Page 62 of Souls We Rip

“How do I call it again?” She took the skull off, her fur receding, leaving behind a breathtaking woman, covered by a white mantle.

I ordered it to have it in contrast with her hair. When she descended from the cave earlier, I thought my lungs forgot how to work.

“Think about it and it will come.”

Before her baptism, I gave her my weapon just to see how she would manoeuvre it. Needless to say, she was skilled at the swooshing move. She gained experience with it by working in the fields, under her father’s scrutinising gaze. Just thinking about that man made me curl my upper lip.

Ana’s eyebrows joined, and in the next moment, the blade materialised in her palm.

Her steps did not falter, her eyes steady on the door. She hesitated on the doorstep, moving the scythe from hand to hand.

She pondered her next move, the scythe shaking in her hands. Her long dark hair moved on its own accord, touching the mud lightly from the teacher’s yard.

Out of the blue, a piercing shout came from the house, the door bursting open from Ana’s power. The uncertainty of whether I should follow nagged at me. I took a tentative step when a schoolgirl came out running and screaming at the top of her lungs that she was being raped, her eyes in a haze.

“The angel appeared!” she yelled when her gaze met Ana’s.

When the schoolgirl saw me, she fainted, her body falling limp to the ground. Not feeling offended, I took off my skull and sent it back to my lair. I placed my cloak over my head, crouching down to the limp girl.

The sound of blood gurgling from inside the house hit my ears.

The schoolgirl was still alive, so I sent her home with a flick of my hand after checking her pulse.

Ana got out, her white cloak, spilt with blood, reassembling the Angel of Death. Her pale face was painted with crimson liquid, mirroring tears.

I bowed my head as I felt her power, admiration spreading over my face.

In her wake came the man’s limbs. His head was rolling down the stairs, right where the sheep stood.

As soon as Ana was out of the house, vomit came through her mouth, the contents of her stomach decorating the teacher’s porch.

“He was raping her inside. I don’t…I don’t kn-,” she sobbed, crashing into my arms after she wiped her mouth.

My body came closer, protecting her from her own emotions.

I feared she was becoming what I once was, without even realising, due to the contract.

Hope that she would ignore the dark side of her powers blossomed in my body. Else, how could I explain that a soul like hers was not meant for dark activities, such as killing?

I soothed her as best as I could, taking us away.

Instead of going to my lair, I transported us to another place that was of importance to me.

There were a few of those. One, I stashed away deep down in my mind, and the second one was right before our eyes.

The gorge that split Romania and Serbia, where the Danube passed, was the place where I could breathe. The narrow passage between the tall rocks gave me the impression that I lived between two worlds. And that was right. I was, with my wish to be a human again and the one to stay there and protect the woman behind me.

Odd feelings tried me those days. I thought them long gone and forgotten.

I took off my hood, letting the breeze rustle my hair. My ears perked at the gasp Ana took, and I raised my eyebrows.

“If the nape of my neck makes you have this reaction, then how will you act when you see my face?”

For a brief moment, I wanted to make her forget about the blood that coated her garments and the fact that she killed a man. Instead of facing her, I watched as the river flowed.

Its murky water formed short waves from the wind. The contrast between the darkness in it and the vibrant green of the trees that stood atop the rocks was the same battle as in me. One side wanted to thrash everything in its path to conquer the world. And one wanted to just breathe.

“Then why don’t you?” she asked, above the wind. “Why are you hiding from me?”