Page 36 of Hunt Me (The Skulls #1)

Chapter Twenty-eight

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Ruaridh

T his has to be it. It must be.

Vish, Liam and I spent the whole day searching back from the river through each school.

Every single one was empty.

I ’ m at the point where I ’ m itching to find something. Of course, I want it to be my little deer, but if I come across some vermin in the process, it might help loosen some of the tension I have built up over the day.

My jaw aches as I clench my teeth, breathing deeply through my nose.

It has to be this one.

The small primary school sits abandoned on the other side of the road to where we are hiding.

The windows are dark, and no light is shining from within, but it ’ s not like any of us would expect that to be the case.

No group would have survived this long if they did stupid shit like that.

A fire lighting up the inside and no window coverings would be broadcasting to every fucked up piece of shit out here that there is someone in there.

Someone that they will assume is weak and stupid.

Someone that they could easily take advantage of.

My mischievous little deer is not weak, and she is certainly not stupid.

Her skills for covering her tracks were impressive.

Marks were left until the first crossway as if she didn ’ t want to risk being found close to the building we were inside, so she decided to begin covering her tracks as soon as there was an opportunity to confuse us.

Immediately, Liam had suggested to follow our earlier plan of going to the riverside, exactly where I had crossed over and work our way back through the direction I had travelled.

Each school was upturned not wanting to leave any possibility that she was still there.

I couldn ’ t move on until I knew every cupboard had been searched.

Vish had found a sign of someone staying in one, but judging by the level of dust that had collected around the old belongings, along with the thick layer of mould growing inside of each of the tins, it wasn ’ t her.

My little deer wasn ’ t just new to the city, ruling anything old out of the equation, but I know with certainty she is not alone.

The guilt wrapping through her when she ate, how she ’ d all but cracked open, showing how much she held on her shoulders, was too familiar to brush off as mere loneliness.

Fauna has a group for which she feels responsible.

‘ Think this is it? ’ Vish asks, his black mask pulled in place, covering the lower half of his face.

Vish ’ s mask is one of the plainest and darkest of The Skulls, second only to Foster's. Despite his joyful nature, Vish claims he ’ s not found the ‘ right one to fit his personality ’ and sticks to a makeshift covering with a skulls smile painted across the jaw.

Liam, who is crouched beside him, has a pure white Skull with a golden crown. He prides himself on keeping it clean, unlike mine, which is currently marked with the red fingerprint I didn ’ t bother wiping off.

When I am out, I prefer my mask bloodied. That way, there are no misunderstandings when I encounter someone on my travels.

I am not friendly.

‘ It ’ s too silent, ’ Liam observes the tinge of a Geordie accent still seeping through despite being surrounded by so many other dialects for the past few years.

‘ She ’ s here, ’ I say with certainty.

I can feel it.

My little deer is inside, and I ’ m not finished hunting her.

I ’ m only just getting started.

‘ Stay here, ’ I instruct, pulling myself into a crouched position. One ready to move.

‘ Out here? ’ Vish ’ s annoying voice whispers.

‘ You got hearing problems now? Yes, out here. ’

‘ Why? ’

I glare at the man I ’ ve known most of my life.

My teeth clench together, ‘ because I fucking said so. ’

It ’ s not lost on me that Liam stays silent, not challenging my wishes. Which is suspicious in itself because he usually has a whole load of bullshit to say on my orders, just like Vish does right now. I look at him, waiting for him to speak.

Liam shrugs, ‘ You want us to wait out here? We wait out here. ’

I don ’ t buy it for a second, neither of them are ones to happily sit back and not be involved with the drama.

Twigs move aside as Vish scrapes his boot across the concrete ground. He looks like a kicked puppy. Good job I don ’ t care.

‘ Stay, ’ I bark at the sulking man and give one last suspicious look in Liam ’ s direction.

The lighting is dark, and the sun set around an hour ago. It is only just shifting into spring, which has been a welcome reprieve to most. Others see the long nights as depressing. Me? I couldn ’ t care less.

I thrive in the darkness.

The full moon is high above me, and several stars shine brightly with it. There is not a cloud in sight.

My movements are silent as I walk around the street, using the cover of smashed-up cars to hide myself from any watchers — another reason why I did not trust those two dafties to join me this time.

