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Chapter 3

I opened my eyes to the darkness, feeling a sharp pain behind my left shoulder. I stood up to reach for the water jug and catch my breath, trying to get anything to subdue this feverish ache, but my knees felt weak and I dropped to the floor on my hands and my knees. I trembled as I waited for the pain to subside, focusing on the cool surface to distract my mind.

I had been dreaming. It was hard to remember exactly what, as I was fighting to keep my stomach on the inside, but some hazy pieces echoed in my mind.

-What color is the earth?- I muttered under my breath. It was something about my dream.

A cool breeze from the window brushed gently against my body, as if cooing. I tried to stop myself from shaking and pulled a blanket onto my back. I sat in silence on the floor for a while, hesitant to go back to sleep. Outside, the moon waxed like a cake with a bite taken out. It would be a long time before sunrise.

I got up again and drank thirstily from the jug until it was empty. Water trickled down my lips and chest, mixing with the drying sweat. Perhaps a night walk would calm me down.

My path was illuminated by the sky. The dirt path was silent under my paws, rinsed by sweet dew. I slithered quietly through the village, hearing the occasional snore or restless sleeper. Dreamers, softly sleeping and wandering. Or was I the sleeper, softly wandering through my dreams? I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

And if I was a dreamer, lost wandered, perhaps I could just reach out and... wake up.

I opened my eyes.

And I was standing in the middle of the village, half-naked, my feet drenched with the morning dew. Above me, the starts twinkled and the moon waxed, almost full, like a huge grin laughing at my silly musings.

The pain on my shoulder blade had subsided, and I shivered under the cold breeze. Perhaps I should go back to sleep.

It was breakfast time at the inn. The innkeeper served me a large plate of roasted potatoes and carrots, and winked at me.

"For our honored guest" he said, twitching his whiskers.

I smiled politely and took a bite. Then I put my fork down and looked back at the young hare.

"Sorry to bother you, but would it be possible to get raw meat?"

The innkeeper moved back, flustered. "Absolutely, sorry to have presumed... I just thought..."

I shook my head and patted his arm reassuringly.

"No, you were right, this is quite a good dish. I just think today is a bit particular."

He took my plate and rushed back to the kitchen. Soon he was back carrying a generous cut of meat, cured with lemon and salt.

"I hope you approve" he smiled, expectantly.

I nodded and dug in. My claws pierced into the cut, my fangs closed on the soft meat. The juices ran down my chin. I forgot myself as I feasted. I had hungered for so long...

A wooden smack zoned me back. I had accidentally elbowed the plate off the table. I looked around me, and noticed the innkeeper and another patron staring discreetly.

"Uhm... sorry" I muttered as the blood rushed to my face. "I am not myself this morning." I could feel the heat rising to my ears.

The innkeeper picked up the plate and sat across me "I bet it is something to do with spirits, ain't it?"

I shrugged noncommittally. The reason hid in a blank spot in my mind.

"It's so nice to have you here. I thought your kind was dying out" he pressed on. "Young don't want to take the craft and the old don't want to teach it to none, yeah?"

"I suppose so."

<Let me feed>

"Lovely weather tonight, right? Gonna be a lovely cloudless night."

NO

"Yes" I muttered

<I'm so hungry>

"Not that you'd wanna be out on the roads these days, ain't safe"

BE QUIET

"Bandits?" I inquired

"All kinds out there, I s'pose. Plus I hear you oughtn't go because some legend or such."

<Just one bite, it would be so easy>

"PLEASE!" I shouted

The hare recoiled.

"Oh... right, sorry, I'm interrupting your breakfast."

"I... I'm sorry" I surrendered.

The hare got up and walked away. I wouldn't see him again.

It was night time when I came to, how long had I been in lethargy? I sprinted across the grass, keeping my face low to the ground. I could smell them nearby. A growl of anticipation surged through my throat, and its primal nature echoed in the dark. They felt me, they knew I was coming for them. There would be no safety tonight, no sound sleepers, no respite.

I prowled quietly, comfortably admiring my shape. Four limbs that mechanically to my command. Sharp claws and fangs to rip and tear. A dark shape that blended against the shadows. A light but strong body. This would do, I just needed to feed.

I spotted it, alone and afraid. Of course it feared what lurked in the dark, but it would make no difference. I was far too agile, strong and smart for it. It would not hear me, it would not see me. It would only feel fury and bone as it clamped down on its flesh and then it would feel nothing more.

I truly fed for the first time in what had seemed an eternity.

I woke up with a start, drenched in sweat. It was still dark outside. I crawled out of bed and fell on my knees to the floor; my heart pounded against my chest in dread and my vision blurred in the shadows. It had been a terrible nightmare. I sat and cried into my hands, trying to keep it together. I was shaking, still feeling a vivid shock in my spine. My fur was wet and matted with sweat, my breath was short and my body ached. I was starting to break under the strain of these nightmares.

Whatever it was that plagued this place had taken to haunting my rest, and I felt powerless to stop it. In my waking hours I couldn't even feel the spirit, and in rest I was powerless to resist its artifice. And yet for all this pain, nobody else seemed troubled. Outside, the mocking pale moon grinned at me with a luminous smile, almost a bright full face.

Next day I sat alone. I heard people chattering around me like buzzing insects, adding to my irritation. What did I care for broken fences, missing cattle, or bad weather? Damned in their ignorance, all of them! Too lost in their trivial losses and menial lives, day in and out, no better than the stock they fed.

I avoided everyone in my path, consumed by the obsession of my task. It thrummed under my skin, rattled my skull, burned my sight. Soon daylight burned out like a torch under a storm.

I fled at dark under the uncaring gaze of the night's eye. It no longer offered me sympathy or sneer, only an empty mirror that consumed eternity. I stumbled into the forest feverishly, without direction or goal. Soon I felt its presence nipping at my heels, laughing in my shadow. I tried to shake it off, but its ravenousness clung to me in a choking grasp.

I was fleeing.

I was hunting.

In the distance I smelled the scent of blood. I took chase evenly, despite of my hunger, almost thrumming in anticipation. Overhead the sky grew cold and dark as its eye closed into a deep slumber.

I spotted them in a clearing. One of them caught my eye, a white-furred hare that sparked recognition. Someone I knew, perhaps. <Worried about me, he probably followed into the woods, and got waylaid by brigands>.

For an instant I felt a pang of grief, but promptly forgot about it. I grew sharp claws and fang to rip and tear and feast at last.

<STOP IT!>

I could not be restrained. I would have what I was owed. I pounced like a torrent, and bore through their flesh. I savoured their fear and drank their screams. I crushed their bones and bathed in their blood. I snapped what was left and singed the ground.

<PLEASE, STOP!>

There was nothing left but silence. I wallowed grimly, draining slowly. This would be enough, for now. Even the sky had looked away from these acts, afraid of such viciousness. Now concluded, it diffidently uncovered back in the azure. <It was back, as I would be once more>.

I laid on the floor, shivering. I remembered. A contract paid by blood, its seal renewed in pain. My will undone by the eclipsed moon.

I would not be returning to the village, too ashamed and afraid to do so. The price of this pact weighted on me beyond others, its mark tolled my sanity.

I committed the memory to my journal, lest it be soon forgotten as many others before, and prayed I would find the end of this pilgrimage soon.

I stood on my shaking legs and walked towards the nascent dawn.

The ground was painted red.