Two Tails, One Rotten Heart

Prologue

Once upon a time in a small dreary village there lived a normal woman and a normal man. It was a depressing day with dark clouds blocking the sun, shouts could be heard from the fisherman as they dragged their hauls away from the boats, background noise came from the town square, from mothers buying bread and eggs for their children, girls buying bright colored ribbons to make up from the color that was leached from the town. The couple watched their twin daughters play on the sand near the cliffs, the ocean crashing on the rocks as if annoyed that the hard formations wouldn't play with the sea. The mother warned the girls to not get too close or else they could fall. It's a shame adults rarely listen to their own advice.

The girls chased after each other. One in a pink dress and the other in dark purple. They continued to run all the way to the sand dunes and stopped paying mind to their parents as many children do. There was no need to look after the adults who were always so careful and never forgetful. Maybe it was a voice in the wind or the glint of something sparkling in the water that caught her attention, that caused the mother to walk closer to the cliff's edge. The father followed her closely until he was right at the edge, the wind urging him to jump.

Later people would say she pushed him. Others would say she screamed at him until he threw his body over the edge. Some would say she followed him in to make sure the deed was done.

Despite all the rumors no one else was there except the twin girls and no one believed them when they told the truth. That their mother gasped and pulled away, grabbing at her husband or that their father lost his footing and pulled their mother with him. Both of them falling into the sea. The girl's grandfather started a search. It was hours later that they saw her walk out of the ocean. Her naked body almost blue and shivering, eyes empty, and no words in her mouth.

Still no words came out when one of the village woman accused her of pushing her husband off the cliff, when others joined in and accused of her witchcraft. For how else could she survive the fall? She didn't utter one word when they tied her naked body to a stake, didn't utter one scream when they set the kindling on fire.

The woman's father begged the villagers to have pity, claiming a monster had stolen his daughter's voice. It was the Deep Ones. The ones that lived in the sea that had taken her and her husband. No one listened. No one paid attention when twin girls stepped closer to the fire. One girl had closed her eyes and covered her ears as soon as they had dragged out the stake, content with pretending she was in front of a bonfire and no was burning to death. Certainly not her mother, which made it easier to forget.

The other girl never blinked. She didn't cover her ears. She watched it all. Every minute of it. And she never forgot.