"What is the real name of the man you call Savior?” The little girl asked, scrubbing in annoyance at the wet dirt on her palms. I sent Brenda a look of warning when she opened her mouth, probably to chastise the girl for asking so much questions. From early in the morning she had been spitting question after question as we walked, which I chose to answer. Brenda had decided to stay quiet, but her annoyance was growing.

However, I would rather endure the girl’s inquisitive words than have her ask Savior these things; I had learnt a long time ago not to ask him too much questions.

“That is the only name he has provided for us to call him.” I lifted a finger to my lips after I responded, crouching low when I saw brown fur amongst dewy blades of grass. A light shower of rain had fallen just before we had left and my feet sunk into murky mud as I braced myself. Brenda had to eventually pull the girl down with her. If the rabbit was to catch sight of us and realize how close we were to it, I would have nothing for dinner today.

I inhaled the scent of the earth as I pressed forward, keeping low. When the rabbit turned it’s back, I kicked forward, swooping in to grab it by it’s neck. It’s hind legs kicked in the air as I lifted it and the young girl stood up, joy filling her eyes as she gazed at the small animal.

“Aw, it’s so-”

I swiftly broke the rabbit’s neck, and I could’ve never anticipated the loud scream which came from such a small girl as soon as I did so. Brenda hissed for her to be quiet while I placed the rabbit into a large pouch.

“Just an hour more of hunting, girl.” Stressing on the last word because she still refused to tell me her name. Tear filled eyes blinked rapidly, evidently not like the situation she was in, but pressed her lips together firmly.

We trekked through the forest further and I soon became immune to the girl’s moans about the distance we were travelling. My feet moved quietly and easily over small rocks and leaves which had fallen to the ground. Hunting was something that I had done since I was a child and despite the blood which would spray onto my clothes whenever I had little choice but to stab an animal, I enjoyed it.

Adrenaline pumped through me after I captured and killed another rabbit.  That rush was cut off sharply when I heard the girl’s scream again.

I exchanged a long look with Brenda after I killed it, deciding that it was time that we returned back home. Brenda walked ahead with the pouch of animals and I stayed beside the girl, hearing her sniffles and murmurs about me having no soul.

“They make tasty meals.” I told her after her tears had dried up. She glowered at me and I wondered how old she was; she appeared to be around ten or so, but there was something about her that made her seem older than that.

She looked exhausted by the time we reached back home and handed the pouch over to Sam so she could skin and cook the animals for later. The girl was searching through books on a shelf, under the watchful gaze of Brenda when I entered the home.

“Why do you have old newspapers?” The girl asked when I wiped my bloodied hands clean with a damp towel. I peered over her shoulder. Gut wrenching photos of bruised humans in shackles around their wrists and legs were printed on the paper. Werewolves stood beside them, smiling widely, one holding a whip tauntingly over a shackled woman.

Savior would bring these back with him after he returned from the city, giving us proof of the ill-treatment shown to humans. It was nauseating that werewolves chose to display these photos proudly in newspapers and it had only heightened my hatred towards them.

“Those aren’t old papers. Savior brought some of them this month from the city.” I explained to her.

Her eyebrows knitted together and she lowered the papers to peer up at me. “These are old. They have some of these newspapers in museums and on sale for people who want them. Which are few, because most people aren’t sick in the head. Obviously, your Savior is one of the few people who are.” She said dryly and I bristled at her insolent tone. Her fingers drifted across the tattered brown edges of the papers and the faint black ink. “The newspapers that are recent look nothing like this.”

“Savior has no need to buy old papers.” Brenda told her briskly from where she sat. “You’re lying.”

The girl clearly didn’t look being accused of saying false things. She grabbed at the paper tightly. “Look. There’s even a date on it….” Her voice trailed off as she stared hard at the black thick line at the top of the paper. “Your Savior, as you call him, must’ve crossed out the dates, because that black mark is placed directly over the area that's supposed to show the year and month.”

She let the papers fall to the ground when a door banged open and I looked across the room to see Naverna entering the hut. Her face was slack with tiredness, brown skin glistened with sweat and sleepy eyes surveyed the room as she chucked off the boots she wore by the doorway. The makeshift bed she slept on creaked as she got in it, not saying a word to the rest of us, which isn't uncommon. She’s a very quiet woman and doesn’t make small-talk.

A flash of movement drew my attention back to the girl. She was pulling at a heavy book on the shelf, grunting softly as she did so. I eventually reached over to help her with it and her nimble fingers made quick work of opening and flipping through pages. She paused, a frown turning her lips downwards when she saw a photograph of a werewolf male. A small paragraph below it detailed the differences between it and humans, as well as the quickest ways to kill a werewolf.

“I’ve never seen this book before,” The girl muttered, turning a page. I walked away from her briefly, fetching some clothes that I would wear after bathing in the lake.

“So, are you people like hunters of werewolves or something?” The girl asked when I folded a clean shirt and packed it away in a bag. As I tilted my head in confusion, she jabbed a finger to the page and I hissed through teeth when the delicate paper ripped.

“There’s a whole list of weapons to use to kill werewolves right here,” She said. “And they’re all ticked off.”

