"Austin, is that you?" Grandma Susan asked immediately she heard a noise.
Andrew slowly walked towards the old lady.
"Austin? Margaret? Who are you?" The old lady asked, but all she received was silence and fear slowly creeping in, making her remember the dreadful screams she heard in the beginning.
" Who are you? What do you want?" She asked fearfully but Andrew was silent as he drew his sword and beheaded her.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!" a figure screamed causing Andrew to turn his head.
And saw a lady running away in fear. He raised his hand, pointing it towards her and a magical circle appeared on it, causing a huge wound to appear on her back. The force caused her to fall over the window and hang.
With blood splattered on his face and body, he started dragging the bodies to specific places and leaving them there while mumbling some strange words almost as if he was praying for their souls. Or was it his?
The blood stain created patterns on the floor and wall. He slowly evacuated the building pouring oil on the floors in a strange manner. He walked past the dead bodies, looked around and thought, "they say if you kill pigs for a living, you would be reborn as a pig in your next life. Then in my next life, would I be an innocent man?"
"Who knows, maybe I won't get a next life anyway. Operation successful." He said as he ignited the lighter and threw it, setting the manor ablaze.
Just when he was about to leave through the gate, he saw a figure coming.
"No! Mom!! Dad!!!" He heard the person scream, as he ran into the manor.
Andrew thought to kill him, but when he pointed his blood analyzer, it buzzed twice which only meant negative.
Why would he waste a completely innocent blood, he thought as he ignored James' laments.
But James found his silence obnoxious, as he stood and ran towards him shouting "ANSWER ME!!!!".
He stretched out his hand to grab Andrew, who dodged and hit him with the hilt of the sword knocking James out, then left the manor just as quiet as when he came, all traces gone but the beautiful picture he painted with blood and gore was the only evidence of his existence.
The night was brimming with cold sounds of owls and rustling trees, they filled the atmosphere. In the dead of this cold night, was a figure digging slowly and steadily. It seemed like he was unaffected by the things of the world, he existed solely to dig.
It was James. For the past three hours, he had been digging grave spots for his dead family. He rejected the help of everyone who wanted to help him, for he blamed himself for the death of his family and chose to go through it alone.
He climbed out to place the coffin in the grave but a man stopped him and said to him;
"They wouldn't be happy seeing you like this."
James looked up with tears in his eyes and saw the old farmer who lived close by. His emotions compelled him to speak up.
"If only I was there! If I never left in anger, if I hadn't been stubborn they would still be alive! It's all my fault. I should have been there" he sobbed loudly as he slowly dropped the shovel in his hand.
"You wouldn't have been able to change anything, the enemy was clearly more powerful than each and everyone of you."The old man began, as James stared at him lifelessly.
"There was no way you could have stopped him. Why don't we finish burying them together and you stay with me for the time being? After all, I have no one but my wife with me. it will be nice to have some company" He added and James nodded. They both spent the night burying James' family.
2 weeks later.
It all started with the noise of cleaning. James, who was finally feeling better, was cleaning his home and fixing broken furniture. as he got to the basement. He saw the door which was destroyed in the fire, he remembered it was his grandfather's office before he died and no one was allowed to go there, it was always locked with a big lock. He had always wondered what was in there, that no one else was allowed to see.
He compelled himself to go in after a series of thoughts. When he got in, it was surprisingly tidy, the books were all arranged in an orderly manner. The room was in a vast contrast to the rest of the house.
He looked around for a while and saw nothing special, just some old books about history and other things. He then took a book to check the content. The book shelf then opened up and in there, were more books but the books here were more special.
They were books pertaining to magic. Shock was written all over his face, because he thought his grandfather hated magic in general, yet here he was standing in a room filled with everything magic.
The assumption of being right about his theory about his grandfather, felt like a disappointment. While checking the room, he then noticed a box in the corner of the room. It was old and very dusty, which was weird because this was the only object that collected dust in the hidden room. The box had this ancient carving and design that could lure anyone into peeping.
And since his grandfather was late, it felt right to him. After all, the box was slightly opened.
He opened it up and saw a diary, with the same carving inscribed on it. While checking through, a map drawn on a weird looking paper fell off.
He wondered what it could be about.
The map was drawn in weird codes. Which normally would be hard for anyone to understand, but James understood it. It was the language that was taught among the family. For so long, he had wondered why that was so. He knew it was another weird rule created by his grandfather. All family members must be proficient in the code from the age of ten. The map led to a strange place called the devil's farm in the country of cubaori. A country with barbarians and bloodthirsty savages. It's one of the most deadly empires on the continent, known for their gigantic beast's and man-eating monsters. But where the risk is high, so is the reward. Many precious things are found in their forests, making it a go to place for mercenaries and adventurers looking to become rich overnight. And also a place with one of the highest death rates. James was curious about what his grandfather did there, how he made it back alive. Maybe it was what resulted in his heavy injuries before he died.