Never Tell

Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Poetic Sorrow

My fast had held for now, but will his now that he's with her? 

He is much older than but I sense he has taken what he wanted for centuries. He believes his past life justifies it. I disagree, but not being one to start a fight, I remain where he put me, a small church in New England. 

I just hope Emma isn't hurt with his selfishness.

I am called a monster because I am alone.  

And my eyes have red inside. 

People steer clear of Gabriel as he plays with a wooden rod in the middle of the street, few vendors give him food and the priest spits in his face. But Gabriel does not get angry; he just avoids the bristling man. 

I am pale but not sick. People around me fall, but do not get up, like father and grandmother.  

Like the farmer's daughter, who healed me after the boundary conflict only to die in another. 

Gabriel cries as he sits before his family's gravestone. The old home is beyond repair after being neglected for who know many years, it's dangerous to sleep inside so Gabriel sleeps in the drafty barn with the remaining cows and hens. He hears movement outside and hurries out to a secret route. 

Big people chase me. I used to think it was a game. 

But now it's not a game anymore, the crowd is big. 

He runs for a while, and hides in an abandoned demolished home. It is winter, so the air is cold and his breath makes small white clouds. He silently prays that the villagers are thrown off his trial. 

They are not. 

They have hot light and large forks.  

They chant the same thing: "Death to the demonic birth!" 

Gabriel runs from the angry mob, trying to avoid stones and roots in favor of his bare feet. He hears the barks and snarls of dogs and fear makes his child-like face harden in determination as he ducks into the hole of a tree. 

Soft earth beneath my feet lets me know I am still alive. 

The moon raised above my head casts little light. 

His brown hair is nearly gunmetal black and his pale skin seems to glow. His blue orbs- the red in them nearly overthrowing the blue- are met the farmer, the father of the girl who saved him. His infuriated face makes Gabriel feel dread and he hold his breath so he is not noticed. 

But I knew where to hide so no one finds me. 

Loud calls of various voices all strung together keep me running. 

He drives himself into the very spine of the tree, as he hears the snarls approach him. The dogs know he's there, and are ready to draw blood. He sniffles as he starts to cry, fear of death heavy in his mind. A dog digs himself in, savagely and lunges for him it the dark space.  

In return for giving him multiple bloody bites and a few possible broken bones in his arms, Gabriel smashes the hound's head in the tree; it is killed with a small yelp of pain as its head is cracked open. 

I fall but quickly regain my footing, I cannot stop. If I stop, I lose. 

I trip again but this time, I cannot regain my step.