To Become The Monster
POV Liora
The wind was wrong that night.
It scraped along the ground instead of drifting, cold and restless, tugging at the shutters like it wanted inside. Clouds smothered the moon, leaving the village wrapped in a gray half-dark that smelled of damp earth and old smoke. The air pressed heavy against my skin, thick enough to taste.
Our village was small, tucked between the hills and the forest, built of low stone houses with sloped roofs and crooked chimneys. By day it was warm—children running barefoot, women laughing near the well, my father’s voice carrying as he worked.