over to the woman and stood in front of her, placing his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Look, I don't know who you are and what you've done in your life up to this point but it's not the end. You still have your whole life ahead of you, if you have the Cursed Symbol now. That symbol doesn't determine your worth or what you're capable of, only your hard work and dedication does. Now snap out of it, it is not your time to die today!" Otiz said, shaking her a bit as if to physically snap her out of suicidal thoughts.

"Plus, it's rude as hell to let yourself be killed after having someone put their life on the line to make sure you didn't die the first time around." He added quickly before speaking once more. "Now, either you can run using your own two feet or I'll drag you out of here. Choose wisely." Otiz didn't want to be so curt or harsh with her but they were running out of time; the sirens were getting closer and it would be only a matter of time before her 'task force' found them.

At first, Ty ignored the man as he tried to tempt her into committing some act of treason. She stood tall, with her chin up, slowly putting the pieces of her fate together. ’If this is it… This is it.’ There was a gnawing and complaining voice in the back of her head. It was only a whisper, but with the stranger now yelling at her to keep her life rather than to forfeit it for the sake of justice, that whisper grew louder.

“It’s not just...it’s not the law. There are rules, and rules aren’t meant to be broken…” Most of what she said was mumbled because she was reminding herself what she was taught. “Immortality is not a right. It’s a curse.” That was said a little louder to be sure the stranger heard it. However, even though she said it… It didn’t sound convincing.

Of course when the tables were turned, she would get cold feet. But she had to accept it...right?

Ty tensed when she was shaken ad it was only then she had focused on Otiz and not the sound of the sirens that weren’t too far away. She hadn’t spoken a word, but the threat of being carried away made her eyes narrow.

“...I don’t want to die today.” The confession was barely audible, but it was loud enough for Otiz to know that that was the signal to start running. ’Maybe this isn’t over… Maybe if I can find more information about these Cursed Ones...I could give it to the Task Force. I can still fix this and keep my honor.’ Her convoluted, practical brainwashing, kept her thoughts busy as to how to deep into the rabbit hole she could go before escaping back to what she was taught to be reality. However, the thoughts were mainly for her to ignore the fact that she was going against her orders and training and running away from the very people she had been leading hours before.

She was now a criminal and she had this random stranger to thank for that.

~~~~~~

The truck, blaring the sirens came to a halt and a group filed out. “Her comms placed her here! Search the area!” The man that had assumed the position as leader was none other than Jackson Sloane. He was a senior officer like Ty and was the most qualified to take charge. In fact, the two were friends- or at least acquaintances so Jackson liked to think. They trained in the same class and division during their Task Force training. And while Ty exceeded her training, Jackson was never too far behind.

In this particular case however… it didn’t look like he caught up in time.

The group rummaged through the truck wreck and the area around only to find Ty’s badge and comms unit. “Sir, she was following one of the Cursed Ones that ran off! There’s no body around here either…”

“Shit.” Jackson mumbled the curse as he stared the badge over in his hands. “If Ty has been kidnapped we need to report to the Commander first. We need his orders but we will get her back. We don’t abandon our own.”