Dark as the Night

1

An air of anxiety hung over the hush of the early morning woods. The spring birds, only recently awoken, chattered nervously, in a gossipy whisper different from their usual morning song. The only other sound was the gentle crunch on the frozen ground as two boys walked quietly through the woods, each one holding a bow, sharp eyes searching for signs of their prey. Their height and movements complimented each other: lithe, careful, pausing and stepping at the same time, their words understood though barely more than a breath.

The unnatural silence of the woods had them on edge. The first boy brushed dark hair from his pale eyes as he looked up through the faded morning light at the still-dark trees, scanning for game. The other boy, with thick red hair covered by a camouflage bandana, ducked to the ground to examine something. He motioned his partner over with a shrug of his shoulder and pointed to the ground.

"Look, blood. Something came through here, hurt. These tracks are all jumbled up, like there was a struggle – it can't be far off."

The darker boy joined him and looked at the still damp drips of blood on the ground. His eyes roved around the surrounding area, noticing other signs of something amiss: several broken branches, flattened underbrush, and something else. "Wait, look over here," he moved a few feet away and gestured toward a print in the frozen loam. "This is definitely a human footprint." He examined it, trying to place the smallish mark left by a soft, thin shoe. Suddenly the red-haired boy cried out.

"Holy shit... there's a person over there!" Dropping the large bow he'd been holding, he began running toward what appeared to be a face sticking out of the underbrush several yards away.

The other boy ran over and joined him, staring down. There on the ground was the body of a girl, no older than them, her face, arms, and torso swollen and lacerated. He bent down to look at her. Under the bruises, dirt, and blood, her skin was deathly pale. "Is she alive?" he asked quietly.

The red-haired boy was checking her pulse, eyeing the blood coating her neck and the pool of it under her. He looked up and replied, "Yeah, but not for long if we don't get her to Leila." He ripped the bandana from his head and wrapped it as tightly as he dared around her neck, securing it in a firm knot. The larger and stronger of the two, he picked her up and began to carry her through the woods. The other boy picked up both their bows and quickly scanned the area. Finding neither predators nor other potentially dying bodies, he followed his friend.

It took only a few minutes for the boys to arrive at the four-wheeler that had brought them so deep into the woods. The dark-haired boy threw their gear into the back and jumped into the driver's seat as the red-haired boy, still cradling the girl in his arms, climbed in next to him. They took off through the trees, forgetting their original mission. Not long after, they pulled into a large, gated compound built at the foot of a mountain, drove up to a white building near the center of it, and ran inside.

Hearing the commotion at the entrance, a tall, dark-haired woman wearing a white lab coat appeared from a side room, and took in the urgent situation. "What's going on? What happened?" She demanded as she helped the red-haired boy lay the girl on a bed and began to calmly but swiftly examine her.

The red-haired boy was the first to speak. "We were hunting and found her like this on the ground, beaten to a pulp with her neck bleeding badly. We brought her here right away." The woman didn't look at him, but grabbed an emergency first aid kit while she answered.

"God," she replied. "She's lost so much blood... we've got to do a transfusion right away. Was there a sign of anyone else?"

The darker boy shook his head. "I didn't see anyone, but I didn't have time to really look around."

The healer nodded quickly while she cleaned and began stitching the wound. "Go get a couple people together and go back out to make sure there are no others lying around, dying. " The red-haired boy nodded and ran out. She continued, "She really needs blood... Tai, please look in the medical registry for someone with O-negative and get them here immediately."

The dark-haired boy, Tai, was already trying to roll up his sleeves. Failing that, he yanked his shirt off and held out his arm. "I'm O-negative, just use mine."

The woman looked at him angrily. "No, you're too young. Hurry and do as I said."

He glared right back at her and didn't budge. "Just take my blood. I'm almost 18 so I'm close enough. You said she needs it now and this is faster than trying to find someone else with O-negative. She could be dead by the time we get them here. Leila, please."

Leila sighed and pushed him down on the next bed. She grabbed the transfusion kit while continuing to glare at the boy, suppressing a smile. "I don't know if your dad is going to kill you or be proud of you. Sit still and let me jab the heck out of you." Tai smiled grimly and looked at the girl. His eyes roved over her beaten face and body. He watched her frighteningly shallow breathing, and took a breath. He hadn't felt this anxious in a long time.

**********
A/N: What do you think happened to our mystery girl? Do you think she was really attacked, or is it all a misunderstanding? Let me know your theories in the comments orrrr just keep reading. 😉