The Hunt: prologue

A world parallel to the world known as Earth. A world deprived from the concept of freedom. A world where it is said to be heading towards the state of oblivion, where the hunters and the hunted are of the same species. Rohesia, the world where cannibalism is the undeniable fact of reality. The world where when the moment a human child is born, they've already developed a preference between blood or milk in their baby bottle. That was the world where I am from.

Predators, with the same appearance of a prey and the insides of a savage beast, they were monsters born with human skin, hair, toes, and fingernails. However, they were physically stronger and faster than what one would describe a prey. They were impossible to lie to as they were the cunning ones. They would be able to tell a prey from a predator by smell alone. They were “civil” amongst themselves, yet towards the prey, they were cold-hearted tormentors. They were cannibals with the blood lust worse than a vampire. They didn’t just want human flesh, they craved for it.

Prey, however, was born weak and inferior to the predators. There was a saying that the prey were born to be devoured by the strong. Blood, bones, and flesh, everything were to be devoured by the predators. I was born as a prey. Being weak and scrawny often made me think, “Just what was my true worth? Was it to truly be devoured without leaving a single trace behind? Why am I alive?”

This world, however, was not just as simple as a place where humans hunted other humans. Rohesia was a world where there was still a government and rules to follow. The government was originally created by the predators to sustain their shity game of “life.” They appointed mostly prey to fulfill the roles of  government officials in their place while putting in some predators to make sure they did their job. The government placed a ban on predators’ personal hunt on the prey and created two groups that was similarly primarily made up of prey, the Scientists and the Huntsmen.

The huntsmen had only two jobs, to capture the prey alive and send them to the scientists and to make sure that the laws of the government were properly enforced. The prey that is handed to the scientists will be altered into half animal hybrids and be sold off to the Pet Shop for high prices, around 120,000,000 nero, to either become a pet or dinner for the predators.

To me, the government was an unamusing joke. They, with their head already half severed by the wires of the puppeteer, the predators, shamelessly placed a price tag on all prey. They turned this game of murderer into a large-scale game of hide and seek for their own convenience. It was already bad enough that we, the prey, had to run from predators, now that they put a price on us, what was left of our self-worth? Nothing. Coming across either a predator or a huntsman, one could’ve considered themselves dead.

While the prey was forced to always be on the run, the predators typically lived in cities. I never had a proper place to call home. My parents and I were always running. We did live in houses, but before our scent could even settle in, we would abandon it and journey to find a new one. I never really felt what it was like to have a family. After one snowy night, I was convinced that I never had one to begin with. It was the night where everything began. The night where gears finally turned.

At that time I was 8, waking up in the middle of the night to several different noises coming from the living room of our two-story house. the sound of furniture and household items tumbling down and the sound of something being thrown against the wall. My mom always told me that if I ever sensed something wrong, I was to run as far as I could go, without stopping. My heart pounded loudly against my chest as I quietly got out of my bed and proceeded to go down the stairs. There was something down there. The further I went down, the sounds grew louder, almost as loud as my pounding heart. Then suddenly, the sounds stopped. There was no longer the sound of things falling nor was there the sound of something slamming against the wall. I was trembling, not knowing what to do, I proceeded. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, surrounded by darkness and behind the small amount of wall that was barely enough to hide me, I froze. On the other side of the wall was the living room and I heard it. A different sound than from before, one that sent chills down my spine as I listened. The sound of bones crunching and flesh tearing. The sound of blood dripping and heavy breathing that resembled a wild beast’s. I didn’t dare to look, however, as the sounds echoed throughout the house, it was begging me to look, to know of the truth, so I did. Just barely, I moved forward enough to see it all while still hidden. In his blind spot, I quietly watched. His teeth tearing away at the limbs, dripping loads of blood after each bite. His victim’s dead milky white eyes stared my way, caused a numbness in my hands and knees. I was watching this monster that wore a mask I recognized as my father devouring what seemed to be left of my mother. His eye didn’t have anything resembling humanity in them. He was a monster.

Coming back to my senses, I realized, “I’m next…” I knew that by the time he finished his meal, he would come after me. Seeing that he was already down to his last limb, I quickly and silently turned and walked towards the back door. I was sick to the stomach and my legs were refusing to hurry as they were heavy and shaking. I wanted to scream, but I knew that if I made a single noise, I would be dead. When I got to the door, I couldn’t muster a single drop of strength to pull open the door. It was terrifying. Then, coming from the living room, I heard him mutter half of my name, “...nna..” and I heard footsteps. Closer and closer, it came. “No!” I thought, “I don’t want to die here!” and with all my strength, I pulled open the door and ran. Through the snowy woods, in the middle of the night, I ran as fast as I could.

“Run, Lenna, as fast as you can if you ever see a predator,” I remembered my mother say.

Barefooted, trampling through the broken branches, the dead leaves, and the cold, cold snow, my feet bled and numbed, but I didn’t care. I had to get away.

“I love you,” I remembered that my mother would say every day.

With the house already far out of sight, I still ran as far as my little feet took me. Then, I heard sounds of someone other than me running and snow crunching. It came closer to me. “That’s not possible!” I thought, “There’s no way that he could’ve chased after me to here!” I began to cry when the thought of death came through. “No, no!” I thought, “Go away!” until a hand grabbed my arm. I screamed and struggled to get away, but was no use. “Am I going to die here?” I thought.

Tears streaming down my face, “Please don’t eat me!” I begged, “Please, dad!”

