Morana had barely made ten steps when she took notice of a shadowy figure lurking not too far away from where she was.
"Who's there?" She called out in the bravest voice she could muster despite the fear she was feeling inside.
A few seconds passed and the figure neither said anything nor moved from where they were.
'Oh god, are they finally going to kill me now?' Morana panicked as she remembered the times when the villagers were openly talking about killing her or burning her alive.
"Whoever you are, come out now before I unleash my wrath on you."
'Good going Morana. Who in their right mind threatens a person is about to murder her?' She scolded herself after the bold statement she uttered.
Slowly, the figure began to turn and make its way toward her. Morana clasped her eyelids shut and waited in deafening silence for the figure to pounce on her.
"I can't believe this how I die." She whispered as her stomach churned.
She heard footsteps crunching up dry leaves on the ground until they stopped right in front of her. A few seconds go by but nothing happen so she slowly opens her eyes only to be met by a man staring at her in confusion.
"What are you doing?" The man looked at her in a way that made her feel stupid for her actions.
"I should be asking you that. What are you doing on my hill?" Morana countered his query, not letting him have the upper hand in their interrogative stare.
"Your hill?" The man threw his head back in a chuckle, "Pray tell, is your name written anywhere here?"
"Oh? You haven't heard the stories of the witch who lives up here?" Morana smirked, amused by his courage.
"So what if I have, am I supposed to be scared of a little girl living in a dark tower?"
"You should. Who knows if you'll be her next victim."
"Why don't you take off that veil of yours and we'll see if you're worth being scared of."
Morana glared at the man at the mention of her veil. She hadn't taken it off in years and in that time no one had seen her face, it was an uncomfortable topic for her. "Get lost before I do something you'll regret." She snapped at him.
"You didn't look this scary while talking to that child earlier... or is that how you lull them in."
It was obvious that he was trying to get a reaction out of Morana but unluckily for him, she was too tired to give him the satisfaction. "How long have you been spying on me?" She cocked a brow at him amusedly.
"Don't flatter yourself that much, you're not worth spying on." The man rudely countered.
Not wanting to entertain him any longer, Morana gathered her things and pushed passed him to go back home.
"What sort of lady walks out of a man like that." He called out from behind her.
Sighing, Morana turned to face him with an unimpressed look on her face, "What sort of gentleman lets a lady carry all this by herself?"
"How shameful of me, my apologies, my lady." He sarcastically bowed before reaching out to grab the crates from Morana's hands. "Let me lend a helping hand."
"Your help isn't needed." Morana rolled her eyes at him and resumed her struggles but she took back her words almost instantly because the bags were just too heavy for her.
"Are you sure, it doesn't look like you can go all the way on your own."
"I said I'm fine." She lied, not wanting to admit defeat.
The two argued and dragged the crates from each other until eventually, they fell and all the bottles shattered into pieces.
"Nooo~" Morana cried out as she watched her precious milk get soaked by the ground before she could even get a taste.
"I didn't mean to-"
"Look what you've done!" Morana snapped at him.
"What I've done? This wouldn't have happened if you'd accepted my help rather than drag the crates with me."
"What?" Morana stared at the man in disbelief, "You're blaming me for this? I didn't even ask for your help."
"It's just milk, you can buy another crate and I'll cover the expenses."
"Just milk! Just milk you say. Do you think it's easy for me to buy even a bottle of milk on a regular day? You've heard the stories about me, do you think anyone from around here is willing to sell anything to me? I had to wait nearly a month just to buy milk! the same milk that you just spilled and now until the next market day, who knows if I'll get milk again." Morana yelled and vented out all her frustrations on the man.
"I didn't know, I was-"
"Of course, you didn't know! Who thinks to care whether or not a cursed girl like me gets to buy food to survive or not... Just leave, you've done enough damage as it is, there's no use crying over spilled milk... literally."
Without waiting for a response, Morana gathered the rest of her things and stormed out of there. With the crates being gone and anger pumping her blood, she was able to reach her house faster than anticipated.
She didn't even bother to look back to see if the man left or not.
"What an annoying, shameless madman." She yelled once in the comfort of her home, "I was really looking forward to a glass of warm milk."
Hot tears escaped her eyes and as much as she wanted to say she was crying because of the milk, Morana knew it was out of frustration. She tried to remain positive for as long as she could but the hatred directed at her was starting to take a huge toll on her mentally.
"Why do I have to live like this?" Morana cried on the cold floor of her living room, a place that hadn't had any other person stay in for years except her.
She looked around her, everything was just so sad and lonely, like herself.