When Lorelei woke up in the middle of the night, she saw the man sleeping next to her. He looked serene, as if he had nothing to worry about.
For the first time since she met the man, she took a long, close look at him. He had long white hair; he looked young, very young, no more than 20, yet he knew so many things that she didn't. She wanted to hold his hands, but as soon as she tried, memories of those lifeless bodies appeared in front of her and reached for her hand, making her pull away instantly.
She made sure to cover herself with a blanket before snuggling her way next to him as she embraced him. For her, this man was the first person to ever take care of her as such, he was like a father to her, but she still hadn't learnt the concept of a father, so she called it by one the man had taught her when he was reading her stories at night, love.
That same night, the storm was roaring through the forest's natural stillness. Outside, it was pitch black; not a thing could be seen, only the shadows of the colossal trees could be observed from the windows. In the distance, Lorelei saw three figures walking closer and closer to the house.
They were armed with swords and completely covered in their heavy armor. She woke up the man by repeatedly tapping onto the blanket.
''HuMaN... Door.''
The man slowly got up as he softly patted her head with a big smile.
''Thank you.''
Lo smiled and repeated after the man.
''ThAnK yOu.''
When the man arrived at the door, he heard the voices and instantly froze. He told Lorelei, who followed him from the room, to get back in and stay quiet. Lorelei obeyed without contesting and went back into the room where she wrapped herself in the blanket, tightly clinging to the stuffed animal.
From there, she could hear the loud screams of the men at the door.
''COME OUT NOW! HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO RUN AWAY!''
The men's screams intensified until Lorelei heard a loud bang at the door; they barged in, that Lo knew. They wrecked everything, even entering the room Lo was in. She was scared, very scared, as the men entered the room, she could hear her caretaker's voice screaming.
''LEAVE HER! SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! YOU HEAR ME LEAVE H-''
They stabbed him, he fell onto the floor, unconscious.
They threw Lorelei out of the blanket onto the floor, ripped her stuffed animal, and hit Lo right on the neck. Soon, too, she followed after the man. Once she woke, she saw the guards pinning the man down as he tried to discuss with them; she couldn't understand what they were saying. One of the armored men, at her sight, said.
''Oh, look who finally opened their eyes.''
As soon as the guard said so, the man turned his gaze to Lorelei and took a softer tone.
''Lo, listen, everything will be fine. I will take care of this, trust me.''
She softly shook her head in a vertical motion. She could see the terror in the man's eyes, not terror for himself, but for her.
The guard stomped on the man as he screamed in agony.
''How long are you going to lie for with your empty promises? Who will believe someone such as you? You ran, you gave up your responsibility, your position, to take care of this??? ARE YOU SERIOUS?''
The guard looked furious, very furious.
''We can't just kill you like that, no, no, no, that is too much of an easy escape for a sinner such as you.''
He turned to Lo and stared at her.
''You can kill, right? You have the eyes of one who killed plenty, one more won't hurt, right?''
The man screamed.
''LEAVE HER OUT OF TH-''
They stabbed him again; he was already bathing in his own blood from the first stab. The blood kept stretching, tainting the grass around her in a bright scarlet red. Lo couldn't hold her tears. The man, the one who taught her how to live, gave meaning to her meaningless life, is being killed right in front of her, and she was powerless against it.
''Shut it! You won't die from us, no. How could we sully our hands with dirty blood such as yours? She will kill you with her own hands whether you like it or not. We know about her already, the whole continent is looking for the new angel, and so were you right? You wouldn't take care of a helpless little girl, would you? I know who you are, I knew you for far too long, foolish sinner.''
The knight towering above the man looked down at him with disgust. He didn't seem to have even an ounce of pity for him nor for her.
The man screeched an agonizing screech. The guard then violently pulled the girl. He gripped her arm tightly, the only arm she had left; he gripped it so strongly that as soon as he let go, the prints of his gauntlet dyed her arm. He then looked back at the man onto the grass.
