HALO

Hunter, that was what she called me each time she saw me fighting through thick and thin to help provide some food for the family. I never gave it much thought since I had always been a busy person.

"Mum, this is all that I had after selling the silver plates." I said with enthusiasm whiles propping my hand up so that mother could see the coins which dazzled in the moonlight.

The setting was the outskirts of a town, deprived of the basic necessities men needed in order to survive amid the terrors of the 21st century.

In spite of all the challenges my family which consisted of my mother and I faced, we still lived good and appreciable lives. These lives were neither above or below standard.

All I ever wanted was a world where we didn't have to walk miles before getting food to eat. I always imagined living in a place where there was no need for money and only love persisted. But no,

*Trembling*

*Ding*

My head had suddenly started to hurt so badly that I held my it while grunting in pain, this illness had persisted throughout the years ever since I was born. A native doctor from miles away told us that it was nothing but each time I felt like everything was okay, this thing popped up and spoiled the fun.

Due to involuntary trembling, I dropped all the coins I had in my hands. They had rolled gently across the staircase of the entrance of our dilapidated home. Mother held me before I could fall and carried me inside the house.

"What about the coins?", I asked whiles trembling in her arms. "How can you still worry about money when your health is on the line?", she asked rhetorically whiles placing me down on the worn out carpet of our living room.

"Your body is heating up!",she exclaimed whiles quickly rushing into the kitchen to grab some napkin. She returned to the living room with a blue napkin in hand which had been drenched in cold water. Folding it neatly she gently placed it on my forehead. A cute smile appeared on her face as she caressed my head which was slowly cooling down.

"You look very beautiful with that smile on your face", I muttered jokingly while slightly trembling. This scene continued until seconds became minutes and minutes, hours. By the time I realized I was already asleep on an empty stomach.

"Mom, mom, where are you?", I asked when I had woken up. The environment looked real but something was telling me that it was a lie. An air of melancholy encircled the room where I stood, I didn't know why but my whole body was screaming at me to run.

"What is happening?", I asked myself while constantly looking around to see if mom was around. To no avail though, I could not find her inside the room where she had placed me.

Mom!

Mom!

I screamed since the feeling of dread was slowly crawling all over my body. With a sudden outburst of energy, I ransacked the whole house looking for my mother but I couldn't find her.

Pacing up and down on the porch, I continued to think about where she could have left to and her reasons for doing so. Nothing seemed to be coming up since my mind was totally blank at the moment.

Tap!

Tap!

I bolted into the woods after some minutes of waiting and pondering. It was as if I knew that something was wrong but I couldn't pinpoint what it was that was wrong.

Dread turned into panic and pain as I held my head. "This foolish headache again!", I screamed while holding my head and gnashing my teeth.

Arrgggh!

The distant scream of a woman jolted through the night sky without any warning. I asconded throughout the woods searching for where the sound could have emanated from. Oblivious to my surroundings I scurried throughout the woods until my feet gave up on me.

Argggh!

The sound reverberated through the air once again when I was at my limit. Shockwaves surged right through my body due to the amount of blood which was pulsating through my veins.

I had hit my limit but my mind wasn't ready to give up yet. I had to save who ever was crying for help in the wounds. My conscience was never going to allow me from not helping her.

This was something I had to do no matter what.

I hurriedly pulled myself from the ground which seemed to have been enjoying my stay.

Tap!

Tap!

'I have to save her no matter what!', I shouted once again while absconding as fast as I can into the woods.

Upon reaching a certain part of the wilderness which I wasn't familiar with my anxiety begun to deepen. 'What will happen if I find the woman?'

'What if she has been kidnapped by some evil people, how will I fend them off then?' Questions began to flood my head as I proceeded. Questions which my unstable mind couldn't answer at the moment because of how they were. Questions which made me doubt the reason why I had even started this rescue mission.

Ba-thump!

