Tears flowing down her cheeks, his mother screamed in front of him, she was so panicked she did not realize him opening his eyes. She continued to quake his world to no end. Keith was still dizzy and the burn in his belly was still present.
He pushed her away when he had the occasion.
"Stop it! Stop shaking me! I'm okay! Let go."
He forcefully made an embrace to calm her as fast as possible.
The crisis finally calmed down, they both took their breath back. But Keith's trust about his mother's control over her doing faded once more.
"You want breakfast? I'll make breakfast."
The boy felt his shirt tightening on his back and he called her back before she began cooking.
"I don't want to eat now, my tummy hurts a little, can I rest just a little bit? Not much time I promise."
He saw his mother's desperate look, she was unwilling to let him sleep, she feared the worst because she could remember her doing, every of her doing. Raima had a lot of remorse but the decision she talked about days earlier was too hard to take.
"Let's not spend the whole day together mother, just this time."
She hadn't stopped crying but she nodded, she understood the need of distance he asked for. A gloomy mood installed in the house. With her son's absence she went on rampage.
She hit the floor with her fist, pulled her hair out and insanely shouted at her heart's content. Her voice went wild with all she had on her mind.
Everyone could hear the witch's cry. Everyone could judge her and interpret it. This day, the village gave birth to a new swarm of gossip.
"She is cursing us, she is doing sorcery!"
"Is she in pain? One of her spell must have gone wrong."
"Maybe she'll sacrifice her dwarf to the devil tonight."
But altogether they gave off the same idea. It was all because of her own doing. Her son could hear her grief. It was painful for him to hear such tearing vocals.
Keith decided to have walk inside of the village, many gazes laid on him. The whole village had an idea of the family's past, the marks on the kid's arms were just a memo to them, none felt pain to this sight.
A broken family and an endangered child, that was the sole thing a stranger could see.
Lifting his shirt up to his nose, he spoke.
"Hey, I'll talk with you from now on, I want you to speak more. Come on, you said she has deceived you... Can you forgive her? Is there a way?"
"No."
"Right! Why would you? What if I harm myself? That's just what you don't want to happen, lose me. Wait, you said you gave her child, doesn't that make you my father?"
"No."
While he walked, he picked up a farming tool, a spade and looked for the sharpest side. Then he made an important rotation with his wrist and forearm to jab himself in the calf. But the tool fell off before it could touch his leg.
There was a sharp pain coming from his armpit join.
'A deep cut! He harmed me to block me harming myself? What nonsense is this!'
He heard Ublee's high-pitched voice near him.
"Hey! You want to play? Let's go play together! I love playing."
Keith let go of his shirt and smiley, looking down for the little girl around, but he found no one. It was just Show's voice echo.
'Harming myself is added to the no-no list.'
The kid changed his expression when he understood the situation. He observed the ground conscientiously. And he found it. The silver line.
'The cat!'
"We'll play hide and seek with the cat. I won't try again, I promise. Can you just pinpoint which way I should follow?"
With a continuous line on the ground, he couldn't tell by himself which direction his prey went. A slight pinch on the shirt indicated him the right side.
The kid ran between the barracks with saliva flowing in his mouth. He was impatient. He jumped and climbed everywhere he could to follow the track. He barely noticed the easiness he had to gauge his jumps all over the place.
Two people were discussing close to each other, two villagers.
"You saw that? He's speaking to himself!"
"I heard it too! Someone told me this kid was nuts!"
Keith could hear those comments, but he did not have the time to erupt in an adult's conversation, he did not feel any hunger, just envy and gluttony. He ran between logs, pathways, people. He was excited.
He stopped his running a few centimeters away from a door, where the line went under.
The line was thicker, brighter. He knew the animal was close. He had no idea where he was because he was obsessed with the cat. He remembered every texture it gave him. His eyes wide open he pushed the door.
"Keith! What are you doing here? Is your mother okay?"
Keith stood in the middle of his neighbours front door, breathing loudly and not even blinking. He saw the line entangled around a person facing of him, sat on a cushion.
The silvery strand wobbled all around that person and he held the cat. He lifted his arm to touch it but he felt the same pain he had earlier under his arm. It made him snap back.
He saw his friend Domi with the cat, the silver line was as fine as the beginning of the hunt.
'If I focus on this I can really find it much more easily. What is he doing here?'
"Well, she's all out, can't you hear her? I'm just having some fresh air now... You... you found the cat?"
Domi was dazed from his friend's behaviour, was he hurt again? He saw some blood dripping from his elbow.
"What's this Keith? She hurt you? That's it, I can't let you with her, let's have a talk with my parents. They are outside, listening to your mother's comportment."
But Keith held Domi's hand before he exited the house.
"No, that's me, I fell earlier. On a farming tool."
"You better not lie to me."
Domi had his finger pointed at Keith, with a serious look. He then pointed at the cat's ass.
"You saw this? Have you seen the cat's state? He's missing a bloody tail now, what on the earth happened?"
Keith's lips twitched, he calmed a little bit before answering.
"I have no idea. Look, the blood is dry, that's probably not an injury he got today. I haven't seen him for a while."
His hand neared the cat, who hissed back. Domi was surprised by the energy the cat put in this rejection.
"Just don't touch his wound, I bet he's not really mad at you."
'He is a very caring friend. But for the time being he's holding my meal.'
He observed the wall next to him, on the door frame, there were marks quoted with a cross or a circle on its almost entire length. Curious, Keith asked.
"What's this?"
The cat ran away when Domi got up. A new silver lining formed on his path, Keith couldn't help but sigh internally as his main prey escaped him.
"My dad complained about not seeing us growing up, my mother suggested to note our height every moon, you can see there's Ublee's on the left, and mine on the right side. There, lean against it. You are 6 right?"
"Yes."
Domi narrowed his eyes to look for the nearest mark Keith reached.
"You are a little bit taller than me when I was your age, you are a tall guy, wow! Don't move an inch, let me get.... Here!"
Domi made a new scratch on the wooden frame and marked a square next to it. He then said.
"This one is yours, we'll see how much you grow too now, but don't forget to come back here."
They played together for the rest of the day until Yotoh came inside the house. The father wasn't surprised about Keith's presence.
"Hey, Raima stopped her rampage, we entered to see if she was alright, she fainted, we put her into the bed, Alma is taking care of her. Would you like to sleep here tonight? I don't think you need your mother's approval."
"Sure, thanks for your hospitality."
Keith bowed out of politesse and went into Domi's room.
'I'll have you soon enough, I'll eat up to your nose and your fangs. You can't escape.'