Thud, crack, thud.
A festival of people who turned away from reason, morality, and ethics was unfolding.
Like torches consuming oil, madness swallowed people, performing a horrific dance fueled by it.
Sharp stones, rotten wood, rusty iron.
Objects sufficient to injure people flew through the air, crashing into a child.
“…Aagh!!…Ah, ahh!!”
“—You insane bastards!!! Stop it, stop it already!!!!”
Without even the ability to defend herself, Alice just took it all.
Unable to stand by and watch, I blurted out crude words I had never dared to utter before.
Over there, the child who was rubbing nonexistent hands together in plea, what exactly did she do wrong?
Crouched down, with no thought of rebelling or even fleeing, that child is being wounded; did she commit some sin?
That child, shedding tears and calling my name with desperation—does she really seem like the cruel witch you all speak of?
I felt the rope tautly binding my numb limbs, tightening even further with every movement.
But my story never reached them.
They merely continued their actions, mocking me as if to say, “Look at her.”
Even though I was looking at everything from the front, unable to untie my thin bonds, all I could do was scream.
“Onni……”
“…Ah…ahh….!!”
Squawk.
No matter how much I reached out, my hands pressed down behind me never touched the child.
I, the one who couldn’t extend a helping hand to the child suffering, shouldering sins I did not commit—was the most miserable existence of all.
Yet, I could not look away from that scene.
Because this was my sin.
“It’s my fault!! It’s all because of me, so stop it!! I’d rather—!!?”
“—Sorry, Hahn.”
Torn cloth entered through my open mouth.
The white stiff something was a part of the long-torn clothes that Alice had been wearing while lying on the floor.
Even as I struggled to spit it out, Rumi’s relentless grip easily suppressed my resistance and successfully shoved it into my mouth.
With that very hand that had captured Alice, the same hand that had torn her clothes, she once again silenced me.
To prevent Alice’s innocence from being proven.
To keep me from even being able to apologize to the child about this situation.
So that I would allow Alice to be sacrificed to survive.
“But you have to live….”
“—, —!!!”
“…..I’m sorry.”
Rumi’s trembling hand gently stroked my head.
It was a small comfort, but none of her words or deeds could soothe my heart.
I hadn’t intended it at all, but I didn’t want this even a tiny bit; all of this spectacle was ultimately of my own making.
Rumi, committing such atrocious acts.
Alice, taking on all the sins.
All of it, completely.
I merely howled like a beast with my mouth bound.
My hands were tightly tied without touching anything, and though I couldn’t even pray with the cloth filling my mouth, still, I desperately wished my knees on the ground would reach the heavens.
Even if the target of that prayer was a devil instead of a god, it didn’t matter.
I just wanted anyone who could save the child.
If the price of that prayer was my soul, then if it could help the child suffering before my eyes, that would be enough.
So please—
Squawk, squawk—
“—You trash.”
As if answering the prayers, a gust of wind blew.
—
I don’t remember the exact date, but on a late autumn day.
The day Alice and I shared our hearts and became friends.
Leaning against a tree, I lay on my knees on fallen leaves, with Alice delightfully playing with my hair, I asked her something I was curious about.
‘Alice, why do you like the color black?’
‘Huh?’
‘…I just thought you seemed to like it when I saw you.’
The child stopped her ticklish yet pleasant touch, looked at me with a questioning expression, and I wanted her to continue but continued the conversation to hear Alice’s thoughts.
Generally speaking, black is something everyone avoids in this world.
No. It was more than just avoidance; it was a feeling bordering on hatred.
It was such a significant issue that one might even ponder whether it was survival instinct imprinted in people’s genes rather than just a problem formed by religious ‘symbols’ or ‘education.’
Even newborns, who had heard or learned nothing, would scream in fear upon seeing me with black hair and eyes.
As if instinctively feeling dread toward that color.
Is that why? Unlike Rumi, who carelessly brushed it off, I found it a bit peculiar that Alice showed a strong preference for my hair, calling it like the night sky.
I didn’t dislike it at all.
It wasn’t that I was doubting her behavior, but I purely wanted to hear why Alice thought that way.
And her answer was:
‘Because it’s the color of Elli unnie’s hair.’
It was a somewhat lackluster response, merely naming another person.
I pouted, openly displaying my sulkiness in front of a ten-year-old, which I now realize was embarrassing.
‘…Elli unnie?’
‘Yeah! Saelli unnie!! She’s my family!! Um… She told me not to tell anyone, so this is a secret… But I’ll tell you especially, Sia unnie!’
‘Huh…? What’s that?’
‘—Elli unnie has hair that’s black and super clean like Sia unnie.’