“Calm down already!” hushed a quiet voice as a hand pressed onto my mouth.

“Huh?!” I thought and stopped struggling to see who was in front of me. A boy who was around my age with brown hair and green eyes was grabbing my arm still slightly panting. At this point, I no longer felt anything and my knees failed on me, causing me to fall to the snowy ground.

Holding my hand this time, the boy whispered, panicking, “Get a hold of yourself!”

I started to lose conscious as darkness began to cloud up my eyesight. I questioned the boy, “Who are you?”

“My name is Aria, but that doesn’t matter right now!” he replied, “The huntsmen are coming!”

“Aria…” I whispered as I fell unconscious.

By the time I came to, I found myself in a bed that was in a pure white room with one door and a small window. There was a camera near the door that seemed to be monitoring me and there were thick metal bars on the windows. When I got up, the face of my dad came into mind and I immediately threw up. I was trembling again. The sounds, the images. They all flowed back into my mind. Covering my ears, I crouched down and screamed. As loud as I could, I screamed. I was crying. Out of confusion, pain, and sadness, I cried. My father was a predator and ate my mother, bones and all. The sounds of her bones crunching and her flesh tearing mixed with the sound of my cry. It hurt. It was terrifying. I was living with someone who could’ve ate me before I even knew it. My father was a predator.

Then, two people, a man and a woman in white lab coats came in. “Get up,” the woman said, helping me up. Unable to do anything else, I did as I was told.

“Are these people the scientists?” I thought. The man cleaned up the room and the woman got me new clothes and they walked me out of the room. They led me to a facility where there were many of other children in it and several men in white lab coats in the front. As I entered, they turned to me. Their eyes was filled with fear. “Where am I?” I thought as I scanned the room. Off in a far corner, I found Aria. Instead of fear, he looked at me with the eyes of concern.

Then suddenly, the man behind me yelled out, “No. 0023496 has arrived, please begin the explanation,” and pushed me forward, telling me to find a place to sit. I walked towards Aria and sat with him, since he was the only one I “knew” there.

“No. 0023496?” I recalled the man yelling out, “Was he talking about me? What’s happening?”

“Why you are here…” the man in the front started, causing the children to turn to him again, “Is for none other than to undergo tests and experiments to become pets who will be bought by predators! Rejoice as you will be loved and fed by them!” The children was silent and stared at the man with astonishment as the scientists around, clapped.

“What is this man talking about?!” I whispered to Aria, who was just as shocked as I was. Aria stayed quiet as if he was waiting for more explanation. “What the hell...” I thought, “I’m going to die after all?!” After coming so far, I couldn’t bear the idea of dying. I stood up and grabbed Aria’s hand and began to run towards the door.

“I wouldn’t if I were you!” yelled the man in the front in an intimidating voice, stopping my tracks. I was trembling again and Aria felt it too. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die! The man walked towards me and said, “I would listen to us, if I were you…” Then, he turned back to the other children and continued. “Although you will all undergo experiments, it is not guaranteed that you will live through them,” he said, “At least you weren’t eaten before we found you.”

During the ten years I spent in that place, I knew of true hell. I saw it with my own eyes and I lived through it. It forced me to burn the knowledge of true fear into my brain as I underwent many experiments each day. Every day, I was terrified of death.

I was genetically altered to be a half cat and half human. My long black hair turned pure white and my brown eyes turned bright blue. My ears were no longer human ears, but cat ears and I gained a tail. I felt disgusted at the thought of no longer being human. Aria lived through it all too and was altered to be a half blackpoll warbler. His brown hair turned into a pale blond color, but his eyes stayed a bright green color. He only gained wings and learned how to fly, but was only able to do so for around thirty minutes. He would also be tired and unable to fly again until 2 hours have passed.

“How humiliating,” I often thought. Even if we survived, what was the point anymore? Mutated and altered into something less than a human. It felt as if we were devoured a long time ago. Tomorrow, we would be shipped to the national “Pet shop” and be sold off, just to obey or die in the hands of the predators. There was no freedom. I am terrified of “tomorrow”.

Reviews

[Jeccka]

This is the beginning of a unique idea. You portray your ideas very clearly and smoothly. However there are a few spots where you switch between past and present tense. For example, "When a human is born, it was already decided whether they were a predator or a prey." It should be "When a human is born, it IS decided whether they ARE a predator or a prey." because you use born in the present tense.

"They were also physically stronger and faster than the preys." This is the only sentence that is in the past tense in the second paragraph. To make it present you need only change it to "They ARE also physically stronger..."

"I knew that after he finishes, I would be his next prey." because 'knew' is in the past tense, 'finish' should be too - "I knew that after he finishED..."

"There was a camera near the door that seems to be monitoring me and a small window with thick metal bars." because the camera WAS near the door - "seem" should be past tense too. "There was a camera near the door that SEEMED to be monitoring me..."

Lastly, you have an extra comma in one sentence: "As he said, this all the children turn back around and listen in silence." The best way to fix this sentence would be to drop the comma and make the verbs past tense: "As he spoke all the children turned back around and listened in silence."

I hope you continue to write this story! It's great so far and you keep suspense through the whole passage, especially the end with the idea that this is just the beginning, setting the scene. What will happen when predators will take over the government? We all know they will.! Good job! Keep it up. :)

[C]

Thank you so much for pointing out those mistakes and the predators won't really take over the government because if they did, it'll cause total chaos, but the food chain will be involved. :)

[Jeccka]

Well I'd love to read more! Can't wait.!