Page 23 of Hunt Me (The Skulls #1)

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Ruaridh

S he ’ ll fit right in.

The words echo in my mind as I watch Fauna squirming in my lap. Her pins and needles must be fading to nothing now that she has stopped rambling on about body parts running away.

I ’ m not a man that is easily amused, especially not these days.

When I was younger, my sister and I would have a laugh, but that was a long time ago, and I am not the same person I was when she was alive.

But Fauna, the beautiful enigma before me, makes me feel like an entirely different person altogether.

Someone who can be light-hearted and fun.

Fuck, Liam would destroy me if he could get a glimpse into my head right now.

He would rip the piss out of me and I would never be able to get away from his torments.

But right now I don ’ t give a fuck. All I can imagine is how happy I could be if Fauna came back to the stadium with me, back to somewhere she could call home.

‘ Oh, thank you, apocalypse Gods, thank you, ’ Fauna mumbles as she rubs her thighs. ‘ I swear I didn ’ t mean what I said earlier. I wasn ’ t myself. ’

What is she going on about? And who the fuck are the apocalypse gods?

‘ I swear it I will never speak badly of any of you ever again, just please never take my legs. ’ Fauna pleads to something I can ’ t see.

I look to Vish, which is a mistake as he ’ s already twirling his finger around his ear, motioning that she ’ s crazy.

I ’ m going to kill this fucker if he ’ s not careful.

I clear my throat, trying to gently draw Fauna ’ s attention away from her episode and towards something saner — me.

‘ You okay there, baby? ’ I ask.

‘ Hmm, ’ Fauna mumbles, her attention drawing back to me and her eyes widening. ‘ Oh fuck, yeh I ’ m good. ’

She all but catapults herself out of where she is, still half-positioned in my lap — clearly wanting distance between us.

I smirk, not being able to help myself but remember the lack of distance she had wanted earlier in the shower. My little deer did not want any distance I distinctly remember her hands in my hair gripping me forwards, pulling my face closer into her sweet pussy.

And I loved every second of it.

Although right now, I ’ d be a liar if I said that it didn ’ t bother me that she so clearly doesn ’ t want to be touching me. Fauna was much easier to understand when she was in a food coma and I knew what she needed.

Warmth, food and pleasure.

Earlier, when she was satisfied with a full belly and a warm blanket, I felt something click into place within me.

As if I ’ ve found my purpose, and something in my chest has warmed for the first time.

That all of these hardened years trying to survive in such a brutal world has not left an impact upon me.

As if she had simultaneously created a shield around me as well as filled a hole that was missing inside of me.

I knew I was a goner when I first laid eyes on her and in my concussed state thought she was a literal goddess for fucks sake but now, after that earlier feeling I know its far deeper than that and I am wholeheartedly hers.

‘ You often talk to these apocalypse Gods? ’ I ask lightly.

A blush tinges Fauna ’ s neck, but that is the only sign of embarrassment she lets slip. The rest of her is composed, ridged as she tries to glare daggers at me.

I know Fauna ’ s glare could make a hard man crumble if she wanted. But in this limited amount of time, I ’ ve managed to get to know her enough now that the glare she is giving me holds no weight; it is all for show.

‘ No, ’ Fauna responds, her tone defensive.

I ’ m about to tease her some more, but I ’ m stopped by her glare, which threatens to turn serious.

Fine, I ’ ll leave that knowledge for another day when she probably deserves it.

I ’ m not one to judge too heavily anyway many of us have created imaginary entities to keep our lives entertained and anxiety in check.

Liam ’ s been having a one-sided battle with the pigeons that live in the stadium for as long as I can remember.

‘ Okay, okay, ’ I hold my hands up in mock surrender. ‘ No mention of the apocalypse Gods, noted. ’

Fauna scoffs, her button nose tipped up as she glares at me. She looks so adorable when she ’ s feigning anger.

‘ People believe in a God, but the mention of anything slightly different has them thinking I ’ m crazy. The world was wild well before any of us joined it. ’

She ’ s not wrong there.

