Page 15 of Not Your Hero

“Such as are you ready for the hunt?” I close my eyes and wish to God I didn’t feel as though I had to do that. I don’t want to be that way. I never have, but this is what they made me into. This ishow they, our parents, fucked us up. Gary isn’t sane, either. We both have issues we need to fix. We’re not normal and never will be. I press my fingers into my eyes as I shake my head, knowing he can’t see me.

“I don’t know, Gary.”

“What don’t you know? This is what we do, Nix.”

“I know it is, but fuck, man. Why are we like this?” I ask him.

“They did this to us, Gannix. Them. They’re to blame for the way we are,” he snarls, sounding angrier than me. Hell, he may be.

“But why? What is the fucking point in doing that to us?”

“We’ll never know,” he nearly whispers into the line.

“It’s fucked up. You know that, right?”

“I’m man enough to admit it’s not normal, but it’s our normal,” he says, and he’s right. It is our normal. This is what we’ve done for years since we were just kids. The bows and arrows were placed into our hands at a young age, and we learned to hunt.

“Fuck, Gary.”

“I get it, you know? There are days when I wonder what the hell we do it for.”

“And you still want to do it?” I ask him seriously.

“Don’t you?”

“A part of me does. Another part of me just … wonders.”

“That’s normal too for us, Nix. We wonder what the real world would do or how they’d react. We’re not the normal world, though, brother.” Fuck, he’s right. He’s right.

“I know. You said you had something special planned for my birthday. What is it?” Now he laughs.

“You think I’d ruin the surprise? Not a chance in hell.”

“Does it have to do with the hunt?”

“Partially. You’re going to love it. That much I can promise you.” I smile. The only person who’s ever had my back was Gary. He’s the only one I can truly lean on.

“I hope so. This year has been shit,” I remind him.

“Yeah. It hasn’t been my finest, either,” he adds.

“I’m flying out a week before. Is that good with you?”

“Hell yeah. We can go out and cause some trouble,” he laughs.

“Sounds good to me. This city life is killing me, Gary.”

“I told you it would. You need to be a country boy like me. It’s not as bad as you think it is.”

“Sitting out in the woods all the time? That’s not for me either.”

“What is for you?”

“I don’t fucking know. When I find it, I’ll let you know,” I chuckle.

“Yeah, let me know. Maybe we’ll go together.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

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