You begin following the hare path, trudging along with your rifle in hand. You're far from a good shot, but still the thought of bagging another hare fills your mind. Your eyes flicker along the path for the black eyes of a hare staring back. You hear magpies singing overhead as a few peek from their treetop nests. It's a lovely forest, that's for sure.


Suddenly, you hear something. You quickly turn, dropping to your knee to raise your rifle into a firing position to bag your prey as father always does. You don't, clumsily tripping and hitting yourself in the face with the gun. Still, you're getting better. You push the gun off yourself as your rub your nose, before hopping up to a kneeling position. You stare at where the noise came from. Through the blurred visage of your watery eyes, you see in th distance a pale figure,, sprinting past the trees with unnatural speed. You heft your gun to your shoulder and aim, not knowing whether to fire or not. You don't want to miss a chance to take out a… whatever creature that is, but you're unsure whether that's even a good idea.

You hold fire

You hold fire, as the creature continues sprinting through the forest. You stare curiously at it, before it disappears from view. Fascinating. You lower yourself from the branch to see if you can spot it from a lower angle, but sadly its completely disappeared. No bother, you'll make an attempt to find out what kind of creature it was another day. Time to head home and report your findings.

You head home

You don't see any other sight of the creature, or figure, or whatever it was. You grab your gun, hefting it up to your shoulder once more, as you begin strolling home. 


It's only a short walk back home. When you arrive, mother and Meredith are putting away the last of your family's possessions, while father sits by the fireplace, cleaning his rifle.


"Jacob, what did you find?" he asks.


"There was some creature in the woods that was really pale and I saw it but I didn't shoot it bec..."


"No creature's pale in the woods that I can think of," father interrupts. "Wouldn't be good for them. Their skin's meant to hide them in the foliage, not help them stand out."


"We need to get a fire going before night. It's getting colder," father says. "Let's get your chores started. Get to work gathering firewood."


"Got it, father," you say.

Two Hours Later...

You stare at the bowl of rabbit stew in front of you, lapping your lips as mother continues setting the dinner down on the table. 


"Alright, let's pray," father says, as you all make the sign of the cross.


You bow your head as you all grab each others hands and hold them tightly to pray to the Lord.


"Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty," you all say in unison. "Through Christ, our Lord. Amen."


You release your hold on Meredith and mother's hands, making the sign of the cross. Then, you eagerly dig into your food. You devour it, licking the last trace that the bowl in front of you ever even held food within two minutes. You slap the bowl down on the plate with a sigh of the joy that can only come from alleviating hunger. You wait for your family to finish eating, tapping the edge of the table out of boredom. After a few minutes, the rest of them finish eating, and you make the sign of the cross once more, before you join hands once more.


"We give Thee thanks, Almighty God, for all Thy benefits, and for the poor souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, may they rest in peace. Amen," you all say, before making the sign of the cross a final time. 


"Jacob, go check on the goats," mother says. "Meredith, help me cleaning the bowls."


You nod, standing and pushing in your chair, hurrying to the doorway and grabbing your coat as you pull it on. You walk outside, quickly heading towards the goat shed, where Nick and Puck lie on their bed of hay. They're well fed and watered, and seem contented.  You turn to walk back inside, before seeing movement up in the trees. 


Then, you hear the noise. A horrible, long, incredibly loud, screeching howl that penetrates your very core. You feel an urge to run and flee from the noise.

You hide behind the goat shed

You quickly cower behind the goat shed, terrified of the thought of whoever made that howl coming for you. Suddenly, father bursts from the house, his rifle in his hands.


"What was that?" he barks out, his knuckles white from how tightly he's clutching the rifle.


You point up towards the trees, bathed in the pale moonlight. 


"It came from there!" you say.


Father pauses, staring up nervously. He leans into the doorway, grabbing the crucifix that hangs there to watch over you as you eat. He hands you the crucifix, as you take it.


