Chapter One, Part Two

The cold winter wind continues to drag the branches of frosted leaves. Alex and I continue our search for innocent life, scanning the lush forest full of wild calls. Every crunch in the snow resembles another memory that keeps my head warm with an ache of shame. My eyes bounce across the natural landscape before them and watch Alex as he leads our new trail to a new life.

Every branch sprawling out to divide the bright skies above lies another outcome of our consequences. We step into the unknown with ease, but we're unaware of what we'll find, convinced we'll be ready to face any danger ahead. Alex pauses for a brief moment, scanning ahead again in the belief he saw something move.

I miss what he used to be. He knew how to make jokes in times of distress, and he could always find out how to make a person smile. He was normally quiet and reserved back in high school, and he's still that same shell today. His humor has lost its taste soon after the murder.

Even before his life spiraled like a feather from the sky, he'd always be working on some new project that I'd always be interested in learning about. He had an eye for the devices that would look right back at him -- no matter which angle they caught him from. He built drones with wheels, drones with blades, and cameras that stood on a pole to watch over traffic. He was so fascinated by capturing the little details without actually having to see them.

He wanted to see those who could stare back without being found. He wanted to know who they were before he'd let himself be exposed. Most of his craft is illegal, but he says all of it remains an unfinished school project to keep himself under the radar.

He's always been good about staying hidden and keeping himself away from the spotlight. The public knows so little about him that it's hard for anyone to believe he was involved with what he saw. Either way, the gruesome images of his past still gloss over his view of the world as he watches its orbit through a hundred different eyes. Right now, he only has two, and the natural atmosphere has stripped his power right out of his hands.

I know he still doesn't fear, even when it seems like his grave is a few feet ahead of him. I wish I felt the same.

"There," Alex whispers, "Do you see it?" He crouches behind a large tree as he points at a hawk that has positioned itself on a branch to watch the frost below. I kneel with him, just a few feet to his side, unholstering my weapon to point it at the ground. Looking up to the branch ahead, I observe the hawk as it adjusts its grip onto the limb of the tree. It could get bored at any moment and fly away. If we make a move too swiftly, we could startle it off into the sky. We don't have much time to work with.

I nod to Alex. He stares at me in silence, unholstering his weapon. I snap my head back to the hawk, every second it rests giving another opportunity for us to act.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Take the shot!" Alex whispers. I haven't shot a weapon in a long time, and I didn't plan to today. He knows I've never been fond of the weapon in my hands, but maybe this is his attempt to help me find my place in a world made for supremacy. It may be a bird I'm hunting, but if I can't win against a harmless animal, I don't have a chance against the vicious one I'm going to face. I move to the right of the tree and hold my position behind it, waving my weapon up to meet my cheek.

I hold the weapon with both of my hands and aim down its sights, taking a few breaths before even attempting to fire. With caution, I put my finger over the trigger, and breath out in preparation to kill an innocent creature. I blink, steadying myself for the shot, and open my eyes to another memory firing off in my head. I try to shake it off, but it seeps into my vision to blur my reality. As my finger runs against the curve of the trigger, I feel myself do the same from the past, my breaths racing with my heartbeat. My past blends into my future, messily distorting the surroundings into a nightmare.

I watch my past self pull the trigger himself to hear nothing but a click. Knowing that things are different in the present, I pull the trigger to my current weapon and hear something greater.

Bang.

The loud gunshot clears my head and startles Alex, making him flinch. I hear the flutter of other birds rushing away into the sky, and my excitement over the remains of the bird washes away my haunting flashbacks. Alex quickly regains his bearings and jumps up with me to search for the hawk. As we both holster our weapons, we look just behind the branch that the animal stood from, witnessing the first crimson stain to sink into the snow this year.

"I always knew you still had it in you," Alex punches my arm in satisfaction. I let out a soft smile, grateful to be accompanied by his lighthearted personality. He kneels down to find a hole through the bird's stomach. "I saw we celebrate that. That was a pretty good shot."

"Oh, really? How do you say we do that?" I ask. He glances at me as if I already knew.

"A few drinks downtown? Later tonight, maybe?" Alex offers. I nod my head in agreement and receive chills from both the cold and newfound excitement. It's been a long while since I've visited the downtown of our city. Neither of us has been too gracious to public spaces, but maybe today is the day we step out of our comfort zone and face our fears together. He is right -- the aftermath of the murder is starting to fade. It's time to move on from what we witnessed. The weight of the past sinks into the snow with the blood of the hawk. With a few more careful shots like these, I'll be taking down the greatest predator ever to prowl in the untamed realm of reality.

That predator rests in me.