The Winter Born [COMPLETED]

Chapter 28 - Predator

That night, after my horrific encounter with Laila, I cannot sleep. No matter how I toss and turn in the tattered bed, I just can't let my eyes droop with Laila's presence in the room. She's mad. A lunatic. She might even kill me.

She is not far from me. Though I can see her body rising and falling slowly, showing that she is asleep, I feel as if when I close my eyes, she will take a dagger to my heart.

We haven't said a word at each other. She gave me a look when I came home but that was it. No words, no sorry, no deathly stares that indicate that she will kill me. She will. Like how she blew up the deer to pieces and kicked the head away with that smile of hers.

Only now have I realize that grin that she always has when I'm not around her contains a hint of insanity in it. How could I've been so blind?

It's too wide, too happy for a girl that just wet her hand with blood. The blanket suddenly feels not enough to cover the sudden shiver that runs through me. I shouldn't be scared of her. This family survived because I am the one that hunts and kill and sell. Little did I know there is another hunter in our little home.

I turn yet again, struggling to find a comfortable position and hoping to find sleep, even if it is an uneasy one. I'm not going to sleep tonight, am I? I question myself tiredly.

The forest. I need to calm myself, I decide. Maybe I will even find a comfortable branch in a high tree to sleep in. The wind blowing softly from the small window in our room makes me grab my cloak, dropping it from shoulder to shoulder so that the cool night will not affect me.

Sitting on the edge of the bed quietly, I contemplate whether this is a good idea or not. In the distance, a wolf howls. The wolf will tear me apart. The thought is grim, making me frown to myself.

But then Laila shifts in her sleep, facing me instead of the wall, her violet eyes shut in a deep slumber. There's already a predator inside my own room. A wolf will tear me apart but my sister will blow me up until my inner parts are dangling from a branch.

After a few moments of doing nothing in the dark, I take my spear and exit the room quietly. The front door does not creak when I shut it, making my heart lighter for a while as I leave home to go to the one place that I can find peace.

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I do not know where to go when I arrive at the forest. My first instinct is to go to the lake, but predators might be lapping water there and I do not want to explain to Mother why I only have one leg or arm.

Biting my lips, I'm torn apart whether to bring myself back to the Outlands, have a swig of cider and get rude stares by the Outlanders or to stay in the forest where I can possibly get eaten but at least I'll find some peace or even sleep. The choice is easy and I resume my walk into the forest.

Sometimes, I can spot a pair of dangerously gleaming, sharp eyes in the bushes where the moonlight cannot reach. And when I see them, I stop in my tracks and stay still as stone, letting whatever is in there look at the motionless girl in the forest. I let my breath in and out. They cannot know I am afraid. I'm not. A growl can be heard from the unseen predator but I do not let a hint of emotion comes to my face.

Then, as slowly and quietly the eyes come, they are gone, not wanting to eat stone and leaving to hunt and feast whatever prey the forest can offer. Exhaling, I resume my walk deeper into the forest.

That was one of the many lessons that Father taught me years ago. You are a predator too. Think like one. His calm voice rings in my mind.

A smile comes upon me, remembering the ways that he uses. Father prefers not to hunt but to collect. Berries and fruits and herbs were always in his hunting bag instead of meat and flesh. He knew almost every kind of herbs that can either be a medicine or poison. It comes in handy when a rich Valarian healer wants them.