“Hey, Acanthus, how long until we can leave?” The young girl looked at her brother expectantly. “Uhhh, the small hand has only reached twelve once so we need to wait for it to hit it again.” The girl looked down dejectedly. “I don’t want to be here any longer. The baby will wake up soon as well.” Acanthus narrowed his eyes, “I don’t want to either but mummy and daddy told us to wait.” Acanthus paused for a moment, looking back up at his sister. “Hey, Sequoia, do you wonder if they’re alright?” “Of course they’re alright! They’re mummy and daddy after all! They’re super duper strong!” Both children looked at each other with smiles. Almost as if trying to convince themselves that their parents are safe. 

Throughout the hours they preoccupied their time by playing games, sleeping and trying to keep the baby calm. It wasn’t long until the children got fed up with waiting. Sequoia handed the baby over to Acanthus. “I’m gonna have a look outside and see what’s going on.” Acanthus looked back at Sequoia, his eyes opened wide with shock “What are you talking about? Mummy and daddy told us to wait!” “They won’t know. I’m only gonna take a quick peek outside. As long as you don’t tell them that I left they will never know.” As she spoke those words she reached for the wardrobe doors but as she was about to push them open she felt a hand grab onto her. “Don’t go! What if something happens to you? They put us in here and told us not to leave for a reason!” The hand that Acanthus used to grab a hold of Sequoia was shaking uncontrollably, his eyes stuck to the ground. Sequoia placed one hand on his cheek, causing him to raise his eyes to meet hers. She gave her brother a wide smile.“I’ll be fine! I’ll only open the front door and have a look. If it looks safe I’ll come back and tell you and if not I’ll bolt back in.” After a few moments of hesitation Acanthus gave a small nod. He retracted his hand and watched as his sister slowly pushed open the door, they flinched at the light that started to seep in. The baby started to wiggle in Acanthus’s arms, his sleep being disturbed by the mixture of his older siblings moving around and the sun forcing its way into the previously dark cupboard. Sequoia took a step outside and closed the door. Before she made her way out of the bedroom the window caught her eye. There was something dripping down the window. At first she believed it was just rain but soon she realised that that would have been much preferable to the sight that would welcome her. 

She took a slow walk down the stairs, almost as if trying to slow down the inevitability. Despite her confidence only moments ago, she found herself regretting her choice to leave and not listening to her brother. Each step she took her mind wandered to different scenarios; What if I get in trouble? What if I get in the way? What if I end up hurt? What if something happens to my brothers because I left? What if it turned out that mummy and daddy just wanted to leave us? What if Mummy and daddy get hurt?. It wasn’t long until she got pulled back to reality from the muffled cries of the baby. She regained her focus thinking that it would be best to be quick. Every time she took a step the stairs creaked and the sound of repetitive dripping came from outside. She continued through the house. It was strange for her as it was always so loud and so boisterous yet so calm and welcoming. At this point her brother stopped crying, and the only sounds that could be heard were the creaking floor boards, her footsteps and the tick of the clocks.  She reached the front door but before opening it she closed her eyes and took a deep breath and slowly moved her hand towards the door handle, hesitating before stealing her nerves and pulling the handle down. 

The sight in front of the young girl was not what she neither expected nor wanted to see. Every place that she held dear was either destroyed or covered in blood. The ground was covered in both human and harpy remains, there were severed limbs scattered across the village, the only thing she could hear was the sound of blood dripping from the roofs of buildings that were still intact. Everything was ruined, her memories tainted with the sea of destruction. She thinks back to what she said to her brother about how she would go back to him after she took a quick look but despite the pull she was feeling to go back, a twisted and morbid curiosity overcame her. The curiosity of if everything was in the same state, if through the whole village blood and limbs ruled, if everything she knew and loved was destroyed. It sent a strange thrill through her. She took a slow walk through the village. With the corpses of harpies becoming more frequent the temptation for her to get close to them and touch them grew larger. Her temptation, not only just to get close to them but to cut them open and see what was inside was also increasing. She turned corners and went through alleyways, wanting to see the destruction caused by these monsters. She walked through the village, looking at the miserable state of the village. The butchers shop she used to frequent crushed under the weight of a harpy, the toy shop she would always look through drenched in blood, the small food stalls that sold fruits and vegetables shattered into pieces. Her memories of these places flooded through her mind as she walked past them, almost as if her memories were alive, but despite these sights, her memories, she wasn’t fazed. She didn’t feel sadness or anger, she didn’t feel frustration or worry. She couldn’t pinpoint this emotion she was feeling. Through all of this, a small part of her did feel a tinge of guilt, a part of her wondered why she felt nothing but this new feeling, the feeling that wasn’t negative or an emotion that people would normally feel. Either way she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and continued her stroll. 

