Hunter [DISCONTINUED]

Past, Friends, & Fire

I feel warmth lick at my skin as I open my eyes. I look at the unfamiliar blue and black bed I'm in, different from my disgustingly pink one. I look around the unfamiliar room, panicking. Not my bed, not my window, not my balcony, not my furniture. Where am I?! I mentally scream. I look brown at my clothes, I'm wearing a man's shirt and fuzzy pants, both too big. I do the only logical thing to do, I scream.

I hear footsteps storm race towards me. I grab a nearby lamp and aim at the door. A huge man bursts through the boor. Black hair, made of muscles, and a small beard. He's almost taller than the door. I don't meet his eyes though, I'm too scared. I throw the lamp.

"Hunter!" He screams. I freeze. A boy that looks a lot like the man in front of me comes in as well.

"Where am I?" I ask looking at the ground?

"Look into my eyes okay? Just look." The man says. I shake my head, that's what the men said before I was brought to my family. My fake family.

"No, no, no, no, no. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. To see no evil, don't meet their eyes." I say remembering what the dogs would tell me. They helped me get to the orphanage. The man comes to me and reached for me with big hands. I flinch back.

"Hunter, it's me. It's Blake, your Dad." The man says as he reaches for me. I back away.

"No dad has a scar like me." I whisper.

"Hunter look in our eyes, it's your brother and your dad. Please." The younger boy begs. I feel their stares burning my head. I close my eyes before pushing through.

"Filix! Filix! Filix! Where are you Filix?" I yell as I run out of the house. I feel the air as it gets denser as I run. Men and women stare at me as I yell for my brother, the only one who could calm me even when the demons and memories came flooding back. I never told him what I was really scared of, I said it was the monsters.

I hear the people as they whisper about a girl named Hunter. "It's that Hunter?" "Who's Filix?" "Why's she screaming?"

"Hunter!" A boy steps in front of me. I can't stop myself before I fall into him. I feel his warm embrace as it incloses me. I feel as if a blanket of safety is wrapped around me. I look up at the boy's blue eyes.

"Who? Where? Never mind. I need to go, they're coming for me." I say as I try to untangle myself from him. He holds me closer.

"Hunter, it's okay. It's me, Edwin. You're here, in my arms, in your new home. No ones going to hurt you, unless they want me and your big brother after them." The boy says looking into my eyes. The memories of yesterday come to me.

"S-sorry Edwin. I-I forgot. I thought they had me again. I thought the men were going to take me back to that place." I stutter as I sit numbly in his arms. He carries me to my new home. Mason, Dad, Jacob, and Carrot all show me to a room. I stay close to Edwin though, feeling safety with him. He makes no objections as I hug him as we sit on the same couch.

"Who had you again?" He asks confused. I flinch at the memory. He strokes my hair and I look at my new family.

"The men who had me in the first place. I was held there being used. I was basically a slave, the older girls had it worst though. Some got pregnant. I was lucky though. I can talk to canines. The dogs helped me escape, they lead the men away as I ran. The pup lead me to the orphanage and I later showed him to the animal shelter. I always saw some of the men watching. Especially the boss man as they called him. He's always followed me." I explain. They all look at me, stunned. I look away from their stares.

"Oh Hunter, no one should go through that." Dad says coming to me and hugging me.

"Sometimes my mind takes me back there, when that happens I have to look in the eyes of someone I know and don't hate. Filix is usually the only one that I look for, he doesn't ask questions and doesn't tell anyone." I explain further. I remember the man that follows me like a shadow. "The man follows me everywhere, he never let them kill me like the others or let them beat me too bad. The others would say that I was under his protection."