We're Monsters

The night was cold, but the air was heavy, suffocating even, as if the whole village had turned into a trap.

“No! We have to leave, far from here. C-come on, they’re coming.”

Dad’s voice broke into the silence. It wasn’t his usual steady, calm voice... it was trembling, shaky, the kind of sound that made my chest tighten in panic. I had never heard him like this before. He was afraid. My father, the strongest man I knew... was terrified.

And that made my stomach twist so badly I almost couldn’t breathe.

The first thing my eyes landed on was the blood dripping from his stomach. Thick, dark red. My mind refused to process what was happening. All I could think of was stopping the blood before it was too late.

“Dad!” I cried out. With nothing in my hands to use, I rushed to him, my heart pounding like it wanted to tear out of my chest. I pressed both hands against his wound, trying to stop the blood from flowing out. My fingers were shaking so badly that I could hardly keep pressure on it.

Before I could even scream for my brother to help me, Dad grabbed my wrist with surprising strength. His hand was cold, trembling, but his grip was desperate.

“Maive… we have to go.”

His eyes... so tired, so weary... he looked straight at me. His voice was raw, full of urgency. He wasn’t begging. He was commanding me.

“Dad, y-you’re hurt—” I started, but the words wouldn’t leave my throat. They felt stuck there, strangling me.

I couldn’t even ask what had happened, or who did this, because deep inside, I already knew. I didn’t need to be told.

Those humans.

They did this.

I forced myself to look away from Dad’s wound, but my gaze landed on Sheon. My chest broke apart into pieces. Her small body was lying so still, her eyes closed, her chest not moving—no rise, no fall. She looked like she was sleeping, but I knew the truth.

She wasn’t breathing.

Sheon was dead.

“No…” My lips trembled. My eyes burned with tears I didn’t want to let fall. I wanted to run to her, hold her, scream her name until she opened her eyes again. But my feet refused to move. I couldn’t even breathe properly. If I looked any longer, I would break completely.

I turned my head away so fast my vision blurred. Tears streamed down before I could stop them.

The sound that snapped me out of it wasn’t my father’s voice this time. It was another voice. Loud, angry, terrifying. The sound of pure hatred.

It was coming closer.

“We need to leave!” Dad roared, his voice so sharp it pulled me out of my frozen state.

Before I knew it, I was gripping my brother’s wrist, running away from the only home I ever knew. The house where I grew up, where I laughed, where I held on to my dreams... it was behind us now, left to die in flames of memory.

Dad was in front, his footsteps heavy, uneven. Every step he took left blood behind on the ground. I could see it, I could smell it. The metallic scent of blood mixed with the dirt and cold wind.

I wanted to scream at him to stop. He shouldn’t be running. He needed help. But my throat refused to work, and my body was shaking too hard to speak.

I was scared. Scared in a way I had never felt before.

Then I heard them.

The footsteps.

Dozens of them, thundering against the ground behind us. The sound of heavy boots, the clashing of metal. Angry voices calling out to one another, shouting, screaming.

They weren’t just chasing us. They were hunting us.

“They’re close!” I cried, my voice breaking.

“They’re coming! Run faster!” Dad thundered again, his voice desperate.

But my legs were burning. My chest felt like it was collapsing. My heart pounded so painfully that every beat hurt.

Then it happened.

“Ah!” I screamed as my foot caught a stone. My body lurched forward, and I hit the ground hard on my knees. Because I was holding onto my brother, he fell with me.

“Maive!” Zonen shouted, his voice full of panic.

Dad stopped running. I looked up just in time to see his face twist in fear. The moonlight made it clear... his eyes wide, his body trembling as he saw us on the ground.

“Damn it!” I cursed under my breath, my teeth biting hard into my lips. I was so stupid. So clumsy.

Zonen scrambled up immediately, grabbing me with both hands. “Come on! Hurry!” he shouted, his voice trembling but firm.

I grabbed onto him, trying to stand, but my legs betrayed me. They were shaking so badly that I collapsed back down. My knees wouldn’t hold me. My whole body was trembling like it was made of paper.

“They’re here!” a man’s voice shouted.

“The family of the witch is here!” another screamed, and laughter followed.

My heart froze. My blood turned to ice.

When I looked up, I saw torches, lamps, and the glint of sharp metal. The villagers. They were close... so close I could see the madness in their eyes.

Before I could even move, Dad lifted me into his arms. His hands were freezing, his body shaking. Yet he carried me like I weighed nothing, running with all the strength he had left.

I clung to him, my tears spilling again. I hated myself. I hated being a burden. My father was bleeding to death, yet here he was, carrying me. His heavy breathing rasped against my ear, rough and uneven.

“Stop! Where do you think you’re going?!” A deep voice thundered ahead of us.

I raised my head. My stomach dropped.

A group of men stood in front, blocking the way. They carried lamps and weapons, their shadows stretching across the dirt like monsters.

Dad stopped in his tracks.

Behind us... were more voices, more footsteps. We were surrounded.

My body stiffened. My heart dropped.

“You really have the guts to run away from your sins!” one of them shouted.

“I have done nothing wrong!” Dad’s voice shook with rage and fear. “Let us leave peacefully…” His hands trembled as he held me tighter, and I could feel the fear radiating from his body.

“Why are you doing this?!” Zonen screamed, his chest heaving, his voice breaking.

Some of the men laughed. A cruel, sick laugh that made my skin crawl.

The old man who stood at the front, his face lit by the orange glow of the lamp, raised a hand. His eyes landed on my brother.

“Take him.”

My stomach dropped.

“What?” My voice cracked in horror.

“No! Don’t touch my children!” Dad roared, louder than I had ever heard before. His voice was full of rage, shaking the ground around us. He pulled me closer, one arm gripping Zonen tightly.

“I said, take him!” The old man repeated.

I felt Zonen’s hand trembling against mine, his fingers digging into my skin. His fear was the same as mine.

“Why?!” I cried, my voice breaking. “Why are you doing this to us?!”

The answer came like a blade to the chest.

“Your family ruined this village! You will pay for what you’ve done!”

The villagers advanced, their shadows stretching closer.

I clutched Zonen’s hand desperately. “Don’t let go of me,” I whispered, my tears falling freely.

But then they grabbed him. Rough hands yanked at his arm.

“No! Don’t touch him!” I screamed, pulling back as hard as I could.

“I said, don’t touch my children!” Dad’s roar split the night. It wasn’t human. It was deeper, louder, monstrous.

My eyes darted to him.

And then I froze.

His body was shaking, his teeth gritted, his eyes wild. His voice wasn’t his own anymore. His body twisted, stretched, broke apart into something I couldn’t understand.

I stumbled back, my hand slipping from Zonen’s.

My father’s form shifted, his body snapping and growing, fur sprouting, claws tearing through skin. His mouth widened into a jaw of sharp teeth.

The man who raised me, who carried me, who bled for me... He wasn’t a man anymore.

He was a monster.

“D-Dad?” My voice cracked, disbelief shattering my chest.

I fell to my knees, my tears blinding me. My world broke apart in front of my eyes.

All this time…

We weren’t human.

We were monsters.