She could remember how they met.
She could remember it well.
It had been during one of her father's annual hunting parties. She had tagged along simply because she had wanted to learn, her father had always told her that in their family, just like any other family like theirs, the men were trained to be soldiers and their daughters were the leaders.
But, despite needing the knowledge to lead, she still needed to know how to track and hunt.
She could remember following her older brother through the preserve. In her hand, she held a semi-automatic handgun, while across her back was her more personal weapon - a bow and quiver of arrows.
Her brother, Cole, headed the group along with their father, Graham. They were both skilled in the line of work. Both experienced hunters in more than just wild boar. She, on the other hand, was only skilled in killing rabbits and other small creatures.
But she wanted to learn how to hunt the big stuff.
"Ellie, come here," Cole whispered, waving her forward.
She crept closer and landed on her knees beside her brother.
"What do you see?" Cole asked.
"Broken brambles," she answered, noticing the bramble bush in front of her. The twigs were snapped in all directions, and she could vaguely make out footprints in the mud beneath, "and shoe prints."
Her father looked impressed.
"Well done, Ellie, you did better than your brother did on his first hunt."
She grinned at her brother, who scowled at their father.
"Move out," her father ordered the men with them. "Bring him back alive."
"Him?" she asked a little too loudly.
Her father shot her a look.
"Sorry," she whispered. "But him?"
"What we hunt aren't only animals," her father replied. "They're shifters. They can shift between human form and animal form."
"But... but... we can't kill a human," she stammered.
"That's why we're bringing him back alive," her brother said. "Come on, Ellie, don't chicken out now."
She swallowed and looked into the trees. Suddenly she didn't feel all too happy about being a part of the hunt. She wasn't a killer. She was a hunter... a hunter hunted animals not people.
"Dad...?" she said, quietly.
"Not now, Ellie!" her father snapped. He could hear rustling in the trees. "Cole, circle around, and drive whatever it is back towards me."
"Got it," Cole nodded.
She watched as her brother and father split up. She stayed put, waiting for a signal from either of them to move, but nothing came. Soon they disappeared from view, following the sound of something deep into the forest.
She whimpered in fear. She hated the dark and she hated being alone.
"Dad... Cole..." she cried softly.
Snap.
She jumped and spun around. Her gun raised in front of her.
Snap.
BANG!
She had fired the gun before she had even realised her finger was on the trigger.
There were a painful whine and a scuffle. Whatever had been creeping up on her, was now heading away.
"Ellie!" her name came from several different directions, but she ignored them as she followed the animal away. She hoped and prayed that it was an animal that she had hit and not a human.
Running blindly through the dark, Ellie stopped and listened hard. She couldn't hear footsteps anymore, but she could hear heavy panting. Holding her breath, she followed the noise towards a bush near the edge of the park. She carefully eased aside the leaves and gasped at the sight before her.
At the base of an oak tree, his side smeared with his blood and looking very pale was a young boy around her age. He looked up at her, his eyes wide with a mixture of anger, pain and agony.
"Oh My God!" she squeaked, dropping her gun and covering her mouth with her hand. "What have I done...?"
Not sure where this is going or if it will go anywhere. But I like the concept.
~Twix