"I want that on you whenever you enter the woods, understood?" he asks, as you nod. "I'll have the crucifix for the house replaced in the morning. Just try and get some sleep, OK?" 


You nod, as you begin to trudge off to bed. Despite being exhausted, you know you won't sleep much.

The Next Day...

"I'm not sending him out there alone! We'll be fine, we'll go quickly!" father says.


"I need help with fixing the shed, Ezekiel!" mother replies.


"Jacob can do it, I'll set up the traps!" father says.


"Jacob's not strong enough to life the blocks, Ezekiel!"


Father sighs, looking at you. It's not your place to get involved in the arguing and even though as the wife mother shouldn't be arguing with father, she's right. You're losing daylight fast as the day progresses. One of you needs to set up the traps and one should fix the shed, and you simply can't do the latter.


"I can go, father," you say.


Father's still nervous about the creature he heard last night, despite admitting he's not sure what it is. Still, with your rifle and God's protection, you know it won't be able to harm you. 


Father sighs, his big brow furrowing and his mustache drooping.


"Alright," he says. "Don't stray too far, understood?"


"I understand," you answer.


"Take your crucifix, your rifle and my trapping pack, and be back in two hours, or I'm coming lookingn for you, understood?"


"I understand," you repeat.


Father stares up at the forest, slowly blowing out air between his teeth, before nodding.


"Go."


You quickly race to grab your father's hunting pack, grabbing the leather pack and swinging it over your shoulder. With your left hand you grab your rifle, struggling to keep it propped up against your shoulder. With your right hand, you hold your crucifix tightly, and head off into the woods.

You continue

You walk along the hare path, your rifle and crucifix held tightly in your hands. You find another good spot for a simple snare trap, beginning to tie up your loop as you peer among the branches for one that could be used for the snare. Suddenly, you hear a branch breaking. You drop the loop, twirling around to point your gun. Thankfully, you don't hit yourself in the face with your rifle. You peer through the trees, seeing the flash of pale flesh from yesterday.

You investigate

You creep forward, lowering your gun as you approach the creature. You step past teh tree, finding a young girl, around your age.


The girl has long, dirty blond hair and very pale skin. You blush and consider averting your eyes as you notice she's completely naked, before settling on focusing on her stares. She crouches over a dead hare, her hands tearing flesh from the creature as she greedily lifts it up and devours it. You stare at her in shock, before she looks up, staring at you. Her face is covered in the hare's blood, her long hair tussled with twigs and dirt in it. Her hands are covered in blood, and she wears a carved wooden ring. The thing that grabs your attention is her eyes. They're bright, shockingly blue that seem to entrap you, and you find yourself unable to say a word.


"Hello," she says, staring at you. 


"I-I...," you stutter, stumbling over your words.


You both stare at each other, before the girl finally holds up the hare.


"Want some?" she asks. 


"N-no thanks," you say. "I'm Jacob."


"I'm Rose," she replies.


"Do you live here?" you ask, not knowing what else to say.


"I live all over the woods," she replies. "Have you moved into the cottage?"


You nod, as she resumes the eating of the dead hare.


"That's not cooked," you say. 


"No," she replies.


You know you have some bread in your pack, and you can see apples hanging nearby. Perhaps you should offer her something less... disgusting.

You offer her bread

You open your pack, pulling out a piece of bread and offering it to her. 


"Here, have some of this," you say.


"Thank you," she says, tearing off a piece of the bread and chewing it. She winces, opening her mouth and spitting out the bread. 


"It tastes rotten," she says.


You take a bite out of the bread, chewing it and swallowing in. It tastes perfectly fine. Still, Rose resumes eating her hare flesh. 


"I like your ring," you say, not knowing what else to say.


"Thanks," the girl replies. "I made it myself."


"Do you mind if I ask a question?" you ask, as the girl smiles.


"That's a question," she says.


"I mean, like another question," you say.


"Sure."


"Why aren't you wearing clothes?"


