Our Monsters

Black Cat

("Yeah Yeah Yeah" by New Politics)

Hunter's fists were clenched the entire time they walked. She stayed quiet and tried to focus on her surroundings, but she had two distractions.
Clarke had forced Bellamy to come. Which meant the one and only, John Murphy, followed.
She could hear the two of them murmuring amongst themselves about the bracelets. They noticed both Hunter and Clarke had theirs.
Hunter and Clarke shared a look and nodded to one another. No way in hell was Hunter going to allow them to remove her bracelet.
Clarke spun on her heel to face Bellamy, staring him down, daring him to take the bracelet from her, but before anything could happen, Finn arrived.
"Split up." He commanded, giving Bellamy a small shove away from Clarke.
Hunter was torn. Should she go with Clarke and Finn or stay with Wells. Wells could see her internal struggle and bumped her shoulder, "Go."
Hunter glanced at him and then back at Bellamy and Murphy. Both were staring. "I... You sure?" She asked him.
"Yes, there is an uneven amount of people and it's bothering me." He joked. She laughed and shook her head. She gave him a shove before heading up the hill where Finn and Clarke went.
"Guys!" She called so they could help her up the last bit. Finn grabbed both of her hands and hoisted her up.
"Why are your hands so sweaty?" He teased her.
She rolled her eyes. "Excuse me, am I not allowed to sweat while a cute boy is near?" Hunter laughed.
"You think I'm cute?" He batted his eyelashes at her.
"I was talking about Murphy, duh." She pushed him and laughed loudly at her own joke.
Clarke shushed her.
Hunter could see the other three boys below them, keeping up with their pace. The three seemed to be talking about something important, something that made them tense. All three of the boys looked up at the same time .
"I don't know where we are. I lost the direction of the camp hours ago." Hunter said softly, legs feeling like jelly.
"Why don't you sing for us, Hunt?" Finn suggested and looked back at her.
"You're always causing trouble." She responded and threw a twig at him.
Suddenly, she realized there were sounds of running water. Her heart skipped a beat. She raced toward the sound, followed by the other two. She stopped at the edge, scanning the water for creatures, like the one that took a bite out of Octavia.
She jumped in, not bothering to take her clothes off; they needed to be washed anyway and Finn followed her lead.
"We don't have time for this." Clarke sighed at the two of them, watching them splash around in the water like children.
"C'mon, Mom, the water feels nice." Hunter smiled brightly at Clarke. One way or another, Clarke ended up in the water.
Hunter made sure to scrub her scalp and armpits well. She definitely felt refreshed.
Until she saw the blood.
"Guys." She spoke quietly. Their laughter immediately stopped.
"It's fresh." Finn sighed. Hunter's stomach lurched at the sight.
The other three finally caught up to them. They didn't question why their clothes were wet or why they had such serious faces on.
The six of them walked for a few more minutes. They could hear moaning just up ahead. The group rushed forward, entering a clearing. Jasper was hung from a tree, moaning and gasping in pain. Clarke ran forward to help him down.
One minute she was there and the next, she was gone.
"Clarke!" Hunter screamed.
The only thing keeping Clarke alive was Bellamy. He was holding her arm, the one with the bracelet, oh, the irony. Hunter ran to his side, helping him pull her up.
"Thank God." Wells sighed.
They were all silent for a second or two, just staring at one another in disbelief. Clarke and Bellamy were breathing heavily, like they had just run a marathon.
Finn picked Murphy to help him with Jasper, not trusting him with the girls. Hunter watched them cut Jasper down.
"There's a poultice." She heard Clarke say.
Hunter had a bad feeling. She spun around, watching the tree line closely.
"This is a trap." She mumbled to herself. That's when she saw it. There was movement in the distance. A black figure pacing back and forth, looking in their direction. She blinked and it was gone.
"Guys!" She squeaked, heart racing.
Everyone was on high alert, silently waiting for something to happen.
Hunter jumped at the sound of leaves rustling to her left. The creature was skulking through the bushes. She waited for the next bout of movement, feeling the energy that she so hated, but needed.
"Gun." Clarke spoke quietly, eyes not leaving the surrounding bushes.
From the corner of Hunter's eye, she saw Bellamy touch his back, but he came up empty handed.
Leaves began to move again, quicker now. The creature was running, getting closer to them, getting closer to Bellamy in particular. Hunter approached him slowly, only needing to take two steps to reach him. She wrapped her hand in his shirt.
Gunshots scared all of the kids, eyes turning toward Wells instead of watching for the creature. There was silence, a moment where the kids relaxed. Just when everyone thought the creature was gone, it jumped from the bushes. Hunter yanked Bellamy back, trying to move him out of the way, but it was no use. Now both of them would be attacked.
One last shot was fired and the creature fell to the ground with a loud thud. Hunter breathed out a long breath, before anger bubbled up inside her.
"Really, Wells?" She yelled, eyes narrowed. "Did you really have to steal the gun from the only guy who knows how to use it?"
Wells just shook his head and dropped the empty pistol.
"Now she sees you." Bellamy told him, picking up the gun angrily.
All that just to impress, Clarke?
"You can let go of him now, man-eater." Murphy snarled. Embarrassment built up in her chest when she realized her hand was still wrapped in Bellamy's shirt.
She sent a teasing smirk to Murphy, "You jealous, Hun?"
"Call me that one more time." He growled, taking a threatening step toward her. She laughed, letting go of Bellamy's shirt.
"You okay?" She asked him quietly.
"Just peachy." He dryly replied. "Hey, Tiger, did you know her?" He smiled and pointed to the black cat.
She snorted, "I should've let her eat you."
She laughed at the confusion on his face and started to walk away. He grabbed her arm and dragged her back.
"Help me wrap it up."
Her body stiffened. And not because she was being forced to wrap the cat. This fear she felt... It was intense.
"Fine, but don't touch me." She yanked her arm from his grasp. Again, he looked confused and almost annoyed; Usually girls liked his attention.
Wells handed them a parachute that was meant to carry Jasper, but they would wrap their dinner with it instead. He gave Hunter an apologetic smile and she rolled her eyes at him.
She bent down to hoist the cat onto the parachute, but mistakenly put her hand in it's blood.
"Oh god." She chocked, and dropped her side of it.
"You okay?" Bellamy asked, concern written all over her face.
Her face was pale and sweaty. Her stomach flipped and she made a whining noise. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to push the nausea away.
"Hey." Bellamy looked at her with questioning eyes, running his fingers down her arm. She hadn't noticed that he put the feline down and was by her side until he touched her. "Breathe you're holding your breath." His hand pressed on her back, burning her skin, bringing her back down to earth.
Her heart fluttered and she sucked in a large breath.
"You alright now?" He moved back to his side.
She hesitated, hands hovering over the parachute. Bellamy wasn't pressuring her. She was glad that there was at least one person not looking at her like she would snap. She nodded and picked the figure up.
Just before they reached the camp's entrance, she looked at him and knew she was doomed for... Something. "My name is Hunter." She mumbled to him. She dropped the cat and walked away, not giving him a chance to respond. She almost ran, but she had enough control over her body to stop herself.
Bellamy stared after her, completely dumbfounded and mystified. He shook himself out of it.
"Who's hungry?" He roared, lighting the whole camp up with excitement.