Hunted

Chapter 1

I had a wonderful upbringing. It seemed to be natural for my twin brother, Todd, and I to be left alone for long periods of time to play while our mother went to provide for us.
She was kind, my mother. She would never let anyone or anything hurt us, and always had food for us and kept us warm and loved.
My father isn't even a memory anymore. One night he left and had never come back. For a long time we did wonder what happened. Time heals wounds like that.

I loved my brother. He was so much fun when we were little. He was gentle, for a boy. I was a lot rougher than he was, but I think it was more a female dominant thing that just seemed to be in the blood. Or maybe he just let me think I was more in charge, being smaller than him.

Our home was humble. Isolated from the world. Surrounded by tall trees, lots of grass. Wildlife was abundant. The sounds of crickets were a constant song. Hunting for food was a way of life for us. It took a while for me to grasp, my brother was much better at hunting than I, but he would share. He had the kindness of my mother.
"You'll get it soon, little sister", he would reassure me. But I wasn't so sure back then.

It seemed like a blink of an eye that my youth was gone. My mother passed away in a road accident when we were adolescents. A hit and run. She made us wait on the side of the road, in the safety, while she crossed it. She would only be a minute, she said. I still hear the screaming engine. The driver sped up, and even swerved to the other side of the road to hit her, then drove away like nothing happened.
Todd kept me safe, fed and warm, but her death hit him hard.
Todd moved on with his own life once he knew I could survive on my own. Leaving our home into the world alone. Sometimes I see him passing by, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to be back here.

I grasped hunting with stealth and ease and everything seemed to be going fine. Rabbits were the best to hunt. They can give a good work out, and were fast and sometimes a challenge to hunt.
I had a favourite area not too far from home. It was isolated, quiet and quite beautiful to be in for hunting. The evenings were a spectacular sight. The grass was cool and the pinkish purple sky made the silhouette of the trees on the mountain top not too far off a calming area to relax before the action of the hunt. Right in the middle was a big clearing where the rabbits fed.

I recall the evening that my world felt like it turned upside down clearly.
Relaxing on the grass, before that rabbits were due to come out. Eyes closed, listening to the birds settle for the night. Not too many vehicles travelled out here, but I could hear them on the road only a few hundred meters away. I opened my eyes as I heard a vehicle coming closer to my hunting ground. A bit wary and a bit curious, I looked around as a spot light turned on and swung in my direction.
Quickly I got to my feet and ran to the closest tree that I could hide behind. I kept quiet and still, crouched down and just watched as the car slowly drove to the grounds. I was not noticed.

Two large men were in the four wheel drive ute, and a third was standing on the tray swinging the spot light. My hunting ground was violated.
"Just keep quiet and still, they will leave soon", I told myself.
The car slowly grumbled past. I held my breath. I scanned the grounds using the glare of the spot light. I have been used to hunting by the moonlight, so the grounds seemed to have so much more color in them under artificial light.
A rabbit darted out from a grass mound. My first instinct was to get the rabbit, but my senses prevented me from moving. The sound of the car, the smell of the exhaust, the wrongly colored grounds. It was a tough instinct to fight.

I watched the rabbit darting around the place. Zig zagging all over. The feeling of the hunt became intense, but just as I was about to head out toward the frightened, confused rabbit, a loud piercing bang rang out in the still night.
My heart pounded and I dropped flat onto the ground. Birds screeched and fluttered from their slumber. I closed my eyes. I hoped my sense of hearing would return to normal if the sense of sight was restricted.

"Woo-hoo" screamed the man on the back of the ute.
I slowly opened my eyes as he jumped off the car and ran over to the rabbit. A long shot gun held up in the air by his right hand in a Victory salute.
My eyes widened and I raised slightly to see the mangled, blood stained mass of fluff that once was a living creature in the spot light glare.
How can that be of use to anyone? There wasn't enough flesh left on it to feed the smallest of beings.

"Good shot, Grant", said the man coming from the drivers door. He was large, but not tall. He smelt of beer. Very strong smell, they were far enough away, but his stench was overwhelming it made my stomach churn and eyes slightly water.
"Beat that!" Grant said as he threw the useless hunt at the smelly man. That seemed to make him amused as he laughed as the blood stained bit of fluff hit his rounded stomach, bouncing off leaving small bits of fur and drops of blood.
"You're on, gimme the gun", the smelly man brushed off the fur and smeared the blood from his shirt and threw out his arm to take the gun.

Sounds of cans hitting the ground startled me. I had forgotten about the other man still left in the car.
"C'mon guys, what are ya doin?" This one smelt just as strong of beer as the driver. He was tall and thin with light brown hair- similar to the color of the rabbit fur.
"I'm drivin and Trent's shootin", Grant said. "Jump back in."
The gun had exchanged hands by the time I took my attention off the third man back onto Grant and Trent.

Grant and Trent headed back to the ute, leaving the remainder of the rabbit carcass where it had landed. A wasted kill.
Trent jumping into the tray as Grant got behind the wheel. Only when the car started again did I realise I hadn't noticed when the engine had stopped. The silence was more known to me than the noise.

Again the spot light was swung around at random. Crouching as low as before, but still curious of the men and trying to work out why hunt and kill without taking the food. The light swung in my direction again. Did they see me? Three bangs on the roof of the ute snapped my senses into gear.
"Turn around Grant, I found the next kill".

I gasped as I realised the spotlight was right on me.
The engine roared as stones hit the cars body, dust curling up from the ground surrounding the back half of the ute increasingly becoming larger in mass and covering more of the vehicle as it smoothly swung around as if it was on a turn table. Effortlessly and smoothly the car turned to my direction. But the sound was deafening.
The spot light and headlights merged into one large glaring white sun in my eyes.

I'm the next kill.