It had been two hours since I left the city behind. Two hours of bumping my head on the ceiling, getting smacked around in a rickety carriage of which I thought would fall apart sooner rather than later. So much for a relaxing ride… I grunted and protected my head with my hands as I bounced up and down. I heard my suitcase rattle on top of the old carriage, hoping it would not fall off during this bumpy ride. To keep myself from being afraid of getting my head bashed in by smashing it against the wooden ceiling, I looked out through the window. I was quite shocked, seeing the remains of dilapidated houses scattered everywhere. The most were nothing more than rotten wood and broken glass. Some didn't even have glass… I sighed, knowing of the poverty outside of the bigger cities… It was daily on the news. I scratched my head, knowing I need to adjust my behaviour around these people. They generally disliked people from the city…
'We have arrived!' A rough voice announced outside the carriage. I sighed and nodded to myself. So this was it, huh? The place were I will be staying at for the coming weeks. I pushed the carriage's door open and jumped outside. Bad idea… I yelped in pain as I bumped my head against the steel enforced edges of the doorframe. My body fell down like a fat sack of carrots, my face planted firmly in the sticky mud. I heard someone snicker behind me, and then some bubbly childish laughs . I grunted as I pushed myself back on my feet. The man that drove me to Vagron snickered and gave me my suitcase, nodding and then he quickly drove away with an unsettling gaze in his dark eyes. I rubbed my head, a numbing feeling spreading throughout my skull as I turned around and walked towards the entrance of the village.
'Ah!' A child-like voice yelled right in front of me. I stumbled, feeling something blocking my legs. When I looked down, a pair of intelligent looking eyes stared straight back into mine. A young boy, not even twelve years old, was on the verge of tears as he stared into my face. I sighed and slowly knelt down. I looked at the kid and tried calming him down. But he kept crying! Only then I realized that my shoes were crushing his small feet! I gasped and quickly jumped backwards. And sure enough, the kid stopped crying. But by that time, his crying alarmed some adults nearby, as well as more children. Quickly, I was surrounded…
'This…is not good.' I mumbled as the boy's parents stepped forward and began yelling at me. It took me a while to fully understand what they were saying, their accent was way too thick! But after a while getting yelled at, I could somewhat make out what they were saying. It came down on the parents wanting a compensation for hurting their child. I scratched my head while thinking… On one hand, they were fully right. I hurt their child by stepping on his toes, and I should be held responsible. But on the other hand, I didn't think this little predicament warranted a compensation… It was little more than an accident! I tried explaining myself, but it only served to make them angrier! The situation became completely tense when they pulled out a sickle and a hayfork and started poking it towards me! I slowly stepped back with my empty hands raised in the air in defence. I saw the parents smile, knowing they have won this argument. Or, thinking that at least… They closed in on me, closer and closer… I closed my eyes, not wanting to see how close the dangerous edges of the work tools were. I yelled in fear, not seeing anything and stumbling backwards over a sturdy root.
'STOP!' A loud voice sounded behind the angry villagers. I heard the two villagers, who were yelling up until now, as well as the riled-up children go silent. I carefully opened my eyes, horrified to see the dangerous sickle just mere inches away from my nose. The two parents stopped in their tracks, but still pointed the weapon-grade tools towards me. The voice sounded vaguely familiar…
'Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?! Attacking innocent bystanders like a bunch of lunatics?! Honestly…' Amelia walked towards the gathered mob as the two adults slowly turned around to face the newcomer. She looked strictly through her eyes as the children slowly shuffled away from her. The two adults shuffled uncomfortably in her presence. I raised an eyebrow when seeing the change of behaviour the people surrounding me had when Amelia suddenly appeared… The woman scoffed and spit a thick wad of drool on the ground right in front of the newcomer. Amelia grunted and rolled with her eyes.
'Stay away, daughter of Death! Don't come anywhere near us or the children!' The woman yelled in a coarse voice while poking the pitchfork towards her. The man slowly followed the woman's example, yet his sickle trembled with fear. Amelia rolled her eyes before taking a step towards the trembling children. They all looked at the woman in front of them with big, wide eyes. Following her second step, they all scattered and went into hiding behind haystacks and rotten tree trunks. Amelia sighed and shook her head slowly before continuing to walk towards the two distraught adults and me. The villagers backed away from her, before yelling and running away, quickly followed by the children… Amelia sighed and watched their backs until they disappeared behind a small line of bushes.
