Badblood (Badbloods, #1) [Completed, Unedited]

12. Reforged in Holy flame

Mira dreamed that she's back in Sirka village. She found herself in their cabin. The familiar smell of the flowers fills her lungs, making her smile. She was sitting down in a hard wooden chair and in front of her was a table with a jar of fresh flowers at the center. Mira recognized the flowers, it is her favorites: roses in pink, red, and white, daisies, and morning glories. They're beautiful and smells so good.

There were unwashed dishes that piled up at the sink; the flies enjoyed its feast. There's a boiling pot on the fire and white steam comes out from it. Mira guessed it's boiled potatoes. Her mother, Agatha, loved boiled potatoes and never grew tired of eating it.

There are strips and bits of rusty metal on the side near the door. It was her father's, Simon is a blacksmith. He's the one making the patrol's weapons: spears, swords, and others.

Their cabin was a mixture of the smells of flower and rust.

"Mom?" Mira called out and stood up.

She walked around and searched the rooms. There was no answer.

"Dad?" she called again and there's still no response.

Mira paused and sharpen her ears to hear the world. It was unusually quiet. She couldn't hear anything, not even her heartbeat or her breath. She couldn't hear the sound of the sun and the morning; the sound of the birds chirping in the sky, her mother's singing as she waters the flower outside, the sound of metals scraping at the blacksmith house. She couldn't hear the world.

Serra tensed, her heart kicking against her chest. Something is wrong.

She dashed towards the door and yanked it open. She stepped out and paused. Outside was a mess. Everyone were crying and running at all directions. Blood was splattering everywhere, and fresh bones scattered on the ground. The ground itself was red, full of blood like a river.
Everyone were crying yet the cries were inaudible. Tears smeared on their faces but Mira can't hear any single sound. It's like the world felt silent, muting the sound of horror.

There were blur of shadows everywhere, sending shiver to Mira's spine.

Mira found herself on the carnage and swallowed. She felt numb all over her body. She saw Agatha in the distance running towards her. Agatha's face was wrecked with horror, her eyes red and puffy from crying.
She wanted to run towards her mother but as she tried to lift her feet up, her legs won't cooperate. She was like cemented to the ground, paralyzed.

"Mom!" Mira shouts. "Mom what's going on?"

Weirdly, she heard the sound of her voice but it was all she could hear.

"Mira!" Agatha cried. She also heard her mother, but her voice was faint and low, like a whisper in a distance, barely audible. "He-..."

Agatha didn't finish the word as the shadows gather beside her and solidified: red vicious eyes, claws sharp as a knife, and long slithered body. A Reaper.

The monster bite off Agatha's head, severing it from her body. Blood poured out from her neck and fell down. Another Reaper appeared and took a bite of Agatha's stomach. The intestines and the lungs were helplessly sent flying into the air. Another Reaper appeared and then another, ripping her mother in half.

Mira watched in horror as she looked at her mother being savagely devoured by the Reapers. The Reapers feasted on Agatha like hungry dogs.

She felt tears pouring out from her eyes. "Mommmm!" she cried and helplessly reached out on her mother's bones and flesh.

A moment after, all that's left of Agatha were bones and blood scattered on the ground. The Reapers now all looked at Mira, grinning in the distance. Mira panicked and cried. She swallowed and reached to the ground, feeling the grasses beneath the earth, reaching their roots. But to her surprise, she can't feel anything as if like her connection to the plants was cut.