The dead leaves and branches snap and crack under my feet. I wince at every unnecessary sound I make. The sound echoing through my brain like a bomb going off. I’m afraid that the sounds will scare off my prey. Without tonight’s dinner I’m sure that Lilly’s “flu” will not go away. She’s been sick for over two weeks now. Mother has tried to heal her with her herbal remedies, but nothing seems to be working. Lilly keeps getting sick, and each time is worse than the last. I’m surprised to feel a stinging heat rise to my checks and a wetness form in my eyes.
This is ridiculous. I think to myself. I am, after all, the hunter. I can’t let my emotions get in the way. I keep trekking through the snow and bitter cold. A light flurry has begun and the snowflakes are sticking to my eyelashes. Up ahead I see the trail that I’ve been following lead to a hole in the side of a knoll. I walk towards it and find that I could easily set up a trap for whatever comes and goes through that hole. That is exactly what i do. Once I’m finished, I turn around and start heading home.
Winter is always my favorite season to hunt in. The crisp, cold air feels sensational in my lungs. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever experienced. Well, almost the best. The best feeling was when I shot my first game, a crow. Birds are the hardest things to shoot, but I was able to hit that crow in one shot. I was about thirteen years old when I first started hunting, that was four years ago. I’ve almost been caught several times, especially when I first started hunting. Our town doesn’t approve of hunting at all. I changed their minds a little bit once I started selling my game at the shops.
I was so deep in thought that I hadn’t realized which way I was going. I’ve done this so many times before, and the solution is quite simple. Climb a tree. I dropped my bow and slew of arrows at the trunk of a solid maple. The maple was completely bare except for the piles of snow on the branches. I climbed until I could see over most of the treetops. What I found was not something I wanted to see.
Smoke. And fire.
My town, my home, was being burned down. I was about a mile away, but I could see the gun shots and hear the screams. Right when my feet hit the ground I was running. My feet pounded the ground setting off a series of thumps. I didn’t care how loud I was anymore, I could hear all of the little creatures running away from the monster storming through the woods. Breathing in the frosty air brought tears to my eyes and a deep burn in the back of my throat and through my nose. The fact that I could picture all of my friends and whats left of my family being hurt made the tears spill over.
I closed in on the fence that barricaded my town. All that I saw was too much to handle. There were men, so many men, dressed in all black. They had burned down all of the shops and most of the homes. Most of the fires had burnt out, leaving everything a depressing black and grey. Nothing could compare to what I saw at the town hall. Or what was left of it. It made me sick.
I saw Lilly and Mother strapped down on two planks of wood, making it impossible for them to move. A man dressed in fire red was perched in front of them. I moved closer to get a better look, but stayed hidden among the thin brush.
Once I got closer, the scene grew worse. The man in red was screaming at them. Spit was flying out of his mouth and onto my family’s faces. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but whenever the man didn’t get the answer he wanted, he would motion towards a bigger man with a whip. I couldn’t watch, the screams of Lilly made me die a little inside.
I looked behind my family to the remains of the town hall. In replacement of our towns name was a blown up picture of me. I collapsed, realizing that all of this was my fault. All of the destruction and pain to my home and the people I love, was my fault. I burst into tears. Big, wailing tears that shook my whole body.
That was how the men in black found me. Once they made the confirmation that it was the right girl, the bigger man struck me in the head with the butt of his gun. Then the darkness took over.

*
I woke up to the sounds of more screaming. I thought it was all a dream until pain exploded in my head. Clenching my head was impossible since leather straps were strapping me down to a cold, hard, metal bed.
“She’s awake.” A lamp light flashed on in my face.
“TURN THE LIGHT OFF!” I screamed, but the light stayed on. Fifteen minutes passed before I heard a door open and footsteps follow the slam of the door closing. The lamp light was turned off and replaced by florescent that hung high up on the cement ceiling. The man in red was standing above me.
“Hello Molly. I’m Dr. Simmons. Do you know why you’re here?” He asked. Dr. Simmons was tall and reminded me of a ghost. He was extremely pale and had spiked bleach blonde hair. His eyes were of the palest blue I have ever seen, they almost blended in with the whites of his eyes.
“No.” I lied.
“Well, you have been breaking some very important rules. So now, we have to fix that.” Simmons replied as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves. He picked up a knife along with a little chip.
“Try your hardest, but you can’t control me!” I screamed before the blackness returned.