Sacred

Mr. Brown was sitting on the grass next to Mrs. Brown, reading his morning newspaper, pushing his glasses back now and then. His wife was drinking her coffee while reading the last crime novel of her favorite author. They were both calm and happy, and they remained as such even when Bobby came running, crying and screaming, explaining what happened to his sister. Mrs. Brown gave Mr. Brown a condescending look. Mr. Brown sighed and put his hands on Bobby's shoulders.

"Remember our last discussion about Laura? What we talked about back then? "

Bobby had no idea what his father meant by that. He continued sobbing and yelling about his sister, and whatever was the thing they encountered.

"Bobby, please. Calm down, try to remember. What have I told you about Laura?" Mr. Brown was now looking him right in the eye. Mrs. Brown continued reading her book.

"You-you told me that…That Laura is…" Bobby tried hard to remember, but the incident he had just witnessed could not let him focus. His father sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Bobby, your sister will be fine. Don't worry. Sit right next to me; have something to eat." He pushed him down gently, and Bobby sat on the grass. He felt disoriented.

His father gave him a piece of chocolate cake from which Bobby took a bite off, staring blankly on the ground. His mother put her book down and placed her arm at Bobby's back. She started humming a lullaby, the same one Bobby was sleeping to when he was a baby. Mrs. Brown began rocking him slowly, back and forth, as if she was putting him to sleep. Bobby closed his eyes and felt the world disappearing.

-

I pull the girl's body down with wicked joy. Her dismembered body parts drip body fluids on my mouth, and I drink them with gluttony. Her life essence feels like I'm entering a stage of katharsis. My mind gains awareness, my muscles strengthen, and my hunger grows wild. I drop the dead body on my lap and blink my eyes slowly. An image starts forming. I am surprised at first, but then I remember. I go back to the days I was hunting and the benefits I was reaping from it. The girl's flesh rejuvenates my own. My vision gradually returns; I can recognize the shapes around me now. And like that, I feel ready to escape my prison. I steady my feet and pull my whole body forward. Gently first, then putting more force into it. The walls start crumbling; the part of me that is trapped in them is in excruciating pain. I put my focus on hardening my skin and then pull again, harder this time. I scream while pieces of me rip apart as the walls claim them. But even like that, I manage to break free. My vision has been almost restored by now. I take a bite from Laura's abdomen and get up, holding the rest of her remains in my arms. I want to feast on her after I reach the ground. She is my prize, my ticket out. I take a grip of the handle above my head and use it to climb to the surface. I take a moment to enjoy a deep breath of the forest's clean, fresh air. At last, I am free.

My first thought is directly connected to my years of suffering. I take a look at the hatch behind me and remember the face of the person that put me there. I don't quite remember her characteristics, only her soft voice and how she outsmarted and beat me on my own game. I do recall her name, though. Rita Ann Brown. I wonder if she is still alive. If this is the case, I have to find her. I need her to see that I am indeed alive and well before I carve her heart out and feed it to her. I take a look at Laura's body, which I drag around with me all this time. I grasp it tightly and open my mouth wide, revealing my three sets of teeth. I feel greedy; I want to take a large chunk out of her and fill my mouth with untapped innocence. I pause for a moment. I thought I saw something, but I instantly chalk it up to my recent vision restoration. It can't be that little Laura here opened her eyes for a moment, can it? I'm still baffled by what I thought I saw when something weird starts happening. As I am holding the girl's deformed body, large pieces of a liquid, smoky, black matter start appearing on her. They first fill her missing body parts and then gradually cover her whole. I pull my hands back, and Laura falls to the ground. But she doesn't stay there. The black matter-covered girl stands up slowly before my surprised eyes. It seems like she stretches her muscles for a moment, and then the steam explodes and covers my vision. I take a step back and look at her. She now stands there, entirely whole, with no missing parts, crimson stains, or bite marks. I don't know what to think of this spectacle. It doesn't look like anything I have seen before. For a moment, I wonder if all humans are able of something like that, but I quickly reject the thought. Taking a good look at the girl in front of me, I only have one crucial question. Is she a threat to me?

"I most certainly am," Laura says as if she read my thoughts. Then she makes a move. I am barely able to glance at her before she drops me on my back, pushing her hand in my chest right to her shoulder's height, managing to open a large hole on my carcass. I can feel her reaching for my heart. My arms instinctively move to attack her, but she quickly locks both of them with her tiny palm, while her other hand being deep in my chest, squeezes my life source. I don't understand what is happening, and I don't seem to have time to contemplate how it is even possible for a human to self-regenerate and be physically superior to me. Infuriated, I try to bite any part of her my mouth can reach. She brings her head close; her eyes are black as the pit I spent my last years inside. Laura opens her mouth. I can see a spark igniting, then a wave of hellish flames purring through her eating hole right on my face. I start burning, my eye sockets melt, the flames devour my face and reform it into charcoal, while bursts into Laura's hand. My screams briefly resound throughout the forest, scaring animals back to their nests as my blood waters the very soil I swore to escape.

-

Mr. and Mrs. Brown look at each other meaningfully as they heard a not-so-distant scream filling the air. Mrs. Brown caresses Bobby's head lovingly. She closes in and whispers to his ear.

"Wake up, Robert. Your sister is coming back."