Streams of tears ran down my cheeks. The memory is blurry, but I got mad when I tried to play with the other kids. They must have told their parents about my eyes.
“Hey, kid,” I turned to find Hermon entering Smith’s house. “Are you okay?” I wiped my tears, and the man placed his hand on my back. “This is a safe place to cry.”
I stood to my feet and shoved the older man away from me. “This village will never feel like a safe place for me! I was just a kid, Hermon.”
Hermon clutched his wrist with his frail, wrinkled hand. “We are sorry. If we had known, we would never have-“
“You wouldn’t have what? Beat me? Ridicule me? Left me on the streets to die? Mistreated Smith? Kill my mother? She did nothing to any of you. She was the kindest person I knew, and you killed her. Why couldn’t it be me instead?”
Hermon flinched, “The townspeople went a little crazy that day. They weren’t thinking about the possibility that their children were lying. If it weren’t for Smith-“
“I already know. You would have killed me too. Hell, if Smith weren’t so much stronger than everyone here, you would have tried to kill him for helping us.” I flung a journal at the old man. “I owe this village nothing. You better know that if someone wants to destroy this place, I’ll let them.”
“Gruff,” Smith walked into the room. He wiped his hands gently with a cloth. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do. I’d save you, Marcia, and Jonah. Everyone else can die.”
“Your mother would not have wanted that. She was a kind woman. Instead of fighting the village, she made a deal with them. Your life for hers, that was the way of the Enchantresses.” I paused; Smith’s blue eyes gleamed with a faint red tint. “Our ancestors would be ashamed of what you just said, and I believe Leah would cry.”
“Enchantress? I thought they all died.”
“Most of them did. Their sons fought for them, but they quickly fell. Very few Enchantresses got away; your mother was one of them.”
I gritted my teeth, “I still won’t forgive them. I can’t.” I pushed past Hermon, leaving the house.
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