Scarlet, the color of blood, is all I can see; the walls, the floor, everything. I’m drowning in the color. Shapes dart past me, concealing themselves beneath the floorboards, and in the walls. I stumble blindly through the room, faces and bodies blurring into darkness and shadow. A single thought fills my mind, infusing my heart with deep terror and dread: Hide. Hide or they will kill you. They have already started searching. I have a brief moment of clarity, like waking from a dream. I press my hands along the wall, feeling for the smallest sliver of a crack. There. The carpet which covers every surface is torn slightly, in a perfectly straight line leading both upwards and downwards. I dig my nails into the slit in the fabric, carefully pulling the nearly invisible door out. The shuffling of footsteps dwindles as the cloaked children find places of their own. Stepping warily into the blackness, I gingerly replace the door in it’s original position. I can hear a siren wail faintly, warning everyone to stay inside until the hunt is over. Wrapping my burgundy cloak tightly around myself, I imagine the others like me, curled up in the walls or under the floor, hoping that this place will be enough to keep them alive until it ends.

The sky is dark, almost black, and the chill seeps into my bones, the wind whipping my hair across my face. Ruby figures spread out in every direction, darting into the undergrowth, escaping into the cover of night, where we can safely make it home. A wolf howls hauntingly from the woods ahead, and several of the younger ones cower at the sound. I give a soft sigh, and begin forming a group of those heading into the general direction of my house. A boy of about my age is doing the same a bit further away. I keep my bow over my shoulder so I don’t frighten any of the kids, but my right hand hovers above my quiver of arrows, ready to shoot. Most of the very smallest ones have probably barely left their houses, much less venture into the woods. Lucky for us all, the moon is bright and full, and it’s ivory glow casts light through the trees. Even without the moon, I could find my way home, but the little ones would be terrified out of their minds, and some might have stumbled off in the dark. I can see the panic in their eyes change to relief when we emerge from under the canopy of trees, and set foot on a small dirt path. The wolves are out of hearing distance; the clumsy feet of the children, and occasional shrieks of fear, must have scared them off. Turning around to face my group, I assign the two oldest kids next to me groups of three little ones. They dart off in different directions along the path, and I motion for my group of five to head straight onwards. I didn’t give them weapons, but we’re close enough that they won’t need them. Knowing that all of us live on the very edge of the town, I circle around the boundary instead of leading my group directly through the center. Slowly, I take each of them to their houses, until I am the only one left. My house is the farthest from the town, and in order to get there I have to veer off, running back towards the woods. I run, not having to worry about anyone else, because I know that my mom is waiting anxiously, pacing back and forth, ignoring the outstretched hands of my little sister Lacey in her panic. In the distance I catch sight of my house; it’s small, made out of stone and sits justs in front of the treeline. All except one of the windows are dark, thankfully my mother must have remembered to put Lacey to sleep. Last time she forgot and I found Lacey crying on the sitting room floor.
The front door swings open and I hear a scream, one that can only belong to my mother, and whip around a second too late.
A dart flies into my arm, and the world begins to spin.
Stay awake, but my eyes feel heavy, and I crumple onto the ground numbly.
I whimper softly, this is it. They found me.
And then I blackout.