'Always…' She sighed against herself before turning around. 'I am sorry for this, but….YOU?!' She abruptly yelled when she noticed me lying sprawled in the sticky mud. I grunted and slowly pushed myself out of it and pushed the clods of mud from my coat. Thankfully, nothing else got dirty in that whole ordeal… I smiled weakly at her and grabbed my suitcase before straightening my coat. She stared at me in disbelief, anger twisting her face.
'H-Hi again…' I weakly began, gulping away my fear. Her stare was really freaking me out! I grunted, seeing her hands getting twisted into vicious fists as she tried to control her anger. I gulped my fear away, feeling sweat trickled down my back…Or was that moisture from the mud? I slowly backed away from her, her eyes burning holes through me. After an awkward couple of minutes, she scoffed and spit on the ground before turning around, her face contorted in contempt. Her back faced me as she took a couple of step away from me.
"W-Wait, Amelia!" I yelled, trying to walk towards her. But I almost tumbled over the strong trunk of a tree once again. I stumbled forwards, almost bumping into the brown-haired lady in front of me. I groaned, rubbing my ankles which were slightly hurting from the constant stumbling. Amelia groaned, before turning around and gazed angrily at me. "What?! "She spat while looking at me with fire in her eyes. She really was protective over her dead husband… Well, that is only natural, of course! I gulped my fear away and prepared my question.
"I-Is… Is there anything like an inn around here? You know… for me to stay?" I asked. I really should've done research on this… Amelia scoffed before laughing loudly. I had the distinct impression she was laughing at and with me. The woman in front of me waved at our surroundings, pointing at the mountainside separating us from our neighbours, the Elvaria. I heard they were incredibly smart with using nature's resources… Amelia's snapping voice kicked me out of my thoughts into the current situation.
"This is the middle of nowhere! Why do you think there would be an inn here, of all places?! You would have a higher chance sleeping underneath a roof in the military outpost!" She smirked, pointing behind me. I scratched my head, trying to think of anything else that could deliver me some semblance of a roof above my head. Why didn't I bring anything… like… a …
"Hey, Amelia, wait!" A proverbial lightbulb jumped on in my head. I heard her sigh before turning around and looking annoyed at me. I gulped and decided to make this quick. I noticed a big forest to my left hand side. The canopy looked thick enough that it would keep water away. The ground looked very dry at least, despite it having rained just five hours ago! I looked back at Amelia before posing my question.
"Can you at least give me something like blankets or anything? I don't want to freeze to death, you know!" Amelia's eyes tightened while she stared down at me. I grunted, awaiting her response. She scoffed before turning around and walking towards the village, not saying a word. I followed her, tugging my luggage behind me and hoping for a positive answer. We soon reached the dilapidated entrance of the village. The village itself was quite small, not even 30 houses were surrounded by a broken and rotten wooden wall. I could easily see holes in the ill-conceived defence…
While I walked through the village , I noticed many curious eyes peering through the windows. Most of the windows didn't even have glass in them. They were only covered by pieces of cloth drenched in wax to protect the inhabitants of the house against the forces of Mother Nature. I pulled the hood of my jacket higher over my head. All those staring eyes and pointing fingers made my mind jump back in time to my time at school, where I was bullied. I always arrived at school and people pointed at me, whispering lies and false rumours behind their hands. And there was always that creepy smile tugging at their lips.
While I was contemplating my past, I bumped against Amelia who abruptly stopped. I gasped and quickly stepped back away from the angry woman staring hole right through me. It didn't look like she would forgive me soon.. I sighed and saw her unlock a door in front of her before stepping through it. When I took a step towards her, she said I had no business walking the house of her husband and her. I understood that for the most part and respected her privacy. I took a step back and heard her walking deeper into her house before the door fell shut. That left me all alone on the middle of the muddy road. Soon, many people were curiously looking through their windows, some dared even to venture out of the safety of their houses and carefully walked towards me. A young girl was first to reach me and pulled curiously at my long coat. I realized she might never have seen synthetic material so I just smiled and sank unto my knees. I looked into her fearful eyes and lifted my palms in defence. I smiled slowly, trying to calm the curious yet fearful girl.
"Hey there, how are you?" I asked carefully. But my deep voice didn't help. The girl gasped and quickly walked backwards. She could not have been older than 13 years old. I smiled and just kept quiet. Her parents came over, looking disapprovingly at me. I slowly stood upright, looking them in the eyes. I have learned that fidgety people were regarded as the persons least worthy of your trust… At least, that's what the public thought! I smiled and slowly put my hands up. The woman holding the child lovingly gazed at me. I waited patiently. It would be better that the villagers would start the conversation. The woman said something but I couldn't quite make out what it was. I turned my head towards, causing the villagers to cautiously walk backwards. But not the parents of the girl. They stood headstrong in front of their beloved child , as to protect her. The woman repeated her question, and through the murk of her accent, I could make out some words.
