The Mother who Fed the Dark
They watched from a distance, fear palpable, whispering prayers to gods that might not exist.
The child looked at them. And the Darkness stirred.
“Come closer,” the child said, voice calm, compelling. “Do you wish to see the world as it should be?”
Some stepped forward, drawn not by hope but by curiosity, fascination, or perhaps a madness the Darkness had already seeded. As they did, shadows leapt from the child’s form, enveloping them. Screams pierced the night, though the villagers at the rear could not hear the sounds clearly—only the sight of the bodies writhing unnaturally, limbs bending and stretching in ways no human body should. Then, silence.