27

My father used to use the strangest expression: "kill two birds with one stone." In a way, that's what I was trying to do; two hearts, one arrow. It didn't work. Because I failed, the buck at my knees was in pain.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, as my hands moved from the animal's tangled antlers, past both sets of wide eyes, and down to the wound. I shoved the arrow through its second heart, and winced. The buck's dying cry would echo through my nightmares for a month; and for more than one reason. As painful as it was, the sound itself wasn't as bad as what it ushered in.

I knew without turning around that someone was there, the way you know someone is looking at you from across the room when the hair on the back of your neck stands up and tickles down your spine. I fought the urge to jump up, knowing any sudden movement could alert them. Without knowing how many there were, without a plan to get myself and my quarry out of there, it was too risky.

Usually the Ill were alone, but sometimes, they traveled in packs. I saw a group of about ten together once. The memory dried my mouth up. I just hoped the animal's cry hadn't caught the attention of a group that large. My heart pounded in my chest. There was a soft ringing in my ears when I closed my eyes. There was one behind me, and one off to the side. I didn't feel any more. There were only two. Two, I could handle. I let out a sigh of relief, realizing too late that they could definitely hear that.

I steeled myself, jaw clenched, and spun around, planting my feet the way my father taught me. The creature in front of me was almost beautiful, underneath everything. Her skin was pale, eyes a crystal blue that shone white near the pupils, like all Ill. It stood so still I almost thought it wasn't real, just staring right through me with its long, dark hair over its shoulders. There was dried blood on parts of its face. Its hair looked like it'd been brushed recently, and the only conclusion I could draw from that churned my stomach. Not too long ago, the girl had been human.

I was jarred from my thoughts by the prickle on the back of my neck, and I turned, narrowly avoiding what looked like a blur, but I knew better. I sucked in a breath, cursing myself for getting distracted. They were fast, and almost always stronger than me, but I was faster. Mid-dodge, my arm shot out, catching the Ill's abdomen. It doubled over, folding over my elbow while its feet lifted right off the ground.

Before I had time to celebrate my small victory, the other was on me, and boy, did she fight dirty. I yelped while her teeth dug ruthlessly into my arm. Where her fingers gripped my shoulder and wrist, I knew I'd have bruises within the hour.

With the other on the ground, I swung my leg around and kicked the back of the girl's knee. Her legs buckled, and she was down. Unfortunately, her jaw was locked tightly enough on my arm that she dragged me down with her. I scowled. By then, the other Ill had managed to get to its feet and jump on me, its teeth sinking into my neck. I gasped, but the air caught in my throat, and my eyes widened. For one sickening moment, I thought I was done for.

One moment was all I allowed myself.

With a determined cry, a threw my arms back, slamming the two Ill together. There was a satisfying crack as their heads knocked. I tossed my weight backward, successfully knocking their teeth loose, but it wasn't enough. I scrambled for the buck, hoping the two Ill would be stunned long enough for me to get the upper hand. My hand closed around the arrow. Then they were on me. My stomach dropped, but I didn't let go of the arrow.

Struggling not to squeeze my eyes shut and give in to my fate, I spun around under them, kicking my legs. I think I hit one in a sore spot. I clawed at the others eyes with one hand. Finally, I managed to tug the arrow free, half of it covered in the buck's blood. One opened its mouth, but I grabbed its hair and wrenched it back quickly, its teeth snapping shut. Red flooded its lips. I didn't have time to check, but I think it bit its tongue.

Elbowing the other in the throat, I rolled away. The moment I got to my feet, I sped to the tree on the other side of the buck. My eyes locked on one Ill, then the other, and back while I drew in gulps of air. I steadied myself, rolling the arrow in my hands, then gripped it tight.

I flew toward the larger one, leaping over the buck and running to gather momentum. It launched itself toward me, but when our bodies collided, mine won. I slammed it into a tree, its head knocking back against the trunk. A crack sliced through the air, but I wasn't sure if it was the Ill's back or the tree. Before I had time to wonder, and before the Ill had time to bite, my hand balled into a fist in its hair, my palm pressed to its forehead, and I slammed its head back against the tree. I jammed the arrow right through its crystalline eye.

The other Ill was on my back, but I kept applying pressure to the arrow until the one in front of me slumped. When I let go, teeth grinding together to keep from screaming, it sunk to the forest floor. I turned my attention to the other. Its dark hair brushed against my face, still soft despite the situation. I tried not to think about it.

I dropped to my knees, throwing my weight forward, and somersaulted past the tree. With the Ill stuck between my back and the cold, hard ground, it still clawed and bit at me. I tossed my head back, wincing at the crunch that assaulted my ears when I broke its nose. My elbow jabbed back into its ribs. Not where I'd been aiming for, but it did the trick, and I only had to turn half way to whack my other elbow into its throat. Out of instinct, I guess, the creature's hands flew to its neck while it wheezed. I took the opportunity to scramble to my feet as quickly as I could, and without hesitation, stomped on its face.

The strength seemed to seep from its arms, but it wasn't enough. The Ill was moving again, grabbing at my ankle and clawing at my calf. I wasn't sure if my heart stopped, or was pumping too fast for me to keep track. I stomped again, blood feeling like ice in my veins.

It stopped moving.

I stumbled back, and fell to the ground. With how fast we were moving, the whole ordeal couldn't have lasted more than a few minutes, but adrenaline was still coursing through me. Fear trickled down my spine, despite the fact that the threat appeared to be gone. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. I failed.

Eventually, I got back to my feet. My eyes slipped from the girl to the other Ill, dead in front of the tree. I hadn't had time to look at him before, but I noticed that his dark hair was a complete mess compared to the girl's. He'd had to have fallen ill long before her. Something in the curve of his cheekbones seemed familiar, though, and when my gaze fell back to the girl, I realized that was why. Though hers was broken, I was sure their noses had a similar shape, as did their cheeks and jaws. Underneath the blood and the arrow, they looked like they could have been siblings. I felt like a needle had pierced my heart. I looked away.

The dirt crunched under my feet as I stepped back to the buck, giving the dead Ill a wide berth. I grabbed the buck's legs, and struggled a bit before I managed to get its massive body over my shoulders. I winced, and stumbled as I got to my feet.

I couldn't keep my eyes from turning back to the two dead Ill. Part of me didn't want to leave them like that, but I didn't have time to bury them. Soon, the sun would set, and I needed to get home before then or I really would be done for. The Ill's sensitivity to light kept them at bay during the day, but in the dark, there'd just be too many of them.

The trip home was hell, took longer than it should, but I made it home while the sky was still a medium shade of blue. I dropped the buck on the kitchen floor, and made quick work of butchering it, like my father taught me. By the end of the day, my body ached all over. The wound on my neck, in particular, stung, more than any of the other bites. If I were probably any other person, I'd be done for. I'd have nothing to look forward to but a month of hallucinations, pain, and hoping what waited for me at the end was death and not something worse.

Good thing I'd already fallen Ill, and survived.