Little Sins

First and Only Chapter

"Hurry up, just do it" Henry whispered aggressively in Celeste's ear.

Henry and his daughter Celeste were on a 'Hunting trip' as he liked to call it, though it was not going to be a normal one. Celeste was certain that her father was going to make her do something she didn't agree with or even want to just to toughen her up.

You see Henry and Alice– Celeste's mom and Henry's wife– had been trying for a child for ages. They tried many times but nothing seemed to work. They were on the verge of giving up, and all hope had seemed to fade away for them until one day Alice finally became pregnant. They were both ecstatic about the new coming child. Alice didn't care about the gender of the child, either way, she was going to love the child with all of her heart. Henry, on the other hand, wanted a boy that could take on hunting trips and show the kid how to be a "man", as he put it.

After eight months of patiently waiting for the child, the day finally came. They were both excited about the arrival of the child, they couldn't be happier. They were thinking of names during the labor process, and they chose Charles for a boy and Celeste for a girl. Henry kept reminding Alice that she didn't need to think about girl names because he was sure it was going to be a boy.

The birth was smooth at first but what came after was concerning. Alice's bleeding started to get out of control. The doctors did everything they could but there was just nothing they could do anymore. Alice on the other hand had already accepted the fact that she was going to die and she was not going to be able to see her child. She had accepted the fact that her child was never going to get to know her and that she was never going to get to know her child. What Alice felt the most guilty about was the fact that she was going to leave them both alone with Henry taking all the responsibility for the child himself.

Alice could feel her soul leaving her body. She had accepted the fact that she was going to die but she just didn't seem to be at peace with herself. She didn't even get a chance to see her child for god's sake.

Her lifeless body lay on the bed with a peaceful expression, her troubled soul left feeling otherwise.

With the baby turning out to be a girl and Alice dying, didn't make things any better for Henry. With time Henry only grew to resent the little girl.

Henry took Celeste into a beautiful forest. The forest was filled with gigantic trees of all kinds, whose smell reminded Celeste of Christmas. The forest had lots of fallen leaves and branches on the ground which crunched with every step you took. You could find all kinds of animals, which made the place a perfect place to hunt. The reason Henry chose this forest was that it reminded him of home, it reminded him of Alice. She used to go with Alice to this forest every summer when she was still alive. This place was very familiar to him, it felt like home.

Henry saw this as a perfect chance to toughen up his daughter. In his mind, he felt that if he made Celeste do this "trial" of his, she was a step ahead of becoming the boy he always longed for.

Celeste was sitting on her knees, the branches digging on her sore knees and the dried leaves lightly scraping against her skin. Henry was crouched beside her whispering as he would call them 'words of encouragement but they were threats or something close to it.

"Don't disappoint me" He whispered once again into her ear but this time it came out way harsher than she expected.

Celeste was holding a hunting knife that her father forced her to take and on the other hand the cries of a pleading rabbit grabbed by the neck.

"Come on don't be a pussy, just do it," Celeste's father said once again against her ear as she was struggling to take the poor rabbit's soul away.

Just the thought of killing it, made her grow more and more anxious with time. Her breaths grew heavier with every passing second. She became aware of everything around her. The warm breath came from her father as he was crouched beside her. The sun that was supposed to be kissing her skin softly felt as if it was breaking down every cell in her body. The air was dense and heavy around her if she reached out her hand she would feel it or even see it. Beads of sweat gathered in her forehead making her baby hairs stick on her skin.