The witch

Yuli left early the next morning, so I decided to go to the market to get some of the basic things we needed in the house.

Contrary to Yuli's belief, I was the one who does almost all the work in the house. The lazy man does nothing aside from demanding more and more from me. Generally, he makes it sound as if I have to provide everything for him.

And that pissed me off more than anything else has ever done.

"Young man, come and check my wares. What do you want?" Different merchants called out to me as I weaved my way through the active market, but I paid them no heed.

I pretended as if I was deaf to their calls. Presently, I only wanted to walk through the market before I decide on what to get.

I stepped out of the marketplace and headed into the lively streets.

There are things the house needs which don't include foodstuffs, and I—

"Kill her! Yes, kill her!"

The villagers' shouts alerted me to what was happening close by.

What's happening?

I glanced towards the corner I heard the sound from but wasn't able to make out anything but the crowd gathered around the place.

More people joined them. And like the ones before, they were chanting for the female to be killed.

"Excuse me, miss." I stopped a young maid who was rushing towards the scene with an excited expression on her face.

"What—" Immediately she turned to face me, the hostile expression that was on her face softened. "What's it, young man?" She smiled as she batted her lashes at me.

"What's happening over there?" I nodded towards the scene in front of me.

"Oh, that?" She sounded a bit disappointed.

I nodded, "Yes, that."

"Well, the villagers captured a witch who was trying to sneak into our village!" Her eyes dramatically widened. "It was thanks to the old man by the sea that we were able to catch her!"

"A witch? Were you among those who arrested her?" I frowned at her.

"No, but—"

"Thanks for the information." I grinned at her before I started for the scene, to see what was happening to me.

The crowd around the area got bigger than it was when I first heard the cry; however, I was able to weave my way through the crowd until I got to the front.

"Young man, where are you going to?" One of the females, I tried to slip past, narrowed her eyes at me.

"I'm a newcomer in the village," I said with a shrug before I slipped past her until I got to the front.

At the front, I was able to see what the ruckus was all about.

A young girl was tied to a pole, with her hands bound behind her. On her neck was a dead animal. Around where she was tied, there were woods stacked as if they wanted to light a fire.

Three men stood beside the tired female.

"Kill her!" The crowd shouted, and that seemed to please the men who were standing beside the woman.

I stood there, shell-shocked, as I watched them.

"Why do you want to kill her?" I asked one of the men who were standing close to me.

"The witches have wreaked havoc on our village. Most of our daughters have been taken by them!" The man shouted in a furious tone.

"Hmm."

His comments made little sense to me at all. For one, I wondered how possible it was for someone so young can be a—

The words froze in my throat when the female glanced up. It was as if she heard my thoughts.

Her unusual golden eyes locked with mine.

I shivered at the icy expression on her face as I took a step back.

The gods in black pyjamas.

"Run."

The female seemed to mouth towards me as her once sorrowful eyes filled with tears.

"Run."

She mouthed once more.

And when I turned around to search for who she was speaking to, I found out I was the only one looking at her.

The others were still chanting for the men around, to kill her.

"Run!"

This time around, she seemed more frantic than the last.

I pointed to myself, and she nodded.

"Run!"

She mouthed once more.

And this time, I didn't wait for her to say the words once more before I took to my heels.

I can't tell why I listened to her. And neither do I know why I'm running.

However, deep down, there was this urge to obey her.

Halfway across the market, I heard the sounds of cries before smoke went up the sky.

I instantly stopped. And instead of running away as the female told me, I started running back to the scene.

Gods.

I instantly stopped running and viewed the scene from afar.

The villagers who were standing in the front with me, and those men who were standing behind her, were all burnt, and the same was for the witch who told me to run.

"What a sad day." The other villagers stood from afar and watched the scene with tears in their eyes.

"What happened?" I asked the same woman I pushed on my way to the front.

"The witch burnt herself and those around her." She crossed her face thrice before she joined her hands, and swung them around her head.

The other villagers around did the same as they warded out the evil.

I glanced towards the scene where more than ten men were on the floor, completely and utterly burnt to the point of no recognition.

Their families stood around them as they bawled their eyes out.

My eyes immediately went to the spot I was standing on before she asked me to run.

That could have been me.

I thought as I stared at the corpse of a man, there.

It could have been me lying lifeless as the villagers cried over me.

And that made me wonder.

Why did the witch ask me to leave before she wreaked havoc?