by G. C. Julien
The Feral Sentence – Book One, Part Two
By G. C. Julien
www.gcjulien.com
© Copyright 2015 G. C. Julien
Smashwords Edition
Edited by Nikki Busch
www.nikkibuschediting.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
PROLOGUE
Its thick black head blocked out all surrounding light. It stared down at me as would a cat at a quivering mouse, tilting its head from side to side, analyzing me entirely. I wanted to scream, but nothing came out.
The skin around its jaw hung loose, dangling as the creature moved in closer. I couldn’t see its eyes—I saw only a shadowed face; curved horns atop its head pointed toward the sky.
I moved back, but no distance came between us. I wanted to disappear, to die, but not at the hands of this beast.
There were voices throughout the trees, and suddenly, the creature was gone. There was blood smeared everywhere: on my skin, across the jungle’s soil, and on my clothes, yet I couldn’t remember what had happened. All I saw was this beast’s face, and all I felt was its thirst for blood.
The voices drew closer, and distorted figures began to surround me. I couldn’t make sense of anything. But these figures soon became hazy, and their voices were replaced by a rhythmic drumming in the distance.
CHAPTER 1
I cracked open my tired eyes, and reality set in.
I lay on a bed of dirt with cruddy hair stuck to the side of my neck and my skin covered in uneven goose bumps. I heard women gathering in the Village, surely making their way to the feeding area.
The breakfast drums sounded in the distance. I was back on Kormace Island—the island of killers.
I couldn’t get her out of my head—Sunny. I remembered seeing her blurred silhouette being dragged into the trees.
“That wasn’t a Norther,” I heard beside me.
But no one was there. I saw Rocket’s face as clear as it had been the day before, her brows close together and her nostrils flared. She’d been the only one to see the beast—the only one who knew what had taken Sunny.
* * *
Savages, uncivilized, violent… Ogres, as Rocket has called them. They were known for surviving the island without the comfort of civilization or sympathy for human life.
“We’ve always been told that Ogres were nothing more than a myth, a fictitious tale to keep women from straying too far from the Village,” Trim said. I could tell that she too had blindly believed this.
And who could blame her? Ogres? It sounded like something you’d hear in a children’s story—a one-eyed monster vengefully seeking out human flesh.
“They’re the most ruthless and barbaric women you could ever imagine,” Rocket said, brushing her dreadlocked hair against her head. I’d once thought her to be barbaric; I couldn’t even begin to imagine how terrible Ogres were.
“What makes you think they’re women?” Fisher asked.
Rocket smirked knowingly. “It’s an island for female felons only. They’ve never dropped a man.”
Fisher snorted. “Yet.”
Trim eyed everyone curiously. “What makes you so sure they’re even felons?”
And everyone fell silent.
* * *
“Brone?”
It was Ellie.
She stood in the entryway of my tent, her wavy brown hair over one shoulder, a patient smile on her lips.
“Didn’t you hear the drums?”
Exhausted, I rubbed my eyes and nodded. I wondered if I’d even slept.
“Well?” she said. “What’re you waiting for?”
I eyed my pouch of pearls lying in the dirt, and I hesitated, suddenly feeling guilt ridden because of Sunny’s abduction. Only yesterday, she’d given me three pearls—the island’s currency—to buy myself something from the market tents. And today, she was gone—dead, most likely.
I reached for the pouch, knowing all too well that I’d have to spend its contents eventually. I still needed an eating dish, utensils, bathing products, and possibly materials to build myself a bed.
A bed… God, I missed my bed. I missed sliding on a fresh pair of pajamas after a hot bath. A bath… I sighed. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much filth covered my body, every inch of skin, every crevasse, every fingernail…
But I didn’t linger on this thought, because I knew that my old life was nothing more than a distant fantasy, and the more I reminisced, the shittier I felt about myself and my present life. I’d just witnessed more horror in two days than anyone should be forced to see in a lifetime. I didn’t have the energy to dwell on materialistic desires or on the luxury of cleanliness and comfort.
For all I knew, I could be dead tomorrow.
I followed Ellie toward the center of the Village, where women had begun gathering around a large fire. I could see Sumi, the Village’s cook, moving around so quickly I wondered how she kept track of what she was cooking.
I heard the name Sunny several times, and I knew that word had made its way to all the women of the Village. Information on the island was like malaria—it spread quickly, leaving nothing but pain and misery in its wake.
“Here,” Ellie said, handing me a dish made of bone. “Got you one.”
“Thanks,” I said.
I grabbed the bowl and waited in line to be served by one of Sumi’s helpers. When it was my turn to receive a hot spoonful of wild turkey eggs, Sumi suddenly appeared, eyeing me from head to toe.
“She gets half,” she said.
I fumed inside. I was starving. What did Sumi have against me? What had I ever done to her? Ever since landing on Kormace, she’d given me a hard time.
“Brone’s a Hunter,” Ellie intervened. “She gets whatever she wants.”
