Hunted like an

ANIMAL.

The breeze was frigid, and caused the leaves of the trees to tremble violently under the sheer force of it. In this forest of ominous shadows and nature’s sly death traps, two people ran blindly through the soggy soil, which proved to be much more bothersome to the girl fleeing for her life, than the sadistic serial killer pursuing her.

Kristine Hunter was an eighteen year old A-level student, whose reputation for being an excellent scholar and a respected member of the community was well known. However, tonight none of that mattered. She was a victim of circumstance – she was simply in the wrong place at the worst possible time – and for that, she would lose her life.

“How ironic, Ms. Hunter, that YOU are the one being hunted!!” Shawn snarled as he gave chase, running after her as any predator would chase after fresh meat. Shawn was an escaped convict – who had been condemned to death row for his heinous crimes against humanity – and saw no reason why he should change his ways. If he was going to die sooner or later, he would enjoy himself for the few days he had left upon this wretched earth. He considered himself lucky when he caught Kristine ‘looking in on his activities’. She gave him another chance to kill. Shawn always enjoyed a good bloodbath, and thanks to her, tonight would be no different.

“Oh no, this is the swamp!!” Kristine wailed in despair as she followed the dimly lit path in the moonlight. She knew all too well that this part of the swamp held traps such as quicksand, pit falls and deadly drop offs. As she struggled to move in the muddy path, an old tower loomed in the distance. Kristine glanced over her shoulder, half-hoping that Shawn was not behind her, the other half-expecting him to be breathing down her neck, but he wasn’t there.

“He’s gone?” Kristine mumbled as she continued to plow through the muck of the swamp towards the tower. Even though she couldn’t see him, she thought it would be best to keep moving. At that moment, the clouds hanging low and filled with rain, burst, pouring cold showers on the earth below. The clouds also began to drift over the moon, covering it until only a few moonbeams made their way to the ground, barely providing enough light for her to make out the path.

Shawn was watching her from the shadows and his lips creased into a sardonic smile.

“She’s trapped. My little vixen’s trapped.”

Slowly, patiently, he stalked her, following her to the tower. There was a thick fog at the base of the tower, which only served to heighten the eerie feeling of the place. He watched her in amusement as she desperately tried to find an entrance in the fog.

When she found the entrance and went in, she looked up only to discover that there was no roof. Deep in despair, she began to cry, the tears on her face mingling with the raindrops that beat down upon her. Then she heard him…

“Where are you my little vixen” Shawn asked, toying with his victim. He heard her frightened gasp as she stumbled up the stairs. Shawn wouldn’t hurry – he liked the hunt, craved it. He could scent the fear, like any wolf on the prowl, he could smell it. It’s that scent that gets in his blood and makes it pump, that arouses him, brings him to life. And as always, his prey runs, chasing that thin thread of hope.

Kristine was breathing fast, the sound of it echoed in the old tower, carried on the wind. She fell – the stairs were treacherous in the dark, in the rain. Wet and slick, they became weapons themselves, but she clawed her way up them, air sobbing in and out of her lungs, her eyes now wild. She looked around for a hole, but there was nowhere to hide. She could hear him climbing slowly, tirelessly behind her. Finally, she reached the top… and she’s trapped.

Kristine wandered around the wide, walled ledge that was broken in some places, looking for a way down, but there was none. Shawn was delighted to see her so frantic as he climbed the last few steps. He stood silently at the staircase, noting just how much a trapped human looks so much like a cornered animal when it was in danger. Kristine spun around and stared in horror as he slowly walked towards her. Shawn laughed menacingly as a thick bolt of lightening flashed in the sky, brightening the area around them. Kristine cried out when she saw his weapon gleam in the sudden flash of white light. His blood shot eyes held a wicked glow of gleeful anticipation as he raised what Kristine perceived to be a katana. He held it across his back and narrowed his red eyes on her. Lightning flashed once more, lighting up his features and the towering trees that stood behind him. Kristine began to step back when he slowly approached her again.

Shawn watched her with such intensity as she backed into a hole in the ledge large enough for her to slip through and fall to her death. Kristine slipped, and just as she was about to fall, Shawn rushed up to her and grabbed her by her throat with his free hand, the sword still supported by the other. He stepped back, dragging her away from the ledge. His vice like grip tightened around Kristine's throat, forcing her to gasp for air. Tears flowed freely as Kristine looked into the eyes of her killer.

“I won’t have you die like that, Kristine. It’s too quick, too painless. I want you to suffer first.” He growled as he lifted her petite body off the floor in his one handed grip and slammed her body into a section of unbroken wall. She gasped as a mind numbing pain seared through her, blurring her vision temporarily before she felt the sensation of being thrown roughly to the ground. Kristine stood shakily, and tried to run away from Shawn, but with one swipe of his sword, her legs were rendered utterly useless. With a piercing scream, Kristine tried to curl her body into the fetal position, but Shawn prevented that by straddling her hips.

“Please, don’t kill me. I can get you…” Kristine sobbed, but was cut short when Shawn’s hand crossed her face with a vicious back hand slap. When Kristine looked up at him again, Shawn wasn’t sitting on her anymore, but the razor-sharp tip of the katana was settled neatly in the hollow of her throat.

“Tell me, why is it that everyone I kill tries to offer me something?? Has it never occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, I ENJOY KILLING?! That it brings me pleasure to see a person’s soul leave their broken body?” Shawn said with frightening calm. A grin of pure insanity weaved its way onto his face.

“Y-your crazy!!” Kristine yelled, but was silenced when a deranged laugh rolled forth from Shawn’s lips.

“So what if I am, princess? Who’s to say you aren’t too? Now, be a good girl and scream for me.” Shawn replied as he ran his katana into Kristine’s stomach. Shawn was delighted to see Kristine’s pupils constrict as much as possible, making the sea of bluish-green colour that was her eyes, widen, just before another one of her screams escaped the confines of her lips. But Kristine muffled her cries, and Shawn’s gleeful countenance quickly disappeared, leaving in its wake a mask of pure, unbridled fury.

“I SAID SCREAM, WENCH!!” he yelled as he twisted the metal blade in her stomach before delivering a powerful kick to Kristine’s ribs. Shawn’s smile returned when she screamed then, and he watched as she clutched her stomach and her ribs, two of which were now broken. Shawn walked over to where Kristine now lay, and stabbed her multiple times about her body, reveling in the pleasure her pained screams bought him.

“Alas, our time has come to an end, Kristine and I must thank you for providing me with such wonderful entertainment. But now, you die.” Shawn announced to Kristine’s semi-conscious form. She looked at him with dull eyes, and with a pained sigh, she resigned herself to her fate. With a childish smile, Shawn raised his katana, and with a lethal grace, plunged the cold steel into the girl’s neck, piercing the little flesh that could be found there and the bone, before twisting the sword, effectively splitting her trachea.

Shawn left her mangled corpse there in the rain, his bloodlust sated for the time being. He disappeared into the shadows, knowing it would be a couple more hours before the demon inside him reared its ugly head once more, demanding blood. Such was the life of this predator; He will kill again.

The end.