Page 77 of Hunt Me
I apologise just as the door bursts open, and a woman with hot pink hair stops in her tracks. Both hands are full, and I realisethe abruptness of the door opening resulted from her kicking it open with her boot, and by the sudden movement, it was a decent force she used.
Despite the welcoming my little pony look she has going on, this woman is anything but. I manage to dodge a plate that flies my way, but some liquid splatters the shoulder of my leather jacket. Forget liquid; by the quick glance I manage to get in, it holds more of a slim-like texture.
‘Get out!’The unfriendly unicorn woman screams — banshee style — and I dodge the second plate of slime.
A chair comes at me next, and I catch it with ease.
My sister mumbles an‘aw fuck’as she wrestles another chair out of the pink-haired woman’s hands. Forget a unicorn — a deranged rhino would more accurately describe her with the way she is ready to charge straight through me.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so worried about my little deer and Isla. This woman doesn’t seem to shy away from danger, and I know from experience that neither Fauna nor Isla do.
‘Luna, calm down!’
Luna is most definitely too whimsical of a name for this absolute hothead of a woman.
‘Get out of here before I tear your skin from your face and wear it like my own mask, you creepy as fuck Skull!’
Luna is most definitely more of a murderous Looney Tunes character than a My Little Pony.
‘He’s my brother!’Isla roars, and Luna stops trying to pull the leg off of a table. She probably intended to use it to impale me and use my body as one of her voodoo dolls or something.
‘Come again?’Luna pants, gaze darting between mine and my sisters.
When we were younger it wasn’t unusual for us to be mistaken for being twins. Isla had hit puberty early, and in a painfully ironic fashion, I did not hit it until I was sixteen, adding to my bammy persona. My bullies quickly shut up when I grew into a man. I’d been working hard at the gym for a while, and once my body decided to develop, I began to pile on the muscle and gained the height to match it. They’d tried to act like nothing had happened, like their behaviour was all part of some joke I had agreed to. Unfortunately for them, I wasn’t the forgiving type — I’m still not. Vish and I formed The Skulls not long after I got revenge; we saw it as the perfect timing to follow through on the dreams we had been imagining.
‘He’s my brother, so can you please hold off on the crazy for a second and not go making hasty actions like tearing his skin from his face? I can barely cope with looking at his ugly mug as it is. I don’t think I’d be able to cope if you wore it too.’
Luna at least has the decency to give me a grimace.‘In my defence how was I supposed to know.’
I shrug in agreement. It’s not exactly common to have family reunions this long after the outbreak.
‘Do you skin people’s faces quite often?’I ask.
Without blinking, Luna stares me straight in the eyes. 'You could say it is somewhat of a hobby. The screams of small pricked men are like a symphony to my ears.’
Okay, this one is a psychopath.
‘What Ru? Realising we aren’t a bunch of defenceless women?’
‘Something like that,’I mutter more to myself but judging by their smirks, they both hear me.
Isla’s observation reminds me of Fauna and how long it must have been. Just as I’m about to make a move for the door another set of voices come from behind the psychopath with pink hair.
‘What’s all the racket for?’
‘Luna, you were only supposed to bring food.’
‘You better not be arguing, Fauna just got ba—’
One screams, another reaches for Isla, and the third pretty much throws herself in front of my sister's stomach. And for some reason, I smile, which understandably does nothing to calm them down. In fact, it makes them murderous.
A dagger comes uncomfortably close to my head, and I look towards the dark-haired woman whose hand is now gripped by my sisters. Isla is doing her best to stop her from throwing the other half of… is that scissors?
‘He’s my fucking brother! Do not kill him.’Isla screams, annoyed now.‘How many fucking times do I have to say it.’
Three sets of wide eyes look my way, taking in my appearance, and then narrow one by one. How can a look from one group make me feel so uncomfortable? I’ve faced down some of the scariest people over the years, but these women have me squirming uncomfortably, and it is ultimately all down to one woman: Fauna.
Fauna is the only reason I didn’t react to the pink-haired luney or Mrs scissorhands. The realisation hits me that I’m on my best behaviour all because I want my little deer’s family to like me. It’s not down to Isla, I never even acknowledged her bitchyfriends at school. It is all for my mischievous little deer and her bat-shit-crazy family.
