Sanguine God

03

Lacch shivered as they walked home. They were freezing. The cool air continued to nip at their arms as they walked under the star covered sky. Part of them wished they rode their horse over to Emmit and Heather's home, but they would have to speak to their father in order to do that. They didn't want to do that.

Rubbing their arms to try to warm themselves up they tried to walk a bit faster back to their home. Night was falling and shadows had begun to loom ominously. It seemed as if night was falling faster than usual? Or was Lacch just panicking? They would be ok. They would be fine. They froze up as they heard a branch snap above them. Frozen in their place, they slowly looked up.

Nothing was in the tree. Lacch let out a deep breath and continued to walk forward. It was odd, with each step, they thought they heard a step echoing with it, Lacch felt they weren't alone, yet every time they checked behind them, no one was there. Their walk hurried into a slight jog, then to a run. As they sprinted down the path, they threw a glance back behind them only to run straight into something. Lacch grunted as they fell back.

They rubbed their arm and slowly stood up. Grabbing the cross around their neck, they narrowed their eyes as they glanced around. Lacch could feel their heart drop as they saw the shadow of a strange winged creature. It had long glossy black hair that waved lightly in the wind. Long black robes draped over it's frame, showing it's lean curves. Judging by the shape of the body, Lacch could assume that whatever the creature was was female. She had large black wings, akin to a crows, that sprouted up out of her back. The large wings flapped a few times, letting out large gusts of air. Lacch was frozen in fear as the creature stared down at them with wide niveous eyes. The clouds shifted in the wind to show cool toned rays of light. They shone down from the moon, illuminating the strange figure in the tree. Lacch stood from their spot on the ground and held out the cross from their neck.

“Away, devilish creature! Be gone! You are not welcome here! The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing, even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me! Be gone, foul creature! Leave me be!”

The winged woman stood there for a moment longer. She shut her eyes before shaking her head once more. “For I am not the one you shall fear; Fear the man of the night.” With that, she flew up into the sky, her dark robes following after her like a dark omen.

Lacch clung onto the cross on their neck, watching as the creature flew up and away. They could feel their heart pounding in their chest. That HAD to be a demon! An ally to the Devil himself. They needed to get home. They needed the solace of their mother. They needed to pray.

They sprinted as they got closer to their home, tripping on their own feet, flinching at every sound and shadow that passed them. Gasping to gather their breath, they slammed their body against the door of their house and ripped it open, slamming it shut behind them. They say there for a moment before letting their body fall limp. They dragged their back down the door before eventually coming to sit on the ground. Lacch let out a sharp sob and wrapped their hands through their hair.

Lacch's mother and father burst into the room, their father having a rather frustrated look on his face and his mother seeming alarmed.

“Boy! What happened?” Asked Seamus, Lacch's father. He put his hand on Lacch's shoulder and held them steady.

“I-” Lacch gasped for air. “A demon. It faced me in the night-!”

Kristy scoffed and shook her head. “That's what a child that abandoned his parents deserves! A meeting with a demon to clear him up.”

Lacch sat there shaking, their eyes tearing up. “Do you not care? Please.. I'm sorry… I just wished to meet the neighbor- Father Harris-”

“Enough. Pray and sleep. I don't want to see your face again.” She turned on her shoulder and began to walk back down the hall. Lacch could spot their brother standing in the hall, watching their mother with a slight glare.