Chapter 2: My guilt

Kouji: ah… Ah… Ah… *It was in front of me. I couldn't speak, and my eyes started to tear up, as if I should have never seen something like that. The emotion I felt couldn't compare; it was a scare, but in its purest state. I was in fear and petrified. I was so panicked that it made me cry; I couldn't speak, and I felt my breath hitching along with my heart. Not only that, but I had never felt so much dread, not even when I was in the war against the people of Salas.*

Girl: Ahhhhh!!!-ah... gl... gl... gl… qujjj...- *She ran away and I... I couldn't even move a muscle, but it did little good that I ran. Even when that thing was closer to me, it went for her, and in one move, it caught her in the head and started swallowing her up.*

Kouji: -bbb, bblll... blll... *I vomited thinking of "monster, freak, deformed, bizarre, specter, demon, aborigine" meanings that fell short of this thing. At first, we thought it was a snake or boa because of its elongated shape. We also thought it had a face, but what it had on its upper body could not be considered one. Just the sight of it made us gag and vomit.*

Dionysus: Kouji... *That thing had an elongated body, a bit like a snake because of the way it moved. However, it had limbs, which were attached to its elongated body. Not only that, it was dressed in something black, like a very long and transparent veil. The water made this kind of cloth stick to his body, which gave him a very thin, stick-like build. His limbs, which were attached for swimming, detached from his body when he came out of the water, raising his long, puny arms. He had such bizarre movements when walking that would make you cry, and the long and curved neck did not help him to look normal either. When he lifted his upper limbs, he also lifted the cloth that covered him, and what looked like his tail were only his lower limbs. When he stood up, he seemed to have more of a humanoid form. Besides, that long black garment covering him was very similar to that of the oracles in fairy tales.*

Richard: Dionysus —throw a stick— *His face... his face was the most horrible thing about that thing. It made the same impression on me as seeing a Shami goat. The oval head, nothing face, no nose, no ears, but eyes and a macabre smile? No, those could be eyes. It had two empty sockets... creepy.*

Thing: —Turns to Kouji— Thanks for the food. He, he, he. *Shit his voice... his tone. It was like listening to someone mock life, mocking everyone's misfortune without a guilty conscience. And adding his peculiar stench, which was not unpleasant but unsettling and desperate, like smelling something that wouldn't let you breathe, created anxiety. This thing... this thing...*

Kouji: —Moves his head from one side to the other— —shuddering—No, no... No *That thing... it wasn't supposed to exist.* Richard: What is that thing? * A few meters away came my father and my uncle, looking at this flaw with their backs turned.*

Dionysus: —whispers, opening his eyes— son... Richard Now!!!! Richard: AHHHHH *Sorry daddy, forgive this foolish son.*

Richard: YIIIAAAHHHH!!! *They hit the thing as hard as they could, but this one was huge, almost the height of an elephant, and it didn't even flinch.*

Thing: Hee, hee, hee... Now what should I do? *He stopped looking at me; he had finally taken his frightful face out of my face, but he had directed it towards my uncle.*

Richard: —Sees the thing's face— AAAHHHHHHH! * I had never heard my uncle Richard scream before; being such a strong warrior, I couldn't think of anything that could give him so much dread as to listen to him like that.*

Dionysus: Kouji Run! *As the thing turned its sights on my uncle, my father pulled me screaming, then put himself between me and the thing. However, it didn't seem to do him any harm to land blows on the thing's body as he attacked. Even with the stick, I couldn't reach its head. Meanwhile, that thing just looked at them and mocked them.*

Thing: —Turns its head to look at Kouji— Hee, hee, hee... This is getting complicated.

Dionysus:—Looks back and hits Kouji with the stick— Fuck Kouji, run! *My father was terrified; his face... I couldn't explain how it looked, but he was scared. It wasn't fear of the thing; it was fear of it doing something to me.*

Kouji: —He starts to get up and run without looking—*Sorry dad, maybe if I had listened to you from the beginning. You wouldn't have looked at me like that.*

Dionysus:—whispers—Run, son, run; please get there safely.

Thing: Hee, hee, hee... you'll be the first —He starts regurgitating— *I only heard a strange sound at that moment, a grotesque sound that didn't come from my father or my uncle; it could only come from something else that was there, the thing.*

Kouji: —Knocks on the door of the village— Open up! Open up, please! Sonia: Open up! Open up! It's my son!

Kouji: Mom!!!! *I couldn't hold back my tears. I suspected that Dad and Uncle Richard wouldn't come back. So I started crying in front of everyone who was there.*

Nina:Uncle, where is Daddy? *Nina... She grew up with the love of the whole family. However, she has never had a father since she was born. And the most paternal image she had was of my father.*

Kouji: Sorry! Sorry, sorry! I... I just thought it would be faster, but I didn't know what that thing was. *Everyone looked at me. My mother had gathered more people, and my sisters had run to warn the warriors. My mother, though lazy, knew how to express and convince with words. She tried to gather everyone in the village because she had a bad feeling; she... felt pain in her heart.*

Demian: What did you see, Kouji? * One of the guards asked me*

Kouji: It's... it's, it's, it's... That thing is a monster among monsters. It's horrible, it's hideous, it's... it's... it's... —shaking his head from side to side— It's ugly, it's, it's... *I simply couldn't find words to describe such an aberration*.

Demian: Darlo, gather the others and tell them to bring their weapons. This is an evil omen.

Merly: Mom, get Kouji *My mother... after hearing what I said, her eyes were no longer the same. She knew that my dad was probably already dead.*

Sonia: —She approaches Kouji and, with teary eyes— Son stand up, let's go to the house.

Linnethe: —Covers him with a coat made of fur— Come on, brother, I know dad and uncle are fine. I'm sure we'll see them later. *I would never have traded my family for another. In times of unrest, we always supported each other. My mother and father got along well and taught us to keep calm in difficult moments, keep calm in arguments, and never start a fight. He used to say, "In a fight, you don't win anything useful; you either win fear of others and resentment, or you simply win wounds and bruises. If it is not to protect, fight without fear, but, even so, you must be cautious". In addition, we were told that respect and the value of our commitment should be the most important things between us because they would benefit us in the end. We always respected and loved each other, both ourselves and each other, or at least that's what I knew.*

Demian: Jonas, go with Anticu to the Boss; tell him we'll go scout around for Dionysus and Richard. If we're not back in two hours, gather the people together and upgrade the walls throughout the village. The Boss will know what to do. *Demian, the Boss's son. He never called Brúdeo, the Boss, Daddy; I always heard him referred to as Boss for as long as I can remember.*

*Going back to our house, I just laid on my bed. I felt weak and afraid. For someone who would be an adult at seventeen, I felt ashamed. As I lay on my back, I started to get dizzy and fall asleep. Everything was moving, as if I had drunk as much as I had at a festival. So I fell asleep.*