The Sacrifice

"No! We have to leave, far from here. C-come on, they're coming."

Dad… he is definitely scared. Oh God, his voice trembled as he said those words, and it cut through me like a blade. I could not think clearly. All that raced through my mind was stopping the blood dripping from my father's stomach. My hands were empty, but I ran to him anyway, pressing both hands against the wound, trying desperately to hold the life in him as his blood flowed like fire across my palms. Before I could even call out to my brother to help me, my father gripped my wrist tightly.

"Maive… we have to go." He said it with weary eyes, his voice strained and hurried. He was more agitated than I had ever seen, and the fear in him was contagious. I wanted to ask him about the wound in his stomach, I wanted to demand answers, but I could only think one thing. Those humans… they had done this.

I shifted my gaze to Sheon, and my heart shattered into jagged pieces. Her eyes were closed, her chest unmoving. She was perfectly still, resting in a silence that screamed she was gone. I could not bear to look at her, but I wanted to run to her, to hold her, to scream that it wasn’t her time yet. My feet would not move, frozen in the terror that gripped my entire body. Tears blurred my vision and stung my cheeks. My chest felt tight, my lungs screamed, and I realized I did not even know what to do.

Then an angry, terrifying voice tore through the haze around me. "We need to leave!" My father shouted, and it forced me out of my paralysis. I found myself gripping my brother's wrist and running. We were leaving our home, the place that had held all of our memories, all of our warmth, and yet I could not stop. Survival demanded everything.

Our father ran ahead, bleeding, each step leaving a crimson trail behind him. I wanted to reach out, to support him, to do something, but fear rooted me to the ground and forced me forward. I did not understand what had happened, but I knew that if we stayed, it would be the end.

Suddenly, footsteps pounded behind us. Screams pierced the night, angry and unrelenting. I had been bullied before, but this was nothing like that. The clanging of metal, the weight of their weapons, the menace in their voices made my stomach twist. This was no longer a scare. If my father, already gravely wounded, had a target on him, then we were being hunted for death.

"Zonen! Maive! Run faster!" my father’s voice thundered.

We ran for what felt like minutes, my heart hammering so violently that I thought it would burst from my chest. My legs shook, heavy and unsteady. "Damn!" I shouted in terror, and my foot caught a stone. I fell to my knees. Because I was holding Zonen’s wrist, he fell with me, and I saw the fear flash in my father’s eyes as he turned to look back. The pale light of the moon revealed his horror. I am so clumsy, I thought, hating myself as tears began to burn my cheeks.

Zonen scrambled to his feet, holding out his arms. "Hurry!" he urged, his voice shaky. I tried to rise, but my knees betrayed me, trembling uncontrollably. Was it from the fall or from fear? I could not tell.

"They are here!" someone shouted.

"The family of the witch is here!"

I did not realize how close they had come. Panic surged like ice through my veins.

Suddenly, my father lifted me into his arms. His hands were cold, and I felt the weight of terror and desperation in his grip. He ran again, carrying me as if I were nothing but a feather, despite the blood gushing from his own body. Zonen was close behind, trying to keep pace, but I could feel my tears falling again. I hated being a burden, hated that my father, gravely wounded, was risking everything for me. His breaths came in heavy, ragged gasps, and I could feel the tension radiating through him as we ran.

"Stop! Where do you think you are going?!" a deep voice bellowed ahead. Lamps swung in the hands of men who blocked our path. My father froze, caught between the ones in front and the ones behind. They were from our village, familiar faces twisted into malice.

"You really have the guts to run away from your sins!" one shouted.

"I have done nothing wrong. Let us leave peacefully…" Dad said, his voice trembling as much as his hands. My heart raced so violently that I thought I would collapse from the fear, from the knowledge that this could be the end.

"Why are you doing this to us?!" Zonen shouted, trying to catch his breath. Some of them laughed, a sound so cruel it made my blood run cold. The old man leading them fixed his gaze on my brother. "Take him."

I wanted to fight, to scream, to throw myself at them, but my father’s roar cut through my panic. "Don't touch my children!" he shouted, his voice filled with fury I had never heard before. He dropped me to grab Zonen, holding him tightly, shielding us both with everything he had left.

"I said, take him!" the man ordered again. My brother clutched my arm, trembling, and I felt my own terror spiral even further. We could have talked, explained ourselves, pleaded for mercy, but they had already decided our fate.

"Don't you dare lay your hands on my children!" my father growled, his breathing ragged, his body trembling with exhaustion and loss of blood. His pale skin was streaked with red, and I felt tears streaming down my face as I realized the full extent of his suffering.

"Your family ruined this village! You need to pay for everything that you have done!" they shouted, advancing.

"Zonen, don’t let go of my hand," I whispered, trying to hold onto bravery, even as tears blurred my vision. Their hands gripped my brother tightly, and panic slammed into me like a wave.

I turned to my father and froze. His body convulsed, bones twisting, muscles bulging, fur sprouting, eyes glowing with a light that burned into my soul. "D-dad?" I whispered, my voice trembling, unable to process the impossible transformation.

I fell to my knees, letting go of Zonen. My father had become something monstrous, terrifying, beyond human comprehension. His voice, deep and commanding, filled the night, shaking the ground beneath us. My heart raced uncontrollably, terror crushing me from every side. All this time… we truly were monsters.