The Hunt

Chapter 2

 My eyes fluttered open, letting the bright morning sunlight pour in. Groggily, I sat up and found that my muscles ached- muscles I didn't even know I had. I rubbed my blurry eyes and stifled a yawn, propping my elbow up on the train window. I laid my head on my hand, staring out the window. Small lush hills rolled past my eyes, each leaving faster than it came. 

I shut my eyes, wallowing in the peaceful silence of the train. With nothing but darkness surrounding me now, I couldn't fight the pain deep in my chest. It was like someone had ripped out my heart and replaced it with a cold, hard brick. I waited for the tears to once again soak my pale cheeks, but they never came. I must have cried them all last night. 

"Attention passengers. We will be arriving in Greenville in about five minutes." The overhead speaker blared, a terrible screeching sound following. I winced as the sound ripped through my eardrums, the noise louder than a siren. Around me, a few people turned to me, concerned and annoyed expressions on their faces. 

"Ma'am. Are you okay?" A man, seemingly middle aged, asked. 

I opened my eyes and tried to speak, but my voice was barely audible. I cleared it and spoke again. "Yeah, I'm okay." 

He nodded but didn't turn all the way around, keeping one eye on me. He clearly didn't believe me. 

Good.

He shouldn't believe me. 

Because I wasn't okay. I was nowhere close to being okay. In fact, everything about my life had gone from "okay" to completely terrible in the last twenty four hours. 

Believe me, I wanted nothing more than to forget last night and continue living life the way I was, content with what I had. But now, that could never be. I was doomed to the life of a monster, whatever kind of life that was. 

The rumbling of the train began easing down to a comfortable shake, letting me know that we were stopping. I glanced out the window, noticing that the sun was fully risen in the sky, meaning I had been on this train for a good ten hours if not more. 

I grabbed my small backpack and held it in my lap, pressing it to my knotted stomach.

I felt like a tiny child in a crowd of giants; scared and alone. 

Alone. 

The word buzzed in my head, flashing me with sudden realization. I was completely and utterly alone. There was no longer a mommy I could turn to when I didn't feel well, or a father who would offer his knee for me to sit on and ask about my day. No one was there to feed me, to take care of me- to love me. I could die of starvation alone on the side of the road, and no one would bother to make me a proper burial. Not even my parents, especially now that I was some sort of murderous beast to them. 

A thick sting of pain grew inside my chest, making it suddenly very hard to breathe. It wasn't the same kind of pain as last night. This pain was much, much worse. It was the pain of loss, fear, and loneliness- the most agonizing kind in the world. 

The train's wheels screeched as it came to a stop, the sound splitting my ear drums once again. This time, no one turned around to make sure I was alright. Everyone was too busy springing from their seats and making their way through the small crowd that was forming at the door, wedging people between the door frame. I stood, my legs shaky as I hugged my backpack to my chest, not willing to put it around my shoulders and risk the chance of having someone snatch my only belongings. 

Carefully, I wedged myself in between a large woman and a business man, both looking as tired as I felt. Muttering out polite apologies, I pushed through the crowd. A couple of times, my long black hair got snagged on something, but I quickly pulled it free and kept moving, my emerald green eyes on high alert. People of all different shapes and sizes shuffled out the door in front of me, and I could smell every one of them. The tight space was beginning to give me a rugged headache, each sound and smell suffocating my lungs one by one.