Midnight Moon

Chapter 6: The Hunt Begins

Pastoral Clearing for Hunt drop off 

Location: Unknown

Normally when we get to the hunt location, the guards scurry us off into a cramped building full of other people. Where we usually wait for hours on end, but this time, it was different. I'm not quite sure how it will affect me, but I know something bad is coming.

The road that we drove here is not concrete, it looks like a mix between gravel and dirt. The hill it comes from doesn't have marked lanes. When it gets to the top there is no parking lot. Only a roundabout, the bus I arrived here on was driving around the circle and heading back down the hill. Clearly we are not near civilization and that means chances of escape if caught are slim to none. Not that anyone in the city would help me, especially if it meant risking a wolf ire. I shift my gaze to the buses, two of them are currently unloading while the others are pulling in behind them.

It's hard to tell how large the clearing is, there is a semicircle cut out of trees to give a place for the participants to go. Other than the road exit we are completely surrounded by trees, some of which had small amounts of snow melting on them. They mostly blocked the wind and my coat did a good job of keeping me warm but I know when night falls it's going to be a struggle.

I should go look for the boys.

Wait, are there even any men here? I do a quick scan of the humans and honestly don't think I see any men. That thought quickly causes my heart to sink low into my stomach, if I don't know where they are at the start, how am I supposed to find them in the maze that is the forest that surrounds me.

That thought haunts me for a couple mins before I realize the last of the buses have unloaded and I don't see anymore down the road. I wonder what that means? Is the hunt about to start? Are they going to tell us why we are just standing in a clearing?

My panic takes over for an unknown amount of time as I desperately scan the crowd for my family. I am so wrapped up in my own world that I miss the sudden quiet that overtakes the crowd. I am so absorbed in my panic that I miss the wolf from the bus grabbing the humans attention.

"Run."

The chaos that follows is so great that I am stunned, I don't know what to do...

Someone stops in front of me and shakes my shoulders "COME ON! We got to GO! The WOLVES are coming!"

It takes me a solid 2 seconds to come up with 2 thoughts

That's the girl from the bus.

FUCKING RUN.

I grab her hand and take off towards the forest that's farthest away from the crowd. You never know who among them is going to be claimed and it's better safe than sorry. If the girl is confused about my decision she doesn't voice it as she falls in step with me.

The trees are not very close together at first and I let go of her hand to take my coat off and tie it around my waist. I know I will need it later tonight but right now my adrenaline is pumping and my legs are running. Once I know for sure the coat isn't going to fall I grab her hand again and slow to a heavy jog instead of a sprint.

We run for a long time. A long, long time. We are still running, my throat is burning, the only thing that refuses to go numb. We have slowed to jog and I know that we need to stop soon, but I also know that if we stop I will not be able to start again for some time. We are running down hill now and it is taking everything I have not to fall, but it's not enough.

I trip on a stray root and we go tumbling down the hill, I hit a few bushes and low branches on the way down and it scratches up my skin. Our rolling is put to a stop by a large tree and my back. It hurts like a bitch but I don't think anything is broken and my body is used as a pillow to stop the girl, whose name I still don't know, from hitting the tree.

I look over at the girl once my head stops spinning to try to see if she has any injuries and if so how bad they are.

"Are you okay?" I ask. Thankfully, nothing looks twisted or bent out of shape.

I switch to a sitting position with my back leaning against the tree and try to examine where we are.

"M-my leg." she stutters out and I pray to god it's not bad

I direct my eyes to the thigh she holds and freeze when I see blood. Shit. Not only did we just announce to the world where we are by sound but also by scent. There are few smells stronger than blood to a wolf's nose, and I don't think we will find bleach here.

My medical side kicks in and I move her so she is leaning against the tree and pulling her hands from her leg. There is a pretty large cut from her inner thigh and around over the top. It doesn't look too deep but it needs stitches, there is no way in hell she is going to be able to run with that.

"Well it doesn't look too deep so that's a positive, but we really need to get it bandaged up." I try to keep my voice even so I don't scare her. However if a wolf comes there won't be much she can do to get away from it, running is out of the question.

I rip the elbow to the wrist part of my shirt on the left side and use it to wrap up her gash the best I can, it's not much and it's not the cleanest, but it will do. We need water.

"I'm going to look for water, if I'm not back in 10 minutes see if you can find a place to hide for the night" I don't want her to worry for me but I know if we don't find water soon we won't have to worry about the wolves because will be dead. I strain my ears begging to hear water but all I get is silence. I don't dare call out to try to find my brothers, I want the least attention this way possible. I've been walking and sitting for 7 minutes and I'm about to head back when I hear it.

I immediately stop and strain my ears some more, Water

YES! I race through the bushes, energy that I didn't know I had fueling me as I sprint to the small creek I can now see. When I reach it I plunge my face in a greedily gulp in the water. I have to pull my head out and count to keep myself from overdoing it and throwing up.

When my throat stops screaming I quickly head back the way I came, careful to memorize every turn. As I reach the tree my back crashed into only minutes ago I panic for a second when I don't see the girl. Then I remember what I told her, I scan the ground for foot prints and when I see some I start following them.

There's a scream.

My head shoots up and takes off following the prints as it leads me to the noise. Fuck.

I try to calm my heart and come up with a plan as the wolf slowly moves closer to the girl, I know she can't run. Even adrenaline isn't enough to allow her to jog nor speed walk. My brain stops working as the wolf closes in and all I can see is my sister.

My little baby sister getting closed in by a wolf, the resemblance, the adrenaline, and the fear prevent me from seeing what is really there. Instead I see my long lost sister, and I jump into the small clearing with the wolf and the girl.

My brain seems to finally catch up as I jump into the clearing and all eyes land on me. I realize one that's not my sister and two I think the young girl and I are a bit more than a little fucked.

~~~~

A/N

Bit of a cliffhanger I left you on this time, what do you think is going to happen next? Also any guesses on the name of our mysterious no name girl?

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my work, it means a lot to me. I love all of you and hope you have a great rest of your day/night. (Don't forget to sleep)

Don't forget to vote, comment, and share it means a lot. Thanks.

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