Haru's curse

-Well, you know how they say around ... There is something besides those trees on the old hill. They are ancient and cursed lands ...- Mary spoke with intonation in her voice before the small audience.

The whole house was still in the dark after the lights at Rew Mountain had gone out.

"Is it really true that on a night like this you decided to tell stories like that?" Patty grunted, looking into the younger sister's wide eyes.

-And what lives there? - Carol Ane held her breath in anticipation.

Mary smiled indulgently and winked knowingly at the child. She was an eighteen-year-old teenager. She had finished school that summer and was working in the small town of the cafeteria. There were so few opportunities to get distracted without having to save every penny to get out of Rew Mountain. She dreamed of being an actress. Loz Angeles waved like the golden dream of her expectations.

-For the love of God! Not again! Not the story of the old curse ...- Patty sighed miserably.

She hated nights like that and even more lightning and thunderstorms.

-Now! - Mary pretended not to understand and took another candle with a provocative smile.

Closing her eyes, she tilted her head and blew the air out of her parted lips with satisfaction. It did not take long for the glow of the flame on her wick to shine clearly in the gloom.

-It all starts with the arrival of witches here. Rew Mountain didn't even exist yet. Everything here was just an immense forest.

-God! She's really going to tell me again! "Patty sighed in resignation.

"And why had witches come here?" The child asked curiously.

Mary stared at Patty's gaze, making clear the attraction she felt for the girl. Patty hadn't reacted as badly as Richard after all the confusion, but still ... She feared she would lose her chances of winning the girl of her dreams.

-A long time ago, Carol Ane, very long time ago. In a small town like this, there were several crimes and disputes over land. Salem was a place dominated by the Church. Do you believe that women were submissive to men? And then on a winter day, the pastor's daughter got a strange illness. She squirmed, screamed in pain, and burned with fever.

Carol Ane looked at Mary with childish looks of admiration delighting in horror stories.

- Did they cast a spell on her?

-God, Carol Ane! - Patty complained about the sound. - Spells don't exist.

Mary widened her smile, even more, sitting on the counter by the sink and pretending to think seriously.

-Well, six more girls fell sick like that. And the doctor found nothing.

-Look, they say it was maybe an asthma attack or even epilepsy, Mary.- Patty contradicted her.

"You forgot to say that they also talked about child abuse," Mary added with a little case.

-And ... - Carol Ane in her eight years of age was haunted.

-Well, they screamed in pain, and said they were being pinched. The body burned with a fever to hallucinate ... And then panic came. As the doctor found no reason, they said that it was a supernatural evil. There was a slave in the city who told stories of witches ... She talked about legends and voodoo.

"Mary, the slave only confessed to being a witch to escape the gallows." Patty twisted the expressions on her angelic face with displeasure.

-And she confessed her crimes and pointed out others like her who used witchcraft. And so they made a great judgment. 150 people were arrested and executed killed twenty. If your neighbor glared at you, there were good chances of being accused of rudeness, Carol. So that among these innocent people there were three real witches.

-Oh!

-Right, and they managed to escape it is not known why the trial and ended up here by Rew Mountan. End of conversation.

Dear Ane grimaced in profound disgust as a summary and Mary laughed amusedly.

-It was not quite like that, and you know ... They invoked an ancestral power ... One of the guards who watch over the cells fell in love with one of those witches. He succeeded during the confusion in which they accused the head of the church to convince the women that they were dead from some disease and had to remove the alleged bodies from there before they stank. It was days of travel running away from those crazy and hysterical people as far as they could.

- Anyone wants popcorn? We can make sweet popcorn and the sodas are still cold. The light looks like it will take a long time to come back.

"And what's beyond the hill in those forests?" Carol Ane whispered to Mary when her sister finished the story.

Mary sighed thoughtfully.

-They say there's a creature, Carol Ane. Someone who lives among us. During the day you can't even know who it is. It may be your neighbor, your best friend, or even a relative. They name these things Haru. The one who walks among the shadows. And when night falls, once again his spirit is free. It roams the woods, hunting and feeding on those who violate these lands.

Carol Angel set her feet on the floor in disappointment.

"I thought you were going to say it was a werewolf or a vampire," the girl complained about her head down. - I kept a stake and some garlic heads under the bed. Did I already say that the PE teacher is a very strange guy?

Patty's sparkling eyes went to Mary.

-My father is going to kill me with this one, Mary.

Mary shook her head.

-These things are much worse, Carol Ane. They can be by your side and you don't even know. - The girl decreed with a philosophical shrug. - They like to feed on people. Imitate any voice to deceive you and then ... bye. It is too late to escape from a Haru. You may even have a chance to escape from his sharp teeth and claws or be taken to your caves to stay as food during the winter while the overwintering creature. They say that only a Haru cursed by witches goes out during the winter to hunt.

Patty crossed her arms, oblivious to all diplomacy.