Teeth gritted hard together as I continued to stare down at the ripped page. Savior would not be pleased at the damage in his book. I snapped it closed, placed it out of her reach. “Savior made and bought those weapons a long time ago. He has them put away and they are only to be used if the werewolves come.”

Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized me gathering the rest of my clothes and got to her feet slowly. “Where are you going?” She asked. “Are you finally going to show me the way out of this forest?”

I shrugged my bag on and looked over to Sam, who nodded. She would keep watch over the girl whilst I bathed. I faced the young girl who was continuing to watch me.

“No. I’ll be back.” I tossed those words over my shoulder as I exited the house and walked down a pathway which led to a nearby lake. I slipped off my slippers and allowed my bare feet to graze the small pebbles surrounding it, pulling off my clothes as I did so.

The heat from the sun above had warmed the water significantly and I released a slow breath as I allowed my body to sink into the lake. I stayed in an awkward position for a while, since I wasn’t a very good swimmer until I stood again, waddling over to my bag to take up soap. As I lathered my body, I stared at the foam which began to rise to the top of the lake, watched it drift away further from me. I stayed longer than I usually would’ve in the lake, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and the sound of the water splashing softly against the pebbles.

It was only when a prickling sensation cascaded down my skin that I jerked up to attention, my once languid body becoming rigid. My eyes darted frantically around the forest, knowing there was someone watching me.

I began inching my body towards the shallow end of the lake, seeing a small spear that I had brought with me poking from the opening of my bag, but as I took one last look over my surroundings, finally, I caught sight of who was watching me, breathing out a name in relief,

“Savior.”

He stepped out of the trees he had stood behind and my skin prickled further as his eyes lingered on my exposed shoulders. Savior had never looked at me like this, and the strong feeling of nervousness had me swimming backwards in an attempt to shield the rest of my body from his gaze.

The fingers around the staff he clutched tightened and I could see the way his knuckles began to turn white. “I want your sisters gathered in my house in ten minutes. Bring along the little girl with you.” He eyes took one last sweep over my face before he turned and walked away, leaving silence behind him.

************

A heavy sound came from the table and the girl’s hand in mine tightened when she saw Savior’s harsh face. My four sisters entered the house slowly, immediately taking notice of the iron collar in his hand.

The girl pushed herself closer to me when Savior demanded that she be given over to him. And for whatever reason, I hesitated to follow his commands. The dangerous glint in his eyes and the heavy collar he held made everyone in the house wary. Blue eyes flashed to my face and spit flew from Savior’s mouth when he spoke,

“Don’t let me have to repeat myself, Anya.”

I released the girl’s hand and she was grabbed by her hair, dragged forward to him. Her screams echoed as the collar was tightened around her neck. Wild, desperate eyes pleaded for me to help her and I snapped sharply, “What are you doing?!”

His eyes met mine for several seconds and an icy, sinking feeling formed as I realized the blatantly discourteous way I had spoken to him.

Savior finally turned around to wrangle the girl outside of the house and I followed, my feet moving quickly to where he knelt, sliding a small metal chain into a loop on the iron collar and using a padlock to lock it there. Keys jingled together as he used the other end of the chain to wrap around a pole and use a padlock to lock it around that.

I was immediately reminded of the shackles and chains that humans like me were kept in and wondered out loud why he would do this.

“She is not fully human,” Savior spat at me when I voiced my thoughts. “Her father is a werewolf.” His eyes went over my head to my sisters. “And do you all remember what I taught you about the children who are born as a result of a werewolf forcing themselves on a human? What must be done to them?”

Ivy proudly answered, a cruel smile on her lips. “Their existence is an abomination and they must be killed. I will gladly slit the girl’s throat if that is what you desire, Savior.”

The little girl’s sobs rose and my heart clenched tightly in my chest, my leg muscles tensing as I fought the urge to cross over to her and rip the heavy collar off of her neck. I could feel Savior’s eyes on me and jerked when he gripped my arm.

“You watch her, for now.” He told Ivy, directing me roughly away so that the girl was out of my sight. It was only when we were both hidden behind the thick trees that he spoke to me.

His fingers cupped my face and I gasped out loudly as I felt his fingers squeezing hard against my flesh. Sharp overgrown fingernails dug into my skin and I felt blood surface. “You won’t ever use that tone of voice again with me, Anya.” He towered over me. “You are the eldest amongst your sisters and you should be the one teaching them how to respect me. The one who saved your life. The one who saved each girl’s life in this forest.”

His grip softened and he tilted my head upwards so he could press my forehead against his. My heart thundered in my chest, the fingers at my sides clenching into fists and I swallowed thickly.

“You must trust what I tell you. There is no need to worry about that child. Do you know why, Anya?” He smelt like black cherries and something bitter. My breath hitched when I felt him return to gripping my face, painfully hard.

“Yes, Savior.”

The grip didn’t loosen. “Say why, Anya.”

Blood dripped down my cheeks and trickled down into my parted mouth. The little girl’s eyes flashed in my mind and I closed my own, slowly repeating what my Savior had taught to me since I was young.

“Because she is an abomination.”