Shortly after Kint had left, the sun had set and Nire was stuck at home helping her mother clean up the shop after Market Day. When the job was finished, it was much too dark to go out, so Nire sat out on the front porch of her home complaining about how bored she was. “I’m so bored!” She exclaimed. Just then a magnificent thought struck in her mind. “I know!” She looked extremely proud of herself, “I’ll go bother Mail!” However, as just as quickly as it had appeared in her thought, it had disappeared again. “I don’t know where he is. I can’t believe he left me behind to clean,” Nire had begun crying dramatically, but only for show, none of it was real. She didn’t really mind that Mail had left her behind because she liked how quiet the store was after it closed up. She enjoyed those moments working alongside her mother cleaning and organizing everything in the store.

“Nire!” Her mother called from inside the store.

“Yes?” Nire called back.

“I found some extra cloth that needs to be put away.”

At the request of her mother, Nire quickly ran inside and began putting her heart into her work. Quickly yet nimbly, she bent down to pick up the fabric that was laying on the ground and folded it up before placing it back on the shelf. After she was done putting away the cloth, she began to sweep. Sweeping was Nire’s favorite part of the cleaning process because she thought it was so satisfying to see all the dirt from the floor gathered up in one pile. Nire also liked to be extra with her sweeping and sweep in deep crevices where no one else would sweep. She hummed a simple tune to herself while sweeping up a big dirt pile, but as she was doing so, she heard a light clink from under the bench. Kneeling on all fours, she reached a hand under and pulled out a shiny gold locket.

“What’s this?” Nire mused. She struggled for a bit to open, but finally was able to do it. When the locket popped open, Nire saw that there were two freshly prepared photos inside. One photo was that of a beautiful woman with long, curly hair, and the other was of a baby with big round eyes.

“What’s that you’ve got there?” Nire’s mother called from the upper level of the store.

“I found a locket,” Nire started, “It must be Mr. Kint’s! He was sitting here before he left.”

“Yes, you’re probably right,” Nire’s mother replied, coming down the stairs.

“Then I must return it to him!” Nire began bolting towards the door.

“Oh, no you don’t,” her mother stood with her arms crossed between her and the door. “It’s dark out now. You know the woods outside of the village are dangerous at night. Besides, Kint said he would be back, so we’ll just wait until then.”

“But I’m sure Mr. Kint couldn’t have gone too far. I’ll just run down to the edge of the forest and come right back if I can’t find him.”

“Come now, don’t be like that,” Nire’s mother looked a little worried because she knew full well Nire would go out and do just that.

“Don’t worry, mom! I’ll be fine!” Nire walked to the door and put her hand on the handle.

Before she could turn the handle and step out into the brisk night, she heard a loud knock at the door. Nire held no expectations on what was on the other side of the door, but for some reason, her blood turned cold and a chill ran down her spine. Nire’s mother pushed her away from the door and covered it with her body, acting like a barricade. Paled with fear, her look turned serious, and speaking in a low voice she said, “Nire. I need you to escape through the back door and go find your father.”

Stricken with fear over her mother’s sudden change, Nire stood there, frozen. She had heard her mother, she knew what she was supposed to do, but her body wouldn’t move. Her chest tightened and her voice croaked, “Mom...what’s happening?” The fear and panic was apparent in her mother’s eyes as the loud knocks turned louder and more aggressive. “Please, Nire. I can’t explain this to you right now, I just need you to go.” Nire couldn’t bear to leave her mother, but she knew what she had to do. Clutching onto Kint’s locket to channel some courage into her, she steeled her resolve and turned to flee. However, as soon as Nire had turned her eyes away, she could hear the sound of the door splitting into multiple pieces. Whatever it was that was outside had made its way inside.

Frozen once again, Nire could not turn to see the owner of the malicious voice that just spoke. “How rude,” it cooed. The fear seemed to sharpen some of Nire’s senses, as the voice sounded as if it were right next to her ear. It began speaking again, “Why did you not invite your guests inside? You did hear us knocking, right?” It had said “us”. Whatever it was they were dealing with, there was more than one. “Oh, well, that doesn’t matter anymore. Look at this rare catch we landed.” It laughed crazily. “Their eyes and their hair really are such a beautiful silver.” Nire turned around at once, fear and anger becoming one. She still didn’t fully understand what was going on, but she knew that they were going to be killed, and she knew she had to protect her mother.

Nire tried her best to appear strong as she turned and faced the assailants, but the look of lunacy and hunger for destruction they had on their faces was too much for Nire to handle. Before she could speak, the man with shaggy red hair, the supposed leader of this group began to laugh hysterically. “But what’s this? A mutant?”

Nire knew this derogatory remark was towards her. It was true that she looked different compared to everyone else in the village. It was true that everyone in the village had beautiful silver eyes and silver hair except for her. Even so, Nire knew deep down that that meant nothing. Her black hair and deep purple eyes were simply her unique trait. Afterall, Nire had seen many travelers come by, but never met anyone else who shared these traits with her.

To the leader’s remark on the mutant, the band of assailants began laughing amongst each other just as hysterically. The man with the shaggy hair nodded to his group and they all took off except for the largest man who was covered in blood already. Nire gulped. She knew that blood did not belong to him. “Take care of the little mutant,” the leader said to the large man. The large man began to approach Nire. His giant frame blocked all the light that was shining from the lamp above as he casted a shadow twice his size over the young girl.

“Don’t touch her!” Nire’s mother screamed as she swung a broom at the large man. He didn’t move an inch, but the broom had snapped into two.

“Oh, sorry for ignoring you,” the leader said and turned towards Nire’s mother. “You see, I was going to play with you after we had dealt with the little mutant over there,” he moved closer and closer to Nire’s mother until his face was right in front of hers. Suddenly, with no effort at all on the man’s part, he lifted her up with one hand in a choke hold. Nire’s mother struggled as the leader cooed again. The dark circles beneath his eyes were truly a terrifying sight. “Ahhh,” he sighed in pleasure, “the red blood rushing to your face pitted against your beautiful silver hair. I can’t wait to destroy you.” A rush of anger overcame the man as he threw Nire’s mother to the ground.

“Mom!” Nire called out.

“Go, now!” Her mother shouted back in pain.

The world around Nire turned cold, dark and muffled. Soon, the time around her started to warp as well. She turned quickly and started to run towards the back exit, but the warping time slowed her down and held her back. Nire could feel a sharp blood thirst breathing down her spine. She cried aloud, begging for someone to save her mother. Begging for someone to save her village. Then, as if someone had heard her prayers, the shadow that was hunting her down had disappeared. Nire turned to look, only to see that the large man laid dead at the feet of Mail, and that a murderous intent born from fear and anger had also clouded Mail’s eyes.

“Ahhh,” the red haired man sighed in a sing-song fashion. “This boy, yes, he’s perfect. I must have your eyes,” he declared and struck a pose like that of a contortionist. He snapped his fingers, and Nire could have sworn she saw sparks fly from his finger tips as he did so.

“Nire,” Mail spoke in a low, hoarse voice, “go find father.”