It was all dark around the house. Nothing unusual about that, the man thought, while he stepped on a few dead leaves on his way to the main door. The lights usually turned on a half an hour after the sunset.
The moon was full, but hidden behind the mountains on the far side of the horizon, so its glow illuminated the small valley in a very subtle fashion, like shyly, just allowing a light visibility. It had been a cold afternoon, and the night promised to be even colder. He thought it was fabulous. He liked cold nights, because they made him feel more connected to nature in a way, like his ancestors had been.
He should've noticed that it was nature itself trying to give him a sign.
He quietly pulled his keys out of his jacket pocket, and tried to find the right one to open the door. He wasn't that old, but his memory failed him from time to time, so it took him a little while to remember which one it was that he was supposed to use. He found it at last, a small, square, golden key that his son had given him just a couple of days ago, because the original one had gone missing.
Just as quietly he made his way into the house, noticing that it was as dark as the surrounding area. The only light that covered the hall was the vague moonlight, coming in through a window. Not even a candle was lit. His children weren't home, then. It was confirmed, too, by the fact that all was quiet, since his kids, no matter where they went, were always the cause of a lot of noise.
Just as he closed the door behind him, he realized that which he should have realized before he came in.
It was TOO quiet.
It scared him at first. He had lived near the mountains his whole life, and he knew firsthand all the kinds of creatures that inhabited them. Even the forest spirits, though they were close to extinction, were still there: few, but happy. This silence... it was very strange. It was like suddenly something-- SOMEONE had-- who knew-- TURNED OFF the forest. He couldn't even hear the whisper of the wind. It felt... antinatural. Eerie.
Doubtful, he walked closer to the window. It wasn't a large window, but he could see a good part of the forest through it. He couldn't see animals, but that was to be expected... it was after dark, after all. Maybe he shouldn't be making such a big deal out of this. Maybe the animals were just unusually quiet because of the cold.
Not sure, he walked to his room, telling himself that he wasn't nervous, and trying to make his steps as confident as posible, even though there was no one around he wanted to convince of his confidence. Opening the sliding door, still with his keys in hand he took off his shoes and kneeled to leave them beside his futon.
A door closed.
The man held his breath for a few minutes, and slowly stood up, scared.
No animal could've gotten in, much less without him noticing. And spirits had no flesh... they couldn't close a door, or cause any similar sound.
Without turning his head, he looked sideways as much as his vision range allowed him to, scared to death of what he might find.
There was someone in the house.
He tried to calm down. It must've been one of his children, who had forgotten something and came back to get it, eager to return to the town later. One of his kids' bedroom doors could've been closed by the wind. There were many explanations that didn't include the presence of an intruder. He just had to calm down...
It happened too fast.
Another opened door.
Fast-paced steps.
Keys falling to the floor.
A scream.
A silver sparkle.
Slashed skin.
Pain.
BLOOD.
His attacker left, as silently as he'd come in. And he fell to the floor, with the moon, cowardly hidden behind the mountains, as his only witness. And with his last shred of consciousness, he told himself that the lights would never again come on for him.
---
little author's notes:
heya guys! this short prologue thing was published some years ago in spanish and sadly i never got to finish chapter one so it's been laying there in my hard drive for that long. i read it again a couple days ago and decided to resurrect it, but i wanted to write it in english because i think the words come easier to me that way. so here you have it, just the prologue and i'm sure it's confusing, but you'll understand soon enough. hopefully i'll finish the first chapter soon, too.
one question, though: the mankin manga, is it finished already? (i haven't had contact with the mankin fandom in, gosh, years!) how many chapters are there anyway?