She tore the spoon right out of Sumi’s hands and filled my bowl to the brim. I glanced at Sumi, who stared right at me, but what I received was not a hateful glare. Instead, she smiled, as if she knew something I didn’t or as if she were contemplating a gruesome revenge.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said quickly.
Ellie glanced sideways at me. “Why can’t you just be thankful you have someone looking out for you?”
“Because you’re making me enemies!”
She led us to a thick tree log away from the center fire. She sat down and began shoveling egg into her mouth.
“Br… Brone,” she said, still chewing on gooey yellow bits and pieces, “you’re too soft.”
I stared at her.
“You’re a Hunter now.” She swallowed the last piece. “People should respect you and fear you.”
“I’m not a Hunter. I’m nothing like Eagle.”
I hadn’t meant to sound mopey, but the title I’d been given was beyond my physical capabilities. I felt hopeless. I stared at the grass beneath my feet, where a blue-shelled beetle hopped from blade to blade. Even he had more stealth than I did.
I couldn’t help but wonder how Eagle—our finest Archer—was doing ever since she had been wounded when the Northers attacked the Village. No one had mentioned her name since. Had she died? Why hadn’t we heard about it? Would I be quickly forgotten if injured? Was I just a number?
“Eagle was—is,” Ellie corrected, “a great Hunter. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be. It takes time to shoot an arrow the way she does.”
I stood silent. Was she trying to make me feel better? It wasn’t working. I was useless to the women of the Village. I couldn’t protect them
… or feed them for that matter. Holding a bow and arrow felt so unnatural to me, so foreign.
Ellie sighed. “This isn’t about being good at what you do. It’s about knowing your worth on this island.” She leaned forward, her shoulders rounded and her fists clenched. “Or at least… pretending to know it. You have to be assertive, Brone. Weakness won’t get you anywhere.”
“You calling me weak?”
Her lips curved upward. “Well, yes,” she said, matter-of-factly.
“You’re not a citizen anymore, Brone. You’re in the wild. Learn to act like it. If someone gives you a hard time, challenge her. You’re a Hunter now, for God’s sake.” She threw her arms up and laughed. “That’s one of the most respected positions on this island. You could cut everyone’s food supply. You have leverage.”
I scoffed. “No, I couldn’t. I’m not the leader of the Hunters. I just do what I’m told.”
“You don’t have to be the one who runs shit,” she said. “You just have to make people believe that with a few spoken words, you could turn Trim against them.”
I was finally beginning to understand what she was getting at. Everything was a game. Although we functioned well together as a society, we were still human beings. We were still women who felt the need to prove our worth to be greater than another’s.
“It’s all about survival,” Ellie added, “and I won’t always be around to defend you.” I finally sat down beside her and scooped a spoonful of cold egg into my mouth.
“So what leverage do you have?” I glanced sideways at her. “No offense, but you don’t seem like the fighting type. I can’t picture you beating your way up to the top.”
She raised her chin proudly toward the sky. “Pearls.”
“Pearls?” I repeated.
But she didn’t answer me. Instead, she eyed the pouch of pearls on my waist and raised both eyebrows.
The island’s currency? Did she own it?
“You could call me the bank,” she finally said.
My jaw dropped.
“You’re the one who pays all of us for doing our jobs?” I asked.
She placed her empty bowl into the grass by her feet and nodded proudly. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“That explains a lot,” I said, remembering the defeated look on Hammer’s face in the Tools tent when Ellie had caught her in a scam and the way Sumi had remained silent when Ellie filled my bowl with food.
“Which means you have even more leverage,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Not only are you a Hunter, but you’re also friends with the Village’s bank.”
I smiled—not because of the power I suddenly realized I had over other women but because she’d called me a friend. All I wanted on this island was a friend. She placed a hand over mine and squeezed it, and I felt comforted for the first time in a very long time.
CHAPTER 2
“This is soap?” I asked, rubbing the edge of my fingernail against the waxy surface.
“The finest in all of Kormace,” she said slowly. She walked around the wooden table, her slender figure swaying from side to side as she moved. She picked up the unevenly chopped brick of soap and smirked all-knowingly.
“Coconut oil, seaweed… and a few other ingredients.” She rubbed the soap’s surface with the side of her thumb. “The rest is a secret. Keeps me valuable.”
There was a certain elusive quality about her. Her pale, crooked smile made her appear all knowing, almost to the point of arrogant, yet her plant-constructed jewelry and messily braided hair gave her the appearance of simplicity and authenticity.
She dropped the soap into my hands and I pressed it underneath my nose. It smelled fresh but also earthy and somewhat salty—if salt had a smell. I’d take anything at this point. I just wanted to rid my body of its filth. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d showered.
“How much?” I asked.
“Three,” she said quickly.
I knew she was referring to pearls, the Village’s currency. I couldn’t understand how she was charging three pearls for this little bar of soap. I remembered Hammer, the butch woman from the Tools tent, and how she’d tried to scam me into spending all my pearls on a flimsy little leather pouch.