"What am I doing here?" I repeated the question in my head. I shrugged my shoulders before answering calmly. "I am here to solve your little murder mystery." I said it in one breath. After that, there was silence. One second after that, there was an avalanche of sound washing all over me. Some voices sounded relieved, but most of them were aggravated , angry, or rude. I didn't understand their reactions! Here I was , trying to help these people and they rather saw me gone! I grunted and scratched my hair, slightly annoyed with these reactions. I tried to calm them, but to no avail. I clicked with my tongue. I knew that people living close to the border of the country hated the people living in the cities, but this is way worse than I imagined! This took my back to those times the entire school was against me , gossiping about me, spreading lies and looking at me like I was some kind of wild animal… I pulled my hood over my head, my face falling into the created shadows. I tried to slowly pull away , but the villagers surrounded me. I had nowhere to go!
Suddenly, they fell silent. One moment , there was a barrage of sound invading my ears. The moment after that was filled with deafening silence. Only the rustling leaves from a nearby forest confirmed that I did not go deaf. I felt something creaking behind me. I quickly turned around, adrenaline speeding up my movements. I almost went flat on my face as my right foot slipped with the help of the slimy mud. Amelia looked at me with an emotionless face and handed me some blankets as well as a plastic cover. She nodded her head, pointing at the wooden arch that signified the entrance of the village. I grunted, recognizing the head motion as my queue to leave. I turned around and grabbed the blankets and the plastic. I turned to the gathered mass and nodded at them. Without saying a word, I walked past them , forcing my way through and walked out of the village. Behind me , I heard some people whisper something about "Death" and "daughter". I shook my head and made my way over to the dense forest. I chose a good spot and made camp for the night. I searched for some wood to burn. Luckily, the wood inside the dense, dark forest was dry, protected by the thick canopy of lush green leaves.
The sun hid behind the mountain range separating the country of the Elvaria and this country as I finally succeeded in making a fire. It was small, but it gave warmth anyway. I looked at my makeshift tent and sighed. This was not where I imagined staying tonight… Or any night, for that matter! I grunted as looked at the orange coloured sky. The sun slowly giving way to the three moons, one already rising on my right hand side. I grunted, not getting any wiser from the reactions of the villagers. Why were they so angry? I knew people from the borders hated those who lived in the centre of the country, but this was outright despising! I groaned and decided to take an early rest to calm myself a bit.
"Never could've guessed I would ever sleep under the starry sky… Can't be that bad, right?" I mused to myself, before surrounding the fire with small rocks to prevent it from going out of control. I was thinking of putting it out, but that if I ever needed it for anything during the night, it would come in handy. So I kept it burning for now. I slowly crawled into my makeshift tent, wondering how I will fare in this part of the country… I slowly fell asleep, my slumber guided by the many sounds of the night.
Morning came , like all days in my opinion, way too early. I thought I could sleep longer now that I did not have an alarm clock. The morning sunrays illuminating the ground certainly thought differently about that! I groaned. No curtain could protect my eyes from the peeping sunrays. I grunted and rubbed my eyes before drunkenly stumbling out of my tent. I used a nearby stream of water to wash my face. I was used to the biting cold water splashing against my face due to my broken boiler back home. I stared into my own face , droplets of water falling back to where they belong. I smiled slowly at myself. I saw a young face, not older than 23 years older staring back into my cold blue eyes. Ruffled, wet strands of my black hair framed my face. A beginning beard began slowly peeking through my skin.
Suddenly, I heard something behind my back. I turned around but saw nothing. I grasped at my worn down sword, hanging from the old, leather sheath. I looked around again, but saw nothing. I was no scaredy-cat, but this was a new environment. And I always have had problems with new locations, they made me anxious… I looked some more, but didn't hear the sound anymore. I shrugged my shoulders slowly, trying to push the uneasy feeling away while returning back to my makeshift tent. I munched on some dry bread as I thought how I should begin with my task. There was no chance that I could talk with the villagers , there was some reason why they didn't want me investigating this matter, that was sure! The only one I could talk too is Amelia. However… She is not in the mood to talk with my right now, I believe. Despite thinking that, I pushed myself upwards and rolled up the blankets again before hiding them behind some fallen tree trunks. I hoped sincerely that nothing would happen but seeing the people's outburst, you could never know! After doing that, I turned around and walked towards the village.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" I said to myself when I walked through the entrance arch. The town was unusually quiet. My eyes scanned the nearby houses. No peeking gazes, no foul insults…nothing. I frowned. I cautiously continued deeper into the village, not seeing anyone while I walked the same route as before. I finally reached Amelia's house and took a deep breath. My knuckles touched the cold, scratched wood before knocking harder. I truly hoped she would accept talking to me, at least for a little while! I waited for an answer, but didn't hear anything behind the door. My knuckles collided with the wood again, harder this time. I grunted and thought she was ignoring me.
