THE LOST ONES - Short Stories

My Silent Heart

This road I walk, so long in time, sends fires through my blunted legs. I never stop. I never cry. I am something of a synthetic bride, lost amid the tainted trees, following a path no one else understood. If only anyone could ever understand. Chains dig into my wrists as the rocky road claws at my bare feet. I stare ahead, unwavering yet, as I embrace the bloodstone path. This street of curling, winding trees calls me home. And home alone.

The life around me stains my dress of bone and stone. I am nothing of a prisoner to my vest; oh, vested in me, my dearest, my pride. Yet that was all I wanted to wear, a test of liberty, an alma mater of choice. But people like me, we are but wasteful flesh. Those eyes above look down upon me, hungry and yearning. It makes me wonder how such delirious ideals can be seen as holy.

The people stay behind the road, knowing of everything yet to come, of my demise. They call it "The Beast," the creature who lives in the distant cave. She feasts on souls and thirsts for eyes. Beating hearts draw her ears from miles away. Nothing can hinder her ravenous stomach, and no one can hide from her fiery gaze. With each step I take, I imagine what it will be like, to meet her eyes. Will I catch on fire within her breath? Is this what it feels like to meet a god?

Oh, but wander onward, my forlorn trail. Nothing satisfies me more than to know my lover won't be there for me across the doorway. I was the synthetic bride, the glass dagger of woe. No one listened, and no one tried. I had one more trial yet to undergo.

A dance with The Beast.

Once a month, a sacrifice is made. Those who walk this trail are deemed inferior, destined to dust and nothing more. Our flesh and bone are tainted, so we don't belong in the ground of our home. Instead, we are sentenced to quench the thirst of a deity—a creature who could handle our venom.

Months ago, I met my lover at the lake. We shared a dance in the moonlight, surrounded by the flames of flickering fireflies. Under the lightning bugs and the shining moon, we fell in love. We dreamed of lasting forever. But he took me down and made me a slave. He told me of all the things he could do and shared with me all I would do. I was so young—I'm still so young. But if this was love, I decided, I should follow through.

My wedding day, the town prepared—a celebration our people awaited. As I donned my dress, my flowers, and my bow, I heard a scream down the sturdy hall. With my glass dagger, I turned down the way. I opened the door, and surprise fell over me when I saw my lover, the groom, with the priest's young daughter.

You see, the town chose not to believe me. They deemed me a monster. But it makes me think, how should I have handled the pain? It never mattered, as I still had plunged the glass dagger into his back. And the girl—she ran. She made way for the wilds, never to be seen again. The people called me a murderer. They wouldn't hear my tale. They accused me of jealousy, of bloodlust, of vain.

I step forward on this road of smite. Her cavern awaits me, and on this night, I belong to The Beast. The felonious are only sentenced here. And I am the synthetic bride of envy, finally here to embrace my destiny.

No judge, no jury. There was no such thing as justice. But still, I'm satisfied with the end. My door will open to the land of martyrs. And my lover, he lies six feet under in the tomb of miscreants.

I pass the fractured skulls and broken limbs leading to the cave. Nothing stirs my insides, as I'd already seen enough. The wind escapes the cavern's walls. Her breath feels warm, like a caress in the dark. I stand before The Beast's abode, and wisdom makes me feel at ease. A confrontation with Death, and the end so near, I know my stay.

Be still, my silent heart. She caught my scent from a mile away. There was never any means of being afraid, as we were destined to meet. They would say this is a meeting of vanity and wrath, but I know better.

I've always known better. And her fiery eyes were more beautiful than the stars.