''You know what to do if you don't want to see her die in front of you.''
'' L-''
He was in pain, terrible pain. Lo saw it, she knew how he felt, yet he still went on.
''Lo, please... Hold my hand.'' , he said, while coughing an astonishing amount of blood.
Lorelei knew what he meant; what he truly meant was 'kill me'.
''YoU dIfFreNt nO? wHy yOu Do tHis tO mE, YoU huMaN tOO.'', she was weeping so much that she could barely open her mouth.
Her face was filled with bruises, dirty.
''I dOnT wAnT tHis, yOu JuSt LiKe viLLaGe, OnlY wAnt Death.''
The only word she was able to pronounce well in the whole phrase.
The man knew what she meant; he also deceived her, just like they all did; he was no different from them.
''Please... Lorelei, do this last thing for me... please''.
The knight impatiently screamed.
''CLOVIS DO IT NOW!''
Clovis, that was his name. Lorelei heard it, at last, Clovis.
He got closer to her, crawling on the grass. One of the guards looked at him in revulsion and said.
''How low have you fallen? You were once someone respected and recognized, now look what you've become, crawling on the ground like the vermin you are.''
With a slow movement, he grabbed her hand with both of his and held her tightly, very tightly. He didn't want to let her go, nor did she want to . He stared at her. Lorelei could see deep within him the light in his eyes slowly fading away. He hardly opened his mouth to slowly articulate the words.
''Thank y-''
His hands slowly slipped away from hers and fell onto the scarlet red grass, dead, that's what he was now. It seemed like the storm was endless. Lorelei looked at the man's lifeless body on the ground. She clung onto him, crying out all the tears within her body, holding him with all the strength she had left in her thin little arm. All these years she spent with him, they were being robbed by those knights in front of her very eyes, and once again she wasn't able to do anything, neither to protect herself nor the only one who truly cared about a being like her.
The guard kicked Lorelei away and took the man's lifeless body. She saw the other guard holding a torch that he threw towards the house, and it caught on fire. The middle knight raised his sword high in the air before striking down upon the man's body.
''NOOOOOOOOOO'' , she screamed.
They cut him to bits and slashed him open, cut off his legs, his arms, his head. This confusing sight was something Lorelei had never seen before. Every time the knight would raise his sword, the blood would splash on Lorelei's clothes, clothes that the man gave her. It was like her body was a blank canvas being slowly painted in red. Lorelei looked at the man's blood covering her clothes. Her face as well was not spared, her silver smooth silky hair was toned to a fiery red.
She got up and ran, pushing down the guard as she dropped on the ground while hurling punches at him.
''I hAtE yOu! I hAtE You! I Hate YoU! I haTe yOu! I haTe yOu! I hatE you! I HATE YOU! I ha-''
Her tears wouldn't stop flooding her face, blocking her from speaking further. The only thing she wished to do was to kill all of them right here, but she could not. She did not have the strength or the courage to do so.
She kept hitting the guard while crying; she hit him until her arm gave out. The other was about to stab her from behind when the other guard, who seemed to be the leader, said
''NO! I keep my promises, I don't kill children, let her be, we will find her soon again anyway.''
Lorelei took the man's head and ran, feelings were spiraling down her head, she couldn't understand nor get a grasp of what they were.
She ran towards the mountain's edge. Around her, she could hear the screams of agony of those whom died by her touch.
''It's all your fault... It's all your fault!''
She knew it was her fault; she knew.
The storm was now screeching through even louder than before, the trees seemed even scarier as their leaves seemed to reproduce the faces of those she had already killed. Every single one of them, haunting and obscuring her path.
She thought if they weren't born as humans, would life be easier? If she were born again, she wished she were not human at all.
She ran without looking as she got to the mountain's edge, she slipped, yet was still clinging onto the man's head, and fell towards the endless abyss.