"The village is just up ahead." Doctor An says as the sightings of small cabins came into view. There was no signs of life, not a single person out to greet them. The carriage was brought to a stop, and the two of them climbed off, "do you think that they are shy?" Doctor An asks. Frowning, Kila glances about but there wasn't anyone, "no, there's no one here." She says. The legends that the people never leave this place was obviously a lie, Doctor An turns and makes his way to one of the cabins and knocks.
There was no answer, "well I guess legends are just that." He says, he wonder what happened to all the villagers though. Kila felt a bit like something wasn't right, indeed it was empty. but she could tell that it was recently populated. As a matter of fact it's as if the people were just here. She squat down next to a makeshif laundry basket full of clothes, she takes a sniff and got a whiff of fressness. "Strange, these clothes are still fresh." She says. Doctor An who had entered one of the cabins stepped out, his face as pale as a sheet of paper, "you have to see this." He says.
When she followed him inside the cabin the thing that greeted her almost made her stomach roll, but a lot of training as a doctor prevented that from happening. "What do you think happened here?" Doctor An asks as Kila observed the bodies sitting at the table. Even a child wasn't spared, it was such a sad sight. The graphic sight was so much so that even I as an author do not wish to explain it in details. Kila turns away from the bodies and frowns, this can't be right, "they are dead, but there's something else." She says.
"What is it?" Doctor An asks. "According to my examination, they've been dead for a while." she says. "A while, how long is a while?" He asks. Kila crosses her arms, "maybe more than a hundred years? I'm not exactly sure, but these bodies are definitely old. Not only that they look fresh. It's odd really, I think we should scope out the other cabins." Kila says. Doctor An shakes his head in shock, "that's insane their bodies only look a day old. How on Earth can you tell that they are older than that?" He asks.
Kila realize that the medical knowledge in this world wasn't as advanced as modern Earth, "the bodies may not be properly decomposed, but there are other ways to check. Come on let's scope, I have a really bad feeling." She says. After an hour of scoping the village they met back in the center, "it was just as I feared, all the villagers are dead and in the exact same position. Sitting at the table having family dinner." Kila says. "What the hell happened here?" Doctor An asks.
Kila wishes to know the exact same question, it was strange. Doctor An was looking out towards the outer path that led to Swampy Forest, which happens to be in view. "Do you think what killed them lives in that forest?" He asks. If it did, it must be a creature that drains the life out of its victims, then once done it finishes them off in the worst possible way. Flashes of the bodies entered her mind, she shivers, whatever it was it was very dangerous. "If so, then we must be careful entering."
Something fast caught Doctor An's attention, he glances over at a nearby cabin and frowns. He was sure he just seen something head in that diretion. He blinks as the shadow hops to nearby bushes, "uh, Kila." He says tugging on her arm. " Kila had already saw the exact same thing, "yeah, we're not alone anymore." she says. There were at least a group of shadows hiding nearby, "whoever you are, if you're trying to kill us it'll be quite difficult." Kila says.
Was she insane? He dies easily! The shadows stayed lurking, a few minutes go by and she was beginning to see figures. She started to understand that they weren't shadows, but people. "Are you seeing this? Who are these people?" Doctor An wonders aloud. Kila turn to look at him, "isn't it obvious, they're the people living here." She answers. Doctor An blinks, "are you saying, they're the spirits of those people?" He asks. " I believe so." She answers as the people draw nearer. One in particular was an elderly woman decked out in more clothing than the others.
She would have to assume that this was the leading lady. "Are you perhaps the people of Lumi village?" She asks. There was no answer, not in words anyways. Instead the elderly woman nods, "I thought so, if you don't mind me asking. What happened here?" She asks. The elderly woman makes a sad face and though her lips were moving there was no sound coming out. "It seems we are not going to get answers from them." She says. "She says that even they don't know what happened." Doctor An says suddenly.
Kila looks back at him, "what? I can read lips, it's like my second language." He says. He seems to be more useful than she thought. As the old woman continues to talk with Doctor An as the interpreter, they were able to at least get a bit of what the villagers did know. "It seems like there is a lot of unanswered mysteries here. I wasn't expecting to deal with a problem such as this one, but I guess it shouldn't be a problem to solve since we are here." Kila says.
Doctor An sighs, he knew she was going to say that. but even he couldn't turn down such a mission, these people deserve a life of peace. What better way to do so than to find what killed them so they could move on. "So to Swampy Forest then." He says. "To Swampy Forest." She nods as they wave at the villagers.