H.A.I.U.

~17~

Turns out that Haiu still had some bullets left in his arm. He had shot the deer, and now both of us were staring at it, because we had no idea what to do next. Though I'm sure Haiu is googling it right now.

I poked the deer. I had closed its eyes earlier because they kept staring at me, but now this was even creepier.

"Do you know how to skin it now?" I asked, and Haiu jumped a foot in the air. "What?"

"Skin the deer."

"Oh--uh, yeah. I mean, the video is over a hundred years old from back in twenty-thirty, but it still had good clarity. Do you have a knife?"

"I'm sure you have one in your hand. And scissors. And needles. And catnip. And lasers. And--"

"I get it, okay? Just...um, you might want to look away."

"Why?"

"Do you want to watch as a deer is skinned?"

I turned around and pet my cat. He had finally come down from the tree. I pet him softly, flinching when I heard the familiar sound of a knife in flesh. Yes, he was right. I didn't want to watch. I didn't want to hear. I didn't even want to know he was skinning a deer. It made my own skin crawl at the thought, because Risa has actually threatened to do that.

Either Haiu could sense my discomfort, or he really hated having his mouth closed. "So, um, you're a lot more open to me than before."

"Yes. And?"

"I mean, it's just...three days we've known each other, and you trust me--"

"I don't."

"You trust me enough to have your back to me while I have a knife."

I stiffened, but didn't turn around. I didn't want to see the deer, or the blood on his hands from working on it. "I don't trust you enough to tell you everything. I don't trust you enough to save me when I need saving. I trust you more than most people, yes. Kind of forced, though, don't you think?"

"You should trust me more."

"No. I shouldn't. You could get close to me and swipe everything I have right from under my nose." it took all of my will not to add, Just like before. Though I think he heard those silent words.

"I wouldn't do something like that. I'm a genuinely nice person if you try."

"Really? You're the one assaulting my ears with puns and smart-ass jokes and being annoying."

He was silent, contemplating his next choice of words very hard. "I honestly don't need you for any of this. Anything. I could walk out alone, leaving you for the world to find, and fix everything myself, earn the money, and forget your existence. I wasn't lying when I said I didn't have anywhere else to go, but I could easily live on the streets."

I was so tense that Dipstick struggled from my grasp. I let him go. "Then why did you stay? So you could enjoy me before dropping me like a hot cake?"

"No."

"Then why did you stay? Why did you save me from the security bots? Why are you helping me when you would be better off on your own?" I ask, turning around. Big mistake.

I hold back a scream and scramble backwards. The deer--oh my gosh, the deer. While we had been talking, he had cut off its head, and now its eyes were open again, staring at me. Some of its hide was gone, too, revealing blood and muscle. Lots of blood. All over his hands, the ground, the deer...some of the skin peeled off hang limply beside it.

Blood drained from my face. Haiu was surprised to see me turned around for all of two seconds before stepping in front of the deer and bending down. I couldn't see it anymore, but now he was inches from my face, and I could smell blood. Lots of blood.

"I stayed because I wanted to. Even after knives are thrown at me. You seem like a good person deep down, so I wanted to meet them." he told me. A slight pause before saying, "Turn back around, Monica."

But my eyes remained pinned on his chest, practically seeing right through him to find the deer. Haiu let loose a frustrated sigh, yet he didn't back away. "Monica. Turn around."

I slowly turned, my eyes remaining to the place I had seen the deer. Blood still was in the air. I stood, and backed away faster until I was running. Running through the woods, Haiu's footfalls behind me. After I was  good distance away from the deer, I turned to the nearest tree and hugged it. Don't ask me why, I just did. I shook as I held it, the course bark rubbing my face.

"Why are you hugging a tree?" Haiu asked from behind me.

I didn't respond.

"Are you going to let go of the tree?" he asked, closer now. I could almost feel his warmth beside me, and it took all I had not to kick him. Be nice. Be nice. Be frickin nice.

"Monica, you shouldn't have looked--"

"I know that. I still did."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to know the truth." I told him, and I think he knew I was talking about his eye. He sighed behind me, and I didn't let go of the tree. "But, uh, still though. Why are you hugging a tree?"

"I don't know. Stop asking." I mumbled, and he snorted a laugh.

"Will I be prying to ask why you are so un-trusting of people?"

"Because the one person I trusted most broke my heart into tiny pieces of dust, which are currently blowing in the wind."

Silence. I swear, if he says something corny like I'll get you a new one, I'm going to punch him. Hard. Hopefully I'll break his nose.

But instead, he said, "The same happened to me. Probably not the same person to you--you might have had a friend who did that--but a family member screwed everything up for me. I should actually be dead because of him."

Now, this is where the part where we both spill our guts to each other and become best buds. But we don't. Because life isn't a movie. That's why movies are so easy to predict but life isn't.

Haiu hugged the tree beside me. I was surprised when he didn't say anything dumb about the tree being warm or getting ringworm.

And I think I liked it that way.