Inside a ramshackle house that looked more like an old shack than a home, a small child around four years old stood silently in the corner of the room. Her brown eyes stared blankly at the horrific scene before her.
Blood stained the wooden floor. A woman—or rather, something that had once been a woman—was tearing apart a body with her massive teeth, long and sharp like daggers. Her body was twisted in unnatural ways, bent in places that should've broken, yet she moved with the agility of a beast. Her limbs gripped the victim with savage strength, ripping flesh with wet, sickening sounds.
Little Melly stood frozen. Her body trembled, but she couldn't move. Shock had stolen her voice, and even her tears wouldn't fall. Her mouth hung slightly open, her breath caught in her throat.
The woman suddenly stopped.
Her head turned slowly, red eyes hollow and vacant, as if they no longer saw the world. When her gaze landed on Melly, she growled.
Then she lunged.
Her twisted body launched forward with all four limbs, like a savage star. Her claws slashed through the air and struck Melly with terrifying force. The little girl was flung backward, her tiny body crashing into the wooden wall with a sickening thud as her head struck it hard.
Melly collapsed.
The creature staggered closer, its frame twitching, blood dripping from its mouth and fingers. Its foggy, broken eyes fixed on Melly's unmoving form.
But before it could touch the girl—
CRACK!
A wooden staff struck the back of its head.
It was Riven. Still young, just twelve years old. His olive skin was soaked in sweat and blood, and his eyes burned with a shattered mix of fear and courage. He held the staff in trembling hands, panting as he stared at the creature.
The staff broke.
The creature turned with a sickening jolt, like a puppet yanked by an unseen string. Its ruined gaze locked onto the boy. Then it lunged.
Riven flew backward, crashing onto the floor. In a heartbeat, the creature was on him—claws digging into his clothes, its melting, blood-slick face hovering inches from his own. One eye was milky white, the other twitching violently; its twisted grin made his breath catch.
Yet Riven didn't scream.
Barely audible, his voice trembled, "Mother…"
That word froze the creature mid-snarl.
Its breathing hitched. Its clawed grip loosened. The muscles in its face quivered as something human struggled beneath the monstrous shell.
In that fragile pause, Riven's eyes darted sideways, toward the corpse lying beside him. The man's arm lay twisted at an odd angle, and beside his limp hand rested a blood-slick kitchen knife, half-buried in the dirt and gore.
Riven reached for it with trembling fingers.
The creature… no, his mother… watched him, confusion and pain flickering across her contorting expression.
"Mom… please…" he whispered, voice cracking.
His hand closed around the handle.
Tears blurred his vision as he lifted the knife with both hands.
"I'm sorry… please stop… please—"
He drove the blade into her neck.
STAB.
Her body jerked. A choked scream tore from her throat.
STAB.
Warm blood splashed across his arms. Riven sobbed, stabbing again and again, begging her to stop, begging for this nightmare to end.
"Mom… please… stop… please…"
The creature collapsed to its knees, clutching its ruined neck. Blood gurgled with every breath. Yet… she didn't attack. She didn't reach for him.
Instead, her clouded eyes filled with tears.
"S… sorry…" she rasped, voice breaking apart. "Sorry… it's… all… her fault… the queen… that mad queen… she… cursed… me… I… can't…"
Her body swayed, trembling, torn between the monster she had become and the mother she once was.
Riven staggered back, knife slipping from his shaking hands. Melly lay unconscious nearby. He crawled to her, lifted her into his arms, and pressed his forehead against hers.
"Melly… wake up… please… we have to go…"
Riven took one shaky step backward, Melly limp in his arms. His breath hitched, his heart pounding against her shoulder. Behind him, his mother trembled, still kneeling, blood pulsing from the gaping wound in her neck.
Her claws twitched.
Her lips moved as though she wanted to speak again. But no sound came.
Riven turned halfway, unable to stop himself from looking… just once more.
His mother's body swayed. Her eyes searched for him with a desperate softness, a fading spark. Her chest rose and fell in uneven, shuddering gasps.
"…Riv…"
The shattered whisper barely escaped her throat.
Then she collapsed.
First to her hands, then forward, hitting the wooden floor with a dull, final thud. Blood pooled quickly beneath her jaw, spreading in a dark halo. Her fingers stretched toward him—just a few inches—before they stopped moving altogether.
.
.
.
The rain fell with the fury of a lingering curse. The wind howled through the trees like a wounded beast, bending branches until they cracked. Lightning ripped across the sky, revealing a world that looked hostile to life itself.
Days had passed since that night, yet the storm felt as if it had never ended.
Riven staggered forward, soaked to the bone. Melly's small, motionless body lay cradled in his arms, her weight far heavier than a child's should ever feel. Rain slid down his cheeks, merging with the tears he no longer had the strength to wipe away.
His jaw tightened, fighting the sobs swelling inside his chest.
But they broke through.
"This cursed world…" His voice split apart under the storm. "I can't— I can't take it anymore! Why was I born into a place this cruel…?!"
Thunder swallowed his scream.
"Damn it…! Damn it all!! This insane, rotten world!!"
His steps grew weaker.
And then, he tripped.
A hidden stone beneath the water and mud caught his foot. He tumbled, and Melly was torn from his arms. They both landed in the cold, wet earth. Riven froze. His breath shook. The world felt paralyzed.
He sat there in the mud. His eyes stared blankly into the ground. Rain continued to pour, but he didn't care. His hands trembled as he reached for Melly's limp body.
She was so small… so fragile…
"I give up…" he whispered. His lips barely moved. "I really give up…"
He looked at her face—still, pale, and cold.
"I can't live like this anymore… I'm not strong enough…"
Tears fell again from despair.
"How did I end up in a world like this…?" his voice cracked. "There's no hope. No light. No one…"
And suddenly, his fingers crept toward Melly's neck.
His hand began to tighten.
"It's better to die than live like this," he said coldly. "It's enough. This world isn't meant for you. You'll only suffer. You'll only make me weaker…"
The pressure grew. His fingers trembled.
"You're just a burden, Melly… always…"
His eyes shut. He didn't want to see her. He only wanted it to end. The pain. The fear. The weight.
"Maybe… in your next life… you'll live in a better world…"
And just then—
"…Brother…"
A soft voice. Barely audible. But to Riven, it was thunder in his soul.
His eyes snapped open. His hand froze.
He turned, trembling.
Melly's eyes were open… just slightly. Her breath was faint. Her lips barely moved. But those eyes… looked at him.
Not with anger. Not with tears.
Just emptiness.
As if she had already died long ago.
Riven's body went limp.
He collapsed to the side, barely holding in the bile rising in his throat. His hands released her neck. He looked at his palms, the same hands that had almost killed the only thing he had left.
He bowed his head. Tears fell like a second storm.
"I… I'm sorry…" he whispered hoarsely.
"Melly… I'm so sorry…"
The words repeated like a prayer from someone lost.
"I… I just couldn't take it anymore… I even thought… maybe you should go too…"
"I didn't want to live anymore…"
But then, something touched his cheek.
Soft. Small.
Melly's hand.
Still warm, fragile with life barely clinging on… but real. Still there.
Riven's eyes widened. He grabbed her hand like a drowning man clutching the last thread of light.
"Melly…"
"Forgive me… please…"
Then, with a broken voice but an unshakable promise, he swore:
"I swear… I'll never leave you alone again…"
"I'll protect you… no matter what…"
"I'll never let you go again…"
And beneath the relentless rain, in a world still cruel and unchanging, a boy who had lost everything made a decision—
He would survive.
Not for himself.
But for his sister. For Melly.
For the only reason he still had a heartbeat.