Chapter 1 : The Vigilante Union
Two years had passed since then and I still couldn't find the whereabouts of my two poor siblings. I have visited every corner of the city and the village, hoping to find them. But nothing came of it. The only place I haven't explored is the forest and the mountains beyond. The forest was a risky place for me to explore alone without anyone to accompany me. And here I am, didn't even have a friend to have lunch with.
Sometimes I looked into the dense forest beside me and imagined that something big was watching me from a distance. Either it was just a manifestation of my overthinking or my intuition was giving me a true sign. I didn't want to know. Some things are better off not knowing, like right now.
Thanks to my curiosity, I finally managed to arrive at my old hut that was no longer in its shape. Everything was charred, leaving only a few wooden foundations that still stood firm and burnt. So was my mother's body. She was burned in there the same day the terrible thing happened.
That's right, I burned her body.
Burning her was the best decision I had at that time even though it sounded cruel. I was alone back then and didn't have enough energy to call the people in the village and drive them back here to help me bury my mother. My feet were hurt, my hope was gone, and my life was ruined. There is nothing worse for a birthday present than the death of my mother.
I hadn't found my father's body yet, but I wasn't sure he was still alive. He would have been bleeding profusely if he had gone to save himself and would have bled to death before he could get help.
I couldn't imagine a worse scenario than that. I didn't want to imagine the possibility of being eaten by werewolves or taken away to be used as a new toy by them.
The sun was starting to descend from its peak when I set my foot again right where the big creature had licked my knee. As if it had just happened yesterday I could still feel it. When I looked at my knee again there was absolutely no scar as if the whole horrific thing had never happened.
I took a few steps forward and came to a land with no grass. It was the place where my house used to be. The wooden ruins that were not destroyed prevented the grass from growing, leaving behind a large grassless box while around it the grass had grown to the same height as my knees.
I left two sprigs of white Lily flowers there and lay down on the grass staring at the rubble. Usually I would take a nap while recalling the beautiful days when my family was still together. As my consciousness began to fade, I could faintly hear the laughter of my two younger siblings playing chase, my mother yelling at them to not step on the vegetable plans and my father who had just fixed the roof. It was a beautiful dream.
No sooner had I closed my eyes than suddenly I heard a huge voice from the forest again. Suddenly I woke up immediately. It was the same voice I had heard in the forest that time. I immediately looked around, in case the big creature came again, just like two years ago. This was the encounter I had been looking forward to.
I quickly took out a small silver dagger from under the cloak I was wearing as a jacket. With a vigilant glance I checked the surroundings. There was nothing and only a large gust of wind that carried overcast clouds. This atmosphere was similar to that of two years ago.
Not long after, I heard gunshots coming from the forest and dogs barking. I immediately lay down on the ground while covering my ears and eyes. I knew it must be The Vigilante Union troops. They were my hope. My dreams. My magic carpet.
The squad of trained people was formed shortly after my mother's death. The people in The Vigilante Union were intensely trained to be able to fight and kill werewolves.
Apparently my parents weren't the only victims at that time. Dozens and dozens of people also experienced the same thing. Although there were no eyewitnesses, the characteristics and traces of the horror of the tragedy were the same. Only the place of the incident was different. The villagers, who at first blamed my parents for building their house on the side of the forest, now consider the series of incidents as a sign of hostility.
If there is an attack, then what comes next is retaliation.
The form of retaliation was the formation of The Vigilante Union troops. They would retaliate on behalf of the human race for the pain and suffering that had been given. That meant they would not flinch and would not back down to inflict the same pain and suffering.
The sound of gunfire could no longer be heard. Immediately, without hesitation, I stood up and ran into the forest. I wanted to see firsthand how my heroes acted and perhaps I could help with my silver dagger that I had acquired after forging it by myself for months.
Like never before, I was like a storm cloud that was ready to take on whatever was in front of me. It didn't take long for me to find them. It was all thanks to the barking of the dogs they brought to sniff out the werewolves.
Apparently their dogs weren't just barking at the werewolves, they were also barking at me coming from behind them. It made me get gunpointed by all those people who were dressed in the same uniform as each other.
"Crap, my heart almost fell out of my chest!" the pale-skinned man with freckles on his face cursed at me as he lowered the gun in his hand.
"Just a lost rabbit apparently," said one of them with the biggest body. His brown hair was sticking out from the side of his beret.
What did he call me? A rabbit? A lost rabbit?
"How did you come here, girl?" he asked me.
Full of confidence I said loudly, "I want to help you all exterminate all those werewolves!", I said as I held the silver dagger in my hand high.
My smiling face looked at them one by one. Everyone was stunned. I'm sure they were amazed by my persistence.
But apparently my assumption was wrong. The three seconds of silence was a pause for huge laughter from all of them. I could even see them shedding tears from laughing for too long.
The man with the biggest body stepped forward towards me with a dismissive grin, "What do you want, kid? Exterminate werewolves?", he asked then grabbed my hand holding the dagger, "I doubt it, do you even know how to use this? No, no, I mean, do you know what this thing is called?"
This man really underestimated me.
Before I could answer, the sound of birds flying above us caught everyone's attention, including mine. All the birds seemed to be moving away from something.
"Everyone get in position!" the man in front of me shouted at the others. His voice was really loud and firm.
A second later they all started to rush away from where they were standing. So did I who was pulled to leave along with the man who had just belittled me.
"I'm sorry kiddo, but can you move faster?", he asked as he removed the leaves and branches that were blocking our path.
"I would! But my skirt-"
Before I could finish my sentence, he picked me up and carried me in front of him as he continued to run. Surprisingly I didn't complain and instead held on tightly to him, hoping he wouldn't let go of me in the middle of the way to be used as bait.
After running for a while, he jumped down and hid behind an alcove in the ground. He sat me beside him and his gaze looked so serious and alert. And fascinating.
"You're hurt." , he said when he saw that the back of my right hand had a long line-shaped wound that was bleeding.
"I think it's because of that branch." , I said trying to guess.
But he didn't seem to be listening to me. He looked at my wound and took my hand. I never expected it before, but suddenly he licked it! He licked my hand! He licked my wound!
I was instantly brought back to two years ago, on my birthday. The day when the tragedy happened, a big wolf also came over and licked the wound on my knee.