NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: The Beginning
She passed out. She could hear the waves of the water. She could hear the voices of men loudly but it was muffled. Her eyes widened and she bolted up. She looked around. She was sitting in the lake. She looks terrified. The men are approaching the lake with axes and swords.
The men are near the lake but they can't seem to see her.
A day has passed. The girl didn't leave the lake. Her stomach is growling. The men are scanning the parameter but never cross the lake. People are superstitious. They claimed that the lake was cursed. And a demon is residing. They don't dare enter its territory.
They left soon after. The girl was nowhere to be found. The girl they are hired to kill cannot survive in the forest anyway. It's been days. She is only 10 years old. She would be mauled by the hungry wolves sooner or later. She was not. It was worse.
What people claim regarding the lake was true.
After the group of men with torches left, darkness came. She breathed a sigh of relief. She feels weak. She hadn't eaten anything while they were searching around. She can't risk getting out of the lake and being found if she searches for food to eat. She tried to get up but her vision was spinning around.
There was something different today. The lake feels eerie. It was quiet. The forest is too quiet. Not even the sounds of leaves. The moon is of little help to see everything.
She could feel the waves of water moving when there was no reason to. In the middle of the lake, there was something emerging. She breathed a sigh of relief. She could see the face of a human. A woman with long hair. Her eyes grow larger as it keeps emerging and it shows the body of a giant centipede with a face of a beautiful maiden with long hair.
"How are you, little girl?"
The demon spoke in a friendly tone but it did not ease the girl. She is trembling. The demon changed its face to an old monk. Its voice changes as well.
"Don't be scared." It said in a gruff voice. Smiling.
"Don't kill me, please." she pleaded.
Koh. The face stealer. It says that it preys on human's fear. It steals the faces of those who are scared of it. Koh has no gender.Its facial appearance is always different, ranging from animals to humans. It approached the girl swiftly so that no naked eye could follow.
The girl's face was streaming down with tears and was petrified in the abrupt approach of the demon. The demon tilted its face looking at the girl right up to her face; not in curiosity. Demons only know avarice and gluttony.
Shamans know Koh. You cannot run from it. The only way to pass through is not to make any facial expression or flinch. You need to look bored. Koh is a fallen one. It is an offspring of a powerful divine spirit. One cannot kill Koh as be afraid of its mother's wrath. A mother is still a mother even though a deity. It will tolerate the atrocities of its children to humans. After all, they see humans as lower beings. Weak and mortal. Playthings. For entertainment. Livestocks.
The girl's face was ripped by its claw. She wails like an animal. Blood splatters everywhere. The lake was stained with blood. Until it became quiet.
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I will tell you a story. Only a few know this. Hush, child. The room was lit with a candle to alight the night. It was raining wildly. Any sounds or screams could be muffled once inside your abode.
The children gather around their grandmother. There were five of them. The brick chimney provides them warmth. Their grandmother is senile. Always speaking supernaturally. Nonsense.
This is a story about two spirits. One wanted to be a human. One wanted to be a god.
"Why would a spirit want to be a human?" one of the grandchildren asks.
"Don't you interrupt me. I will forget the story." the grandmother chided. The little boy shuts its mouth. It is always no fun listening to grandma's stories. Nobody is allowed to ask questions and it is always scary.
"The reason it would like to be a human is because it loves a human."