The Hunted

Chapter 3- Illusion

Pain rushed through my body after the comforting rest. I didn't want to open my eyes but I had to. My body was slightly covered with tiny powder-like snow and I noticed that a mild snow storm was going on. I slowly sat up and an immense pain grabbed hold of my senses. The pain was mainly centred on my left arm.

When I looked at it, I was shocked.

My left elbow was severely dislocated, the bone was protruding outwards. It had torn out through the skin. I had already lost a lot of blood, I needed to find a way to stop the bleeding. I stood up and a sudden wince made me remember the wound on my calf. I limped away into the forest, hoping to find something that would help me.

After a few minutes of walking, I spotted a dead body. The person didn't seem to be murdered and rather looked as if he died of the cold. I saw what could happen to me if I didn't find a way to save myself. I tore off his clothes and used them to bandage my elbow.

"It's okay for now..." I comforted myself.

I tore off his socks and wrapped it tightly around my calf. That was all I could do at that time. I continued walking, I had to keep moving if I wanted to avoid another meeting with that psychotic hunter.

As I was looking around for the hunter whilst making my way through the forest, I heard an indistinct voice.

"Help... Somebody help..." I heard a weak voice of a woman.

"Help us. Please... Someone..." A man called out in a deep voice.

"Who's there?" I shouted back.

"Is someone there? Please help us! We need help!" The woman responded.

I walked closer towards the voice and I saw that I was near a frozen lake. I gazed into the mist surrounding the lake but I didn't see anyone.

"Who's here?" I called out again, "Please answer me."

"Over here! Help us!" The male voice echoed.

I intently looked around and in that storm, saw a hand sticking out from under the snow. I rushed over to that place, the sounds of struggle and pain became louder and louder. I was sure that they were coming from that place. I held the hand, dug the snow around it and pulled out the body.

I was terrified to see that the body was of a half skeletonised dead woman, her other hand held the hand of a dead man. I fell down and crawled backwards in fear. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a child giggling.

I turned my head in that direction and saw a little girl and a little boy plucking some flowers from a green bush. They turned their head towards me, I noticed that they didn't have eyes. Their sockets were hollow.

They giggled again and ran away into the mist.

"What... What is going on?" It wasn't real, I knew it couldn't have been but everything about it felt real.

I went near the bush and looked at it. It was covered with snow and was dead. I eventually noticed that I had stopped feeling cold and the storm had stopped.

I turned to see that the whole place was lush green, the lake wasn't frozen anymore. It seemed like a typical summer's day. I felt a presence beside me and turned my head to the left. The two eyeless children were standing there as if they were looking at me.

Both of them pointed at me with their right hand at the same time.

I was confused. Suddenly, something made me feel that they weren't pointing at me.

They were pointing at someone behind me.

I quickly turned around but didn't see anyone. In the blink of an eye, I saw the skies turning red and the vegetation around me slowly withered and died. The soil developed cracks and the lake turned blood red in colour. Maybe it was blood.

On the other side of the lake, I saw a man slowly dragging himself towards the crimson red lake. I couldn't see his face clearly, his physical features were similar to mine. He was even wearing the same clothes as me, only his were torn and in a poor condition.

I kept staring as he slowly walked into the lake until he was fully submerged. After he disappeared into the 'water', I looked around, still trying to take in the new environment. Suddenly, I saw a hand reaching out of the water on my side of the lake, I slowly stepped back. The hand slowly moved closer to the bank nearest to me and I saw a whole body emerging out of the blood-like water. It wasn't that of the man who went in. It was something else.

It had a distorted face, its skin was torn off in some areas and its whole body was covered with blood. Everything else about it seemed human, but its face and its movement was unlike a sane human. The thing stared at me with its wide eyes. It's pupil had a black colour and the iris was reddish. I wanted to run but my body wasn't complying with my intentions, my heart started beating faster and all I could do was stare at that thing as it neared me. As it came out of the water, it started running towards me. All I could do was step back as it pounced on me. I anticipated my inevitable death and closed my eyes.