‘ The world was crazy wasn ’ t it, ’ I say. ‘ How old were you when the virus hit? ’

‘ Fourteen would have turned fifteen at some point that year. ’

Her hazel eyes glaze over for a second, and although I don ’ t know for sure what she is thinking about, I can imagine it.

Those looks aren ’ t unfamiliar to any of us.

From time to time, each of us falls into the memories of the past, what it was like to still be amongst your blood family, people you had grown up with, fought and made up with.

Our memories are all that most of us have of them.

‘ How old were you? ’ Fauna asks, surprising me that she wants to know anything about me.

‘ Seventeen, would have turned eighteen at the end of the summer.

She hums, pressing her lips into a flat line.

‘ Aye, shite eh. ’ I feel the back of my head, and maybe flex my bicep slightly in the process. ‘ Would have been going to uni, getting drunk in clubs and ruining my life. ’

Fauna laughs, ‘ judging by last night, getting drunk wasn ’ t taken away from you when the world ended. ’

I usually wouldn ’ t have gotten as drunk as we did last night, especially being away from the gaff. I ’ ve been silently berating myself all day whenever memories of our drunken words and clumsy movements pop up.

‘ Aye, well, that ’ s not a habit I have. My performance was especially for you. ’ And it was. My mischievous little deer looked like she needed some form of fun, and all I had to offer her in the moment was a bottle of whiskey and the opportunity to smash some shit.

‘ Unfortunately, the girls and I didn ’ t have a whole lot of other things to do during the winter, so we got quite good at playing drinking games. ’ Light returns to her eyes as she speaks, but something catches my attention.

The girls.

‘ What girls? ’ I ask before I can think better of it, and by the way Fauna ’ s entire body goes ridged, I know it was the wrong thing to draw attention to.

‘ Nothing, forget I mentioned anything. ’ She quickly responds. ‘ So that guy earlier, he ’ s one of your Skull friends? ’

She ’ s not very subtly trying to change the subject, and out of worry that if I push her on it too much, she ’ ll spook and leave, I let her. She can take as long as she needs to tell me.

‘ Vish and I knew each other before, ’ This information has Fauna distracted. I can sense the interest emanating from her in waves. ‘ We were part of a group called The Skulls before the world went to shit, well before it went to complete shit anyway. ’

‘ What do you mean? You had like a little club together? ’ Fauna asks.

‘ It could be called that, looking back now. ’ I snort, remembering how innocent we were back then compared to now. ‘ We wanted to do some good. A kind of Robin Hood experience where we ’ d fuck over the rich and look out for the poor but then…’

‘ Then the world went to actual shit and it became more than a little club? ’ She finishes for me.

I nod, ‘ Aye. Now everything we did back then seems like it was a game, child ’ s play.

Don ’ t get me wrong, we weren ’ t running around sending strongly worded emails, ’ Fauna giggles, and it urges me on.

‘ We would have been arrested and charged with something, but I ’ d never killed someone.

Never tortured them to send a message. ’

I watch Fauna for a reaction for her to shy away from me, to fear me, but she doesn ’ t back away. In fact, she seemed more scared of me when I was being nice to her than when I ’ m telling her about my past.

‘ So the stories are true then? About The Skulls being so violent and psychotic. ’ She asks.

‘ When it ’ s black and white like that, yes.

It ’ s true that we have been and can be violent.

And who isn ’ t psychotic nowadays? Everyone alive has had to do things their past selves would never have imagined, let alone tried, much less gone through with.

And if they somehow have gotten away with not killing, they have been a part of it in some way nonetheless. ’ I state plain and simple.

She knows I ’ m right. I haven ’ t forgotten that she cut me, and she almost definitely hasn ’ t forgotten how I hunted her.

‘ We ’ ve all had to become monsters to survive, ’ Fauna admits. ‘ You ’ re right. I ’ ve done things to people that my past self would be disgusted with, but I did it to keep the people I care about safe, and I will never apologise for that. ’

‘ And The Skulls would never expect you to. We understand because that is what we have been doing all this time. We are protecting each other. ’

‘ He ’ s right, ’ the voice startles us both.

