Hungry is the heart

Chapter 1. The Sacrifice

Eleanor was sure the statue of the goddess Soliste was breathing. Even though the stone eyes didn't blink and there was too little wind for the moss to be moving, the woman seemed alive. Every moment Eleanors looked at the statue it seemed to have moved slightly. As if the goddess was watching them.

Eleanor knew there was no kindness in her eyes, even though she couldn't really read the expression on the stone face. It had been washed away by the elements. Nature was a hungry thing. It even ate itself when there was nothing else to feed on. But now those hungry eyes were looking at them.

Slowly Eleanor inhaled the cold spring air. She could feel the moisture that rose from the wetlands against her skin, as if little fingers crawled all over her. She felt exposed out here, and the thin, white robe did little to protect her.
Would the other feel the same way? Next to her she heard the rustling of clothing, but other than that it was so silent she could hear the water flowing, and the birds chirping. Something that wasn't normal, not this close to the factories. It felt wrong.
Wrong. The word repeated itself in her head, as a loud crack broke the silence. As if someone was moving, but Eleanor couldn't imagine someone being stupid enough to take a step.
Maybe there was a predator outside the fence. A wolf or a panther, watching the young women who had lined up hungrily. Or was it Soliste herself who was watching?
Eleanor hated the thought of Soliste staring at her shaking body. Please, take someone else, she wished. It was egoistic, but she couldn't help it. It just wasn't fair. But nature never was. If they didn't do this, their city would be swept away within minutes. Still, she allowed herself to want to live. Like every prey animal would. So she held her breath and tensed up her muscles, as if she could flee from a goddess.

The sound of footsteps came, before the voice of the priest sounded. Eleanor could feel the air moved by his dark green toga. 'Soliste, goddess of nature, we bring you a sacrifice.' His voice was like thunder. The sound echoed over the silent quay, into the swamp. A black bird that had been sitting in the brush, flew away. 'Take what is yours, so our debt is paid.'

Don't pick me.... Don't pick me... Eleanor could hear herself think again. She didn't want to die. Her life had just started. She wanted to find a partner, get married, become a mom. She wanted her tireless work in the factory to be finally seen for what it was, and rewarded. And if not she at least wanted to live, so she could take revenge by leaving.
She wanted to run, dance and experience. Her heart was hungry, and not for prey. Eleanor wanted to live.
The priest placed a stone bowl on the outstretched hands of the statue. He loosened one of the two little pouches on his belt. It was almost impressive how handy his fingers were. They effortlessly pulled a little stone out of it. He turned to face the crowd and raised it. There was an auditable gasp. Next to hear Eleanor even heard one of the other women squeak.
With widened eyes Eleanor looked up at the black stone that rested in the wrinkled palm of the man. This year there wouldn't just be one sacrifice. The goddess had laid eyes on more of them.

The priest was the only one who didn't seemed faced. Maybe it was because he had done this for years, or because he was too old to know the women dressed in white. Eleanor forgave him his egoism. If she wasn't wearing white, she would be ignorant too.
She watched as he placed the stone into the bowl. The soft ticking noise barely rose over the now whispering crowd. He closed the pouch and reached for the second one. 'Soliste, under the sign of the black beast we give you...' His fingers disappeared and pulled out a white stone. 'Renna Elsbright.'
A muffled scream broke the silence. It was at that moment that Eleanor made the mistake to move. She turned her head to the young woman who was kneeled at the end of the line. Her hair hand fine dark curls and her figure was so small that her robe covered her hands. Hands that were now pressed against the rotting wood beneath them, as if she would survive if she just held on for long enough. Her body shook as she made a high pitched screeching noise that almost sounded non-human.

Two of the priests broke free from the crowd. The wood squeaked underneath their boots as they walked towards Renna. They pushed the woman next to her aside and lifted her off the ground. 'No,' Renna screemed. She kicked with her legs, trying to fight the men off.
'The goddess has spoken,' one of them said sternly.
Eleanor averted her gaze, back to the scary statue of the woman with the antlers. Soliste indeed had spoken and she had picked a stranger. And the next person would be too. It had to be someone else. Someone who deserved it. Someone who didn't have a life to lose.
But Eleanor didn't know who did. Soliste had never taken a thief or a killer. She demanded a pure sacrifice. Someone healthy, alive and honest. Someone like her.

'Soliste, satisfy your hunger with the life of...' The hand of the priest disappeared in again in the pouch. This time it rested there for a while, waiting for a silence that didn't came. 'Eleanor Theron.'

Eleanor waited for someone to get up, but nobody rose. Only then she realised he had called out her name. She was the second sacrifice. Nausisa washed over her. She pressed her hands against the wooden ground and pressed herself upwards, looking straight into the statue's stone cold eyes. She didn't know if she should scream, cry or curse. She wanted to run, but the slippery wood underneath her feet wouldn't allow for that. Not that it would help, the wooden path led straight to a still closed gate. And a few metres behind her, the crowd waited. There was no way out.

She looked at the second set of priests that came her way. They marched over the wooden query like they were on the hunt. Eleanor bit on her lip and looked at their stern eyes, before looking at the crowd. The setting sun made it impossible to recognize faces. But she knew her two sisters were watching. Would they cry or were they grateful that her blood would buy their family free from wearing white for the next few years?
Eleanor hoped for both.

The hands of the priest grabbed both her arms and pulled her towards the statue, where the three stones rested. One black, two white. They would rest there for the rest of the year, until Soliste grew hungry once again.

The priest who had led the ceremony continued speaking, but his words slipped past Eleanor. She stood next to Soliste as if she was a second statue. In the corner of her eyes she saw Renna crying.
She could move, she tried to remind herself. She was marked for death already. None of what she did mattered now. But those thoughts felt strange. The idea that she was dying felt distant and strange. It felt not like something that would happen in the near future.
Even when she freed her arms from the priests hands, it didn't fully hit. Her moving fingers reached behind the statue until she found Renna's hand.

The woman's eyes were filled with tears as she looked over and grabbed tightly onto her hand. Together they waited for the dark reality to sink in.