By the time I realised it, we were in the thick of things as we were confronted by an armed mob of people. Armed with ordinary tools you'd find in a household, they seemed both terrified and resentful.
"What's going on?"
I asked as I stood by the girl as she gazed at them, and although I expected for her to be rather calm, however, it appeared she at least felt something from them.
"It's your doing, isn't it, you witch?"
Rather than answering my question, they asked one of their own as their gaze stayed glued to the girl beside me. In hateful eyes, they blamed her for the spiral of misfortune that affected their town.
"My crops are all dying, even my cows are all dying from in-explainable reasons!"
A few farmers made their way to the front of the crowd as they clearly had no reason to place their blame on a child in which I've seen do nothing to affect them. And for some reason, she stood there without word.
"What are you talking about? You're blaming her for your misfortune?"
I took it upon myself to talk some sense into them. For grown adults they were acting like a bunch of infants.
"What else could be the reason behind this?!"
They blamed magic and all sorts of nonsensical things that deemed believable to them. They all were fabrications to place the blame onto someone else.
"Putting the blame onto a child, you all should be ashamed of yourselves. You-"
"What do you know?!"
If it weren't afraid of them before, I was the moment I may have overstepped my boundaries as one held up a firearm.
"Calm down, there's no reason to-"
The person cocked the handle as I took it as my queue to seal my lips as I slowly shuffled in front of the girl.
"Wait a second, aren't you..."
Another person stepped out of the crowd as he appeared to have known me.
"So that's how it is... Like any insect, you'd cling to anyone, even a small girl."
"Cling..? What the hell do you mean?"
It appeared that I was involved in several cases of felony and fraud, using them as an excuse to get by as I trampled upon other people to survive. Something in which I couldn't believe; I chose not to.
"Here's an offer."
They offered me a place back in town if I stepped aside. Apparently, I was a person who'd agree to anything so long as it stood to benefit me. Whether or not it'd ruin the lives of many, if it suited me and I'd stand to gain something, I wouldn't look past it.
"..."
I took one look at her, as she looked back at me; rather unfazed by their offer, her gaze did not change. Whether or not she may be a witch; someone all powerful which can curse the lives of many, I couldn't look pass her physique of a young girl. I thought that if I, an adult couldn't stand by her, I'd be that very person that said I was. I couldn't accept that for a moment, so I chose the path where my heart lead.
"You must be sick to think I'd do that."
Whether or not I was that person, it didn't change what I had to do as I took a brief moment to tell her to escape.
"You'll-"
Even after the days I spent with her, I couldn't break her poker face; I couldn't see whether or not she hid herself behind it.
"It'll be fine, just go on."
"I, hate liars."
Perhaps she was referring to the time I was almost killed by her hands, though whether or not I was lying stands to be proven.
"Yeah, I know."
For some reason, I was confident; confident in my ability, despite not knowing of the coming future.
"..."
She left without word as the immediate sound of gunfire brought my arm out as a bullet soon pierced through it. Using that as an opportunity for some people to slip by, I distanced myself from the crowd and toss a rock at the perpetrator as another shot fired after I ducked.
"You're not going anywhere, any of you!"
Enduring the pain which throbs through my left hand, I was able able to gather enough strength to bring down one of the runners as the roots of the trees then entangled them while they squirmed against the ground.
"What the hell are you trying to prove?! You lot, go after her!"
"I said you're not getting away!"
I attempted to stop them in their tracks, however, the man with the firearm stood in my way as he was ready to fire another shot.
"I'm not sure what the hell you're thinking, but even you, can't stop this."
As his finger was on the trigger, a loud scream cried out as we both looked in that direction.
"What the hell is that?!"
A giant carnivorous looking plant stood in the way of three men; large enough to tower over them, it had a slight resemblance the mushroom I ate days ago. Tossing their weaponry at it did not stop it as it swiftly devoured one, with the other two running in the opposite direction. As one tripped, he was quickly entangled by roots and crushed to death as the other vanished.
As the plant then became preoccupied with the other stragglers, the man readies his firearm once again and demanded answers. He asked questions in which I could never give a clear answer to.
"Stop this madness already, haven't you already done enough!? Just drop the gun and leave!"
"Never! We can't always be living in fear of the Witch, not to mention, if we leave now, there truly will be nothing left!"
"What the hell are you talking about?! Don't try to blame your paranoia on a single girl!"
Witch or not, it's not as though she controlled the forest.
"We have no choice! Either we watch our town become ruin, or we stand up and rid of the Witch!"
"Still, if you just-!
Attempting to talk reason to him, he continued to cower in fear as he fired a shot which pierced through my body.
"...Y-You..."
I dropped to my knees as I placed my hand against the bullet wound against my gut. Staring at the blood which now painted both my hands, I remembered the fear of dying. I told her, I was afraid of dying, I didn't want to, because the unknown time after death frightened me.
