Hunter

Chapter Fifteen - The Pain of Loss

A soft cackle surrounded me like the heat from a nearby fire that was spitting its flames at me.

"Poor Little Hunter. Having a hard time distinguishing what's real and what's not." A laugh so pure that it couldn't have belonged to the speaker radiated around the room.

"Who are you?" My voice barely sounded, and I didn't posses the necessary ability to restate my question aloud.

"Who? I don't know, but I can tell you what, Littler Hunter. I can tell you exactly what I am. I am the fear that calls to you in the middle of the night. I am the shiver that spreads across your skin when you're alone. I am the darkest thoughts that creep into your mind when you think no one's watching. I am who you are, in your untouched and uncultivated form. I am your most vile instinct. I am the voice that calls out the animal deep within you."

"You're not real." I was trying to convince myself, rather than actually believing what I said.

"But aren't I?"

"You're not real." I shook my head, closed my eyes.

"You may be right, Little Hunter, but they are, and I call to them too. I control all of their minds, but their bodies are very real."

"What do you want from me?" Another melody slipped from the lips of the unknown.

"I, Little Hunter, was sent to ruin you. To break your spirit. I was tasked with leaving you so completely and utterly hopeless, that nothing, not even the brightest light, could bring you from the depths of your despair. I was told to bury you so deep in remorse, that you won't even begin to recognize your own self. I want to destroy you."

"Oh yeah, and what's in it for you?" The brave front I was trying to hold up was crumbling like the walls of an old arena. Her soft voice started as a soft cackle, but erupted into a laugh that grated the walls of my sanity.

"I... am Atë. There is nothing in it for me, but the pleasure that I crave. I am the goddess of mischief. I am the goddess of delusion. I am the goddess of ruin. This is what I live for, and this is what I shall forever seek out. So prepare yourself, Little Hunter, for this is going to be the worst night of your life."

My eyes were wide with fear.

My heart pounded in my chest.

My ears were ringing.

My palms were perspiring.

My skin was tight.

I shut my eyes and shook my head, trying to rid my thoughts of the voices whispering malevolence into my mind. My heart hammered in my chest, and the slight ringing in my ears continued. I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck, feeling the slippery sweat that oozed from my pores in little rivulets. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a small glass cube right in the middle of the road. I was alone in the cramped box, staring up at the sky, watching the stars twinkle with false hope. My fist immediately connected with the wall. I pounded furiously on the glass, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. My hands were pressed to every single exposed piece of glass that I could find, desperately trying to figure a way out of my prison.

"There's no use, Little Hunter. That glass in unbreakable. You have no choice but to watch." As soon as that was said, the entire population of the village streamed onto the road, including Deidre and Jasper. They moved like machines being controlled by a single switch. Their step was perfect. Not a single falter, and not a single person out of line. They were robots, their movements coordinated and stiff. No emotions that I could discern were on their faces. They were blank, hard, and unyielding. They weren't people anymore, they were just bodies. They had no mind to help them distinguish right from wrong.