~𝘓𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳~ // 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘢 𝘹 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

- 𝕚𝕚: Prologue -

     It was cold.

      So, so cold.

      It was hard to differentiate the physical cold that coiled around your body like a deadly serpent and the cold that froze over your heart. The cold tears down your cheek were that of a different caliber, having been frozen in the frigid mountain air. The wind howled and snow drifted down gracefully, too gracefully. It completely juxtaposed the bloody scene behind you.

      Your feet stumbled through the snow, naked and numb. You fell several times, but got back to your feet almost immediately, albeit haphazardly. Your fingers and toes were red, blood stained, your hands crimson. It all hurt. Everything hurts.

      "We have to go! Come on!" You tugged on your younger sister's arm, but she was too dazed to continue running. Blood trickled down her side; her left arm was gone, and nothing but a gory stump was left.

      "Y/n... our family...." Tears brimmed in her eyes.

"I know! I know!" A sob left your throat, choking you. Your fingers shook as you gripped her good arm and pulled her onto your back. You dried your eyes, smearing her blood across your face. You turned, stumbling back into a pathetic run. The snow tried to freeze your feet to the hardened earth.

       She let you carry her, her body taut and rigid with fear. She grasped your shoulders tightly and sobbed into your neck. Her nails dug into your skin until it bled, but that wasn't a concern right now. She was only fourteen. She didn't deserve this. Does anybody?

      Your grandmother would always tell you about stories of her killing demons in some strange organization, but you had never thought them to be true. She was a senile old coot, and didn't know what she was talking about half the time. But what other explanation could there be? What kind of person could gut a family so guiltlessly, so quickly?

Its silhouette against the flickering candlelight was burned into your mind forever. Watching its nails pierce through the belly of your mother, only to draw her intestines to its mouth. Seeing its sharp teeth gnash the muscle off your father's thigh. Hearing its laughter as it slaughtered your younger siblings. The sound of its neck snapping around to face you, the gleam in its yellow eyes when it realized there was more food for its buffet, and the anger that followed when your sister bolted from the corner towards the door with you.

      You fell to the ground, your knees giving out under your tired body. Why did you decide to work today? Out of all the days you could've chosen to go into town, why now? Tears stung at your eyes, drying from the force of the bitter wind. Why could nothing be on your side right now?

      A figure loomed over your body, and you felt the weight of your younger sister vanish. You immediately got to your knees, looking around frantically for where she went.

      Under the safety of a tree, the demon, whose eyes were marked "lower one", bit down on your sisters neck. You screamed, reaching out to the demon pathetically, as you watched in horror as your last surviving family member's blood turned the snow a beautifully gruesome shade of scarlet.

      The demon payed you no mind, as you sat frozen in place, watching your sisters eyes roll back into her head, her mouth agape in a soundless scream. He spat out the chunk of flesh he took with him and threw her limp body to the side, not even bothering to eat it. It seemed to want to kill for pleasure, no longer for food.

       You got to your feet and tripped over yourself, regaining your balance and running again. It was easier to run without carrying her, but your heart ached to hold her again; the toll of her death was already taking place, settling in your heart like the snow unto the earth tonight.