His Name Is Jack

Chapter 2

When I got home, the sun was already setting, which means our tribe's feast will take place soon. I balanced the thin stone blocks on my hip as I lift the deer skin up and ducked inside the hut that my mother and I call home.

Mum looked up from where she was sitting on the floor and frowns. "What wrong, mužíček? You look like something is bothering you"

"Nothing's wrong Mum," I respond quietly, walking over to where the small oak table was and set my blocks down. I really didn't want to tell my mother about the whole Felix situation. She already has enough stress as it is since she is the tribe's leader. You can tell who the tribe's leader is because they are the only ones who wear white silk-robe.

"Are you sure?" She asks, standing up. Her face scrunches up a little. "You know you can talk to me about anything. Just like your father did before he.." Mum swallows hard, her smile falters a little before she corrects it. "Nevermind that, I'm sure he is happy hunting up in the nekonečné nebe."

"Aww Mum, I'm fine really!" I said, a little too fast. Talking about my father is a very touchy subject for my mother. Especially since three years after the incident, she still grieves.

"Well.." She says looking at the stone blocks. "What did you draw today?" I shrug, walking towards my small bedroom.

"Just some stupid fantasies Mum, nothing really." Before she could say another word, I pushed the curtain cloth aside, stepped into my room, and quickly closed the curtain behind me.

Sighing, I flop down on my water-filled bed. My bed was a gift from a very talented elder in our tribe who thought I would be cool to experiment with weird objects. Somehow, someway the poor bastard created this bed. Nobody wanted it because they were too scared that something bad will happen to them if they took the bed home, so I to by it off of him, but he just gave it to me for free.

"Mark, don't forget that tonight's dinner will start once the sun has fully set and the moon is nearly a quarter of the way in the sky."

"I know Mum." Dinner was going to be a tad bit late today because the hunters will be back late and it's rude for everyone to sit down and stuff our faces while they're still out there hunting. Rubbing my eyes, I mutter a few words under my breath. Felix was definitely going to ignore me tonight at dinner. It was going to be a long night.

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People shouted happily around the stone tables. The smell of freshly killed deer cooking over a fire filled the air. Everyone was happy, chatting cheerfully amongst each other. Me, however, was laying on the grass, watching and admiring the stars twinkling in the sky.

I smile a little, remembering an old story Mum once told me when I was little. All the stars in the sky are our guardians. They always watch over us at night so we aren't afraid of the dark. But if the guardians see you doing something you're not suppose to, one of them will fade away.

A strange howl comes from the Forbidden Forrest, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked around st the villagers, but they didn't seem to hear it as they kept chatting cheerfully. I tried to put it out of my mind but the strange howl came again and this time louder.

It didn't sound like a wolf's howl. This was much more high pitch and weird sounding. Again, I glanced over at the villagers but they kept on being cheerful as they ate.

Huh, I thought quietly to myself. I must be hearing things. And the next thing I knew, it sounded like the world was crashing down around me.