The hunt (2)

She still did not give up and kept on looking. She observed her surroundings and her keen ears did not miss any sound. A cool breeze blew through her raven hair. Her eyes shone with determination. Her bloodless lips were pressed into a thin line.

But still she did not find any animal... Not even that rock rabbit she had seen earlier. Why was she so unlucky? She grunted at the sudden thought. She needed to be patient. Her attention was caught by a tree that stood not far away from her. It had strange red fruits that looked like apples but they were clearly not apples.

They looked quite delicious from afar. They were so round, red, shiny and tempting. Her mouth watered. She squinted her eyes and a mischievous look appeared on her pale face. Her monkey instincts kicked in. She went over to the tree and hastily climbed the tree.

These little round fruits might not be poisonous right? She could already imagine sinking her teeth into one of those lovely fruits. She sat on a branch and plucked up one of the strange fruits. She had never seen these fruits before. This means she did not know the fruits nor their name. All she wanted to do was to eat.

She sniffed the fruit. It had a strange yet good scent. Her eyes narrowed in satisfaction. Right now, she looked like a little girl who was given her favourite dish. She inspected it careful. Athena did not notice that she was drooling at the sight of the little round fruit. As if she had finally satisfied her curiosity, she neared the fruit towards her mouth.

She took a small bite. Her eyes widened. It did not taste bad at all. In fact it tasted so delicious. She completely forgot about her hunt for an animal and quietly enjoyed the fruit. It was so delicious but why did it seem like no one had ever plucked any fruit from this tree? They were so many and ripe.

Maybe not many people knew about this tree. She casted her thoughts aside and decided to continue eating this delicious fruit. She plucked another after another... Athena had a great appetite. It was really surprising that she never gained weight.

She was still as thin as a stick and very pale due to her illness. No wonder she was not as attractive as other girls. Athena never really cared about her appearance. To her beauty was nothing at all. What was the most important thing was her precious life that she knew might end sooner or later. It was like she was watching her life slowly slip away...

Athena could only sigh, feeling helpless about her situation. No matter how unwilling she was, she knew that she had to accept the fact that her time in this world was limited. It pained her everytime she thought of this. She felt her heart tighten. The world was really cruel...

She felt her mood dampen. Athena looked bitterly at her half eaten fruit. This was her fifth fruit. Athena threw it away. She was destined to die early. Her parents dumped her at birth...

She closed her eyes. This was not the right time to ponder on such painful things. Athena opened her eyes. She knew she had to accept her fate. Her long eyelashes fluttered.

She decided to pluck up a few of these strange yet delicious fruits for the others. She packed them into the bag that carried her arrows. She immediately climbed down. She gave the tree one more glance before walking away. Her cheerful expression returned and she began her hunt again. Very soon she had to search for the others.

A blue butterfly suddenly flew past her. It looked so pretty that she kept on staring at it. At this moment, she casted aside her intention of continuing to look for a target and subconsciously chased after the pretty little butterfly like a five year old kid. Pretty things were her greatest weakness.

Her thin and fragile figure moved quickly. She was determined to catch that little pretty butterfly! A childlike smile appeared on her face. However she could not catch it. Still she continued to follow it.

"Stop right there, little butterfly!" She shouted as she chased after it. It was quite a pretty sight to behold.

The little blue butterfly flew forward with Athena following it very closely. Nothing would stop her from catching that butterfly! She stretched out her hands, trying to catch the little butterfly. Unfortunately, she failed to catch it. Athena pouted in displeasure but continued to chase after it.

She nearly caught it when she stopped abruptly when she got to the edge of a cliff. She panted and watched the little butterfly fly further away from her in dissatisfaction. That little thing... It actually escaped.

She kept on staring at it until she could no longer see it. She puffed her pale cheeks in frustration. She had nearly caught it! Now all her effort was in vain.

"There you are!" A familiar voice rang in her ears. She was about to turn around when she was abruptly pushed, catching her off guard. It happened so quickly. She lost her balance and fell with a loud scream.

"You shouldn't have come to our home in the first place!" The voice shouted, this time sounding a bit sinister.

Her heart pounded in her ears as she fell at a great speed. The cold wind blew on her face. Was this the end? She was now approaching the ground. She closed her eyes and resigned to her fate. This was it...

She crashed onto the ground heavily. She felt an excruciating pain. It was like her body was being torn apart. Athena parted her lips slightly but no sound came out. Blood gushed out of her open wounds, staining the dress she was wearing.

Her breathing became weaker by every passing minute. She felt like she had broken a couple of ribs. She laid still in her own pool of blood. Her raven hair was soaked with blood. It was quite a terrifying sight. She tried to open her sticky eyelids. She wanted to see the world just one more time...

