Chapter 2
That day I could remember vividly, even though I was only five, which means it was ten years ago. I think about this memory at random times during my dragging days at this camp; usually times I’m not in the best situations, for example, right now.
“You’re a moron! You just ruined the task for everyone; can’t even follow simple rules!”
A group of boys circled around me and backed me against a tree. We were in the forest part of the camp; the trees seeming to rise up to the sky and make everything dark around us, no matter day or night. It made me feel even smaller than I already did with the boys coming closer. By the way I usually think and act, you’d think I’d be a strong, out-spoken person with a confident personality, but when it comes to others and basically reality, it’s the opposite.
I felt the sharp bark against my bare back as I pressed against a tree behind me. I tried to speak.
“I… I’m sorry; I just- just forgot-”
The large boy in front of me slapped my face so hard I collapsed against the tree, spitting blood on the dark grass. I looked up at the boy- well; I wouldn’t even call him a boy, nor all the other boys that were surrounding me. They were all around 17 or 18 years old, and I was only 15. The one who slapped me was Amok, who was one of the older leaders of the clan I was in. He had jet black hair and pale brown skin, his chest tattooed with the emblems of the camp; symbols of strong animals, weapons, and humans that seemed to dance across his body.
“FORGOT? Forgot what? Don’t tell me you forgot the rules? You were given them two days prior to prepare and perform a hundred percent, which is not what I saw from you.”
He was actually true about why I basically failed our task for everyone. Everyone had spears strapped on their back, which was what we used to complete our task, or training for today. Today, we had to be strategist, work together, and execute hunting and killing of a supernatural being called the Brokshin, which was basically a large hog and wolf hybrid that was about the size of me, which was actually pretty small for the boys. This animal could run a lot faster than a hog and wolf could, and it bore large horns above its beady eyes that were easily bigger and sharper than any of our spears, especially mine. That was one of the reasons why I failed our task.
First I read the rules on how to execute this training, but it mustn’t have stuck. The Brokshin was only inches from my face before I realized it already pinned me down with its horns. The task had to be stopped because when it drove it’s head down to hold me, it's horn pierced my right shoulder before it planted itself in the ground. My spear was also knocked out of my hands from the impact, so there was no way I could have defended myself.
I was still dizzy and held my bleeding shoulder, since the boys cornered me in the forest before they let me get treatment. My throat was also sore from screaming when the horn struck me, so my voice cracked when I tried to respond. I‘d like to say that was mainly the reason, but I was mostly scared for my life, again.
“A- Amok-larun, I swear I read the rules, I- I just froze-”
Amok scoffed and leaned over me.
“Tie him.”
Immediately my hands were yanked away from my bleeding chest and tied around the tree; stretching my wound and making my yelp. I hoped that by saying “Amok-larun,” it would have helped my predicament, since “larun” is a suffix that represents his rank and leadership in our clan, but apparently that didn’t mean anything to him at the moment.
Amok took his spear and stuck the tip into the ground between my bent legs, then began to walk away. He turned around and his green eyes glowed.
“Apparently you did not read the rules thoroughly, because freezing, was not one of them. Perform attack 5.”
I did what he told me not to do again, which was freeze, but I guess I couldn’t help it because my hands were tied and he just gave a specific command to the boys that began to close in on me. “Attack 5" was a command that of course meant to attack, but with specific requirements to fulfill the command. Only one of the attackers of the group could only use their weapon to attack (if they had one), but not enough to kill. Leaving out the “killing” part also applied to the others, but they could only use their fists and feat to attack. This particular attack was really for animals because of its level of aggressiveness, which is why it scared me when I heard Amok say that command. Also, I knew perfectly well that restraining the one being attacked was not part of the requirements. It was definitely not fair for me in this situation.
We had many forms of punishments that I have of course experienced, and was plenty familiar with what I was and was not able to do if I were the one being attacked. One was pleading before they attacked to perform something or do anything in replacement for the beating. Sometimes it worked, most of the time it didn’t.
Darkness came closer as the tall boys leaned into me. I desperately struggled against my restraints and curled my legs closer to me, feeling that my flesh was so open and vulnerable since my hands were unable to cover my body like it usually could. I shivered at darted my eyes around everyone.
“P-please; I’ll do anything-it-it’s not even fair! The restraints-!”
Before I could finish pleading a boy from behind me reached around the tree and planted the staff part of their spear horizontally against my neck, pulling my head up and restricting my speech. I began to really panic now; feeling my bare chest and legs shake.
The boy in front of me with dark olive skin and creamy white hair cracked his knuckles.
“What about the restraints? Amok commanded it. It’s an added on requirement to the attack, Mensah.”
All the boys begun to laugh as I breathed even harder and shut my eyes tight as they began to thrust their fists into any part of my they could lay their hand on since a group of seven boys took up a lot of space. The spear pulled tighter against my neck and my eyes shot open. Stars danced across my vision with the large grins and laughter of the boys that were on top of me. All that I tried to let go through my head were numbers, specifically five. Five minutes is the time they had to attack me, which seemed so short when it was for an animal, but since I’m definitely human, it seemed like forever. My vision was so blurry from blood and bruises I could barely tell they untied my hands and let me fall to the dirt ground. I gasped and tried to get up but the weight of my body broke on top of my hands. They all laughed and howled again and began to beat me for the rest of the long minutes they had.
I heard the faint voice and the word “five” and all the boys began to back away. My whole body felt wet with blood and bruised. I panted and shook; only getting on all fours before I collapsed on my side as the world went even darker.
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