Page 42 of Souls We Rip

The horse kicked its hind legs and galloped through the woods.

“Damned creature!” I screamed into the wind.

I did not have to make this easy on them.

With my hands up, the trees from the forest bent, their branches arching into a crown. Their long arms intertwined, their leaves shining in the starlight like diamonds.

The human bent her head, just as a branch filled with needles passed over, catching my horse on its back. The stallion galloped faster, making her jump, her braid coming undone. Her hair was blown by the horse’s speed, black strands flowing behind her.

Her crystalline laughter, carried by the wind, boiled my blood as she escaped my grasp. It made my pulse stop at how beautiful the sound was and how I wanted to silence it.

Mocking the Goat Man was no reason for her to laugh.

Not when the image of my lips silencing her rambling crossed my mind.

If for her taking a soul would be a sin, for me kissing a lesser being would be a ticket straight into my master’s blade.

I raised my hands again, and the ground rattled, roots growing from the dirt, trying to ensnare my stallion. Its hooves passed swiftly through the jarring dirt, my attempts to slow them down futile.

My next attack at delaying them was to send a flock of crows after them. Even though such birds did not roam the sky in the night, I summoned them at my behest. Dozens of them surrounded the human and my stallion, their caws deafening.

But my horse, being the finest on Earth, escaped them with incredible speed.

I stood there and watched as they became a dot in the distance, leaving me stranded.

Damn that girl and that horse!

Clever girl, nonetheless.

Walking home, I sent my skull back to the cave. I had no idea why I hadn't shown my true form to her. My human appearance would have made her relate to me in some way.

I didn’t want that.

The road back home on foot was invigorating, to say the least. I had time to think thoroughly. It took me the whole night, but as the sun crept into the sky, I had my future life planned out.

Mostly, I dreamt with my eyes open about what I would do as soon as I felt my heartbeat again. There was plenty of blood in my body. My stomach could receive food and beverages, my brain could think and analyse, and my nose could detect everything from the sweetest to the spiciest fragrances. And yet, there was no heart pumping blood.

That thing I mentioned to the wretched human, but I didn’t think she registered that piece of information.

Another piece I should have said to her was what I put in small writing at the end of the page. But since she fell into my mirage, I couldn’t. And I was tired of answering questions about my life and the gloomy world that I was a part of.

Reaching the lair I was given by my master, I saw my servant, grabbing the horse’s reins.

“Where is the human?” I demanded, my hood slipping from my head. I marched to him, my toes dipping in the dirt and burnt grass.

The boy circled the air, his eyes widening with fear. “Master, she is not here!” He dropped the pitchfork he was holding with a thump.

“What do you mean, she is not here?” I hissed, looking over and under the horse, as if she could hide there.

“I-I…” he babbled, his eyes rolling uncontrollably. Not only were his eyes acting strangely, but also his head. It turned as if he had no bones in his neck. Well, he didn’t.

Whirling around, I made the trees bend, and the ravens fall from the sky, leaving their bodies for the boy to clean.

I had to find her.

The bond of the contract wouldn’t let her leave this lair and its immediate surroundings, unbeknownst to her. She would have serious injuries, which would end her life faster than one can say Fish!

A thing that I’d written on the paper. But, being curled up in her own nightmares, she omitted it.