Page 66 of Souls We Rip

Even if we were out of the cave already, he didn’t release me. I felt my cheeks getting warmer. Nobody held me this close. His scent, his pulse in my ears, the wind caressing our ankles. He was too much.

Pushing myself away, I noticed how his eyes were fixed on the place where my hands were. He shook his head once, then looked at me.

“Now, in order to travel,” he said, clearing his throat, “you need to think of your destination.” Goat took a step to the left and gestured towards the first tree in the forest. “Try to think about it and travel to it.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. My imagination ran wild. Behind my eyes, the bark of the tree appeared, its distinctive trunk rose taller. For one second, I stood in front of the brute, and in the next, my shoulder hit something hard. Wincing, I opened my eyes to see the maroon trunk. A smile broke over my lips.

The sensation was not unwelcome, and I enjoyed this perk of the new body I had. I wondered if I could use it to see my family. Perhaps this way I could travel with Angelica to see both the mountains and the sea. Oh, how joyful that would be!

Footsteps crunching the fallen leaves made me turn my head. The Goat Man’s eyebrows were knitted; his eyes fixed on the shoulder I had hit earlier. My gaze travelled to his fingers that twitched with each step he took.

Ignoring my trembling knees, I raised my head. “I can do this by myself, apparently. I don’t need your help.”

My voice was filled with venom, and as I sidestepped him, I regretted it.

Yet, I could never have warm feelings towards someone who slaughtered their entire family, regardless of the reason.

As I stepped inside the cave, I felt his eyes on my back.

Burning.

The second and third souls

The capital city. Bucharest.

It overwhelmed me. I was used to fresh air, with mud and grass everywhere.

The sounds of the cars and trams were clinging to my ears, my opinci drenched in rain.

People were everywhere, their umbrellas hiding their faces. There was no wonder it was named the Grey City.

The buildings on Calea Victoriei were almost touching the sky, the moon reflecting on their windows. Concrete everywhere, not a single patch of grass.

The avenue that split the neighbourhood in two was decorated with flags, the emblem of Romania imposing in the middle. An eagle, its head decorated by the Steel Crown, stood proudly holding a sword and a sceptre in its claws.

Next to the building I was staring at was a small brothel. Their owners were shown to me by the Mirror. A chubby man dressed in dark suits, smudges of lipstick on the collar of his white shirt and a woman with a sour face, slimmer than the wooden pole which sustained haystacks.

The Mirror showed me multiple scenes of how they took women and orphan children and sold them throughout our continent. As though they were a piece of meat to be enjoyed at the dinner table.

I walked the steps of the brothel where two women with no modesty were standing. The skull I wore silenced them, their eyes watching my hooves.

The thought of the contract made me want to finish my quest, even though my soul and mind kept saying no. Also, the quarrel I had with the Goat Man pushed me further.

We were both to blame. He, because he didn’t remember why he took down his family and had no interest in doing so. And me, because I didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt. What else was I to think? He, with his own mouth, said he ruined his family. Although there was the matter of memory loss. Which was certainly a lie. But my soul said the opposite.

The music coming from the lăutari hit my ears, making me walk to their rhythm. The violin, cymbal and accordion called me to a large salon. Tables and chairs were filled with men and women enjoying the pleasures of the night.

One of my next souls was throwing money on the floor, making the famished men and women fight for a piece of paper.

From the corner of my eye, I saw children at the end of the room. Many children.

I couldn’t kill while innocent beings watched me.

My feet stood frozen on the threshold, searching for ways to protect sinless eyes. If I had had a heart, it would have found a way to escape my ribcage.

Until then, no one had noticed me.

All the adults were enjoying themselves from the music and the alcohol, which had no end. The children gazed upon them, their faces pale and their young eyes widened.