BONES~ CHAPTER FIVE

Instructions

CW: Blo0d, gor3, d3ath, murde3r, child abus3 Beneath my paws, a twig snaps. I cringe, waiting for someone to awake. No sound. I enter the elders den, ears brushing against the ivy. Shadeclaw, my first target, is fast asleep. I know from past experience she could sleep through an explosion. I quietly slit her throat. No sound, just her breathing stopping. My claws gleam a handsome scarlet in the moonlight, making me feel powerful, but I lick the gore off. Two elders left. Jumpwind and Toadgaze. I prod Toadgaze, trying to wake him up so I can torture him. "Whazzat?" Toadgaze mumbles, rolling over. I stuff my paw down his throat and rake open his belly with the other paw before he can say anything. His eyes gleam with horror, and he opens his mouth to speak. But only blood comes out. Then he falls over stiffly, like a frozen rabbit, and I can't hear his heartbeat when I listen to his chest. "One left," I whisper, licking my jaws. Jumpwind, our Clan's fiercest fighter before his eye was gouged out. I poke him awake, and his good eye half-opens. "Jumpwind, I wanted to show you a rock with weird markings I found," I whisper. He yawns. "Sure thing, kiddo. I could tell you a story about it when we're there." We head out of camp and walk until I spy a large, sharp rock. "This one," I mew. "Ah, I fought a battle here once," he rasps, leaning in. I sieze the chance and kick his head straight into the sharp stone. Blood sprays my face, and it's chaos. Jumpwind is yowling and kicking, and I'm jumping around waiting for him to die. Finally he keels over into a pool of his own blood. I drag him back to camp and place him in a pile with the other elders. I'll have Cloudgaze arrange the scene. Then I move on to the nursery. Ripplepool had drowned before birthing her kits, so the only queen was Splashfrond. Thankfully, two of her kits died- one came out dead, and the other couldn't breathe properly and passed after birth. Now there's only two more kits to kill. The bracken of the den sticks in my pelt as I walk in. "Kits," I whisper, but it comes out too creepy. One kit- Marigoldkit- stretches and shakes her tail. "Yeah, Bonepaw?" Her brother Ravenkit pounces on my paw. "Can we go on an adventure? Mama won't find out!" he asks. I fake a laugh. "That's what I wanted to ask you guys! And sure, we can go explore." They cheer and we all walk out of camp again. I avoid the stone where I killed Jumpwind, and find a tall tree. At the base are sharp rocks. "Let's play hide-n-seek!" I say. "I'll count to ten in that tree up there, and you guys have to hide somewhere in this clearing!" They scramble off ad I start counting, clutching the sharp rock under my paw. Once I'm at ten, I look around. "Heh," I laugh quietly to myself, "another rule: once you're found, you die." I look down and see Ravenkit's signature white spot on his ear. He's curled in a ball at the foot of the tree, by a bush. I calculate the distance, then drop the rock straight on his head. A sickening crack, then nothing. I scent fear in the air. Marigoldkit was probably wondering what that noise was. I follow the smell to a bush. Marigoldkit crouches inside. "You win," I meow cheerfully, grabbing her by the neck and chomping down. No screech, so I didn't miss. Then I hear footsteps. Crap, a cat from my clan, coming to check on us! I race toward the camp, then find a perfect scene set up by Cloudgaze, in front of the stone where I crushed Jumpwind's skull. It looks just like another fox attacked. I feel Cloudgaze wrapping around me, and a moment later, I look down and feel scratches all over me. I then lay down beside another body and wait for the cat to come. "What the? No, no!" It's Otterswish, the deputy. She prods my shoulder. "There's no way...Bonepaw! Another fox? And you survived again?" I weakly turn to face her. "Fox cub..." I groan. "It only grazed my shoulder, thankfully." Then I stand up and will tears to come. "I couldn't believe it. It was at the same time, too. I think ColdClan or LightClan is plotting something against us..." I fake-cough and see the deputy's face harden. "This is definitely LightClan's doing. They're the only Clan to use lures." I limp toward the bodies. "Jumpwind hit his head when the fox charged him. I blacked..out after the fox attacked me...and then it killed everyone else..." Otterswish hisses in anger. "They'll pay for this. I'm glad you survived again, Bonepaw. But third time's the charm, y'know." Then she bursts out laughing. I'm actually confused by this. "Why are you laughing?" I ask, not faking my confusion. She just stares blankly at me. "Dark humor is how I cope with tragedy." She flicks her tail toward Jumpwind. "That's my uncle there. Heh, my family's always been doomed." She stifles another laugh and turns back to me. "I'll get you cleaned up and we'll report this to Heronstar." As we walk to camp, I smile. I pulled it off again.