The Island

The Hunt

For the next few days, I keep reading up on Hugo Miler. I go through the reports before and after his fellow friends were brutally killed by the Malums. According to the reports written by the generation after the incident, they indicate Hugo showed signs of madness, and started saying he was seeing visions of the other children whose lives were stolen. The records say he dreamed about the 'original eight'.

The original eight are known as the first eight children to ever set foot on the island. They were the ones to set all the ground rules on the island. It was rumoured since they were the first to figure out how to live on the island, they each had three 'lives' instead of one. The original eight seem to appear a lot in the records, but only small references, and nothing that could help me with my research.

Ever since Hugo's friends passed, it says he never spoke of them with the newcomers, and that he went completely mute at one point, only talking to himself. One night, he went completely psychotic and killed one of the other children while they slept. He explained he did it because that's what the Malums wanted, but the others agreed to kill him after he made more threats about killing the others. I read all the records I could, but I found nothing else about Hugo and his peculiar psychotic behavior. I tried to look for possible sources where his unique 'disease' could've come from, but I couldn't find anything.

"How's your research going?" Hayley asks inquisitively one morning during breakfast. At this point, I've gotten so addicted to reading the records that I take them everywhere with me.

"Still looking for something interesting," I say. I haven't told anyone about Hugo Miler yet, but the other children have been asking questions about the reports.

"You know, Jack read those a lot at some point," Hayley points out shoving a spoonful of oatmeal in her mouth. "You should ask him if he found anything, you know just to compare."

I nod, but I keep my eyes glued to the papers I clutch in my hands. There are thousands of records in the library, and I need to find something that could help me solve why only I can hear the Malums inside my head.

"Are you okay?" Hayley asks. "You seem a bit off lately."

I place the records down on the table and I eat a spoonful of oatmeal.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reply, my voice steady. "It's just been hard dealing with all of this."

Hayley sends me a sympathetic smile. I'm glad she doesn't say anything after that, because I really don't want to talk about the island right now. I feel sick every time someone says words like 'home', 'family' or even 'friends'.

I wonder what it's like back home. Are my parents looking for me? What are my friends doing right now? Have they already forgotten about me? How much time have I been away from home... a month already? Time is passing by far too quickly, considering the fact I have close to nothing to do all day.

"We're going out for a hunt," Hayley says. "You should come it would be fun."

I tilt my head to the side and put a quizzical expression on my face.

"A hunt is when we go outside and see if we can catch anything," Hayley says. "We use bows and arrows to catch our prey. Obviously not everyone likes it, but it's something to do. Why don't you try it?"

I hesitate, but it doesn't take me long to answer.

"Sure," I say. "I need a break from reading these things anyways.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The hunt is nothing like I expected. It's more of an excuse to do something than actually go on a 'real' hunt, but I don't mind getting out of the house for once. The wind has completely died today. The leaves rustle against each other only when the slightest breeze flies through the air. It's not as cold either, so I go without a scarf and an extra layer of clothes. The low temperature pricks at my face, but not enough to bother me.