The Hunting

The Hunt

I was out of breath as I ran through the heavily wooded forest, away from the thing chasing me, and for my life.

Hi, my name is  Amancia  and you may be wondering why I'm running and why I would die if I got caught; it's a long story so let's start from the beginning.

  It was an ordinary Friday afternoon in a boring city and a boring state, better known as Fairhope, Alabama. My friends, Leona and Kitt, were helping me get ready for a party we were going to later. I was the new kid in town so although they were annoying sometimes, and this town was deathly boring I was happy that I had these two.

"So, red or pink?," said Leona. She was trying to help me pick out a dress so I could look my best because first impression matter here. Anyways, that's off topic, I ended up choosing red because it's an eye-catching color and then we were off.

When we finally arrived, I wasn't even able to fully exit the car before we were approached by Kim and Bryan. I found it odd that they wanted to talk to us, the outcasts, what I didn't know was that I would find out soon enough that it wouldn't matter when the clock struck 12 because then everyone was equal.

"Hey, Amancia.. You know Bryan and I were planning a trip to Cali with our friends and I thought you might wanna come since you're new here and all" she said with a sweet venom dripping from her lips. I could just tell that she was looking to embarrass me.

"Well actually I have plans, but thanks for the offer" I replied with a sickeningly sweet smile. I was quickly losing my patience, turns out this town has lots of people like her who think they're so cool with their Wrangler jeans and Carhartt shirts. I decided to leave before I blew my top, but not without shouldering her on my way in the house. And oh boy let me tell you about this house! I had never seen something so ridiculous in my seventeen years of life; there were mounted deer heads on the walls, American flags literally everywhere they could fit them (we get it you love America), and these terribly hideous rugs that look like they came from a flea market. Apparently, this is the norm and its popular amongst these types of people, if only you could see my face right now. I wanted to throw up at the sight so I decided to wander off to find something to drink in hopes of calming my stomach.

"Hey, Kitt and Lee, I'm going to head over to the drink table so if you need me, I'll be there, alright?" They didn't respond so I'm gonna just assume they didn't hear me or didn't care, but for the sake of my feelings I'm gonna choose the former.

Walking over to the table I saw that all the drink were alcoholic, there wasn't even fruit punch which I bet would've been spiked too if they had it! I decided that it would be best if I just found somewhere quiet to rest because I was already exhausted.

I ended up settling in a bedroom and locking the door; I laid down to take a well-deserved nap. 

When I woke up, I immediately noticed that it was pretty quiet for a party, but I only assumed that all those alcoholics downstairs had blacked out. I looked down at my watch to check the time and it was 11:52, I was supposed to be home by ten. My mom had been extremely serious about it and made me promise not to stay out and that I would be home well before 12. Why? I don't know, but it doesn't matter now that I'm here. I walked downstairs to try and find Kitt and Leona to see if they could take me home, however no one was to be seen. I walked outside and all the cars were still there but no one was in the house. My mind began to race and I didn't know what was going on. I decided my best bet was to search the nearby woods, I would soon come to learn that I should've ran as far as I could. I looked back down at my watch and it was 11:59 when I suddenly heard a branch crack followed by some cursing. By now I was in the middle pf the woods and was scared out of my mind. I began turning in circles yelling out "Who's there?!?".

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, it was truly only a minute, a collective "run" rang out. I didn't know why I was supposed to run, but I wasn't gonna hang around to find out. I began running and, in all honesty, I must have looked like a dying flamingo because my heels were preventing me from running at full speed, however I wasn't gonna stop until I was safe. I could hear pounding footsteps behind me, and they were so close I could feel the heat of their torches, I mean who even uses torches anymore.

I turned into a clearing and make a break for it to the right. I watched as the footsteps and light faded away in the opposite direction, I immediately took off my heels and looked at the time, 12:05. I began crying and tried being quiet, but I couldn't as the sobs racked through my body; Oh, how I wish I had listened to my mother. I knew if I kept this up, I would get caught. And I did.

"Oh Amancia" confusion was the only thing I felt as I heard a condescending voice that sounded strangely close to Leona's.

"Oh, shut up Lee she's gonna run if she knows we're coming" and that confirms my suspicions, but why were Lee and Kitt chasing me too. All I wanted was to have fun, but now I could die at any given moment.

"Lee...?" I called out in a meek voice.

"Amancia, Kitt and I have been looking everywhere for you" she said

"Stop playing with me, I know you guys are in on whatever is going on so cut the crap and come clean" I was so sick of everyone's games

"Fine, so here in Fairhope once every twenty years so that each new generation of seniors gets to participate, we hunt people for sport" she said" Not just anyone though, it's always the newest people in town and it is always on august 17th we hunt the newest people in town and the one who kills them wins a prize; the prize changes every time so we never know what it is" she continued.

Then Kitt began to speak" So basically to sum it up you're the prey and we are the predators" he began" The thing is Lee and I really like you so we're gonna give you a head start of 30 seconds." He made it seem like that was a generous amount of time to give before he tried to kill me

"30 Seconds! Absolutely not that's way too long. How about 10?" While they were bickering about how much time to give me, I took my chance, and I ran. I could feel sticks and shards of glass stabbing me, but the pain wouldn't make me stop. I could hear Kitt and Lee alerting the rest of the group about my location, and I began pumping my arms harder and moving faster.

Eventually I reached a cliff that looked over a raging river and I could hear their footsteps coming up behind me. I knew at that moment that I had a single choice to make and that it would be my last. I turned and watched as they all filed into the clearing in front of the cliff. I had made my choice.

"Tell my family I love them, bozos" I stuck my tongue out and with that I jumped.

It was the bitter-sweet moment before death. With the wind in my hair and the satisfaction of knowing I hadn't allowed them to catch me, but knowing that I would never see my family again. In the last moment before I hit the water I knew that I had one last thing to do. My mother would never hear it, but I like to believe that she did.

                                                               " I'm sorry"

                                                                THE END