The girl looks down at her naked body, seemingly only noticing it for the first time.


"Oh," she says, blushing. "Um... I don't know. I don't have any clothes."

You offer to get her one of Meredith's dresses

"I have a sister. She's as big as you. I can get you one of her dresses."


"Oh, I don't want to cause any trouble," she says.


"No, it's OK, I can get it," you say. "I'll have to do it after I lay down my traps, but I can do it."


Rose nods, before looking at your pack.


"Why do you lay down traps?" she asks.


"To catch prey to eat," you reply. "What do you use?"


"My hands," Rose says.


Rose pauses, nodding behind you. You slowly turn, spotting a hare sitting in the grass, seemingly oblivious to the two of you. Rose raises a finger to her lips, slowly stepping forward. Then, with unnatural speed she pounces. Rose bursts forward. You only see a blur before she stops, holding the hare with a broken neck in front of you.


"How many do you need?" she asks.


"I don't know," you say. 


"If you get me the dress, I can catch you a few hares," Rose offers.

You accept her offer

"OK," you say. "I won't be able to get the dress until tonight."


"I'll have the hares ready for then," Rose says. "So, do..."


"I need to be home soon, then," you say. 


"Yeah, my mother will be looking for me soon. I need to go," Rose says.


"I'll see you tonight, OK?" you say.


"Got it," Rose nods eagerly.


"OK. Goodbye, Rose,"


"Goodbye, Jacob," Rose says, before sprinting off into the woods.


You watch her leave, before turning to head home.

You half an Hour Later...

You walk in the door of the cottage, putting your rifle in the gun rack. Father is there, waiting for you.


"Ah, Jacob, you're back. I was getting worried," he says. "Did you set up the traps?"


You stare at him. For some reason, you feel you shouldn't tell him about the strange girl. He's always been a very puritanical person, hence the religion. When old Mister Kenneth taught a bird to sing in your last town, father wanted him burnt at the stake for witchcraft.

You tell the truth

"No, I..." you say, before realizing you need to explain the whole story.


For the next while, you explain the story to father. As you talk, his brow seems to furrow and his mustache droops. He stares at you for a while, before gritting his teeth.


"There's a witch, a demon, maybe the devil himself in those woods!" father yells, grabbing the newly made crucifix from its place in the doorway. "You've consorted with pure evil, child. We need to head to town, find a church and pray for forgiveness for our sins!"


"What? No, father, she was just a girl! You're talking craz...!"


Father slaps you hard, before grabbing your head and holding you close to his chest.


"Do you think the devil can't take any form which pleases him? Renounce the evil in your heart!"

You pray to God for forgiveness

You drop to your knees as you've been taught to do, and clasp your hands together in prayer.


"Oh Most humane and adorable Jesus, Your endless grace and mercy flows forth," you say. "Before granting the gift of absolution To earnest repenters of sinful ways, You demanded a sacrificial compensation. For a wrongful act cannot be rectified Until punishment has been accepted! Yes, for the salvation of my soul, Jesus, You accepted the price of the Cross! Grant me the grace to remain free of debts, My heart remaining flawless before You, Making Your absolution truly worthwhile!"


Father hugs you tightly, kissing you on the forehead. 


"Come on, we need to get Meredith and mother and head to town. We need a priest, understood?" 


You nod, and quickly follow him to the coach as he calls for mother and Meredith, as you're lead away.


"

You continue

Son of God


You're brought to town with your family and taken to the church, where you're blessed and you pray. After a few hours, father rounds up a posse and heads into the woods, where he searches for the so-called spawn of Satan. Nothing is found, but this push causes father to become even more religious.


The religious shift affects you. Whether real or not, you recognize your talk with the girl as sinful and you pray for redemption constantly. Eventually, you become a priest, and find yourself sanctuary in some desolate part of the wilderness.


Full of self-loathing yet knowing suicide is a sin, you spend out the rest of your days in a miserable existence.