Salvation of the Fallen - Chapter 5
Arsena’s breath caught in her throat at the words that flowed through the man’s pursed lips. Fate is predetermined. It sounded as if she was sentenced to live miserably and unhappily for the rest of her life, no matter what she did. The man asserted that it was her destiny.
“I thought fate… was about the choices you make….”
Perhaps it was a childish remark. The man burst into laughter at her feeble protest, as if he found the words amusing. Arsena’s ears tingled at the sound, more embarrassing than the wind rustling through the grass. Even if she roamed the village barefoot, it wouldn’t be as shameful as this. Her moist eyes, filled with an indescribable feeling, flickered noticeably.
“Then try it. Your choice.”
Having mastered the laughter as if it were a lie, the man met Arsena’s gaze directly when his red eyes were perfectly aligned. She couldn’t move, frozen.
“Try running away, Arsena.”
With a mocking and chillingly delivered line, Arsena took a step back. She had to escape, like a rabbit released into a hunting ground. She had to run, even though she knew the man could easily grab her by the ankles. Whether it was from this mysterious man or from her own destiny.
“Eventually, you will come to me.”
With stumbling steps, she raced down the dark forest path. Arsena couldn’t stop, even if tangled thorns were whipping at her legs like a whip. Every moment of hesitation felt like the black forest and the white man were about to twist her neck and swallow her whole.
Struggling for breath, she arrived at the edge of the village. Only then could Arsena finally look back. The strange, twisted laughter that had persistently pursued her a moment ago was now nowhere to be heard.
Dawn was breaking. Everything was calm and peaceful as if nothing had happened.
Had she been hallucinating in this cursed forest? Arsena glanced at her throbbing wrist, the vivid red imprint standing out like a brand.
It’s not a dream. Then…
Doubts about the man’s existence sent shivers down her spine. Cold sweat trickled down, and her fingertips tingled as if pricked by needles.
I have to run away.
As if someone had cracked a whip behind her, Arsena ran again. Into the fate, she couldn’t escape.
***
“Where have you been wandering?”
A barrage of scolding and pouring rain greeted Arsena as she cowered, tightly shutting her eyes. It was pitiful that this was where she ended up after fleeing.
Yet, she couldn’t run away again. No. Even if she tried to escape, she couldn’t break free. The suffocating shackles of misfortune surrounding her wouldn’t end. There was no salvation for her. Arsena helplessly accepted her fate.
“What are you doing? Not coming in.”
When she returned from the temple, her eyes were bloodshot. She must have been waiting for her all night.
“Last chance.”
A thick scripture was placed in front of Arsena, drenched like a drowned mouse. Somehow, its stark white cover reminded her of the man she’d met in the forest. Arsena shuddered.
“Read it.”
Where did they get this scripture? Why was she demanding this of her? Examining her mother silently, despair crept into Arsena’s eyes. Eventually, she realized that she wouldn’t find any answers. No. Now, she wasn’t even curious.
Arsena opened the given scripture with resignation. It was the last chance, they said. Unfathomable, yet she had no choice but to accept. With vacant blue eyes, she moved along the black letters.
So, for three days.
“Thus, said the merciful God… you shall all….”
Slap-.
The voice slowed ominously as her mother’s hand struck Arsena’s cheek. She hadn’t moved an inch from where she first unfolded the scripture. Her kneeling legs ached, and her hungry stomach felt empty. Lack of sleep blurred her vision. Even the once bright red cheek lacked sensation.
“Start over from the beginning.”
Arsena wondered what she was trying to prove. Her eyes were red, too. She violently opened her bloodshot eyes and didn’t even blink. At the sight of her mother’s madness, Arsena barely had time to wipe her bloodied lips before she turned back to the first chapter and began to read.
“In the beginning, God created life and bestowed mercy…”
Arsena’s throat made a scratching sound as she read the words over and over again, as if mechanical.
“Seven swords descended upon this land to vanquish the extraordinary evil… Amen.”
Finally, the last chapter. Arsena’s vision wavered as she approached the end, and both the scriptures and her mother’s figure distorted like a nightmare. She stopped speaking, feeling nauseous, and her mother’s teeth clamped down eerily when she paused.
She would be hit. Of course, Arsena had no intention or strength to dodge her mother’s approaching hand. She simply tightly closed her blue eyes, waiting for the impending fate.
“I knew it! I knew it would come to this!”
The mother shouted, stomping her feet. Her voice, pitched high and shrill, was filled with glee.
“Do you know what this is? Felita. Not the kind you find in a rustic bar, but the real Felita. The woman from that bar probably never saw that her entire life.”
As her mother shook a hefty glass bottle, the crimson liquid inside surged, creating enormous waves.
“I knew it. I knew it would happen.”
The mother smiled, her lips splitting from ear to ear, and pushed the candlestick into the corner away from Arsena’s eyes.
A bottle of Felita was held high above her head. The candle flickered precariously. Arsena remembered the words of the priest who had taught her to read. Before Felita was precious, it was poured over sinners and set ablaze.
With her eyes tightly shut, Arsena used her trembling fingertips to scratch the elusive ground. Her mother seemed to be trying to kill her.
“Be quiet. It’s a rare gift from the temple.”
Having removed the cork from the bottle in haste, her mother hesitated for a moment, then gulped down the Felita. Her eyes, filled with madness after a single sip, dimmed. Instead of the candlestick, she grasped a shard of a broken mirror.
“Yeah, this kind of thing is a luxury for someone like you.”
Tsk-.
Spitting on Arsena’s face, her mother raised the bottle again, swallowing Felita gulp after gulp. Her chin lifted proudly. The unswallowed crimson liquid quickly flowed along her throat. The sharp fragments of the mirror, firmly held, gleamed in the light, dazzling the sight.
– Run. Arsena.
For a moment, Arsena’s eyes flashed open. Yes, she couldn’t die in such a pitiful manner. Not yet.
“Damn it!”
As Arsena wriggled away, her mother swiftly grabbed the hem of her sleeve. No, she didn’t want this. Due to the forceful tug, the already torn sleeve further ripped apart. Losing her balance, her mother fell to the ground.
Clang!
“No… no!”
Simultaneously, the Felita bottle shattered, and shards of glass scattered across the floor. Whether she was trying to salvage the spilled liquor or not, her mother urgently raked through the shards. Ignoring the fact that the shards were piercing through her palm, she seemed preoccupied only with repeatedly muttering that it couldn’t be.
In the eerie glow of the flames, her mother’s frantic movements created a surreal dance. The blue flames, like droplets of rain just beginning to fall, scattered in all directions. In an instant, the fire engulfed the small cabin as if it intended to devour it whole.
“Argh!”
Engulfed in blue flames, the mother twisted. As she struggled, the blue embers scattered like raindrops that had just begun to fall. In a shovelful of time, the fire grew to engulf the entire cabin.
“Fire!”