Most of the time they ’ re fine but they haven ’ t had a one hundred per cent success rate with not giving away our location.

Liam and his ‘ big bonedness ’ , as he likes to call it, can have a couple of trips and falls that end up setting off a series of movements like a bull in a china shop.

And I can ’ t risk giving my mischievous little deer any warning that I am near.

She cannot be given another seconds chance to keep running from me.

Red bricks make up the side of the school, and I come to the side of a grey door, where the clear sign for a fire exit is labelled above.

I try the handle but it ’ s locked.

Several windows line down the same wall, and I check each one.

All locked.

The back entrance is my next thought, and I go around continuing to check doors and windows as I go.

Just as I am about to round the corner, the one that I imagine would lead me toward the back entrance movement has me halting. My body freezes.

‘ Liz, ’ a female voice whispers from around the corner. Their steps are rough against the uneven flooring, and the sound of snapping twigs fills the nighttime air.

It goes completely silent.

I know I ’ m not in sight, and I can ’ t see them, so it must be something else.

Internally, I make a prayer to Fauna ’ s weird apocalypse gods that the two bawbags I call best friends stayed where I told them to.

For their sakes more than mine because if I find out that they haven ’ t then… I shake my head.

Not bothering with the back entrance now I know for certain it is guarded and I ’ m not in the mood to fight off my little deer ’ s friends, mainly since that will ruin my surprise.

I try my luck with the door closest to the front entrance.

If the back is guarded, they are probably grouped in that direction.

Wood splinters as I unpick the metal lock. It is so old that the rust covered lock practically jumps out of its place in the door. How unlucky for my little deer.

The corridor is abandoned, with no sign of life. Moonlight shines through open windows, guiding me as I creep further into the building.

My heart pounding harder and harder with each step. It ’ s been years since I have felt such an adrenaline rush, and it is all thanks to my little deer.

My emotions have changed since I woke up to find her gone. I think back at how weak I was hours ago, how much power I had given her over myself.

Now I want revenge. And the only way I will get it is by taking it from her. Mercilessly.

Fauna will never leave me again. I will make sure of it.

Chatter comes from my right, precisely the direction I was expecting. I make my way towards the noise at the back of the building.

Yellow light shines through the opening of one door. Next to it piles of paperwork have been shoved together in an attempt to tidy the place up a bit.

Each step I take is silent and purposeful, and there is not a single movement out of line as I press near the corridor wall.

Shadowed in darkness, I listen.

‘ I don ’ t buy it, she ’ s acting weird. ’

‘ It ’ s Fauna, not exactly one to give everything away. ’

‘ She ’ s hiding something. ’

They speak over one another, voices animated as they discuss my little deer.

‘ Stop talking about her when she ’ s next door, for fucks sake, ’ there is something about this one voice. Maybe it is the venom in how she speaks, but it feels familiar.

No time to think too hard about the voices, I put the familiarity down to coincidence and focus on the crucial information I ’ ve overheard.

Next door.

My little deer is in the room behind me, which is currently in complete darkness. The only light available is the moon.

The perfect way for me to find her.

Careful not to make a noise, I push the wooden door open just enough to allow myself to slip inside.

Nostrils flaring, I breathe deeply and look down to see Fauna, my sleeping deer.

How perfect.

The first time I looked at her, she was above me, and she managed to steal my power. This time, it is the opposite. I hold the power, and she is at my mercy.

I no longer silence my footsteps now that it ’ s just us—the closed door behind me is the only barrier between us and her group.

Fauna stirs in her sleep at the sudden noise, shifting more as each step I take brings me closer to her body. Now, at the end of her nest of blankets, I stand, looming over her.

Her soft eyelashes begin to flutter. At first, they move slowly, as if she is struggling to force them open.

Then, when I assume she catches a glimpse of my body, she no longer struggles to open them.

No, now my little deer ’ s eyes are wide and unblinking.

She stares at my masked face; her plump lips parted as she gapes at me.

‘ You ’ ve been bad, little deer. ’

Fauna sits up, pushing backwards until her back hits the classroom wall.

I chuckle.

There is nowhere for her to go.

‘ No, ’ she whispers, eyes flitting behind me. ‘ You can ’ t be here. ’