Fallen Stars

Chapter 4

KLAIRE

It wasn't still night, I could tell. The colours of the horizon are divided in half; one is dark blue while the other half, being closer to the sun, has a fading orange hue. Clouds are losing the shimmer that the sun has given them. Birds of the sky sang for the approaching nightfall, flocking in the sky as they tried to find shelter in the woods.

While all of it, I haven't slept, feeling a slight headache and drowsiness. I am spending the time to prepare another concoction for my offering on The Reprisal Day. I have more reasons to keep myself awake than to sleep for I am resolved to claim this man's life. No one will suspect of it by the time I walk with mortals under their leisure house of beers, I have planned.

A trap of clipped fingernails dipped in urine with a smell attracted the rats running around the house. A few of the rats were still sniffing it off there at the edge of the room while I held this bloody rat with a slashed neck in my hand that I recently caught from the swarm. Adding the blood of the rodent in the brewing pot, I held the critter right above the pot, letting it drip its juices. Blood was flowing from my hands, trickling into the liquid.

I thoroughly mixed the concoction in the pot as the rat bled on top of it. Scooping a small amount with the dipper, I took a sip. My eyesight flashed. The corners of the dim room that were difficult to see became brighter and visible but the flashes stopped as soon as I blinked my eyes. It is the spell of night vision. The spell's still impotent and weak. It wasn't as strong as I thought.

Returning to hang the dipper on the side of the pot, I held the rat with both hands. I squeezed it forcefully, attempting to empty the rat. Squeezing stronger each second, as soon as blood stopped flowing I threw to the ground. What looked like a rag of fur and blood, has its pathetic mouth open, revealing its two long teeth. Still unsatisfied, I took another rat licking the nail clippings and held it on the neck, squealing, and did the same to it. I slashed the heck with a dagger in my pocket held it above the pot and squeezed to empty its blood. It was irritating because the amount of blood it had was very little and I threw it as soon as the blood stopped dripping.

I mixed again as I threw the clanging dagger to the table nearby. The colour of the mixture was grey and murky from being green. Thick rodent blood floated on top making me stir again.

When I felt it was enough, I stopped and took a sip from the dipper and I felt goosebumps that dispersed throughout my arms as the mixture went down my throat. Finally, I felt relief that it was working well. At that moment, I looked up, staring at the timberwork of the house, and observed the remaining mice that didn't want to go near the nail clippings. The enhanced eyesight went away as soon as a moment had passed. I blinked in reflex, somehow expecting more of it.

"Good," I remarked before going to the shelves taking the cyan-colored berries inside one of the open jars and returning to the pot while crushing it in my hands and throwing the berries on the pot as soon as the pot was near. The rodents' blood stopped clotting and began to disperse and sink into the concoction. I mixed again, observing the streaks of lines of the berries and blood, struggling to fuse. I took a couple of dippers of the potion and placed it in my little flask to reserve for another time. I went to the basement, which I considered my storage room, entering on steep and narrow stairs.

As soon as I stepped inside the room I heard loud banging outside. The banging gets louder each time. Someone was slamming their fist against the wooden door of my house. I got curious about the loud sounds scanning the storage basement for a specific type of flask. As soon as I saw its label I grabbed it and started gulping it loudly.

By the time the bottle was empty, a cold feeling rushed throughout my body as my iris expanded and my vision flashed. After a while, I could see the scattered roots of trees around the house and the woods. I looked through the walls and saw people in brown coats kicking over my bunker's entrance. Like a bright light, the supervision makes it appear like the sun is up in the sky, straight noon.