If you ever see a person with a scar on their neck, stay away from them. We call them Xellffai. They serve the tyrant king. If you make any trouble they will come after you and take you back to the palace, never to be seen again. At least, not as yourself.
I've seen people be dragged from their homes on suspicion of trying to escape the country or kill the king. Only months later do they return but they return with the same scar on their necks as the Xellffai. At first sight, they seem fine, maybe just tired, but after a while you start to notice the small changes. And that's when you realize that they are no longer themselves. They've become one of them.
There are so many conspiracies on what happens at the castle when you're taken there and what the scars are. Some say that they torture citizens and brainwash them into staying and being loyal, others say witchcraft, but I don't know what to believe. Does it really matter?
One day I was walking home from the store and passed a small child crying and scratching her arms. She was alone and dressed in rags. I had to stop and see if she was ok. We were in this hell together, the least I could do is make her feel a little safe.
"Hey, are you ok?" I ask in a whisper, squatting down beside her. She kept mumbling to herself and continued to scratch her arms. I noticed her arms were a little bloody.
"Hey, you're bleeding." She didn't respond or acknowledge me. I looked around to see if there was an adult nearby that may have been her parent. No one, except a few Xellffai. I grabbed her arm and took her back to my home.
I set down the loaf of bread I just bought and pulled the small child by the arm to follow me.
I undressed her and had her sit in the bath.
"I'll wash your clothes." I say.
It took a while but I finally got the clothes clean. I went to check on the girl and saw she sat absentmindedly in the tub. I sigh.
"You were supposed to clean yourself." I pull up my sleeves and grab a small bucket and throw water on her hair. I tried to talk to her while I washed her but she didn't respond. It wasn't until I started scrubbing the dirt and blood off her arms that I noticed the scar on her neck.
I threw myself back, dropping the cloth and the bucket of water. It was a little startled at the loud noise but didn't make any attempt to move. I had no idea what I was going to do. It didn't seem like it could hurt me but, then again, I didn't know anything about the Xellffai except for what I saw and the rumors.
I didn't have a weapon to protect myself but maybe, if anything happens, I could choke or drown it.
I carefully approached it and quickly wrapped my hands around its neck. It started panicking and thrashing around in the tub.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" It let out a gut-wrenching scream, almost sounding like a plea for its life. I started getting more scared and I just wanted to get it over with so I started pushing it's head under the water.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I repeated. I wasn't. Not to this thing, but to myself.
It hit my in the face as it flailed around and knocked me back. It took this chance to jump out of the tub and run out of the room. I chased after it hoping to finish what I started, or, in the very least, chase it away.
I cautiously followed the trail of water on the floor. In front of the door to the broom closet was a small puddle of water, then a trail that lead to the next door. I turned the knob but the door was locked.
"I don't have time to grab the key!" I mumble angrily to myself. I began throwing my body against it in hopes of breaking the door down. The second I first hit the door, it screamed. If it keeps screaming, I'm sure more of its kind will come. I contemplated on giving up and just waiting it out, but I didn't want that thing in my house anymore. I was convinced that something bad would happen if it stayed so I continued to throw myself at the door until it opened.
I lost my footing as the door swung open and fell to the ground. I was able to see it crouched in the corner between the bed and the wall. Then I heard the most bizarre thing. I've never heard anything like it.
"Mommy," it mumbled and cried, "mommy help me. Daddy, where are you?"
I have never heard Xellffai express emotion like this, especially not cry. A sudden interest took over the fear I had. I started crawling towards it, making sure I don't get too close.
"Hey," I said softly as I stretched my arm out, "I'm sorry about earlier. I thought you were one of them." It pushed itself further into the wall to avoid my touch. "If you don't dry up, you'll get sick." It still sobbed silently, ignoring everything I was saying.
"Are you hungry? I don't have much, but I'm sure there's enough for the both of us." Again, I was ignored. I stood up and walked to the broken door. "I'll be right back."
I came back with a towel, its clothes I washed, and part of the bread I had just bought. I laid it the towel and clothes on the bed for it to dress itself. I then went across the room and sat on the floor with the bread in front of me.
"Dry up and I'll give you food." I said as I broke a piece of bread and ate it. I exaggerated my movements, making the bread seem more delicious that it actually was hoping it would encourage it to dress.
"You have a name?" No response. It just stared at the bread. "My name is Karter. Kar-ter!"
This is so I have for this short story 😅 It was based off a dream I had but I can't remember how my dream ended