Alice’s words, claiming that everyone close to her had black hair, caught me off guard in many ways.
First was being surprised that someone with hair the same color as mine had been found.
Then I was shocked to realize that Alice, such a lovely and kind child, had only two close people, including myself.
Her protector seemed to be perhaps overly protective of her.
Though seeing Alice’s pure demeanor, it made sense.
After that, the conversation revolved around that person, ‘Saelli,’ whom I assumed to be Alice’s guardian.
Of course, every piece of information was tinged with “she told me never to tell anyone—” which was a very suspicious reply.
Thoughts of possibly trying to connect due to being from the same region dissolved, as Alice’s avoidance of people and discomfort became evident with every word.
And that day’s memories ended with just that.
It was something unrelated to me.
I definitely thought so—
Crash!
Describing the sound as the wind would not do it justice; that cry contained ominousness and intensity.
After a brief moment, a scream pierced the air, and the hot liquid drenching my face forced me to open my eyes against the raging storm, trying to grasp the situation.
But soon I realized my actions were meaningless.
Right before me stood someone who had seemingly created the current scene, someone who hadn’t been there just moments ago.
Rustle, rustle.
Black hair fluttered.
“……..”
“…….Huh?”
In that moment, I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing right in front of my eyes.
It was more believable that my eyes were broken than what was happening.
Clack, clack.
A woman before me had her mouth stuffed with some unknown chunk of flesh.
I had no idea how she made her way through the crowd to here, but she cradled the bloodied body of Alice with both hands as if it were precious.
Crunch, crunch.
A sound I desperately did not wish to understand continued ringing in my ears.
Her mouth opened and closed unnaturally, as blood from the piece of flesh oozed out and splattered everywhere, including on my face.
Thud, the swirling noise enveloped the area.
Like a piece the size of an adult male’s arm, it vanished into the depths of her mouth in mere seconds.
Not even a bone remained.
Her mouth, having achieved the impossible, closed slowly as if nothing had happened, and I trembled at that sight, feeling as though I was looking at a synthesis of reality and contradiction.
What is that?
What the hell is that?
I unconsciously felt fear as her crimson lips cracked open once more.
Surely, I was not alone in that fright; only a distant scream from whom I presumed to be the owner of the arm broke the silence of the crowd.
A beautiful sound emerged amidst the stillness, unbelievable that it came from that mouth.
“It was a mistake to trust and leave you.”
“………”
“To think you endured all that and still had hope in humans… I am truly ashamed.”
The voice was cold yet warm.
Strange, but that was the only way to describe it.
Her tone was not reminiscent of a person speaking casually after having committed such a grotesque act of biting off an arm. It was largely respectful.
But for me, that courteous tone was even more terrifying.
As if she were suppressing an explosive rage.
As if she were forcefully restraining an imminent explosion.
Of course, underlying that, the coldness and hostility embedded in her words did not falter even in the slightest compared to her previous actions.
What is she thinking right now?
Her eyes, facing the sky, seemed tightly shut, as if she refused to look at anything around her.
“Humans should be among humans… I’ve always thought that…”
“…..Who are you…?”
“—But even that, should vary from person to person.”
The beastly eyes turned towards us.
Those eyes were red, glowing like flames that would not be left behind by dying embers.
In between, something that did not look human, a vertically slit pupil was evident.
The woman, seemingly oblivious to the tribe chief’s stammering words, did not even glance that way.
Slowly, she approached.
This is a monster.
Even though I had never seen one in my life.
Though I had treated it as a mere tale until now.
Even I could tell, she was definitely, otherworldly.
“…….Ah…ahh…”
“W- witch…!”
The people who had relentlessly thrown stones just moments ago stood frozen like frogs paralyzed by a snake, unable to flee.
In stark contrast to her deadly gaze, the woman cradled Alice in her arms as if handling glassware, delicately.
Swish, swish.
The woman’s crimson tongue slithered slowly over Alice’s bloodied face.
Her movements revealed Alice’s original skin as she began to strip the blood away, while the woman’s throat quivered softly to swallow the saliva accumulating.
Faced with that sight, I felt the urge to vomit but couldn’t take my eyes away from her.
Unlike me, hair that looked as though it had condensed darkness itself.
Mysteriously glowing eyes ablaze like the sunset.
Recalling what I had heard somewhere, memories of Alice resurfaced.
“—Kill them all. Not a single one left behind, not a drop of blood spared.”
Squawk, squawk.
As the sky darkened. Like an answer, a choir of crows covered the ground.
From the thickets, unknown beasts crept closer, baring their mouths.
Saelli.
Alice’s protector.
The person Alice described as her only family.
The monster bared its fangs to everyone.
