The Huntress [2018 Archived]

Chapter 6

"This will not go without punishment," the goddess hissed. One slender finger beckoned to me. "Come here, child."

"Don't go, Alexis!" Jamie blurred out, breaking away from the others. Artemis's glare deepened. "She'll kill you!"

"No," I told her, shoving her away before Artemis turned her to dust. "She won't. I'll be fine." I turned to Artemis before Jamie had the chance to protest, and held out my hand.

A terrifying smile spread across her face as she took it.

Suddenly, we were alone. The forest remained the same, but my friends were gone.

Ghostly figures took their places.

In horror, I recognized three of them. Tears filled my eyes as I walked towards them, touching their faces.

"Ah, yes, your English teacher," Artemis spoke in her raspy voice as I studied the dead face of Mr. Parker. "He irritated you, did he not? Always impatient, always bored with the class. Are you not glad that I got him out of the way?"

"What? N-"

"And the boyfriend. Your best friend's boyfriend, the one you lusted after. Until you saw his true colors. Until you saw the bruises on her face. You burned with anger. You wanted him dead. Can you deny it?"

And no, I really couldn't. Even seeing Nate's still, stiff face, anger was a flame, constantly flickering inside of me. I couldn't douse it.

"He hurt my best friend," I said softly, staring into his dull, flat eyes. All the ghostly figures before me swayed aimlessly, without a purpose. It was so strange seeing my former nemesis looking lost. It was not a look that Nate wore well.

I turned to look at Artemis. She leveled me with her piercing gaze. "How do I not hate him?" I asked her.

"Who says you shouldn't?" she purred, stepping closer to me. I could see a flicker of anger burn in her eyes too. She was the protector of young maidens after all. No vendetta against me could possibly change that.

Feeling my anger mounting, she took me by the shoulders. Her marble fingers were so cold, and I shivered even though my jacket was warm. I could feel her smiling. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

She guided me to see another figure. "And Anna, the girl with no future. She resisted your help, even though you offered many times. Secretly, you were angry with her too, right?"

"That doesn't mean that I wanted them dead!" I cried, silencing her voice. I turned to glare at Artemis, challenging her. Her stark white face remained smooth as the three victims disappeared.

I gasped, turning in a circle as more took there place. I was surrounded by pale, white figures.

A cold blade struck my heart as I walked around, recognizing each and every figure.

"Your mother," Artemis said, filling the silence. Her voice was raspy, tantalizingly tempting me. "Never cared for you, mothered you. She left you alone. She discarded you."

The feeling of being abandoned weighed down on me as I stared into her unseeing eyes. How many years had I longed for an actual mother? How many times had I wished that she would stay? In her grey eyes I could see the little girl that I had once been, a little girl who huddled in the corner of her bedroom, scared because her mommy would have the same blank eyes as my mother still wore. Death, it seems, bears much resemblance to life.

"Your brothers," Artemis said, gesturing towards Zach and Ryan. "They never listened to you. They never shouldered their share of the work. They contributed to the end of your childhood."