Page 7 of The Hunt

“That sounds like a good idea.I like this plan,” she said.

She’d never been one who needed to swim.Not even in the height of summer.She was perfectly content to enjoy some ice cream and complain about the weather.

“What do we do now?”she asked.

“We ...make it work.”He finished his piece of fruit, and then dived back into the bag, holding out a cheese and pickle sandwich for her.

“How do we do that?”she asked, taking the sandwich from him.

“Simple, if these are challenges and manifestations, we focus on being friends.We were once, so that would be easy.”He took a large bite out of his own sandwich.

“And what do we do about your manifestations?”she asked.Hers were all horror related, but she knew when they were kids, he feared being thrown out of the pack, tossed aside as if he wasn’t good enough.

“I’ll handle them.I have a feeling they only work if you and I are arguing.”

“I don’t know,” Calliope said.“This sounds a little too easy.Don’t you think?”

“Right now, it is all we’ve got to go on.”

She couldn’t argue with him and took another bite of her sandwich.

****

It had been freakyas fuck.

The mermaids in the water, as well as a couple of giant white sharks, some killer-looking octopus, and there may have been some kind of alien.Again, Jaxson wasn’t sure, but he knew it was Calliope’s imagination running wild.That had to be part of the challenge of this place.

“It’s getting dark,” he said.Only a moment ago, it had been lighter.

“Can we find somewhere else to sleep that is not next to the water?”Calliope asked.

“You’ve got it.”

He didn’t know how long they had been in The Hunt.There was no time limit, unless it was due to death, or mating.

The bag had more food inside, and he wasn’t going to let that go.They needed sustenance.Zipping it up, he slid it onto his shoulder and then reached for Calliope’s hand, which she did hesitate to hold.

“Come on, the last few hours haven’t taught you anything?We’ve got to make this work.”

She slid her hand into his.They used to hold hands all the time.It hadn’t been a big deal then, but clearly it was a big deal now.He tightened his hold on her, and they made their way further inland, away from the water’s edge.Once again, the landscape became the same, and they didn’t know if they were getting closer to the forest, at the edge, or what.

All too soon, it was dark and they came to a stop.His sight was perfect, being part wolf.

“Are you okay?”he asked.

When they were kids, Calliope had been afraid of the dark.He didn’t know if that had changed in recent years.

“I don’t have much choice.I’m okay, but I don’t like how quickly it got dark.”

That was his answer.There was no glare of the full moon.Nothing.

He was more than able to see her wide-eyed stare as she looked back at him.“It’s going to be okay,” he said.

“You don’t know that.”

“Calliope, I know you hate losing, and failing is not an option for you.Give me some credit for having the same feelings.”

She nodded her head.“You’re right.”

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