Page 56 of Souls We Rip

“Of course.”

The woman stomped to me with her eyes burning. The top of her head reached my chin, so she left me to stare at it. Once she realised that she was shorter than me, her eyes plunged up as though they were two icy spears.

“So, you left us to work ourselves until our hands fell off?”

“The ghost’s hands wouldn’t have fallen off,” I mumbled, because under her scrutiny, I couldn’t think straight. It was as if I were bewitched.

“Andrei works more than any of us. He cannot sleep, he cannot eat, and he cannot catch a break! In addition, you treat him worse than dirt?”

I couldn’t look her in the eyes. She would see the true me. Instead, I kept my gaze forward at the splinters left behind from their work. Swallowing, I felt her eyes on my neck. It burned.

“The truth leaves you speechless?” she asked, her voice rising higher.

She waited a few beats, and then she retreated into the cave, leaving me and the ghost to stare after her.

I hated when humans and ghosts were right.

“Master…”

“She has her reason,” I said, halting the movements of the ghost. “Her words speak the truth in many ways.”

Frowning, I took my horse and left the cave’s area. The night would be my companion after the lash of the woman’s words.

Ana

Baptism day

The day had finally come.

The day when I would change from a peasant, human woman, to an ethereal being. The day I would relinquish fragility for strength.

I watched the entrance of the cave as the Goat Man’s horse sniffed at my wet hair. Its inky mane and its hooves were decorated with red tassels, the hair freshly brushed.

After my daily bath, Andrei presented me with two linen dresses. One of them had black embroidery on the sleeves, and on the edges of the dress a black and red girdle. The other one had the same pattern, but in gold.

I chose the gold one. My opinci were already worn out from all the walking I did in the last few days around the cave, but they were replaced with new ones in the blink of an eye.

I had not seen the Goat Man since our last agreement. He appeared in all my dreams. He left his room unattended, so that I could watch my family in his Mirror.

Seeing them brought me pain, and I hoped that after I completed my part of the contract, I would see them once more.

At least to say a proper goodbye.

I had doubts after speaking to him, as I did the other day. My cheeks hurt each time I tried to apologise, but my love and belief in God stopped me. He was the one who pushed my head to stand straighter.

Yet there was in me something small that kept creeping into my head. How smooth the Goat Man’s skin looked in the evening starlight, how his power was absorbing my every thought. As the story said, he dominated everything in his path.

And I had to stay strong not to fall into his trap.

My heart was hopeful that he would come with me to the old church.

Every passing day, I dared to check his room, only to find that he did not return from wherever he went. The moment he placed himself on his knees in front of me, he opened a different gate to my imagination.

One I did not know I had. One that could wreck my faith.

The feeling of his voice in my head, bringing many unholy thoughts to the surface, was against my better judgement. No woman, no matter how many sinful thoughts were stirred in her by a single touch, should think about a man who belittles her, who shames her for what she is.

And still, the Goat Man had moments when he was gentler. For some time, I started to think about him as a person. Not as a brute.