The ball of light slowly began to dip beside the countryside. Its rays of happiness were blurring together, clearing a wide path for the sky. The cheery colors began to fade away as a dark indigo began to travel after it. It sought at any space it could get from the atmosphere, not leaving a potential inch out of its grasp.
A young woman let her eyes stray up above, and watched at what splayed out. She gazed rather intently, for any flicker of movement to occur. But nothing happened. She knew that if she laid her kindling and ingredients down, and simply stared at the sky with no regard for time or responsibility, she could possibly make out the slow but steady transformation.
From baby blue to a deeply aged, hardened color. One that had been witness to many things done under the cover of night, and kept its mouth locked tight, no matter how gruesome it could be. The childish blue of day offered comfort and some degree of safety on Earth. The older, weary blue did nothing but provide cover for whomever it could be.
It was hesitant to do so, but with an old woman, you could get possibly anything out of her. Even if she didn't want you to. She would not have the capability to say or do anything to stop whatever it was you wanted to happen. And people take advantage of that. The woman's mother was one of them. Docile by day, and destructive by night.
It was for her, no, everyone's safety, that her mother was where she was now.
The woman turned her face away from the sky, and continued on the path with the things she was carrying. She had been spectator to the day's conversion many times before now. There was no need for her to do it again, at this very spot.
As she traveled down her own path, she kept silent as her own thoughts unraveled. The cold loneliness of it may have caused her lips to stay glued together, but her mind knew no limits. She could be quiet, but her thoughts would never be silenced.
She first thought of what dinner she should prepare. One of the obvious choices was what had been filling her stomach for the past few months. Her usual dinner was simple to make, and tasty. However, when this option was offered up, she felt nothing. Her stomach didn't spare it a second thought, and her taste buds complained.
Another option was for her to head over to town. Pick a stall, and eat their overpriced food, which was usually catered to newcomers. Unless the vendor knew the customer, and vice versa. The premise of it sounded delicious, and it brought forth a loud rumble from her stomach. Her mouth watered, and her eyes drifted to a vision of warm ramen, or curry, or something else that could be offered.
"As tasty as that sounds, there's no way I could." she thought, pressing her lips together in a thin line. The attempt at keeping her resolve was slowly crumbling, however. She glanced back up at the sky, saw that purple was coasting along, and the comforting yellow-orange was slowly disappearing.
Her mother resurfaced in her mind, and her teeth clenched. Dinner from town sounded too good to be true. And as much as the woman hated to admit it, there were too many factors in play for her to innocently slurp on some noodles or bite into tempura. After all, there was a reason why she rarely ventured into there. And why no one offered her any discounts or small talk.
"Besides, it's too late to turn back now." the woman continued walking, only stopping for the occasional rest of her body and the coughs that became too painful. By the time she had made it home, the moon was high in the sky, and her arms and legs ached in discomfort. Her home sat alone, old and scarred among the canopy of trees that provided a wooden cage. Their branches hovered above the roof, a still reminder of what lay behind. The tiny forest always unnerved her. There was too much unknown, and things hidden away by discreet shadows and thick trees.
One late night, when she was young, the wind had been howling in anger outside. The trees shook and the rain crashed down on them in a fit of rage repeatedly. The branches knocked against the house, giving the impression a visitor was alerting them of their presence. Quite loudly.
She had huddled in her futon, trying to conceal as many part of her body as possible. She was seeking any sort of protection from the storm.
Unfortunately, she wasn't granted a shared room, so she had to cope with this all by herself. That's what her thoughts were at that moment. Not until the door creaked open, much to her shock. She shuffled in her covers, moving away to her right. "W-who's there?" she croaked. Her voice barely registered in the air, and was just above a whisper. Not long after, a fit of coughs caught her attention, racking her throat in pain.
Her mother walked in, and the girl's face relaxed. She allowed her eyes to droop and released her muscles from the tense clenching she had been doing. The older woman offered a small smile, and sat by her. In her hands was a small bowl of warm soup, and a needle with liquid.
