Hunter: Chapter 1-Life and Its Predicaments
My first attempt at a story, teehee!
{Chapter 1: Life and Its Predicaments}
"Dammit!" shouted Josh, yelling into the cold night air. Why did this have to happen? Why now? Now of all times, when he still didn't understand what was going on. He had been running for about half an hour, trying to lose the monsters that chased him, the monsters that had tricked him, the monsters that had killed his family? Josh screamed to the sky in frustration, fear, and confusion. His bleached blonde hair clung to the front of his face, and he dashed it to the side in irritation. He didn't know why, or how, only that something had gone wrong, terribly wrong.
A crack sounded from behind him in the trees, and Josh whirled around to face it, pointing a kitchen knife threateningly in that direction, glinting red, and covered in blood. A roar erupted from beyond the trees to his left, and a shadowy figure emerged from the tree line and flew toward him. A scream erupted from Josh's throat as he moved fluidly to face his attacker and stepped aside while sliding the knife across its neck. The thing crashed to the ground in a heap, blood spurting from its cut throat. Then more burst from in between the trees, into the clearing, but he dodged them just as easily, dealing lethal lacerations with his eight inch steak knife.
Slowly though, he slowed, receiving more and more wounds of his own from flailing claws. The beasts abruptly stopped attacking, seemingly gliding around on their four legs, circling him. Josh's breathing was haggard, uneven, and he was having trouble standing. Unconsciously he calculated the fastest way to take them all down, introducing factor after factor, examining probability, and how accurately he could throw the knife.
Suddenly, one of the monsters reared up on his hind legs, directly in front of him. It chuckled ominously, which sent a shiver up Josh's spine, but he refused to show his fear, instinctively knowing it would cost him his life.
"You really are the offspring of an Executioner," it said, it sounded male, its voice gravelly and harsh sounding, "at first I wasn't sure, but now it's obvious." The creature then stepped into a strand of moonlight, and Josh had to suppress scream. A large anthropomorphic wolf stood before him, hairy and grizzly, its fur a near black in the dim light, while its eyes shone a bright, sickly yellow.
"A werewolf..." Josh blanched, and nearly crumpled to the ground, but managed to hold himself up.
The werewolf snarled, "Never call us that ever, human-pig! Our rightful name is the Lupanii, gifted to us by Gaea herself, it would do you well to remember it!" The wolf then strode toward Josh. Josh didn't believe he would remember anything after this night, but he remained determined to die standing, then at least, when the thing got close, he could spit in its face. Unfortunately he never got the chance, because when the wolf was about ten feet from him, it lashed out with blinding speed, and tore through Josh's jacket with its claws like it was paper. Josh fell to the ground coughing up blood, and squirming in pain. The werewolf then leaned over him, smiling sadistically.
"Screw you..." Josh managed to choke out. The wolf didn't answer, but slowly reached down toward Josh, while he faded into oblivion.
***
"Hey Mom, I brought home a couple of friends!" Josh yelled as he opened the front door to his house.
"OK, bring em' in, and make sure to take off your shoes! I'm in the kitchen!" Josh's mom, Carlene, shouted back. She worked two jobs, trying to support their family of three, but always had a perennial smile practically glued to her face. Josh and his friends, Alexei and Zander, twins, both with wild brown hair, walked through the corridor that led right through to the back of the house. The peach colored walls gave a homely feeling, and were accented by a few carefully placed pictures that hung, framed upon the walls.
"Yum! Whats cooking Mom?" Josh asked as he turned into the kitchen, one of the many rooms that branched off from the corridor.
"Nothing special, just some homemade spaghetti. You two interested?" Carlene asked. Zander and Alexei looked at each other, then back at Carlene, smiling.
"Of course!" They exclaimed excitedly, "Nothing is better than your cooking, Mrs. Crumb." Alexei commented. Carlene thanked her, then turned to Josh.
"I've been receiving mighty suspicious calls about you not finishing your homework, Josh, mind putting me at ease?"
"Oh, don't worry the twins helped me with my history, although, Mr. Furf lays it on like a bitch." Josh answered.
"Josh!" Carlene exclaimed, "how many times have I told not to swear! Now, hurry up and help me prep the noodles, you two can sit at the table if you want to." Carlene finished, addressing the twins. Alexei answered for both of them by sitting down and thanking Josh's mom, while Zander sat down too, mumbling a "Thanks Mrs. Crumb". Josh was stirring the noodles in the pot when Zander asked where the bathroom was.
"Walk down the hall towards the back, it's the second door on the right. Make sure you flush it correctly or it'll overflow, and that ain't gonna be pretty!" Josh yelled the last part as Zander disappeared around the corner, knowing from experience that the toilet was not a cooperative one.
"Hey Mom when is Sis getting home?" Josh inquired.
"Um, I think she's coming home today, and she's staying for a few days," Carlene answered. "Hey, can you go out and get the sun tea that's on the porch, it should be by the screen door?"
"Sure, be back in a second." With that, Josh quickly left the kitchen, trotting down the hall toward the back door, where he passed Zander. An eerie feeling came off of him as Josh walked by, menacing and disturbed, all the while Zander kept looking straight forward, not even acknowledging his existence. Josh then reached the back door, pulling it open, and walked out onto the screen porch. He spotted the jog of tea almost immediately, taking it off the shelf that ran the perimeter of the porch.
Suddenly a roar split the air, followed closely by a scream. Josh dropped the jug instantly, and barreled through the porch door, nearly knocking it off its hinges. He sprinted to the kitchen, where he stopped just inside the door frame, not comprehending the scene in front of him. His mom lay on the ground, limbs twisted at awkward angles, and laying face down, blood pooling out from underneath of her. Then, there was his sister, Megan, fighting...Zander! She was locked in a death battle, beating Zander with one of the kitchen table chairs. She moved incredibly fast, hitting Zander faster that he could counter, but at the same time, he only seemed a little dazed!
A large figure suddenly emerged from behind the kitchen counter, leaning heavily on it with a giant hand, and pushed itself up with what sounded like a grunt of pain. It turned its massive oblong head toward Josh, yellow eyes glinting, and growled. Megan whirled around on the spot, turning to face Josh and screamed at him.
"Run, now! Get away before they can cat-!" Whatever Megan was about to say was cut off when her throat was abruptly ripped out, blood gushing from from her neck, and spilling down her front. Josh slowly turned toward Zander, while Megan fell to the ground convulsing, and gurgling incomprehensibly. Zander roared at Josh, charging at him, at hitting him full on in the front, knocking him to the ground. They grappled for a few seconds when Zander managed to get a grip on Josh's neck, circling his fingers with practiced precision and wringing the life out of Josh.
Josh flailed his left arm out, while keeping his right on one of Zander's wrists, trying to relieve the pressure. Josh's hand suddenly closed around a handle, and with all the strength he could manage, brought the object up, and stabbed it into Zander's face. Zander howled in pain as the steak knife went right through his left eye. Josh used the chance to kick Zander off of him, and sent him crashing into the counter.
Josh ran as fast as he could, down the hallway, out the door, diving through the screen wall of the porch, and into the woods that lay beyond his back yard; all he could think was 'what went wrong?', as tears streamed down his cheeks, and the sun set, refusing to give him an answer.