-She will pee in bed and you will change and wash the sheets, Mary.- The protest was categorical as a death sentence.

Mary returned the look of ulterior motives that made Patty bite her lip in anger at herself.

The whole scandal with the perfect Miss was still choked in her throat. She was not Richard to make another scandal even worse, but she was going to demand many explanations.

-I'll make the popcorn and get more candles. - decided resolutely.- I need the flashlight to search the basement. And I don't even want to hear about Harus' stories, Mary. They do not exist. You have a very fertile mind with all this nonsense that your descendants are also founding members of Rew Mountain, you know?

----------

Jack's testimonials.

"Oh my God! Please. whatever is around here, make it go away! Make this thing go away!"

Great, Jack!

Where did you get yourself into? I think I blacked out of nowhere. I will be more careful with meals. I could have sworn it was Rick's voice calling me over there among the trees on the hill and I know that it could not be Rick at all because he was arguing with me over the phone. It doesn't change the fact that there was something there.

I try to move my legs again and I can't. Everything is dark around. I hate the darkness. And the sound of stealthy, light steps is closer than before.

Puts.

I am gonna puke. The smell is awful. A smell of death. The smell is a mixture of vomit, shit, urine, and sweat. I also don't know how long I've been like this, but the sensation of numbness in my legs is terrible. My wrists are tied. Does that mean I'm missing a few hours? Someone was already looking for me.

-Help! - I screamed loudly and swallowed the urge to vomit hard.

Damn darkness.

I can't see anything. And I don't even know if I want to see it. I need to ignore the fear in the pit of my stomach.

There were ancient legends ...

"Please, God! Make it go away! I don't want to die here. I'm afraid of the dark!"

I try to move again and I have only managed to worsen my position, lying on the ground on a pile of damp, dead leaves and something else.

They do not just leave. I can feel hard objects that hurt my body because of the uncomfortable way I am. I also don't want to know what they are.

My imagination is a thousand remembering stories from when I was just a child.

And I hear the low, faint sound of a groan. It makes me breathe with such relief that tears fill my eyes.

"Is anyone here?" I try it again.

Where was I after all?

Was that a cave? Shit! There are no caves around here. But nobody really likes to explore the oak forest with the superstition of witches who are persecuted and condemned to death.

And then I can hear it clearly with pure horror.

There are screams! There are hallucinating screams of pain and the sound of something tearing and cutting. The smell of blood is strong and sickening, reminiscent of rust.

The chill goes up my spine as I no longer have the means to deny what I hear.

The moans last very little until the inarticulate sounds are silent, giving way to new ones that are by no means human. The noise of something being torn and torn apart is replaced by something worse. Holy shit. It is that kind of sound that can be used up! Anyone can be creepy. The sound of friction made me shiver.

Rick!

I manage to close my eyes, modifying my lips to hold back the scream that threatens to escape my ghastly and insane throat.

I am totally paralyzed and it is not the ropes that I now see tying my hands and feet. It's fear. My subconscious is sending all sorts of messages from my memories, telling me what that is.

-Jack, my dear ...

Rick's voice vibrates next to me.

But the smell and the cold there terrify me, knowing it can't be him.

They imitate any voice.

Any human voice.

The bite of it can split you in half and the claws behead your head.

"Okay, I hate old legends. I hate the details even more."

Be quiet, girl. Do not move. Just be still that he can't see you, I thought to myself.

It was even too easy.

My mind was running wild giving images of the horror stories I heard at camp.

They have chapped and bloody lips, eyes deep in their sockets, long limbs, and love to store food in caves in winter when they decide to hibernate.

Shit, that wasn't a Wendigo.

It was something else.

A curse was said to have loomed over the city after one of the witches who arrived here was killed while still pregnant. They are terribly troubled and vengeful spirits. Turning her into a Haru hadn't been much better, had it?

I mentally made a list of the things that said they could kill those things. A silver ax. The hysterical laugh threatened to overwhelm me.

You don't leave the house taking one just for security, do you?

Harus were mythological creatures and cannibals.

They were devourers of the dead. They feed at night. The worst thing is that in the morning they are human, a man or a woman with a shy way and quiet personality.

Only at night, they become creatures with red eyes and sharp claws, and whitish skin.

-Jaaaackkk...

Again the voice echoes through the walls.

I was having little success in not imagining what I was lying on.

It now emitted the ticking noise of darkness. Look directly into a person's eyes and if your reflection is upside down, then you've just met a Haru.

These things can disguise both people and animals.

The way is to escape the 'tick-tick-tick' noise coming from the darkness. The lower the noise, the closer it is to you. And hungry. No one will want to become one of those.

Jack mentally swore.

Damn legends.

It was assumed that legends were not true. It was just children's stories. The story of a woman who achieved physical beauty through black magic. She makes a pact in exchange for supernatural powers and must go forty days without eating meat. Here comes the problem of the curse. A broken pact. And suddenly a sucker and a death eater.

"Please ... please go away!"