The following work is fiction based on and derived from the novel Let the Right One In by John A. Linqvist and the film of the same name. The characters and basic story elements in this work were created by Mr. Linqvist. No copyright protection applies.
Hunted
The distant shimmering chorus of breeding frogs filled the damp night air as Eli strained to listen. Her exquisite hearing, now focused to its maximum, relentlessly poured information into her mind. Struggling to think calmly, she desperately sorted through the sounds, seeking the one that might determine whether she lived through this night…and ever see Oskar again. From a high perch in an old fir tree surrounded by moonlit pasture, she saw the first hints of dawn coloring the eastern horizon. She had at most 30 minutes left. Frustrated, she scrambled higher, stopping only when her weight threatened to snap the bobbing branch she clung to. She froze, letting the branch settle and listened again. Through the wall of frog song an intermittent baying could now be heard—the tracking dogs had regained her scent. Fighting an overpowering urge to flee, she remained still, hoping for a final scrap of sound to help her gauge their distance. Her shoulder throbbed in protest to the grating presence of a ragged lead pellet buried beneath her scapula. She had spent her last available burst of flight to clear the pasture, landing here hoping to break her scent trail. Now, with dawn approaching, her next move would be her last chance.
How could I have been so stupid? Everything I’ve learned to survive for over 200 years…and I pull a blunder like this because I miss Oskar and am in a hurry to see him. Now I may never see him, and I almost led them to him...almost got him caught too because I’m selfish!
A new sound snapped her back into the moment. Raising herself as high as she could from her swaying perch, she held her breath and listened, cocking her head every few seconds. What? Different sounds…from over there…and there! Her heart sank. Slumping back onto the branch, she wrapped her arms tightly around it and wept. So worried about the dogs…two search parties coming from other directions… no dogs…idiot! Suddenly, wildly swinging flashlight beams and the shouts of men shattered the dark stillness at the edge of the pasture. Be still…maybe no scent…
The searchers waited several long minutes for the noisy party of dogs and handlers to arrive, then all converged on the pasture. They paused 50 meters into the clearing. The dogs were screaming with frustration and leaping against their harnesses. It was clear they sensed something very close and the only cover now in front of them was a solitary fir tree. The handlers released their animals and in seconds they were at the base of the tree, leaping and digging their claws into the bark as they attempted to scale the trunk. Thirty men with raised firearms slowly closed in as the dogs continued their deafening cacophony. Be still now…you are the darkness…I love you Oskar!
A blinding flashlight beam played across the top of the tree. Eli shrank more tightly into the branch she clung to. “Can’t see anything but it’s up there alright. Dogs are pretty serious,” someone shouted. I miss you so much Oskar…be safe for me…if they are here then they won’t know where you are…
The dogs continued their frantic, shrieking barking. Some turned to vent their frustration on their companions, snarling and pinning them to the ground until shouting handlers waded in to drag them apart. The searchers spread out around the base of the tree and poured light into it. “I see something!” one shouted. Maybe if jumped…just flew a short distance...no, this damn shoulder is useless…I could run…it’s dark and maybe they can’t see to shoot…I can run faster than the dogs…
One of the men stood slightly apart from the rest, quietly surveying the situation. The other more excitable ones seemed to be waiting for a decision from him. Peering up at the tree through the scope of his rife, one of them shouted, “I think I can get a shot. I see something way up at the top.”
The quiet one finally spoke. “Hold your goddamn water... I want it alive.”
“After what happened in town? Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
The would-be shooter lowered his rifle slightly and shook his head, grumbling. “What the f…”
The man in charge turned to a group men standing behind him that had large bundles strapped to their backs. “Get your nets ready!” he barked. “Set ‘em up over there. Widest spread you got…this bitch is not getting away again. OK, let’s cut this mother down.”
You must live! Eli’s mind was almost completely given over to the wildness within her. A familiar pure, alert centered calmness overtook her—every nerve and muscle, her claws and fangs, every fiber of her being was ready…it was time to commence with the business of killing.
The whining roar of a chainsaw coming to life replaced the noise of the dogs. The handlers secured them on leashes and hauled them back. A burly man with the saw approached the tree and observed it for a moment, determining the best spot to notch the trunk. The tree had to fall precisely into an area now surrounded by a bank of rocket-propelled nets. Satisfied, he leveled the long bar of the saw on the trunk and leaned into it. The screaming engine slowed under the drag of the chain tearing into the massive old fir. A shower of wood chips erupted as hot steel sliced through years of slow deliberate growth, racing toward the time of the tree’s first tender year on this soil. The year Eli was born.
The tree lurched under her. The saw continued chewing into its wide base, weakening it incrementally until the great trunk began to list like the mast of a tall ship caught in a deep ocean swell. Then the noise stopped and the man fled. The work was done…the tree’s mass was now concentrated above the smoking, pitch bleeding notch inflicted by the saw. Slowly at first, then with gathering momentum, the groaning tree surrendered to gravity. With an explosive snap, the trunk let go and plummeted to earth. Eli dug her claws deeper into the branch as the ground raced up at her. Oskar, I love you!
There was an explosion of sound, branches, needles and dust, and the choking stench of burned fuel. Then came a blow that drove all of the air from Eli’s lungs. Her wounded shoulder screamed with new pain as it was repeatedly driven into the ground. The world was tumbling—the now brightly glowing horizon flipped over and over. Then another explosion rocked her dulling senses. A stinging rough Kevlar mesh slapped across her face, cutting into her aching body and pinning her to broken branches and churned ground. She tore at it with her claws, but it was stronger than anything she had ever encountered. The small openings in the mesh only stretched under her enormous power, absorbing her strength and sucking the remaining energy out of her. She pulled it to her mouth and bit into it. The fibers cut into her gums and lips, but she felt it give way. Her fangs found their way through the material and a hole began developing. Eli thrust her good arm through the hole and tried to widen it.
“It’s getting out! Let ‘em go!”
Eli had gotten her head and upper body through the mesh and was frantically pulling her legs through when the first dog reached her. She ducked and it sailed over her, landing on its back in a tangle of branches. Two more followed, slamming into her and knocking her off balance. They fell together into a splintered mass of shattered bows. One of the dogs fastened its teeth on Eli’s wounded shoulder and began shaking it mightily. The breakthrough of new pain tapped a deep reserve of furry within her and she dragged herself to her feet with the dog hanging off of her body. She thrust her free arm deep into its underside. The quivering eviscerated body dropped away just as the other animal leapt into the air. Beyond the bared teeth rushing toward her face, Eli sensed the dog’s exposed throat. She dropped low again, plunging her fangs into its neck as it passed over her. The dog’s body and head flew off on different trajectories. As she turned her attention to the next animals bearing down on her, they suddenly stopped and sank to the ground, whimpering. Then there was utter silence. Eli looked up. The remaining dogs were all flattened submissively on ground. Smoke rose from the empty rocket net canisters. The men stood with their guns lowered, slack-jawed and speechless.
At the east edge of the pasture, the sun was breaking over the trees.
To be continued.