Hunting Season

Lost

It was a small stone monument of some sort, littered with dead flowers and something that almost looked like dried chocolate syrup splattered all over it.

Adira didn't know how she missed it when it was obvious. But that didn't matter. The sight of a strange pile of rocks mounted with a twig like effigy caused her to feel uneasy.

She stepped towards the structure, swallowing as she examined the little figure made of branches. It looked like a deer, standing on its legs. She picked it up, examining it carefully before setting it back down in its place. She studied the rest of the monument and glanced around, wondering if this was a place where someone had been found dead. Their family must have made a small grave for them, much like the ones you see on the side of the road when there's a fatal car accident.

Even thought it could have been innocent, Adira couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling of being there. She stepped away from the grave site and continued back on her way, hoping she didn't run into a similar object.

Minutes passed quickly, with no sign of where she had last been in sight. Adira could've sworn she was somewhere else completely, for she was aware of her surroundings when she had fallen from the hill. The area she was looking at now was new to her, and so she came to the alarming realization that she was lost.

Adira knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, but she was so confident in herself she thought it would be with her bag of goods to keep her a little comfortable. And her gun...

The woman clutched her chest, feeling terror as she clasped for her necklace. She had forgotten it was gone as well.

She had no choice. She had to keep planning. Make a shelter out of twigs or something, light a fire with her bare hands for the first time, try to keep warm for the night starting now. She had to stay where she was and not wander off further, maybe then someone might see her or she would remember where she was. There was no other way.

"Okay fine," she tried talking to herself to keep calm, "Making a fort out of branches. Can't be too bad right?"

With her pocket knife acting as a machete, she managed to cut down a few branches, but nothing too thick. She remember watching some guy on YouTube make a hut with a few logs, much like she used to do as a kid only bigger.

Adira tried, failed, then finally managed to pull off an awkward looking fort. She cleared out the floor inside as best as she could and laid her jacket on the ground. With the rest of her twigs, some leaves, and a faint memory of discovery channel, she set off to make her own fire.

Low and behold, she failed terribly. The rest of the day was spent with her trying to keep herself warm with spare branches and her own jacket. Every now and then she dozed off, only waking up when she could have sworn she saw a shadow approaching. It was all a dream, however, and the disappointment she felt was great. She could only pray now someone would rescue her somehow. There was no way she could survive on her own like this. At the most a few days but with no food or water she was doomed.

The woman felt pathetic, wishing that she was stronger for Mitch and his friends. That she was more prepared. Was she a fool to think she would find him on her own, when authorities had literally walked through where she was and farther?

The thought depressed her. Tears ran down the side of her face as she shivered under her jacket, staring outside at the now dark world. Was she to go missing also? When will people notice? She didn't tell her family or anyone where she would be. They wouldn't let her go if she let them know. "It's too dangerous," her mother would say, and her father would agree of course. They would've kept a close eye on her until they were sure she wouldn't do anything stupid.

Adira squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could sleep and stop the thoughts running through her head. She wanted peace now more than anything. Something she hadn't experienced in a long time. Humming to herself, the woman curled up into a tight ball and buried her face underneath her jacket. She breathed hot air into her palms, rubbing her arms as she waited for sleep to come. The night became colder, and Adira's body ached as she struggled to fade into oblivion. One way or another, her mind seemed too tired to continue and shut itself off.

Visions of dark figures and whispering voices plagued Adira's mind as she slept. She dreamt she was running through the woods, something grunting behind her as it started to catch up. Whenever she turned, she could see nothing however, until she was thrown on the floor by something with glowing red eyes.

Adira thrashed wildly, hearing the thing speak in hushed, quick, inhuman whispers as its crashed its claw into her abdomen. She woke up with a start, just in time to make contact with a shadow standing outside her fort.