“To be a Slayer is to put your life on the line for the betterment of humanity. That’s what they say, at least. I was never a fan of that crap. My crew and I do everything we can to make sure we are NOT putting our lives on the line. We plan. We specialize. We all get to go home with most of our fingers. And you can quote that!”

~Unknown

“It is not safe in the forest, Jusep,” I patiently explained to the petulant eight-year-old who had, until a minute ago, been in a less difficult mood. The child in question didn’t even dignify me with an answer and just started marching towards the treeline. I jogged to cut him off and block his path. He scowled when I stood in front of him.

“I am the oldest and I say it is safe, so you two have to follow me.” He briefly turned back to include Bella in his command. This wasn’t the first time Jusep and I had clashed, even though I usually relented. She always looked uncomfortable when it happened, and I saw the good mood drain out of her as she shifted her gaze between us.

Jusep continued walking and shouldered past my attempts to bar his way with my presence. Annoyingly, he was bigger than me by virtue of his age, so I wasn’t able to physically restrain the idiot. He wasn’t that much bigger than me, though, and I was notably taller than Bella. Obviously I wouldn’t know until later in life, but I often wondered if I might end up having to duck my way through conventional doorways like Tulos often did.

Bella began mutely following Jusep and they grew closer to the treeline with every step. I badgered after them and tried - and failed - to sway Jusep to a different course of action. Bribery didn’t work. Flattery didn’t work either. I offered to let him choose our games for a month. No luck.

Why, oh why, must children have the capacity to be so stubborn?

I had to whip out the big guns when he stepped under the canopy.

“Jusep, if you go into the forest, I am going to tell on you.” He paused mid-step, reaching a momentarily eerie stillness. Bella looked at me, eyes wide. For a moment, it was quiet enough to clearly hear birdsong and the rustle of wind in the green, springtime grass. When Jusep turned back to me, rage was written on his chubby-cheeked face.

“Do not tell! You better not tell!” He stomped right up to me and stared down at me in an effort to coerce me into submission. It was one of Jusep’s ‘rules’ that we don’t snitch on each other. Evidently, he took it more seriously than I realized. Not that I cared given the circumstances, so I squared my shoulders and didn’t back down.

“I will! I will tell my mom and dad, and they will tell your mom and dad and you will get in trouble.” I gestured behind me, towards the house. My tone softened. “So we should go back, okay?” I saw a flash of fear cross Jusep’s face. For a blissful second, I thought he might have seen sense. That’s when he snarled and shoved me backwards. I hadn’t been expecting the blow and fell, leaving Jusep looming overhead.

“My dad said your dad is a coward and that means you are too!” Jusep snapped at me and I saw his hands ball into fists. “I am not scared though. I am tough!” Even though I was stunned by the sudden aggression, I still noticed that Jusep was parroting some bullshit spewed at him by his father.

Poor kid has some issues.

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“Don’t fight! Please!” Bella called out to us. There were tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. Jusep frantically looked between us as I pulled myself to my feet. He reminded me of a rodent backed into a corner. His eyes were wide and his breathing came in rapid bursts. I watched him get overwhelmed by complicated emotions in real time. With an irritated grunt, he spun on his heel and ran into the forest.

Fuck Fuck Fuck.

Jusep getting lost in the woods was a recipe for disaster. I lost precious seconds panicking as I tried to decide on a course of action. The crunch of a twig underfoot brought me to my senses. Bella was moving to follow after the wayward problem child, probably to make sure he was okay. Her intentions may have been good, but I couldn’t be responsible for getting her lost too. I came to a decision.

“Bella,” I snapped, adopting a tone that I hoped was authoritative. She froze. I closed the distance between us and grabbed her shoulders to make sure she was facing me. She looked frightened. I didn’t blame her. “Bella, I need you to run to Tina as fast as you can and tell her what happened. Can you do that?” She didn’t immediately answer. Instead, she looked down at the ground as I felt her tense in my grip. I gave her a shake to try and snap her out of whatever daze she was in. “Bella, can you do that?!”

She was still silent. I began to worry. Every second that passed meant Jusep was getting further away, fueled by his emotional outburst. With a herculean effort, I yanked the panic out of my voice and spoke reassuringly. “Bella, I promise you will not get in trouble. Jusep needs our help and I think this is the best way you can help him. Please?” Slowly, she looked up at me. I saw something in her turquoise eyes adopt an unfamiliar intensity as she studied my expression. Finally, she nodded and started wordlessly running back across the field.

Okay. Good. That’s one of them safe.

I took off after Jusep, confident that Trunkle would be able to track me down in a pinch. Lots of stuff in the house had my scent on it. I just wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do the same for Jusep and figured my best bet was to catch up to him so we could be found together. I looked out for any sign of his passage. There probably were tracks or marks, but I wasn’t even remotely close to being a woodsman so my unpracticed eyes failed to spot anything helpful.

“JUSEP!” I called out in my childish soprano with enough force to almost make it crack. No response.

I scooped up a pointy looking rock and began slashing through the bark of the occasional tree trunk. It wasn’t breadcrumbs, but it was something. After a few minutes the foliage thinned and I broke into a clearing surrounded on all sides by trees. It sloped down slightly from my position which gave me enough of a vantage to see Jusep on the other side.

“JUSEP! WAIT!” I cupped my hands around my mouth to help the sound carry. Jusep hesitated and I started sprinting to try and cross the distance as he turned towards the source of the noise. Hopefully he’d calmed down enough to realize he’d done something stupid. When Jusep saw it was me he frowned and started stomping deeper into the forest.

Well, so much for that. At least he’s not running again.

I moved quickly. Before long, I had to duck beneath a low-hanging branch as I crossed back into the shadows cast by the canopy. My quarry was idly meandering between the pine trees, no longer in any rush to put distance between us. The burning in my lungs was thankful for the momentary break from exertion,

“Jusep. Wait. Please.” I got a word out between each intake of breath and walked with my hands resting on my lower back. Jusep finally stopped and turned back to face me. Now that I was closer, I could see that he’d been crying. A blob of snot had congealed around one of his nostrils.

Gross.

“Come on, Jusep. We can go home.” I carefully reached a hand out, offering for him to come and take it. I was annoyed with the brat, but now wasn’t the time for scolding. That would come later. Defiance briefly burned on his face but he eventually nodded in reluctant acceptance. Poor kid was scared and emotional. I probably could- no, I definitely could have handled our confrontation better and saved myself the trouble. Hopefully Bella told Tina about the situation and I could take a break from being the responsible one.

Regardless, I was eager to get back to the house. Something about the forest gave me the creeps. Even the birds had stopped chirping…

The birds have stopped chirping. Isn’t that usually a sign that-

There was a blur of movement and a dark red shape leapt from the treeline. Jusep, who had been trudging back towards me, didn’t even see it coming. It slammed into him from behind and pinned him to the ground.

That’s when the screaming started.