Thirteen (Mono×OC)

The Cemetery

What the fucking shit?! I thought as I ran. I heard sounds of pursuit behind me, and raggedy breath made me want to run faster. I saw Mono run in a different direction, and the Nomes ran into the bush. I jumped over a fallen log and the creature growled and yelled but I didn't hear him follow me.

I turned and crouched behind a tree, gasping for air. "Thirteen!" Someone yelled. Mono. My breath caught in my throat. I went to where I heard the yell and saw small squares of upturned dirt. A cage trap. The Hunter loved these. The prey would step on the trap, covered in dirt or leaves, and the cage walls would snap around the animal, and it would lift into the trees...

I looked up and Mono hung in the cage. "Mono!" I whispered. He looked down awkwardly, the cage was too small for him, but smiled when he saw me. "Thir!" He called. "Where did your axe go?" I asked him. He pointed to a bush. I pushed it aside and saw the glint of metal in the pale moonlight. I gripped the handle and sought it over to where the ropesecuring the cage was, attached to a rock. I swung the axe and cut the rope. Mono gasped as the cage fell and broke, but he was unharmed.

He hugged me and took his axe back. We trudged through the forest, searching for the Nomes when we saw a wrought iron fence. We pushed the gate open with a creak that made us flinch, and looked around. It was a cemetery. Unmarked stones and fresh graves sat every few feet, and we had to walk carefully to avoid falling.

After a few minutes of wandering I heard the thump thump thump of heavy footsteps. I pulled Mono into a crouch behind a gravestone and put a finger to my lips. Quiet. The footsteps got louder, and Mono and I pressed farther into the shadow of the stone. Loud, struggled breathing mace me shudder when a figure stood right in front of the gravestone we hid behind.