"Amelia! Amelia?! I want to talk to you!" I yelled loudly, quickly looking around for signs of any villagers having heard me. Thankfully, no one did. I heard some stumbling through an open window on what I presumed was the first floor. Mere seconds after that, the door swung open and a red-eyed Amelia stood right in front of me. She looked tired for some reason. She glared at me, causing me to walk back in defence. But I cleared my throat, took a deep breath to calm myself and looked back at her. Her green eyes looked directly into mine. The white around her colourful irises was filled with little veins of blood, like she didn't sleep for a week… I scratched my head.
"I need to talk to you. Right now. It's about the murders…" I began carefully. Instead of ravaging my eardrums with savage insults like before, or screaming the blood out of my ears, she only let out a weak gasp and slowly gave way to let me in. I thanked her and walked through the door, closing it behind me. She weakly sat on the sofa in the middle of a cosy decorated living room. The lady sighed as she saw me sitting right in front of her on an old chair. I waited a bit, trying to find the right words to start his vacation without starting off a hysteric panic attack like earlier. In the end, I decided that the direct approach would work the best here. But… I will avoid any subjects that have anything to do with her husband.
"So… About these murders… Can you tell me when they started, approximately?" I asked carefully, grabbing a small notebook out of the breast pocket of my coat. It had a handy hidden pen to reduce weight. Amelia gazed at me with red-stricken eyes before she answered in a broken and hoarse voice. It sounded like she had nothing to drink in an entire month… I grunted and leaned forward, trying to focus on her answers alone.
"About… 2 months ago…" She hoarsely replied while looking at me scribbling quickly in my notebook. I nodded , gazing at her again. I kept eye contact throughout the conversation. It helps to calm people who are in distress. I asked some more things, like how many victims there were already. I carefully steered away from asking the identities of the victims however. I could derive some information out of her answers. During the past two months, there have been 14 casualties. Amelia's husband was the last to die… I cleared my throat as I wrote all of that on the milky sheet of paper. I nodded again while thinking… Two months is long… Very long… I clicked with my tongue before asking the dates of the murders. I wrote them down as well, but they seemed perfectly random. No same amount of days had passed until the next murder occurred… How peculiar… Are these murders … separate occasions or…? I shook my head. It was still too early to think about a potential connection. I rubbed my temples slowly, trying to arrange this information in my mind.
"Is there any place here that holds a register of all the people living here?" I said, formulating a simple idea to check something. Amelia looked at me before scoffing. For a second, I was afraid I had touched her feelings once again. But after that, she waved to some point at the end of the main street of the village. I put my head through the open hole that was supposed to be a window, but the material that should keep rain and wind outside lied ripped on the floor. I followed the street and saw a massive building at the end of it. It was big with a main entrance hall and a really high, small tower reaching out to the sky. A black metal crown was placed on top of the tower. A pair of hands pointed at the right time. A church.
"I didn't know the church had a branch here?" I asked Amelia who rolled with her eyes.
"I would rather see them gone than coming…" She said in her hoarse and broken voice. I raised an eyebrow when I heard that. According to what I have learned at university, Most if not all people who lived at the borders were faithful followers of the Church. Guess you can't learn everything from a book… I scratched my head, making a simple scribble detailing this information at the side of the sheet of paper in my hands. I nodded at Amelia.