"Are you okay, Y/N?" she asked, setting it all down on her left. Y/N shook her head, and adjusted her position in the futon. "Um, outside. It's really loud, and it's scaring me..." was Y/N's gravelly response. She coughed again, and let out a shaky sigh. Outside, the rain carried on with its tantrum.
"It's going to be okay. Nature simply gets upset at times." her hands cupped the soup, gently carrying it over to her daughter. "Just like you and me." Y/N begrudgingly sat up, pushing the covers off of her thin frame. Her fingers guided stray strands and tucked them safely behind her ear. "Sometimes, a yell or a stomp is good to release any pent up energy we have." A spoon found its way to Y/N's mouth, and her tongue ignited with the flavor. Her throat screeched in pain, however, as it slowly traveled down.
"Why don't you get mad like that, Mama?" the woman paused her movements. Her hand hovered above the needle, and her eyes widened ever so slightly. Before it was too much silence, a crack of thunder ignited. The faint boom in the background allowed a smile to worm its way to her lips. Her hand drifted above her child's head, patting it affectionately. "I suppose I never had much to be mad about."
The woman blinked, and she was back inside her home. In the present.
The heavy weight on her shoulders replanted itself, and she carefully dropped it all to the ground. It landed with a thump, followed by a sigh of quiet relief. Still, it was not this type of burden that had brought a tear to her eye. A lone one, but she let it rest on her cheek.
"I should check up on her." Y/N thought, as her feet carried her back through the door she had no clear memory of entering. She walked around the house, until her eyes found a smaller, shed-like home. Y/N continued forward, until she was a few feet away.
Instantly, she knew something was wrong. Her ears had informed her first. It was completely dead silent. And, there were large footprints. Someone had been here.
The woman stopped dead in her tracks almost instantly. Her lungs held tightly to the air already inside, and her ears searched for any type of noise now uttered. But it was still nothing but quiet. The pace of her heart began to speed up, and she turned to her right. Nothing there but bushes. She finally released her caged breath, which was the only thing her ears caught onto. She took another breath in, and collapsed to the ground.
A shriek echoed in her ears, disrupting the unnatural quiet. Claws began to scratch at her, desperate for any inch of skin. Red, pale white, and dark brown swirled in her vision as her limbs flailed about. Pushing, kicking, scratching. She gave everything back in equal measure, as best she could.
She rolled over and delivered a kick straight to its head, causing it to yowl in pain. The brief moment of vulnerability was hers, and Y/N pushed herself off the ground, despite her body screaming in agony.
She bolted, heading back to her house. Her only form of safety.
Loud thuds of footsteps followed her, which was almost drowned out by her heavy breathing. Her legs swirved a sharp right, kicking up dirt as she whirled away. It snarled loudly as it accidentally launched itself to the house, causing a loud crash.
Y/N sprinted away, as her eyes searched for a weapon.
An axe lay, stuck in the beheaded stump of a tree, a mere five feet away. She needed to get it. Now. It was growing closer and closer into view, until her hands wrapped around the wooden part securely. She pulled at it until her muscles began to ache. It was wedged in tightly.
A loud growl echoed in her ears, and her heartbeat sped up. She bounded over to the opposite side of stump as quickly as she could. Immediately, Y/N began to pull it toward this new direction, as desperation ran through her blood. She almost smiled as it finally came out, glinting in the moonlight.
She raised it, and collided back to the ground. Its fangs wrapped around the wooden hilt, saliva dripping onto it. Its arms swung around, and Y/N raised her feet, giving her some space. Its eyes shone with hunger and anger. Something Y/N had never seen before, when she was young.
Her mother had always been the calm, quiet one. She had never expressed any type of anger. And yet, she now gazed at her own daughter with such unrestrained fury that Y/N found it hard to breathe.
"Mother, stop!" her came out voice scratchy and worn. Just like when she was a child. Still, the demon forced all of its weight on her. She still looked on at her prey, her daughter, with unfathomable hunger. Y/N was simply yelling out into an empty abyss. One that, at any moment, would cave in on her.