My heartbeat went out of hand to the extent that it was no longer synchronizing with my inhalations and exhalations which were a bit ragged at the moment. In a moment of desperation, I tumbled over a rock which was a bit small for me to notice in the depths of night.

Yelling in pain and holding my left arm which had gotten fractured due to the intensity of the fall. All my hopes of doing what was right had been completed shattered.

I curled up into a ball and waited for what was to come since there was no way a blind man could lead another blind man. 'Going to her aid would just put me at risk', I told myself in order to calm my nerves which were on high alert at the moment. Time flew by gently as I continued to drown in my sorrows.

Silence persisted throughout the forest as I laid gently on the ground. I was very cautious of my surroundings though as I waited.

Argggh!!

The scream tore through the skies again, slowly distorting the calmness which had settled in with time.

Help!

Orion!

The same voice which had distorted the silence had come out again but this time though, I could recognize the voice.

"Mum, what is happening!", I shouted while hopping up from the carpet of our living room. I didn't realize that what was happening was no longer a dream.

Picking up a barbed base bat which I mostly used for hunting in the woods I decided to go and check out what was happening.

"Mum, where are you?", I called out with the baseball bat in hand.

I hate to admit but this kind of braveness had only surfaced because of the screams of my mother. I only killed rabbits during my hunting trips.

I darted out of the house while swinging by bat profusely. Looking to my left, my eyes almost bulged out of their sockets because what I saw made my skin crawl. In front of my mother was a horrific figure which had a distorted face. The distorted face of this malevolent figure sent shivers down my spine as I stood with my arms ajar.

I almost dropped the base ball bat at the sight of it. The figure stood tall with a muscular body full of wooden spines. It had a yellowish glow in its eyes signaling that it was no where friendly I suppose. Two horns stood strongly above its head which was a bit cringy I suppose and from its elbows to the tip of its fingers were painted pink, thus being a little contradicting.

Mom turned towards me when she noticed my arrival, she thought that her son who had always been the sole protector of this family was going to stand up to the test.

What she had not noticed was that his son was just a kid whose life and responsibilities had forced him to grow quickly.

"Help me!", she shouted while galloping towards the stairs like a mad person. This movement of hers had caused a sudden stir and the figure had stretched its dangling fingers to tear her apart.

Seeing this I jumped into action using whatever energy I could muster to throw my base bat.

Bang!

The bat successfully clashed with the outstretched fingers of the figure which was a win-win situation for me. Mom finally got away from the monster and I was finally free to catch my breath.

Thump!

The sound reverberated throughout the whole house as the monster placed its hands on the ground. Its eyes glowed much brighter than I could have ever imagine.

'Mom! Run!', I shouted with whatever air I could gather inside my windpipe. At that moment though a huge amount of pressure was inculcated into the placed, bringing me abruptly to my knees. This was something I had never expected from such an animal.

Mom who was stronger than I was, struggled to move to where I was but I was totally immobile at the moment. This was indeed the moment of truth which showed that I was just a kid.

My head started hurting badly because the pressure had been increased. Blood started dripping off my eyes and nostrils. Not knowing what to do, I had strained my bloodied eyes to look at what was going to become of my poor mother.

Argggh!

She screamed In pain as wooden spines pierced her chest. The monster had pinpointed her heart and had hit it with high accuracy and precision. Pulling the spines from her heart, mother had tumbled down with blood oozing out of the fresh wound.

I had crawled towards her on impulse when her screams had reached my ears. 'Mom no!!', I shouted in agony as my misery downed up on me.

The monster encircled her foot with one of its outstretched spines and dragged her away. Due to some involuntary actions I was also dragged alongside my mother.

When the monster had noticed this though it had shrugged me off causing me to fall and fracture my left arm. This was when the reality of the situation had revealed itself— I was no longer in a dream and what had happened was just a similar replay of that awful dream I had had not long ago. I curled myself up into a ball while holding my left arm and gnashing away in pain.

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