Meat Family

Chapter 13

The basement

Down, down, way down

to the depths of the stairs,

lies a place so scary,

Many candles illuminated the room. A red carpet covered the entire floor, and four tapestries adorned one wall. They featured many patterns and embellishments, depicting the war.

The first tapestry showed the five kingdoms living together in peace.

The second depicted the awakening of the Beast and how it destroyed everything around it.

The next tapestry illustrated how the five rulers united their powers to defeat the Beast.

The last one showed the rebirth of the world.

There were various accounts of this story, each with its own twists and turns, but Miguel had always believed that the five rulers had indeed defeated the Beast together. They sacrificed their lives so that their descendants could live in safety, yet safety was never guaranteed. The danger still lurked in the world, traces of the Beast remained.

"You've been staring at the tapestries for a long time," said a gentle voice behind Miguel. He turned around to find Mia, a servant of Miguel and his father. They had several in their large house, the biggest in the village, located right behind the Estrella statue. The servants cleaned the house or cooked for them.

Mia had black hair tied in a tight bun and bright turquoise eyes. She wore a reddish Hanbok.

"How is Father?" Miguel asked with concern.

"He's recovering. He suffered a severe injury, but he's resting now. It will take a few days for him to be back at full strength," Mia explained the situation. "Was it really that Kani boy who did this to him?"

Miguel could vividly recall the event. A loud scream had distracted him from his work, and he ran outside, drawing the dagger he always kept under his robe. He saw his father falling to the ground, writhing in pain.

He ran as fast as he could and saw Brock towering over the old man, but he didn't look like himself. He had a wide, unnerving grin on his face, revealing unnatural, sharp teeth. His hands were covered in blood—Miguel didn't want to believe it, but Brock had attacked his father. The families had never been on good terms, but for Brock to go this far... that was completely out of character.

The brown-haired boy stood protectively in front of his father, threatening Brock with his dagger. He shouted at him to stop, and then he saw Brock's eerie grin fade as he looked at him in confusion. His face went pale as he looked at Ramón on the ground.

What had come over him?

Before Miguel could say another word, Brock ran away. Miguel shouted after him, but Brock continued to flee into the darkness as the village began to stir. However, Miguel had no time for that; he needed to save his father.

"I'm going to the Kanis to get more answers. The village is getting increasingly restless..." Miguel explained to Mia, ignoring her question.

"I wouldn't leave the village right now. Your people are already frightened enough by the Kanis. Wait a few days before setting out, so the village can calm down," Mia suggested, looking up at the young priest.

He sighed wearily. His ceremony was supposed to take place in a week—would his father be strong enough by then? He would have no problem postponing the ceremony, but the people would likely grow even more anxious about their priest's health. They might even take action against the Kanis, which mustn't happen. He had heard enough from his mother about suffering due to curses. They didn't need more problems; he needed to keep the village under control.