I don't want to start imagining things, but I can't help it.
Hunter and I seem to be the only survivors after all. And he's the one looking macabre amongst us both.
Gods and Goddesses, please tell me what I'm thinking isn't true. Tell me Hunter didn't do this. Bring the murderer before my eyes, so I can be a bit consoled because I cannot deal with this. I just can't.
There's enough I can take for a week. And this… this is way past my limit that I want to lay atop sun-beaten sand and let the concrete scrape off the memories. Reset the things I've just now seen.
For the first time, I envy amnesia; and wish that it'd find its way to me, as I cannot dare say what sort of a person would do this—steal people's lives, turn them into dolls with their blood as art, even leave a hole in their chests.
Or I'm probably just naïve and people like these are real. Maybe they're specks of dust waiting for the right wind to blow them together.
But isn't it unfair—that someone this heartless gets to live their own life; how they're not stricken down immediately and sent to rot in the gloomiest depths?
"Why?" I whisper.
My voice is shaky. I haven't managed to keep it smooth for some time now, not while there's this fright swirling about me as I watch Hunter walk past me; his shoes creating a soft, sickening splatter in the pool of blood.
Moments later, the music stops, and I press my palms against the sides of my throbbing head, whispering again, "Gods above."
I turn to Hunter, hoping for an explanation, some sign of remorse. But the man is rather preoccupied with nudging the corpses with his foot as if checking for any signs of life.
He's an idiot. I hope he knows that. Because there's certainly no way these people would be alive after he has torn their hearts from their chests, is there?
The eerie silence in the hall haunts me; pushes me through the archway into the hallway while being careful not to draw Hunter's attention.
I have to escape before the devil's arrows are shot at me. And I need to do it quickly, stealthily.
I make for the back door until I arrive at the mansion's rear where about five of Hunter's guards lie dead atop crimson-stained snow.
My head is a mess as I zip my eyes around the environment, not sure where to go before an idea flashes through my mind—a phone!
With trembling hands, I rifle through the nearest guard's pockets, take out his phone and am about to dial an emergency number when an explosion thunders atop the mansion.
The building lights flicker and die, throwing everything into darkness, causing me to scream and let the phone slip from my grasp in shock.
Fuck! I may have just exposed my location.
Hunter shouldn't find I'm gone until I truly am gone. And with that, I bite my lower lip to stifle the continuous gasps of panic that I can't control, as I can't my body shaking with fear.
"Heidi!" Hunter's voice echoes through the night, followed by another explosion that lights up the sky like fireworks, flashing before me.
Dust spreads about the air and settles on the snow-coated field, some even find their way into my eyes.
"I see you, Heidi."
Shit!
I hold my palm over my mouth to muffle ragged breaths as I start down the slope toward the woods while my legs shake beneath me.
Hunter's voice is growing close, filled with menace, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at a time.
"It's just the two of us in this world, Heidi. Come to me." Terror claws at my insides as I break into a run, my feet crunching the snow in rhythm with my pants. "You can't outrun me!"
Oh, yes, I can. And I will. If only I could stop glancing back to the mansion as I ran.
No matter how often I look back, Hunter is nowhere behind me—not even his shadow. And in my panic, I trip over a lifeless body and fall hard with a grunt.
I try to stand on my feet despite feeling drained, but my hands and legs are too weak to hold me steady.
My fingers then begin to fumble through the dead man's pockets in search of another phone before Hunter's voice rings out again, closer this time, sending fresh jolts of fear through me.
"I'll protect you, love, I swear!"
Well, fuck him and his damn protection! I don't even know what I need protection from because the scenery here is me running for my dear life… from him― HIM!
I've never felt more endangered in my life. It has always been quiet and scheduled; more of work, tutors, combat training, learning stuff, and interviews until I failed the test.
But even with Saturn's taunts and manipulations, I have never been this scared.
Now, there's agitation. I'm freaking out. And I don't know how I managed to find a phone and dial the emergency number.
"Hello, report your emergency, please," the operator says. But before I can speak, as I look toward the mansion, I catch Hunter standing in the shadows, the sparks from the blasting roof glinting in his eye.
I recoil, crawling backward in fear as Hunter starts making his way to me, his index finger spinning the dagger in his hand through the finger hole.
"Hello, anybody there? Please report your emergency," the operator says again. But I'm too concerned about the looming predator to respond.
Hunter's steps are faster than my crawling. Panicked, I can't think straight. All I know is that I have to scream and move backward as quickly as possible.
However, in an instant, Hunter vanishes from sight, then I feel his arm wrap around my waist, pulling my backside against his torso before snatching the phone and terminating the call.
I scream and struggle as Hunter begins walking back toward the mansion with me in his clasp. Too bad my small frame is no match for his strength; held by his arm over his side like a doll, my legs kicking aimlessly in the air.
I beat my fists against him, but he doesn't flinch, even his grip is as strong as iron.
When we reach the front of the mansion and have moved farther away, another explosion tears through the night. This one, meant to bring the house down, lights up the sky in a fiery display of chaos.
The ground shakes beneath us. And I finally fall silent while listening to the unending boom of explosions.
The struggle against Hunter's might has drained the hell out of me. I've become too exhausted and terrified to keep fighting, so I lose to this brutal killer as he walks through the empty, dark street despite the shockwaves that send the earth rumbling.
Getting to a van, he carefully places me in the front seat before I slump against the backrest, defeated and lost for words; my body limp, mind numb.
Hunter stands beside me without closing the door. Then he taps my thigh with the phone. I look at him, my eyes questioning.
"Report the incident," he says lazily, while my eyes flicker to the phone and back to him. "The explosion; report it," he repeats.
I let out a tired sigh. "Hunter, you killed so many people in there—even our family. Have you no conscience?"
The man stares at me, his expression rigid. With a resigned sigh, I take the phone before he shuts the door, moves around to the driver's side, and settles in his seat. But he does not start the car.
"Do it quickly. I'm tired," he mutters. "And do not try anything funny."
He leans on the headrest, and I glare at him through the rearview mirror. He looks so relaxed. One would mistake that he's asleep, as he breathes steadily, unfazed by the situation.
The proportion of his facial muscles looks perfect, the blood splattered across his face only adding to the uncanny calmness enveloping him, making him look both handsome and monstrous at the same time.