Fauna grabs a tin opener, and I swing my feet beneath me into a crouched position.

‘ Ruaridh has protected me more times than I can remember, ’ Vish admits, his words aimed at Fauna from where he stands in the doorway.

Heart pounding from the initial shock, I straighten my legs, bringing myself to stand at my full height.

‘ How long have you been there? ’ I demand not liking the idea that he has been eavesdropping.

‘ Only long enough to hear about us doing bad things. The big bad wolf reputation and all that. ’

Vish saunters into the room, his brown skin glowing in the sunlight that shines through the window.

‘ Ruaridh ’ s one of the best guys I know, Fauna. You can make your own mind up about him, but I thought you should hear it from someone else since it seems like there have been a couple of other people speaking on his behalf anyway. ’

I don ’ t say anything. What is there for me to say to that anyway? I know that what other people say in this world means nothing; it is their actions that mean everything. All I can do is continue to show her the man I am, not the one others' stories have made me out to be.

‘ I ’ ll make my own mind up. I ’ m not one to be influenced by others' stories. I was the one who followed you in the first place, remember, ’ Fauna aims a pointed look in my direction, and I feel my shoulders rise with a chuckle of relief.

Maybe the big bad wolf is not wearing a skull mask but is instead hiding in plain sight.

In fact, she ’ s not hiding at all. Instead, she is standing in front of me in clothes too big and the right side of her hair is stuck to her head whilst the left side is fluffy and clean.

Her emotions might go up and down like a yo-yo but Fauna keeps me on my toes and it excites me.

‘ Right well, ’ Vish says, clapping his hands together. ‘ I radioed Liam, and he said he ’ s going to head over. He ’ s been out a while, so I thought it would be good for him. ’

‘ He said anything to you about why he ’ s been acting like a kicked puppy yet? ’ I ask before turning to Fauna to explain, ‘ Liam is one of my closest mates, along with this dafty here. ’

Vish grins like a cheshire cat, all straight white teeth on show.

‘ And he ’ s acting like a kicked puppy? ’ Fauna asks, ignoring Vish.

The possessive voice in me is happy with her response to him. Vish, ever the charmer, can usually charm anyone, but Fauna seems immune to his cheesy ways, and I make a note to reward her for this later on.

‘ Well, you see…’

I interrupt whatever bullshit Vish was about to say, ‘ he went on a scouting mission a couple of months ago and hasn ’ t been the same since. You know how people used to go on about golden retriever guys? ’

Fauna hesitantly nods as if she is trying to search her memories.

‘ Never takes anything too seriously and always jokes on type of guy. ’

Fauna smirks. ‘ Yeh, I can think of the type. ’

‘ What ’ s that supposed to mean? ’ The need to know overtaking my rational thoughts.

I need to calm down for fucks sake.

If I don ’ t get this newfound possessive side of me in check, I ’ m going to end up pushing her towards believing the stories about us Skulls. And although I don ’ t give a fuck about what other people say about me I do care what my little deer thinks.

If she tries to leave, I will hunt her.

She had liked it earlier on, first in the sewer tunnels and then the museum.

I could see it in the subtle signs of how her breath would hitch, followed by her drawing her lower lip between her teeth.

The second time I hunted her, she initiated it, daring me with her big brown eyes that were framed by the black of my mask.

And I ’ ll hunt her a third time and a time after that if I need to.

‘ It means I know — knew — someone who ’ s all jokes and nothing serious. Those people keep a group going when times are tough. They bring light to the darkness. ’ Fauna admits, and the admiration in her voice has the possessiveness in me calming temporarily.

There is something deeper to what she said — a connection that goes beyond just knowing someone. Fauna owes something to this person, be it her life or her sanity; there is something there to make such emotion come in the words she speaks.

I ’ ll find out more details about this person later.

‘ Well, the clown is on his way, and his name's Liam, ’ Vish says. ‘ And he can ’ t wait to meet you, Fauna. ’