Every single part of her body screamed in pain. She managed to half open her eyes. Such a beautiful world but there were always no happy endings... She tried to raise her hand but failed. Athena felt her consciousness slip away very quickly. Her vision turned hazy.

Athena closed her heavy eyelids and her lips curled up into a bitter smile. Goodbye world...

She just hoped her foster parents won't look for her...

*********

Everyone else was present except for one person. That was Athena. Lady Alisha grew worried. "Trisha, you were the one with Athena. Where is she?"

"I don't know," Trisha stuttered a little. She did not dare to raise her head to look into her mother's eyes. "I told her to wait for me and went to catch a rabbit that I had seen. When I got back, she was no longer there. I looked for her everywhere but could not find her."

She had a guilty conscience. She looked at the ground and refused to look into anyone's eyes.

Sophia narrowed her eyes when she noticed her actions. She looked at Trisha and then looked at Lady Eva who looked very concerned. "What can we do now? We have been searching for her for a while but we can't find her."

Lady Alisha grew more worried by every passing second. She had a strange premonition. "We have to continue to search for her. She might not be far."

They split into two groups and began to search for her. The results were still the same. There was no sign of her.

"She could be near..." Lady Alisha mumbled anxiously. A strange fear rose in her heart. She could not help but panick.

Sophia looked at her panicking mother and did not say anything.

Lady Eva suddenly hugged Trevor's arm, looking frightened. Her innocent blue eyes were widened and her face was pale. At this moment, she looked like a frightened little bunny. "Trevor, I am so scared. What could have happened to little Athena?"

If Athena was here, she would have been angered to death by how Lady Eva called her little.

Trevor did not bother to answer this little annoying pest. He too was a little bit worried about the little girl who had disappeared. He frowned as he stared at his arm that had been grabbed by the girl but did not push her away. Lady Eva was secretly overjoyed when Trevor did not push her away. She snuggled closer.

Trisha who was following them, snorted quietly. She balled her fists. She looked dejected. Trisha sighed and closed her eyes. The guilt was slowly eating her inside. When she opened her eyes, her expression had returned back to normal.

"Athena! Athena! Come out! We have to go back now!" Lady Alisha kept on calling out for her until her voice became hoarse. Still Athena did not come out. Lady Alisha did not realize that her eyes had reddened. Time passed quickly and it was soon getting dark.

"Mother, we have to go back," Sophia finally said. Lady Alisha shook her head frantically. "I am not going back without her. We have to find her."

Sophia took a deep breath. For the first time, she also felt worried about someone. Yes, Athena was a very annoying pest in her eyes but... She missed her a little bit. Sophia blinked her eyes at her strange thoughts and pushed them away. When did she start having these kind of emotions?

"Even if we keep on looking for her, we will never find her. We have to go back," Sophia said calmly.

"Why are you so sure?" Lady Alisha asked her. Sophia did not immediately reply. Instead she kept on staring at her mother's tired face.

Lady Alisha sighed heavily when she did not get any reply. "Fine. We will look for her tomorrow."

Lady Alisha gave the forest one more glance and left. On their way back, Sophia left her mother's side quietly and walked towards the absent-minded Trisha.

"You don't have anything to do with this, Trisha?"

Trisha jumped at her voice, looking startled. " You startled me."

"You don't have anything to do with this, Trisha?" Sophia repeated as she stared at her sharply.

"Ah, no." Trisha chuckled nervously. "I really don't know what happened to her."

Sophia narrowed her eyes at her and lowered her voice. " If I find out that you have something to do with this, you know the consequences."

With that, she walked away with her short chubby legs.

Trisha scoffed internally. When did the cold ice queen, start caring about anyone else? She only cared about herself and no one else!

On the other hand, a man wearing a black cloak appeared beside Athena's lifeless body. He pinched the space between his eyebrows in frustration. This troublesome creature...

He took out his old rusty watch that had no strap. It was still showing that this troublesome fellow was left with three days. He never felt so annoyed!

Why did it keep on indicating that she was left with three days when a year has already passed while she was still alive and kicking? It seems like something went wrong...

He gave her lifeless body a light kick. What's the point of venting his anger on a lifeless body? She would not feel anything of course.

He could not help but facepalm himself. He could not collect her soul right now because her time has not yet come. He had only one job to do but this little pest made it so difficult for him. He glared at her. How he wished he could cut her little body into pieces with his scythe!

"Your time has not yet come, little brat!" He said as he shot her a disdainful look. So stop causing too much trouble!

He needed to inform the higher ups about this strange issue. He shot her one last look before disappearing with a poof. It was like he never appeared...