“Weakness won’t get you anywhere,” I remembered Ellie telling me.
Although it wasn’t in my nature to be assertive or confrontational, I reached into my pouch and extracted one shiny pearl.
“One,” I said, holding the single pearl out in front of me.
She eyed me carefully from top to bottom, and I became uncomfortable. I stood there, with my arm stiff out in front of me, refusing to back down.
“You’re the new girl, aren’t you? The one Murk’s assigned as an Archer among the Hunters?” She rubbed her chin with her thumb and index finger.
I nodded.
She stared at the bar of soap for a moment.
“Consider it a welcome gift,” she said.
I hesitated. Was this a game? A test? Why would someone hand over free merchandise? This had never happened to me before. I’d never had anything handed to me for free.
“Don’t overthink it, sweetheart,” she said. “I happen to have a working relationship with you Hunters… I’d like to keep it that way.”
And there it was—leverage.
She smiled. “Maybe one of these days, I’ll be in need of ingredients farther out on the island, and you’ll be the one to help me.”
“Sounds fair,” I said, realizing that our exchange was mutually beneficial.
“I’m Tegan,” she said.
“Brone.”
“You need anything else, you know where to find me.” She walked to the back of the tent and sat on a thick piece of log. Beside her were coconut shells, plants of different lengths and colors, powders, feathers, skins, and many other ingredients thrown into a pile for future creations.
I was about to leave Tegan’s tent when I realized something.
“Tegan?” I asked.
“Yes, doll?”
“Where do I clean myself?”
She smiled at me the way a teacher would her student—with patience and kindness.
“Anything on this island look like a shower to you?”
Had this been a joke? Of course not. Had I seen some magical shower, I’d have… “The waterfall?” I suddenly realized.
She nodded. “Word of advice, though… Don’t stand directly underneath it. It’ll knock you right off your feet. Most women stand at the edges or use the pool of water underneath it to bathe in.”
I thanked her and left.
When I stepped out into the Village, the first thing I noticed was the silence. There were no women arguing about fighting the Northers; there were no footsteps nearby; there was no fire at the center of the Village.
Had we been attacked? There was no sign of struggle or damage.
I rushed out through the Village’s entrance, where trees were slanted to form an arch. How could so many women disappear so quickly? I could feel my legs trembling, but I had to keep moving. Although I’d never gone to the Working Grounds alone, I knew which direction to go.
I ran over the path that had been gradually constructed through usage over the last few decades: broken branches, flattened leaves, and hardened mud. I knew this path quite well now, having travelled it several times to train as an Archer near the Working Grounds’ waterfall.
I’d been running so fast—so blindly, being led by fear and adrenaline—that I’d failed to see her running in my direction. I felt the impact of our bodies before I heard my name, “Brone!”
It was Rocket. She had both hands gripped around my arms, and she was breathing heavily, although not quite as heavily as I was. She was a runner—a true hunter. I had a lot of catching up to do, physically speaking.
“Where were you?” she asked.
My heart regained its natural pace, and I slowed my breathing.
“I… I was just buying someth
ing.” I raised the seaweed and coconut soap for her to see, only to realize my fingers’ tight grip had melted holes into it. I sighed.
“Nice.” She laughed at me, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re supposed to keep products like that in your tent and on the ground, where it’s coolest,” she said.
I stared at her as if to say, ‘How was I supposed to know that?’
“Anyways,” she said, “you can’t clean yourself now. You’re a Hunter, Brone, which means you report to Trim every day after breakfast. We train or work until suppertime. Then you get clean if you want.”
She reached for my deformed soap and placed it at the base of the nearest tree. She then covered it with several leaves and branches.
“There,” she said.
“And how am I supposed to remember where that is?” I asked.
“Monkey Brush,” she said.
“Monkey what?” I asked, shifting my attention to the trees overhead.
“Right there.” She pointed at a strangely shaped plant that resembled a snow brush, only it was vibrant red and orange.
“Did you just make up that name?” I asked.
Rocket chuckled. “No, it’s the actual name. I did a project on it in high school before I dropped out.
Always stuck with me.”
I’d been about to ask her how she’d landed herself on Kormace Island, but even I knew that interrogating a felon about their life in the real world was a faux pas. It didn’t matter what she’d done— who she’d killed—because life on Kormace wasn’t the same as life in the real world.
“Come on.” She turned around. “Trim’s waiting on you. No one makes Trim wait.”
I followed her into the Working Grounds, where I received several impatient glares from the new Battle Women who’d been forced to wait for me before beginning their training.
“You’re late,” Trim said. She threw me my bow, but I wasn’t ready for the catch and it landed in the sand.
Laughter erupted around me, and I felt like a complete klutz. How would I ever hunt an animal if I couldn’t even catch my own bow? I’d never hit my target. I suddenly remembered the blurry sight of Sunny being dragged away by the dark figure in the mask, and I couldn’t help but feel responsible. If only I’d known how to shoot… if only I’d been as good as Eagle, I might have been able to save her.
