The Queen of the Prey

Chapter 18

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-Anala-

I have been walking for hours; I don't know where I am. My feet are starting to bleed. But I can't stop moving...I can't let them find me again.

Ana...please, we need to rest Ulrica begs, but I shake my head furiously. I don't want the nightmares, not tonight.

We either pass out here in the open forest, or we find a safe place to rest for a while. Rica sighed frustrated. I didn't answer. I know she is right...I can feel my legs were steps away from collapsing. I was weak, my wounds needed time to heal, and even though I ate, nothing was going to get better without the rest. I look around, hoping to find anything to cover my scent before I pass out. I see a fallen tree and make my way over to it. Pushing past some dirt I saw that there was just enough space to crawl under and be covered by a thick wall of soil, moss, and plant life. It was dark and cramped, but it reminded me of my small attic. To think that only a couple of days ago I was there...I watched everything burn. I could feel my eyes get heavier and heavier, I tried to fight it, but soon sleep took over my body.

The breeze is the first thing I feel, warm and inviting...familiar. I open my eyes, and I am standing at the top of the hill looking down towards the valley. The sun is shining brightly, and I raise my hand in an attempt to block it out. The family is back; the kids are enjoying the pond while the mother looks at them. The little girl...she looks different. I take a closer look; she's staring at me, brown hair and blue eyes match her pale young face. I blink again...brown hair? When I look back, she is still staring at me blood coming out from the top of her head. She's mouthing something to me. I try to take a step, but my legs won't move. Her face keeps pouring blood, and I look at the two boys floating upside down in the water. I try to scream, but nothing comes out. The girl walks out of the water, in a pale pink dress. No, not pink...it's soaked with blood. Her bright blue eyes are starting to leak blood, and dark bags under her eyes begin to consume her face, that is when four wolves come in. The wolves all have matted fur and smell of rotten corpse that reach my nose. The mother tries to fight but they are too much for her, and they begin tearing her apart. A wolf stalks over to the girl, and she tries to run, but he grabs at her throat. I push myself harder than I ever have before and feel myself try to run towards them. But every step is slower than the next, the scene in front of me keeps getting pushed farther and farther from my grasps.

"Please," I think, "Please let me help them...let me save them!" I stretch my hand out towards them, and the little girl reaches for me. Her head is jerked at a sickening angle, but her eyes never leave mine. She mouths more words only this time I hear them whisper right next to my ear.

"Let me in! Let's play" The words send shivers down my spine and replaces my blood with ice cold water. I stop and stare at her. The wolf gives a vigorous tug on the little girl's body, and her head came clean off. But her eyes never leave mine, it bounces on the floor to land by my feet, and she looks up to me and smiles wide.

"You're it." She playfully giggles before her eyes turn blood red.

I wake up with a start punching the tree above me with all my strength. I'm breathing hard; sweat soaked my t-shirt. For a moment, I'm confused with my surroundings. But then everything hits me all at once.

"My mate rejected me....and I killed someone," I whispered.

Ana! I'm so sorry! I wasn't able to stop this dream. Rica sobbed, and I smile a little

You needed rest as well...it's okay, it was just a dream I comforted. But this dream, even awake I can still hear the little girl's giggle. I still have shivers running down my spine. I pull my fist from the tree and look at my shaking hand.

"That was scary" I half-joked.

Agreed Rica nodded.

How are you feeling? Rica asks, and I try to stretch my legs a little but stop when I feel the throbbing pain in my stomach from the gunshot wound. The soul may have saved me from death, but it didn't heal everything.

Well, my eyebrows don't hurt I think cheerfully, and Ulrica snorts at that. I chuckle as well but stop again.

Ouch, I thought while clutching my stomach, I feel the shirt is wet and sticky, and then I smell my blood.

We need food Rica sighed, and reluctantly I slid out from my tree and began to hunt. It took four coyotes, and two rabbits before the wound finally started to heal properly. I took off my shirt to wash it from all of the blood in a nearby stream.

So this is what it feels like to be full...Rica thinks, and I nod. We were always told that if we eat anything that the Beta didn't give us we would be punished, and each time he found out about us breaking the rule he would follow through with his promise. But today it felt terrific to chase and eat our food finally. I put the shirt back on and start walking.

Do you know where we're going? I ask Ulrica

I don't even know which state we are in She replied sarcastically, and I had to roll my eyes

Ohio I think, and Ulrica snorts that doesn't help us. We have never even seen a map. I look up at the sky to see the sunshine brightly ahead of us. And I stop my whole body alert.

Rica...what's wrong I ask looking around and crouching behind a large rock.

Danger she whispers. I look again, and it was quiet, unnaturally so. In the middle of the forest, you'd expect birdsong or the wind in the trees, perhaps the trickle of the stream nearby or small animals scuffling in the undergrowth. I strained for a sound, any sound and hear nothing, not even when the thick, warm liquid dripped down the back of my neck. I touched the spot, and the smell like copper made my nostrils to flare.

Run Rica yells, and I sprint as fast as I can.

Danger Ulrica whispers again.

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Not going to lie, writing the scene with the little girl is going to give me nightmares!! UGH! And looking for a picture was beyond creepy. But, if you, as the reader, liked this chapter, please let me know!!

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