"Well , I think where I will be going next!" I said before walking towards the door. Amelia scoffed again before pointing at the clock hanging from the church tower. It said it was about 10 AM… I raised my eyebrows and looked at Amelia, waiting for an explanation. She explained that all villagers were attending the morning service given by the pastor. Everyone went, except Amelia. Everyone prayed, except Amelia. Seemingly, everyone believed in the Church and its rules… except Amelia. I made a mental note of this information before nodding. I thanked Amelia for this help and left her alone , giving her the advice to sleep a lot today. I closed the door behind me, before turning left and making my way directly towards the church. When I came closer to the massive building, I noticed how gaudy it was. The tips of the tower were decorated with golden ornaments, and the walls equipped with stone gargoyles. All with a hint of gold worked into it. I scoffed and clicked with my tongue. Even in the poorest parts of the country, the Church dares to use its money to enrich only itself, it seems. I shrugged my shoulders, hearing monotonous sounds escaping through the passive, open, wooden doors. I placed myself on one of the statues surrounding the entrance and began reading through the small amount of notes I took. I had nothing to go on… Perfect… I sighed before yelping loudly. An ear-smashing sound of copper smashing on metal echoed throughout the village. Applause sounded inside the building as I fell flat on my face, startled by the loud noises. After that, a stream of people excited the church, followed by a middle-aged man clad completely in black. However, a gold cross around her neck and golden streaks woven into his clothing gave him a gaudy impression. I clicked with my tongue, getting disapproving gazes from the people going on with their daily lives as I jumped back upon my feet. The people quickly walked away from me as the pastor gently waved them goodbye. He noticed me standing from the corner of his left eye and turned to face me. A wild grey beard adorned his chin while some strand of hair peeked from underneath his ceremonial hood.
"You are the pastor, I take it?" I asked politely. While I did not believe in the church's rules or anything they say really, I still want to treat them with respect like any other villager here…if they would give me the chance. He flashed me a gently smile before making the customary greeting of the church: crossing his arms over each other and bowing in a 45-degree angle. I nodded, not doing the greeting myself as I found it something that only believers should do. Which I am not.
"Yes, I am indeed the pastor of this magnificent church of our Holy Lord. Can I help you, young man?" He said with a gentle voice. I looked towards the street, rolling with my eyes. There they go again, plastering the name of their deities on everything they use. I corrected myself and smiled, remembering why I came to this place. I introduced myself as a detective who came to do some research work for a client of mine. I kept the rest in the dark for the moment. He just smiled, his face not budging an inch.
"Do you have anything like a register in which the people of this village are written in?" I asked. The man rubbed his beard before slowly nodding. He said that he indeed has such documents in his possession but that he would like to see some verification of my identity first. The church had special rules about such documents, apparently. I slowly nodded, grabbing my detective's Pass and a sheet of paper that was signed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The pastor read through the documents before handing them back to me. He said that he will let me read the documents, but that I could not copy them. I understood that. He guided me through the door and waved me into the main hallway.
As with all churches I had visited, this one was equally big and decorated with statues of the deities the Church worshipped. They were all crafted from high-quality marble, polished until they reflected the multi-coloured light falling through the richly coloured window panels. Instead of cloth, what was used everywhere else in the village, pieces of fragile glass were stuck in the metal window frames. The middle aged pastor guided me to the back of the main hall , pushing a heavy door open and walking through it. The room was nothing special. White plastered walls surrounded me as I followed the man, the old sword swaying from my right hip. At the back of that room was a richly decorated chest. It was made of high quality wood and was enforced with golden strips that were drilled into it. Clearly a thing of excellent craftmanship! I saw him fiddling with his ceremonial garb before using a very small key to unlock the padlock of the chest. He flipped the lid and grabbed some leather-bound books out of it. He lied them out on a richly decorated stand, flipping them open. A wave of dust filled my nostrils and made me cough wildly.
"I know this building is not the cleanest!" The pastor laughed , causing me to roll my eyes. I began reading moving the pages with my notebook beside me. The pastor said he needed to do something and left me. I quickly grabbed my notes and began looking through the register. I immediately went to the pages with deceased people and began looking at the dates when they died. There were quite a few that matched the dates Amelia gave me… However, some weren't accurate. Did Amelia give me wrong information? I frowned as I thought about this information. When I rubbed over the dates, I noticed that the usually rough surface of the used paper was smooth and that there were some tiny smears in the area of those changed entries… I slowly closed the book. I clicked my tongue, this book has given me more questions than answers. At that time, the pastor returned. Was he listening at the door? He grabbed the book and carefully placed it in the chest. After locking it, he ushered me out of the room , claiming to have another thing to do. I nodded and politely thanked him before walking out of the building. I rubbed my head, protecting my eyes against the harsh noon sunlight shining down upon me. My head was filled with questions, the book throwing even more mysteries at me. Why were some entries different than the dates Amelia told me? I scratched my scalp, trying to make at least some semblance of a theory about these bits of information like they taught me at university. But to no avail, I could not make nor tails out of this… Yet.