The Hunters' Prey

Naomi~

The snow made it too hard to move. I grunted as I walked along, the path to the woods was still quite a distance. I would be able to hide from the mob there. I turned momentarily to see how near they were to me. In the distance, I saw torches and pitchforks being held by several people. They were out for me and if they caught me they would draw blood.

"Achoo," came a little sneeze.

I peeked into the cloth in my arms and checked on my brother. He was shivering badly and the sores seemed to have increased. What exactly had they done to him? The sight of him, like this hurt more than the cold or my broken arm. He was too young to be suffering this way.

I quickened my strides so much that I started to lose feeling in my legs. We finally made it to the woods but just as I thought that we were now somewhat safe. I heard someone call attention to us.

"I see her!" I recognized the owner of the voice as Jeffery Stale. The brother of the bastard who put my brother in this condition. He must have known of their activities. "Get her!"

There was collective shouting among the mob that was after me. They also quickened their pace.

"Is... that uncle... Jeff?" Abel asked in a weak voice.

I smiled. It was a sign that there was still hope since he was able to recognize the voice. He was not too far gone already despite his appearance. "It is," I answered him.

He snuggled even close to me through the cloth. I had been in way worse scenarios but I found myself falling apart already because Abel was involved.

I looked around but tried not to look behind me because of the fear of the sight of the mob. The forest had an abundance of tall trees that would cloak us relatively well from the villagers. As the villagers also entered, we hid behind a large tree. I held my breath as the villagers' torches got brighter. They were close.

"Naomi," Jeffery called out to me. "Give yourself in. Your punishment will be lenient if you do." I could tell from his tone that he was smiling. The sick man loved the chase so much. He was a hunter and I was the prey.

I wanted so much to curse at him but for now, I had to stay quiet. Tomorrow I could go to Sharon for help with Abel. If I could escape that is. Once they were behind the tree we were hiding. My heart rate went through the roof. It was beating loudly in my ears. I gulped every sense and I felt ready to implode.

"She could not have gone far," The voice of the creepy middle-aged man, Eugene Augustus.

My adrenaline was slowly getting depleted and the extreme ache in my left arm was getting unbearable. I gritted my teeth through the discomfort and waited for them to pass. There were about forty people in the mob, most of them I knew and could recognize.

I turned on more time to see that they had almost left our perimeter. I breathed a sigh of relief and then I heard Abel sneeze.

"Achoo," He tried to suppress it but it was already too late.

"I hear something," A woman said, turning around as the light from her torch hit my face. She points. "She is over there!"

The rest took a cue and changed their course and came after me again. I got up at lightning speed, almost throwing my back in the process and started to run again.

We moved through the forest with the others right on our tail.

"Stop, stop," They shouted, only wasting their breath because it did nothing to deter me.

My brother held on in fear that I could drop him. My broken arm and legs felt as though they were not mine.

"Gotcha!" said a voice that was so close, that it felt as if he had whispered in my ear. I turned to see in horror that Jeffery had his hand just an inch from my shirt. I was done for, he reached me and yanked me to him. I fell with Abel in my arms into the snow.

My eyes met Jeffery's as he snickered. "Foolish girl," he mocked. The rest were also catching up to us. Abel was left on the snow without the cover. Jeffery shined his touch on him and recoiled in apparent disgust. He spat in the snow. "You killed my brother for that atrocity?"

I got up slowly, my blood boiling.

"You still dare look at me with those eyes?" He crashed a fist into my stomach. I crouched and held my stomach in pain.

"Big... sister..." Abel whimpered.

I ignored the pain long enough to reach him and hold him again before I let out a scream from the excruciating pain. Once I was done I stroked his face. "I am here."

Jeffery laughed. "Once you are executed, they will take good care of you at the slave market." The others reached us and immediately they started to torture me.

"I knew you were a no-good bitch," My age mate, Rita said. To think the lazy bones of the village would go so far just to witness my demise.

I looked up at all of them to see if I could get them to believe me. "I did not do anything," I managed. "I did not hurt them."

Jeffery came closer. "No, you did not hurt them," He turned abruptly to the rest of the mob. "She killed them!" He shouted.

There was an uproar and I knew there was no way that I could get through to them.

A man took me by my collar, lifted and dealt me a punch in my face. I fell back into the snow, my head spinning and my vision blurred but I did not let Abel go. I looked up to see that they had all surrounded me. I finally accepted my fate and waited for them to do as they pleased with me. Then I heard a growl.

"A wolf!" Rita shrieked. The rest started to murmur in fear, slowly moving backwards.

"It's just one wolf," Jeffery assured, I heard him move in the snow towards the wolf. Then he stopped in his tracks. He heard the same thing everyone else heard. "It is a pack!" He yelped

Jeffery retreated and the others scattered accordingly. Using that opportunity I got up too. The wolves seemed not to be running in my direction but in the direction of the mob. I still could not see properly so when I heard a growl close to us, I did not know where exactly it came from. I ran faster, my broken arm swinging wildly like it was loosely attached to my body. I saw a creature up ahead, I tried to run forward but it stopped me as if commanding me to stop. I did, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. I tried to concentrate 1to see my potential attacker. It did not make a move instead it seemed to study me as my sight got better. Finally, I could see it cle was white and very large. Its blue eyes seemed to imitate the night sky above. It finally moved but it did not lunge at me. It walked to my side and then behind me. I turned to look it in the eye. It kept walking in circles around me. Was it trying to stall so that the rest of its pack could come to the feast? It finally stopped beside me again. We maintained eye contact until it broke it by looking up. Confused, I tried to find out what had drawn its attention. It found it was looking at a castle mounted on a hill. It was not just any castle but the castle of the silver devil. The most feared entity in the whole kingdom.

I looked back at the wolf to see its eyes still glued to it so turned to look again. Then I saw a man by the window. He had his gaze fixed directly on me. They said the silver prince lived alone which only meant that the man would be none other than the devil himself. I gulped and turned back to see the wolf had vanished. I looked around to see that there was no sight of it.

Something else caught my attention, the villagers were back. They had also increased in number. They had called for backup. Someone shot up into the air. They had guns now!

I looked back at the castle and made a decision. I ran out of the forest and towards the devil's castle