On my way to Heaven

Authors note: Everybody in this one shot is speaking Romanian, I usually use these markers <> to indicate a language switch but 1, it's not needed here. 2, I don't wanna break my fingers.

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Content Warning: Blood, Violence, & Implications of Death

"SEIZE HER!!" The blaring clamor of male and female voices resounded from behind. Teodora, a girl in her teens, fled through the forest. Her feet padded wildly against the woodland floor as her balance toppled. The sheer force and rate of her heart beat traveled down her calves, causing her stability to waver.

Nevertheless, she pushed on. Teodora secured most of the fabric of her dress in her hold to keep herself from falling. The villagers tumultuous anger seemed to draw closer with each pant that escaped the girl's mouth.

"Where can I go? Where could I run to?" From her peripherals, Teodora spotted a lengthy coppice ahead. She glimpsed back at the villagers, who were out of sight, but their torches illuminating their paths were clearer than the moon above.

She huffed and increased her speed. Her chest burned and her legs were close to giving way, but as before she continued. Teodora maintained her celerity until she reached the bushes. Instinctively, she leapt into them and buried herself further into the thicket, making sure not a bit of her cloth could be seen.

Without having much time to catch her breath, two men harboring torches and axes came near her hiding spot. As other villagers advanced, the men hovered their light among the shrubs. The slick, fresh blood that coated one of the men's shirts immediately abducted Teodora's attention, serving as a repulsive reminder of the origin of her situation.

She scratched at her arms, although they were covered in blister scars and bruises, the sensation temporarily distracted her from the vehement pulsating in her eardrums. She slowly scooted farther away, silently hoping the masses would decide she was not worth the effort.

A voice blasted from the crowd, "Where did she go?!" "I do not know!" One of the men towering over Teodora's hiding spot replied. He inspected the forest again, squinting his eyes with a glint akin to a predator seeking its prey. Finally, he expelled a sharpened breath through his nose and turned, "She has escaped."

Murmurs encapsulated the throng as they communicated their next moves. The man stepped back, "If she dares to show her face again, we will deliver the judgment she is due." A resounding noise of agreements came forth and reluctantly, the crowd retreated.

The light emitting from their torches gradually disappeared the further they went, and eventually, Teodora stood. She instantly teetered onto her face, not realizing just how frenzied her nerves were until a moment of release was granted. She was able to look at her hands, detecting the red splatter that flew from her fingers to her forearm.

Her jaw tightened as the event just minutes ago revisited her mind. Searing tears pricked her eyes as she got up again. She could not restrain her crying but muffled the sound with her hands, remaining motionless in the middle of the woods.

After a few sniffs, she wiped her face and looked around. The world was dark with only the moon and the stars to be her lantern for the night. Shifting critters were all around and Teodora quickly registered her situation, "...I... I cannot go back.. They would kill me.. They would-"

Naturally, the memories from before resurfaced and water filled the girl's eyes again. She sniveled then aggravatedly growled while rubbing her nose, "No. To hell with them. To hell with them all."

She turned toward the thicket again, this time stepping through the bushes, "...They can all rot..." A newfound fervor planted itself, and the heat only increased with each stride.

She had no direction nor a clue of where she was or where she was going. But she did know she wanted distance between her and her hunters.

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The evening descended upon the Earth below. Insects sang and the livestock that resided added their low bellows and whines to the chorus.

Teodora — now a grown yet young woman — was perched on a giant boulder while scoping the village from afar, her old home. She tightly tied her scarves around her head, bottom half of her face, and arms, keeping them stable. After adjusting her clothes, she hopped off the boulder and aimed for the village, basket in hand.

Upon reaching the entry passageway to the town, she heard vibrant chattering and saw the attire surrounding the area. A new parish had been established. Normally, Teodora would have turned and went back the way she came. The sheer sound of other humans caused an unwanted itch to cover her arms and a shiver to slither down her spine.

However, curiosity was bigger. She trekked further and peeped along the flock. There they were, priests and other clergy members she had never seen all communicating and talking to the townsfolk. A pit formed in her stomach and she swiftly returned to the woods. "No matter. I will leave it for... another day."

Atop a hilled plain, Teodora dwelled in her home, a wooden shack mixed with gravel. She peeked out of her window, gazing at the stars. She exited her home and decided to take a seat on a tree stump nearby, wanting to soak in the silence she had become accustomed to.

"Finally..." She heaved a relaxed sigh and pulled off her headwrap, letting her hair hang along her shoulders. She tilted her face to the sky and closed her eyes. A faint smile tugged at her lips as crickets cheeped in the background.

In her moment of peace, a rustle exuded from behind her. Teodora opened one eye and veered in the direction of the sound. She watched it for a second, "...Perhaps it was nothing." And slid into her tranquil state again.

Until a very human grunt surged through, then a yelp. Teodora shot to her feet, nearly tumbling onto her bottom. The racket intensified and footsteps emerged. Teodora scattered to her home and shut the door. She reeled into the wall, snatching an elongated hand-carved stake from the side, and observed through her window.