Chapter 2
Rosha looked at her brother with fear in her eyes. His body that had not yet died twitched like a newborn beast. Blood dripping down his face, which was covered with tears. His eyes, which were losing focus, managed to find Rosha amidst his pain. At that time, the monster was still chewing on Dane’s flesh and howled in laughter.
“Rosha… run…”
Dane, on his last breaths, gathered all of his strength and shouted out his final warning. The monster threw his body towards the wall, painting the house with more blood. The snake’s body slithered forward in a left right curvy movement. The action was so large that even a small manoeuvre could destroy many objects in the house one by one.
‘Run away,’ was his last words to her before he left her behind, but Rosha couldn’t move. Her stiffened body could not release itself until the moment the monster came close to her face and opened its mouth. It was purely due to her innate survival instinct that she was barely able to move her uptight body in order to escape her death fate.
“Ahhhh!”
By the time the monster’s teeth touched her head, Rosha could barely take a step back to turn around and run with fear and trepidation coursing through her blood. She could not even look back. However, the moment she did, the monster was right next to her, whispering in her ears.
[Rosha……Nice child…..]
Rohas turned back around and ran as fast as she could, away from the bloodthirsty creature towards the village. She needed help from the villagers. She needed to get there somehow. Rosha scrambled down the steep hill. It almost felt like she was going to tumble downhill, but she couldn’t slow down now, even though she knew that. However, her pace was bound to stop soon.
[Rosha….]
The voice of the monster was fading away and the lights of the village were getting closer. Rosha felt relieved that she was still alive. Then suddenly, the monster called out her sister’s name.
[Lily…..]
It was then that Rosha came back to her senses and recalled that the faces she saw inside the house only belonged to her dead parents and Dane.
‘Where was Lily?’
Rosha decided to braced herself and go back to the murder scene in search of her sister. There were times she was mad at Lily, but Lily was her little sister and now, her only family member. She would not let the monster hurt her. After the snake went into the house again, Rosha sneaked back in. When she was inside, she saw her family’s dead bodies again. It was the sight she could would never get used to even after seeing it several times. But, it was not yet time to be sad. She had to first find Lily and get her out of there.
“Lily! Lily!” Rosha whispered her sister’s name quietly without attracting the monster’s attention.
As she scanned around the floor, a hammer near her father’s body, whose head was missing, caught her eyes. It was the same hammer that her father often used to fix fences and furniture. Perhaps this was the time it was time to use it to resist the monster. Rosha picked up the hammer off the floor with shaking hands. As tremors filled her body, Rosha raised her hammer and stepped slowly, ready to attack the unknown monster if needed.
“Lily? Lily!”
It wasn’t easy to even gesture silently when a monster was nearby. Her voice shook violently even though she was only calling her sister’s name. First, she searched around her parents’s room but Lily wasn’t there. Next, Rosha went up the stairs and headed to her room.
“Lily?”
However, Lily was not even there either. Rosha turned to head for Dane’s room. It was then, she heard the sound of someone crying weakly. Rosha hurriedly went to the closet and opened the door, but inside, only clothes were seen. Subsequently, she carefully bent her knees to, bowed her back, and looked under the bed. And, there was Lily in a pitiful state.
“Ahhh!!!”
Even after seeing Rosha, Lily was still screaming and shuddering in with fear.
“Lily! It’s me! Rosha, it’s your sister!”
Rosha held onto Lily’s wrist in an effort to try to calm her down. It was then that Lily belatedly recognized Rosha belatedly.
“Rosha…?”
“Yes. It’s me, Lily.”
As soon as Rosha pulled Lily’s body out of the bed, she broke into tears and cried desperately in her arms. Although Rosha was the brave one at the moment amongst the two, she could not stop her hands from shaking as she stroked Lily’s trembling body.
“Lily, what happened? That monster is….”
“I don’t know……. I heard a loud sound from outside, so I left my room…Then, I saw our father swinging his hammer and told me to hide. I heard our brother’s screams from downstairs, but I couldn’t come out to look because I was too scared….”
Lily was gasping and stuttering while telling the story. Suddenly, Rosha got goosebumps on the back of her neck thinking, if she didn’t go to look for Polly, she would be dead by now. She was surprisingly relieved at this moment. However, when she realized her hidden emotions, she felt disgusted with herself. How could she be so selfish when her family is all dead? Rosha, who was guilty for only thinking of herself, buried her face on Lily’s shoulders, but soon removed her head as if she came to her senses.
“First, let’s go to the village. Can you move?”
“Yes…..”
Lily stared upward at Rosha and nodded. Rosha also tried to raise her little sister up with her trembling body. It was then….
“Unnie…..”
Lily’s gaze was subtly off as she looked up at Rosha. Her trembling pupils were filled with horror as she gaped over Rosha’s shoulder, not at her face. Rosha could feel it then, the cold wind from behind. It was Ramia. It fluttered its two-pronged tongue while rearranging its lower jaw. They were petrified as they couldn’t scream and held each other tightly. Their stone-like appearances allowed the monster to come close and with its wicked hands, grabbed onto the hair of the two young sisters. Only then, came a scream.
“No, Lily!”
“Unnie!”
Rosha pulled on Lily’s arms hard to keep herself from letting her sister go. As the strength of her grip increased, the blade of the nails buried into Lily’s flesh and scratched the surface of her Lily’s arms.
[Who should I eat first…?] The monster roared thunderously.
Ramia’s grip was getting stronger and stronger, and Rosha eventually lost her strength. The monster lifted Lily as if it had been waiting for her meal all this time.
“Let my sister go!” Rosha yelled loudly.
The monster grabbed Lily’s hair and prepared to devour her body.
“Unnie, save me…”
Lily’s faint voice like breathing penetrated Rosha’s ears without the need for her to even shout. But Rosha was helpless. She was incapable to do anything, and had no choice but to watch the monster touch her little sister. At this moment, Rosha and Lily were the monster’s prey.
“Lily!”
Rosha tried to reach out, but her fingers could only rub against the sole of her sister’s foot. When the monster’s razor-sharpened fangs teeth were about to scratch Lily’s stomach, a sudden noise broke its concentration .
Ruff! Ruff!
Somewhere near them, a dog was barking. Ramia turned her gaze away from Lily and looked back. A dog with white fur and black spots jumped up and bit its face.
“Polly!”
The dog, who previously had left the house, had returned. Lily fell out from Ramia’s clasp hands when Polly bit Ramia’s face. Polly would notlet go.
“Get up quickly, Lily! We have to run! Right now!”
Rosha, while holding on to her sister’s hand, dashed out of the room fearlessly, stepping on the torn scales of the monster that was being occupied by Polly. The two young sisters went down the stairs and exited the house.
“Unnie! What about Polly?!”
Lily was worried about Polly as she rushed down the hill. Polly was like a family member and a best friend who grew up with them. However, Rosha did not have the courage to go back to save Polly. She just pulled on Lily’s hand and ran. She did not even have the strength to lift Lily, who had fallen several times, but drag her instead. There was no time to stall, no time to look back; all they could do was to leave the place for their own safety.
In the great distance, they could hear the dog’s cry.
*****