Dark Imaginations

The Hunter

~An original story~

I stalked through the forrest, leaves crunching, twigs snapping as I take each step. Trees tower over me, blocking out the sun and its warmth. A slight breeze blows through the woods. There's no sign of life, no animals, no vegetation. Just a dead forest full of dead trees. I was told that there is a cave somewhere here by a old homeless woman, she offered to tell me a story in exchange for some food. When I gave her the last of my lunch she told me about 'The Hunter'. She described a cave that was not like any other cave, and a being unlike anything on earth. I wasn't sure if she spoke the truth but I had nothing to do today, no job, no friends and no family. So here I am, following the words of a homeless woman looking for a weird cave. Deeper and deeper into the forrest I go, until I can't see where I came from. I stop to look around. There isn't much to see apart from trees and more trees with a side of trees. "How big is this dead jungle" I say to myself. There's a noise, a sharp crack, like a stick being broken. But I haven't moved for at least five minutes, I look around for the source of the noise but there is nothing there, the breeze picks up into a biting wind, chilling me to the bone. I sense I'm being watched but no one is around. It's just me here, or so I think. I keep moving, I don't know where I'm going and I don't care. The ground starts sloping upwards until the trees growing on the hillside seem to be horizontal. I see a dark shadow on the hill, it looks like the open maw of a beast. This must be the cave the woman told me about. As I get closer I feel a dark energy in the air grow. By the time I get to the entrance of the cave the air is alive and electrified. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I look into the cave. The walls are covered with carvings, none I recognise. It is a style of hieroglyphics that don't seem to make sense. I have a gut feeling that these writings weren't from any human language, the font and writing style was, well was alien. The further I went into the cave the dark it got until I had to use my phone flash light to see, the drawings seemed to tell a story of a civilisation, but not one that would be found in history books. I studied the walls as I go deeper, the story seems to be reaching an end as I come to the end of the cave but there's more to this car than what I thought. At the very back of the cave there is a hole in the floor, upon closer inspection I realise it's a stair well. Looking down the stairs I note that they are probably the finest machined surfaces I have ever seen, smoother than glass and not a single blemish or mark. They are perfectly straight and true, on the walls of the stair well there's more hieroglyphs telling another story. This one seems to tell of a certain thing, a single being from the civilisation drawn above in the cave. Step by step I go further into the earths embrace of stone and dirt. The story reaches its end at the last step, there's a short tunnel dug into the rock. Unlike the rest of the carvings and workmanship, this is tunnel is shoddy and done by hand. When I shine my phone at the end of the tunnel something glints in the light. I hear a deep growl and a scraping of metal on stone. My bones turn to lead as it stands. All I can see is the frame of its body but even that's enough. Limbs stick out at random angles and places, is head is huge and barely balances on its shoulders. A smell of dead flesh hits me like a brick wall and I stumble back. My slightest movement brings its attention to me as I regain me balance. It growls again and the deep throaty noise shakes me out of my shock. I turn and bolt. Up the stairs and out the cave, past the carvings and into the world again. It's night now and the moon shines down on the forrest turning the trees silver and and the ground grey. I run as fast as I can, stumbling over roots and breaking branches as I go. I can hear the thing behind me, slowly gaining as I start to lose speed. I run till I can't run any further, I collapse on the the forrest floor. The thing slows down and approaches me. With the moonlight shining down on us I can see the thing better now. It's three eyes are bright yellow and glare at me with pure hatred for which the reason I don't know or understand. It's skin is translucent and I can see its organs and flesh ripple as it moves. It's arms and legs, 6 in total, move in fluid motion. It's jaw opens wide and I can see its teeth, razor sharp and long, perfect for cutting through skin and bone. It glowed with a green hue as it circled me. From its back it draws a sword like weapon and holds it between two hands. With another hand its takes out a small object and proceeds to swallow it. After about one minute it begins to speak in fluent English. "Who are you and why have you disturbed my slumber?" I stutter as I try to explain my story. When I finish the thing looks at me. Drawing up my courage I ask it a question, " who and what are you ?" It looks at me for a couple minutes in silence before replying " I am the last of a species that live far away from your Earth. My name in English translates to 'Hunter'. My purpose was to find a new homeland for my people but while I was away my planet was struck by an asteroid and was destroyed." I stare at him dumbfounded, he glares back. I get up off the ground and look around. He tightens his grip on his weapon as he watches me. I suddenly realise how hopeless my situation is. Without a word Hunter strides to me and rests a hand on my shoulder " I would say I'm sorry but that would be a lie" he says without emotion. I look into his eyes as I brush his three fingered hand off me. " I will not be missed or looked for" I say softly as I think of what I just said, it's true and sad. No one will care or wonder where I went. No one will cry for me. " well that's handy" he mutters as he takes aim at my neck with his sword, but just as he draws back to swing I duck and run past him. I sprint with all my energy away but I don't make it very far. Without warning there's a sudden piercing, cold pain in my back. I look over my shoulder to see a blade buried hilt deep into my spine. I quickly lose all feeling in my body as I collapse one last time. Hunter walks over to me and stands above me as I lie in a feeling of nothing. He looks down at me as my breathing slows down and my heart beats weaken. The moon shines so brightly the through the dead trees. Hunter stares up, I stare up. We both look at the moon. There's silence. My last breath rattles out as I pass into nothing but the black abyss of death. Hunter stays by me until he's sure I'm gone. Silently he picks up my body and carries me back to the cave. Once he's dealt with me he's uses his knife to add to the story inscribed on the walls of he cave. What he writes translates to "never again shall I be disturbed without punishment"

The End