Chapter 113: 113

NADINE’S P.O.V

I followed behind them as they rushed towards the creature.

Everything was heightened- the sounds of feet hitting the ground, the roar of the monster, and the ringing in my ears. I couldn’t tell if it was adrenaline, fear or a mixture of both.

“We’re going to get ourselves killed,” I mumbled, but all I got in response was a laugh.

The other girls had gotten there before us and they had the monster surrounded. Edith hung back, giving us the space to do whatever we wanted. No one spoke, no one dared to, not when the creature in front of us was baring its teeth and snapping its jaws.

Two of the girls attacked at the same time from behind, hitting it in the back with sharp knives. It barely had the chance to recover before we struck. I didn’t need to be told what to do, I just moved.

The last thing I wanted was to be in close proximity with the creature, but I couldn’t very well stand back. I wanted it over quickly, I didn’t want it to suffer any longer than it had to, so I targeted the major blood vessels—the thighs, the neck.

It was easy for us to overpower it. Four on one were not good odds, especially not when we were all trained.

The monster fell to the ground, bleeding, hurt, but not dead. Blood poured out from various places where we’d slashed it and it seemed to be struggling to rise.

“I wonder what happens if we burn it?” a girl asked. I didn’t know her name, but she had brown hair that was cut short to her shoulders. “I have matches.”

“We could bludgeon it to death,” Jen suggested. “Make it slow and painful.”

“Watch if we just let it bleed out?” the dark haired girl offered.

I watched in horror as they suggested brutal ways to kill it.

I didn’t blame them, they had no idea, to them, it was just a monster who’d killed their friends and family. I’d suffered at its hands too, but these creatures, they’re not the enemy.

They were so busy arguing that they didn’t even notice when I began to move. I stepped up to it, watching its dark, bloodshot eyes. I tried to search for a shred of humanity, for a reminder of who this was once upon a time, but it was gone. It’d been ripped away.

“Nadine? What are you doing?’ Jen asked, but before she could reach out for me, I plunged my dagger into its head.

Silence fell.

Even Edith who’d been leaning against a tree stood up straight.

I could feel their annoyance. I’d taken away their fun, but it didn’t matter. I pulled out my dagger, not even bothering to wipe it before sheathing it back.

“It’s dead now. Can we go?” I asked.

No one spoke, and I knew it was mostly because Edith cut in, telling us all that it was time to return.

I could feel everyone watching me as we walked back. I felt the brewing annoyance and knew it was only a matter of time before someone snapped. I’d expected it, but that didn’t mean I was prepared when it finally happened.

We’d just walked back in through the gate when Jennifer turned to me.

“This is the earliest we’ve ever returned from a hunt,” she said. “Hunting them is so much work. Killing it was meant to be the fun part.”

“You call watching it suffer fun?” I scoffed. “It sounds like we have different definitions of the word.”

“It’s a monster. It’s killed people. You know what we’ve lost from it.”

“It’s doing what it knows how to do, what it is programmed to do. You’re no better if you stand there debating what ways to make it suffer.”

She stared at me in shock. “You can’t be comparing me with that thing. It killed Dan. Don’t tell me you forgot.”

Her words were like a blow to my gut.

How dare she?

“Of course I haven’t! I was there.”

“Well you’re acting like you weren’t. A monster like that one killed him.”

“Do you think I don’t know that? Do you think I don’t remember every terrifying night I’ve spent out in the woods, fearing that they’d kill me? Do you think I don’t have nightmares about it? About every close call and every time I almost died? I haven’t forgotten. I remember every painful second of it and I want them dead, believe me, but not like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because they weren’t always monsters.”

“That enough!” Edith cut in. “Jennifer, go home, get changed. Nadine, I need a word with you.”

Jennifer didn’t leave immediately, she stared at me for a moment, as if trying to figure out what I meant. After one sharp look from Edith, she finally broke her stare and stormed off, the other girls following closely behind.

“I understand that you have some sympathy for those creatures,” she began slowly, “but you cannot go around telling the girls things.”

“Telling them what? The truth?”

“The community doesn’t know about Trent and his experiments.”

“They deserve to.”

“Maybe, but that’s not your call to make. Right now, we need to make sure that everyone feels safe. Hearing about human experiments will only upset them.”

I scoffed. “So you want me to lie?”

“I want you to keep your mouth shut.” She walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I like you, Nadine, so I’ll give you some advice for free. Sometimes, you need to play a little politics.”

“I’m not a politician.”

“Do you really think that? Your very presence here is controversial. There are people who hate you, people who love you. You came in with information, you hold power, isn’t that exactly what a politician is?”

I pulled back from her. “I think I’m going to go now.”

She didn’t try to stop me.

She just crossed her arms over her chest as she watched me walk away.

She didn’t speak until I was a few feet away. “Don’t be late for training tomorrow.”

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