Until death do you part, those are the words everyone agrees to at their wedding. I agreed to them, but if last month had showed me anything, it was that you should stick to those words. I spent the last few years waiting for a man to come back from the grave for me and it made life terrible. Why the hell was I working at the TSA? No offense to anyone who loves what they do, but I’m way better than that. I fight monsters, I hide under their beds, and scare them at night. It wasn’t for me.

Justin, I’m sorry. I wasn’t there for you. You didn’t die because of me, but you died despite my trying. If I had been on top of my game, Jonah would have never had a chance. I’m sorry I killed your brother. I don’t think I’m going to keep your last name. I’ve deified you, and you were flawed. Your feet stank, you never did the dishes, you always picked the job with the highest pay even if we weren’t qualified. Despite all that you didn’t deserve to die.

I don’t deserve to have my life dictated by you either. I have to step away, do my own thing. Take some trips, maybe meet a new guy. It isn’t really living if you’re a slave to the past. You were my first love, not my life, and nobody said you had to be my only love. My train of thought is broken by my cell phone ringing.

“Hey Erica,” I answer the phone.

“You down for a job,” she asks.

“What you got?”

“Something easy to start you off with. Werebear.”

“Werebear?”

“Yeah, he’s been fucking up the countryside and taking over land. Someone has to put him down.”

“I’ve never seen a werebear. I can’t miss this one.”

I don’t know if I want to be a hunter forever, but for now I need to get back to it. My body hurt like hell after tangling with Jonah. But I missed it, the bruises, the pain. I heal pretty fast, something with the blood magic. I miss the rush, putting my life on the line, I’m an adrenaline junky. Still, I don’t think this is the career for me. The one thing I need right now, is to help people. I’ve been selfish, I still never apologized to Rythe or even Tituba for destroying her home. That’s the real reason I’m working, I need to get her home fixed, she’s been staying with me and I can’t take much more voodoo.

Tituba suggested I try teaching if I want to help people. She said there’s a school in Indianapolis. Hidden, something about traversing catacombs to a magic portal to get in. It all sounds so ridiculous, like they went to extreme lengths to hide the school. She’s never actually been, so it might not be as crazy as she makes it sound. Me as a teacher, doesn’t sound so bad.