Today was the 108th hunting games. The monsters have hosted these games since they took over. It was a series of trials that mortals would go through to see who was the strongest. The winner would loose their humanity and live among the monsters. The losers would well, perish.

My fingers scraped against the mud. 10 marbles had been hidden in the mud, whoever managed to get one moved on. There were over fifty people digging. The mud under my nails and between my fingers was unpleasant.

“I’ve got one!” Yelled a girl across the arena.

“Contestant number 761 moves on!” I couldn’t stop myself from looking at her. Would it be joy or guilt on her face. Joy. She had a bright smile as she was walked out of the arena. She was Caucasian, like me, with short brown hair. She looked to be in her early forty’s.

“You have ten minutes!” The announcer announced. Then repeating in several languages.

Shit! I had spent to much of my time watching her. I dug furiously with my hands, down, left, down, right, left, down. Nothing.

There was a shout in a language I didn’t know. I didn’t turn to look this time. Dig. Dig. Dig. Dig.

Eight minutes. Another shout. Nothing.

Six minutes. Another shout. Nothing.

Four minutes. Another shout. Nothing.

I dug my hand into the loose ground again. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. My blonde hair looked brown now as it hanged down my shoulders. What if that’s all that is findable? The monsters love toying with us. There is no rule of how deep the marble can be, just that there has to be ten. Usually the most marbles people find is eight. I clenched my teeth. I survived eight treacherous games to get here. Now I’m going to die over a stupid marble. I let out a cry as I tear my fingers into the mud. I almost miss it. The small sliver marble that lays in the mud. I let out a sob of relief.

“Two minutes!”

I look around me. Mostly middle aged people with the occasional young adult. All frantic or hopeless. I’m startled when I see a boy younger than me. He look like he’s in his preteens. He has dark skin with a fuzzy buzz cut. It’s unusual for teens, like me, to get picked. It’s even more rare for children under the age of fifteen to get picked.

I stare at the marble in my hand. Then I make a bad decision.

I crawl over to him in record speed. And hold my marble out to him. He lets out a sob and kneels to the ground. He starts talking quickly in a foreign language before noticing my confused expression.

“One minute!”

“Thank you” he says in heavy accented English. He takes the marble. I nod back to him. He stands, shouts and gets walked out of the arena eyes, watching me the whole time. I briefly smile back.

A tall handsome monster walks in. Monsters look like humans except they are much taller, with sharp nails. Unnatural strength and speed with bright hair and bright eyes. This is their favourite part. Tearing the rest of us to shreds.

“Your time is up. Better run!” He yelled.

The screaming and running starts happening all around me. I lay on my back waiting for death. It surrounds me. I’m aware of the blood that splashes on my face. Then he is above me. He looks down at me. Then his foot is moving and everything is black.

…

I awake sometime later with a pounding headache. I’m dressed in comfy robes. In a comfy bed. The reason I know this isn’t the afterlife is that the monster is staring right down at me.