I felt strangely warm; extremely warm as my body began to shake. For some reason, there was no pain.
"...What's g-"
Something inside erupted; something emerged out as I blacked out shortly after.
...
"Are you, awake?"
I woke up in the same room, the same sight, however, a strange metallic noise was apparent as she peered over. It felt like forever since I've last saw her as I didn't realise I was smiling.
"What happened to me..?"
My memories were hazy, however, I remembered what occurred moments before I passed out.
"...Rytelphueis."
She once again spoke of something in which I was unfamiliar with, however, I knew it was something related to what I was had.
"What's that..?"
As I caressed my gut, I felt a long jagged line against it, scars, and somewhat stitches.
"A mutation, or rather... I caused it to mutate."
"You caused-... What, why?"
I thought back to the times which I've been affected by the parasites, she made me take some rather questionable remedies. At the time, I believed they worked and there were no ill intentions, but it seemed I was wrong.
"You were, nothing but a way. A way, to see her again."
"See her? What do you mean? What did you do to me?"
She wanted to see the one who raised her in this forest, in this case, the Master of the Forest, the Witch. She was using me as a conduit for me to connect to her; towards the Underworld, it required a sacrifice, the things she has done to me and given me were working towards that.
"Then, this... This gem. It's... Hah, I see..."
"Do you... Hate, me?"
"What..?"
I believed she no longer concerned herself with me and would only grow distant, however, it appeared she felt somewhat dejected.
"I wouldn't say that, but... I feel rather betrayed. I thought of you as someone who saved me and I respect that. In the end you did save me, twice. However, your intentions... Let's just say, I'm not particularly happy about that."
"..."
"I guess, a bit of the fault's on me also. I was gullible and played to your whims."
I placed the gem down against the counter as I stepped away from her towards the door which lead out into the forest.
"...Thanks, for saving me. And since, I'm no longer fit to be a sacrifice, you see no reason for me being here, is that right?"
I waited for her to say something; anything as I turned my back to her. Perhaps it was a way for me to hear what she wanted other than that. Though, if she didn't say anything, I would've left.
"Wait... Don't..."
After moments of silence, she spoke a portion the words I wanted to hear most as I turned back to her. In her hand was a rather peculiar item which juxtaposed all others here; an intricate yet worn lighter.
"This is..?"
I took it from her hand and inspected it from one side to the other as I eventually ignited it which produced a blue flame. A fancy lighter, that much was obvious and initially that was all I thought about it. However, given her silence as I continued to examine it from all angles, I rubbed my thumb against the sides as I soon realise how familiar it all was.
As a distant memory resurfaces through frosted glass, I remembered always having the lighter in my right coat pocket, as the smell of both cigars and cigarettes engulfed a small, dim lit room as I kicked back and listened to other men bicker.
"This... is, it's mine..?"
She nodded.
"It belongs, to you."
"You're not trying to fool me or anything, right?"
I was a little on edge with the things she has done as she appeared a little sorrowful from my words.
"I. Hate, liars..."
Once again she spoke of her utter hatred towards liars, I sort of wandered what exactly caused her to be like this. I thought back to the times in which she could've lied, but I realised she was simply speaking the truth in those cases as I didn't once unravel her methods.
"You always did speak the truth... no matter how twisted it was."
"...Are you going?"
Staring into her dark pupils, they were rather vacant, however, they had a certain gloss to them.
"There's no reason for me being here, is there? I mean, you could use me for a sacrifice, however, since you told me about it, you don't intend on proceeding any further, are you?"
"...That's."
She was either always kept her words secluded and only chose to speak when it suited her, so when she was suddenly a lost for words, it was refreshing, albeit thought provoking.
"Since it appears I'm not needed anywhere I go for the reasons I prefer... I guess I'll see where the road takes me."
"You lied, so."
"Eh, I did?"
In contrast to the time I first lied to her, this was on the complete opposite end. I thought back to the times I've spoken to her as I realised that perhaps, the situation wasn't fine; I almost died after all.
"...Then, what do you suppose I do?"
Gathering the words she could say, she sheepishly looked around as she then reached out to me, pulling the hem of my shirt as she looked down.
"Stay... here, with me..."
"...Will you use me for your experiments?"
"...I can't say, that won't happen..."
Still being truthful to her words, to her own way of life, I couldn't help but think back to the girl I met those days ago.
I knelt down as I grasped her small hand.
"Then, I guess I'll be on the lookout for it."
"...Mm."
Such a small structure and yet, she bore more burdens than any child should. No matter how small her smile was, I wanted to make her feel like she's not alone.
If the world were to go on a Witch hunt, I'll be there to protect you.
That's the oath I swore from that very moment.
Comments (0)
See all