The Hunter And The Hunted

Chapter 2

I am a Japanese myth, a creature known to be weak. Born to middle-class parents, I was raised with great care and affection by my parents, I mean my kitsune parents, Chris Harp and May Harp. I lived with my parents and my twin siblings, Casey and Lyon. Me and my Dad were the only male kitsunes for thousands of miles around because our kind usually takes the form of a female. As the eldest person in the family, everyone looked up to me. I was 14 then. I loved my family and they loved me back. Until they were gone.

One day, I woke up to find my parent's bedroom unlocked and traces of their glimmering blood all over the place. Blood. Glimmering blood. Our blood. That day I slept on the streets, picked fights with passing teenagers and shook my fist at the heavens for taking my brethren away from me. Covered in dirt and soot, I stumbled my way onto the threshold of a shop and spent my first night without my family there.

The next day, I woke up to find my stomach grumbling and my body aching all over for I was covered with bruises. I was on a bed. Was this the end? Had I died too? Full of hope, I jumped out of bed and found out that I was dressed in neat PJs. Knowing that no one wore PJs in heaven; I curiously opened my window to find children playing on playgrounds overgrown with grass. An orphanage.

Somebody knocked on my door. I ran to get it as taught by my parents. A girl, in a frilly frock, came in and set down a bowl of milk and some bread for me. I thanked her and started stirring the bread in the milk. As I was eating, another woman came in, and I hated her at the first sight. She wore a gown studded with crystals, accessories to go with it and hair puffed into something that looked like a mound of dirt.

"Good morning lad, I hope you are enjoying it here," the unknown lady said in an obnoxious voice.

I growled in reply.

Taken aback, she took a step away from me and started talking about how I was brought to this orphanage by a couple of women who were passing by and saw me sleeping on in front of the shop.

"Should I say thank you to them on your behalf? They are waiting outside, you know."

I mumbled an affirmative and she hurried outside, no doubt cursing at me under her breath.

I stayed in the orphanage for a few months. Thinking about the past was a pain now. I could've eloped from the place easily, but I was tired, tired of all the hits that I've suffered from life. I kept saying,'I am Sukoshi Akuma, kitsune, and all is well.' This was a phrase that my dad taught me when I was just a cub.

Then one day, he came. David. My savior. I admired him from the day that I met him. He had come with his wife Carol. She was really nice to me too. I wonder why she left David for another guy. Sometimes women are so confusing. Even after 4 years, I am still grateful to them for taking me in. But these days, life is boring without Carol. Recently, a thought crossed my mind. What if I ran away?? Anyways, I was going to be an adult legally this November. But then I realized that the world was a bad place for mythical creatures. Especially to us kitsunes.