It wasn’t long until she found herself in a difficult situation. A woman, more specifically, the woman who used to sell some cheap potions, laid on the blood covered concrete. She was in a horrendous state, her right arm was broken, her left arm virtually hanging off, her legs missing, but somehow through all this, she was still hanging on, ever so slightly at the least. The woman’s breathing was so faint that anyone would assume she was dead, however Sequoia’s eyes were sharp and noticed the faint rise and fall of her chest. She wandered over to the mostly dead woman and wondered what to do. Should she put the woman out of her misery or at least attempt to save her or should she just let nature take its course? It took but a brief moment for her to make up her mind. She looked around and noticed a talon drenched in blood. She picked it up, clenching it as hard as she could and raised it above the woman. She hesitated for sometime before making up her mind. Afterall, no matter what she does the woman is bound to die. She decided to get it done quickly. In one quick stab, she lowered the talon as fast as she could, piercing the woman’s heart. The guilt the young girl pushed down grew slightly with this act. Despite knowing that what she did was the best course of action, she couldn’t help but feel disgusted. Afterall, she was not only a random woman but a woman she knew, a woman she had talked to and a woman who was always there. She sat there with the body for quite some time before she gathered herself to move forward. 

She walked on, submerged in her thought; What if I get arrested? What if she could have survived? What if her family hunts me down? Should I have just left her?. The only thing to accompany her running thoughts was the sound of her footsteps splashing in the puddles of blood and the occasional memories that came to her when she went past some building. One such building being the house of her aunt. The house stood tall, compared to the decrepit buildings alongside it. The house brought back memories for the girl. Ones of uncomfortable meals, loud barking from the dog, fake laughing and smiles. 

Her relationship with her aunt wasn’t great, it was clear that her aunt favoured her siblings over Sequoia. Her aunt always kept Sequoia at arms length but kept her brothers in tight grips, she was always happy and kind with her nephews but distant and wary around her only niece. Sequoia, looking back on it, realised that her aunt probably noticed something off with her, something unsettling. She probably noticed that deep inside her brother’s child lurked some kind of darkness. As she approached the house she noticed her aunt's body, shattered and broken. She stared at it for a small time, her face blank and unfeeling. She should have felt sad and upset about this, but perhaps from the emotional distance between them that essentially caused them to be more like strangers, or perhaps from how she started to become desensitised to these sorts of sights, she simply felt nothing, apart from a small sense of guilt. 

The guilt caused more by the thought that she didn’t feel anything rather than guilt of being alive when everyone else is dead, or guilt from the fact that she didn’t try to get to know her aunt more. Once again her guilt got pushed to the side, continuing to build up. She soon walked down a narrow and dark alley, something about it was different. It was still in the same state as everywhere else she travelled through, blood soaking the concrete and walls, limbs flung all over the place like they’re decorations, nothing was outwardly different, but for some unknowable reason, Sequoia felt uneasy. She felt something was off. She felt like eyes were following her. She thought of turning back, back to the only place that could make her feel safe again, the place where her brothers were. She spun around, the unsettled feeling still gnawing at her.  As she started to walk back home she heard a rustle coming from behind one of the still upright buildings. Against all her instincts, against all her common sense and against everything in her body screaming at her to run away, not to investigate, to just get out of there as fast as she could, she clenched her fist, bit her bottom lip and took a moment to gather herself. She marched forward, glancing around, keeping an eye out for anything that could be against her. 

When she reached the end of the alley and looked around the corner she saw a massive harpy, collapsed to the ground, its eyes flickered open, like it detected Sequoia staring at it. She ducked back around the corner, her breathing shaking, eyes open in shock and her hand covering her mouth. She collected herself and rationalised what she saw. The harpy most likely saw her, but it wasn’t approaching her, the harpy’s eyes weren’t fully open, but they were struggling to stay open. She thought about it a bit longer and decided to get a closer look. It opened its eyes once again, its eyes filled with bloodlust and hunger. Its blood-dyed feathers, its eyes pitch black, its face grey with cuts, both old and new carved into it. Wrinkles and scars covered it, showing the years it had lived, each mark having its own story. Its body was missing clumps of feathers, the exposed skin scarred and torn. However, the most obvious thing to spot was one of the wings trapped under the rubble of the collapsed building. The feeling from earlier in her adventure, the feeling that she couldn’t pinpoint, the feeling that was new to her grew exponentially. She stared into its eyes for a long while, entranced by them, despite the singular colour. There was something about them that compelled her into a sense of calmness, all her fears, anxiety, uneasiness all disappeared staring into the eyes of a bloodlust beast, it was almost magical. She slowly walked closer and closer without realising.