Avenger

Chapter 1

I walked along the path that led me to the woods that my mother had shown me to. My hand gripped an old bow and arrow that she had crudely carved for me. It was still a little dark outside but the sun has began to peep from behind the hills and the tall trees in the woods.

I climbed an old fence that surrounded the woods and I quietly made my way farther into them. I could barely see the path in front of me because of the darkness. My foot crunched on twigs and dead leaves as I walked deeper into the woods.

It grew so dark in the woods that I had to hold my hands out in front of me. I have very good night vision but this is strange. It never got this dark here.

I was okay because I had been here countless times and practically had the whole woods memorized so even in the dark it won't be hard to find my way around. I kept walking on but the air here started to feel different on my skin, like a layer of film.

 The shadows of the trees loomed large over me and they all looked different and a little unrecognizable.The branches of the trees seemed almost evil, trying to get to me. I looked at the ground and tried to trace where I had come from  but couldn't because the path I had followed had disappeared.

I turned around. Maybe I should go back because this seems really weird. But I could no longer see where I had come from. The woods had shifted its place and seemed as if it was trying to get me lost.

It's probably my eyes, I thought to myself. I walked back the direction where I had come from. Still, I can't prove to myself that this was where I had come from. Everything looked different.

All of a sudden, a sweet delicate aroma of the rose perfumed the air around me. I doubt there are roses here but the smell is so strong you could have thought that you are in a rose garden. I turned back around again to see where this could have came from but instead, I saw a movement around the corner. 

I walked towards the movement and knocked down the bush that covered whatever it was. 

I gasped. There in front of me was a pile of white roses just scattered all around. In the center of the pile was a really long snake about six foot long all coiled up. It looked up at me, its snake eyes boring into my soul. But that's not the part that scared me. 

The eyes that were so animal seemed human. 

I backed away and reached for my bow and arrow---but they weren't there. I frantically searched myself but it just wasn't there.

I started to panic as the snake slithered towards me. I had that kind of feeling where I am so desperate to move and run away, but my legs are like frozen in place and couldn't do anything.

The snake slithered and stopped right in front of me. It extended itself and I swear it seemed to have grown longer and is now watching me in pity. 

"Help!" I wanted to scream but my vocal cords aren't working either. The snake's mouth curled up, like it was smiling.

I couldn't think at all. All I felt was fear, fear, and more fear in me. I couldn't move at all and the snake came so close to me I could almost feel its raw breath.

The snake hissed, "Katniss Everdeen."

It opened its mouth to reveal long sharp fangs and leaned its head back to strike. All I remember is the snake's mouth and my desperate scream that shattered the air like a knife. 

I jolted awake, sweat pouring out all over my shaking body. My heart rate was really fast and my breath went in and out like a broken record. 

It's morning already. The sunrise creating a beautiful plaster of gold, light pink and orange in the horizon, not even reaching the high of the sky. For the most part, it's still a darkish night sky. 

I sat in bed for a while, not knowing whether or not I still want to go back to sleep. I looked at the bow and arrow hanging on the post of my bed and decided that this is a perfect morning for hunting.

I got out of bed and changed into my leather jacket my mother gave me and slipped into a sturdy pair of dark jeans. I put on my deerskin boots and put my hair into a simple braid before taking my bow and arrow to go outside and hunt.

As I walked out of my room to go outside, I notice my mother in her room already awake. Father was still asleep beside her. She was sitting upright on her bed holding something shiny in her hand, the drawer next to her desk open. 

She saw me and asked. "Hunting?"

I nodded, holding out my bow and arrow for her to see. "Yeah. Gonna bring something home nice today hopefully for dinner."

Mother smiled, her blue eyes sparkling. "Would you mind if I come too?"

"No, I'll wait for you." I said. She got up and went to change as I walked to sit on my front porch. It was starting to get light outside but that didn't matter. I can hunt no matter how dark or light it is outside. I guess I inherited a hunter's blood from my mother. 

When I was six, Mother tried to teach me the bow and arrow techniques. I was scared of sharp things at that time so I refused to learn how. But somehow a year later, I decided that I liked the bow and arrow so I begged Mother to teach me. It was slow the first few times that I shot, but I developed skill and technique and after a week or so, I shot my first squirrel. 

Ever since then, hunting with the bow has been my life. Now, almost every morning, I go out hunting, mostly by myself. One time, my brother Drew who was five years younger than me tagged along. He was only eight then so a dead bloody deer scared him so much he never came again.

Mother comes with me once in a while. She used to come every day three years ago. I guess that's when she didn't trust me to go by myself.

I looked up as Mother walked out, her beautiful eyes always sparkling with her own bow. "I guess we're ready."

We made our way into the woods. It has gotten a bit lighter outside so it was easy to see things. We  barely went far when I spotted a fat squirrel nibbling a nut on the tree, obviously not noticing us.

I've got this one, I thought to myself. I nudged Mother to let her know and she nodded her head. I raised my bow and aimed my arrow at the head of the squirrel.

This is easy meat for me. I can hit anything and anywhere so this squirrel is like a piece of cake waiting for me. I have never ever missed a shot before after I turned eight so if I miss, there is something worng.

My arm pulled back the arrow, extending the bow, ready to shoot. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a green, emerald snake slithering down the tree trunk---towards us. Inside my head, I heard a voice,"Katniss Everdeen." hissing over and over again.

My hands started to shake and a picture of my mother being choked by the snake flashed before my eyes. I suddenly recalled the horror of my dream and I released the arrow.

It missed...and hit the snake by the tail. All I caught sight of was the evil in the snake's eye.