Page 32 of Souls We Rip

I longed for the sun and the moon to love me, to embrace me as their long-lost son. To see people smiling at me, to have terror replaced by joy. I yearn to touch a body without making it bleed.

Taking the contract she signed, I skimmed her name with my finger.

As soon as she gets on with ripping souls, the sooner I will get out of this inferno I was placed in.

For a week, I was gone, in search of my next lair.

After I had asked my master’s permission to get out of the grotto, I looked for my next home. Once I would be human, that is.

The air between the stone walls was getting thicker with the woman there. I tried to avoid her as much as I could. Her questions were infuriating.

Alas, she shall receive her answers soon.

That wretched boy did not finish cleaning my skull. I urged him to move faster, but how can one harm a soul that floats beyond flesh? Anything I might hit him with would pass right through his body.

Whenever I put my skull on my head, the fur and hooves will replace smooth skin and my limbs.

This part would be hurtful for the woman, too, as she needs to pass through a baptism.

When it was my time, I loathed it with every fibre.

I sighed and took the darkest, longest cloak I could find, as black as this cave I was forced to live in.

My feet carried me to her chamber, as if drawn by the flowery scent.

Careful not to show my face, I dragged the hood over it and hid my hands in the pockets.

“Get up, woman! We have work to do!”

Her body jolted as my voice boomed in the cave. I didn’t wait for her reply, and I marched to the entrance of the cave.

The forest air didn’t even faze me as I whistled for my horse. The faithful stallion galloped to me, his snot touching my face. It sniffed me, snorting once.

“My loyal friend, you never disappoint me,” I said, petting his long mane. “The only thing I will regret in my next life is not being able to take you with me.”

The horse snorted, not content.

“Does it understand you?”

Her voice sent me on a spiral of different sensations through my body. Hot, cold and most surprisingly, curiosity.

The tears that drenched her attire, the sobs that deafened the forest, were sealed in my mind for good. And then, she signed the papers, wiped the salty water from her cheeks and walked on, as if nothing could touch her.

Women, peculiar creatures. Incredible, but peculiar.

The saddle placed itself on the horse, the dozen thick buckles that covered its mane closing themselves.

My horse knelt so that the woman and I could mount.

“Treat her nice,” I whispered in its keen ears. A snort came in response, the human jumping with a yelp at the sound. “She is the one who will unchain me.”

I turned to her, my eyes fixing on her long hair. “We do not have time for you to be a scared little girl,” I urged.

Her cheeks reddened, a curious hue. Her eyebrows joined in the middle, creating a small line between them. She held her skirts with her hands, her skin shining in the late afternoon sun.

I grabbed the reins a little too aggressively for my horse’s liking, its neighing causing me to wince.

The human climbed in front of me, the curve of her back touching what had not been touched for an extremely long time.