The Reaper's Curse

Hope Will Kill Your Heart

Lilith swallows tightly as the reaper fades into the shadows, her piercing white eyes glinting for a heartbeat before winking out, leaving her alone in the forest. She turns away quickly, the veins and velvet beneath her skin thumping against her chest, and pulls the hood of her grey cloak over her head. 

The reaper had allowed her to change out of her gown, for ease of walking, and into a cream white, silk shirt and black pants. 

Leaves and twigs and dried dirt crunch underneath her boots as she treads the small path through the dense trees leading towards the village. 

Minutes ago, she had been so sure she wanted to find out for herself what exactly is going on in these villages. Now, though, as she takes in the setting of the sun painting a river of red in the sky, the hesitation seems to be creeping back in. 

The birds are silent. The scent of something rotten lingers in the stale air. 

She pulls her cloak tighter around her body, the eeriness chilling her bones. She nears the edge of the forest up ahead, ending at where the village begins. 

It's empty, Lilith realises with dread, as she walks past the straw fences surrounding the village. The villagers are all gone. Wooden sticks and stones litter the ground in the wake of their absence. If that's what they used to fight the king's soldiers...they didn't even have a chance. 

The stench of rot and blood worms its way up her nose. The ground has been painted with splatters of red, the dirt and stones overturned by hurrying feet. A crow caws. Lilith looses a shuddering breath as she realises that the bodies of the people must have been buried already. It was a massacre. She closes her eyes for a heartbeat. 

Look away. Ignore it. 

She turns in the opposite direction and approaches one of the small stone houses. She raises her hand hesitantly to knock on the door, the sharpness of the sound followed only by silence.

The reaper had said her father is here. Yet the whole village is deserted. Was she lying? But what for?

She's about to move away when she notices a flurry of fabric in the house through the corner of her eyes. She peers through the window into the inside of the house. "Hello? Is anyone in there?!"

She grabs the door handle and pushes against the door. Locked. She sucks in a breath. 

Locked from the inside? 

"Hello?" Her voice is gentler this time as she tries to conceal her panic. "I'm not here to hurt you. Please, will you tell me what happened here? Was the king here?" 

Yet she's once again greeted with silence. Lilith lets out a frustrated shout, and her hands begin to desperately pound at the door. "You don't have to come out! Just, just tell me what happened to your village! To all the people here! Please! I need to know to be able to help you!" 

"Go away!" The outraged cry startles Lilith. It's a boy's voice. Her hands freeze.

"Are you alone? What happened to your parents?" 

"Go away," the boy repeats, his voice more feeble this time. 

"I'm sorry if I frightened you," Lilith says, writing her hands. "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to help you. I want to help you find your parents, and your friends, and the people in your village. I want to save them." She lets her words sink in. "I need your help. Will you tell me what happened?"

The door flings open, and before she can react, a body flies to the ground at her feet and hands grab desperately at her legs. She yelps, nearly tripping and falling in her attempt to leap away.