Author's note:

This is a only a prologue, so I'll keep it short and merely say... enjoy.

Disclaimer: Since no CC characters has entered the story yet, you won't get anything from me.


Tomorrow is another Night

By Shnoosh

Prologue


It smells...

If anybody are to ask me which sense is the most affected, I will be forced to say the smell.

It smells of the nearby flames...

Literally assaulting me with its heavy odor, permeating through the air like a thick – almost palpable – mist, filling my mind and my lungs with its viscous aroma.

It smells of the flowing blood...

The scent is new to me, both in flavor and implication. But at the same time it is unmistakably clear, leaving no doubt as to that which has caused it.

It smells of death...

I breathe in. I allow the smell to circulate through my body, to become part of me. It is strange... I have never breathed this scent before... and yet it is so well known to me, so very familiar – like a child I never knew I had, which has now finally come home.

It smells... good!

On the ground before me is the one I would call my brother, he is completely motionless, his eyes are wide open, and he is silent. A waning stream of blood exudes from the open wound in his torso and from his mouth like crimson vomit. His life has left him, and I am the one responsible. I opened him up, plunged the skinning knife into his bowels below the belly button, and dragged the blade all the way up until it met the bones of his ribcage, allowing the life to escape from his body through the open hole. He barely uttered a sound, perhaps because the muscles he required to scream were overcome with the shock of being cut in half. He didn't even move... no, he simply stared at me with a startled look in his eyes, as I gutted him like one would a wild boar.

What have I done...?

It is an honest question... does a word for such an act even exist? I really don't know... but I don't think there is one... not yet at least. A drop of red liquid falls from my right arm. The arm is caked with the substance all the way up to the elbow, and I lick a bit off of the back of my hand.

Why did I do it...?

I don't... know. Perhaps I was envious of the apparent approval he received. The smoke from his fire still rises straight up into the air, while mine crawls across the ground like vermin, as if my sacrifice was insignificant – why is that? Is meat worth more than fruit and berries? Is being a hunter worth more than being a forager? Why do I need to kill to gain favor? Did I even gain favor?

The sun descends...

That is good. It is too bright... too happy... too much right now. I don't like it. The darkness is on its way – I can feel it... I don't know how exactly, but I can definitely feel it coming. The darkness my world is heading for.

The air crackles with the sound of the burning pyres...

Maybe calling them pyres is a bit wrong, but to me they seem like nothing else. Burning plants and animals alike, destroying the last proof of their mortal existence, turning them into black smoke in the sky. I don't like the flames, and I emit a low hiss. I should get away from here. It's not safe. I need to go somewhere dark where I can hide. If I am discovered I will be hunted, I'm sure of it... so I need to get away. Get away from the fires, get away from the light, get away from the remains of my brother, just... get away. The knife drops from my hand and makes a clattering sound as it hits the stony ground.

What am I becoming...?

My eyes wander to the surprised looking expression of one I have loved as much as my own life – to the fires which now sting my skin, threatening to leap over to consume me – to the sun which mocks me by shedding light on me and my sins. I just want to escape it all. I just want to flee. I just want to go where my whims take me. I just want to obey my instincts.

I just want to be guided... by the smell.

My head drops low.

My shoulders slump in resigned acceptance.

And I turn around to wander off into the awaiting night.

Truly... I am nothing...

but a beast.


Short... I know, but it's just a prologue, though hopefully it was enough to whet your appetite. It probably doesn't make much sense yet, but I felt like writing it, and it will become evident later what it was about.