THE CHALLENGE OF DEATH

A strange darkness enveloped his neck. It was like a shudder… No, not really… It was as if the freezing cold from outside had entered his bones and had paralyzed all his body, even his mind. There, under the old oak, he was waiting… he couldn’t hold out much longer, but he had to try for her, for her love, for his fears…

The wolf appeared beside the oak. Looking at him, defying him, his eyes filled with blood, his tongue smacking his lips. A roar came from his throat, and he bared his sharp teeth, drooling. He was ready to attack, to go for the jugular of the boy without any mercy. The boy was prepared, too. He took the dagger from his pocket, and brandished it in front of the animal. The snow was falling on the ground, like small tears from heaven… The moon is crying, he thought.

It was only a little wound, but enough to erase life from his body. The wolf fell on the ground, dead. The snow under his body was turning red, as was the snow under the boy’s arm. The animal had bitten him… The challenge had passed, but now, he knew he would be like her…

He looked at what once had been an animal, a wolf. Now, she was dead in front of him. There was no time for regrets or weeping now… they had wanted that situation. He had known what she was, and he had loved her. He had even accepted the risk which that posed to his life… She also loved him, but her condition prevented her from seeing him on the nights of full moons… something she couldn’t bear.

Her death would be the best choice. “If you kill the wolf in this life”, she had told him, “in the next I won’t have to suffer this curse, I promise”. “But I can’t do that”, he replied. “This is not a plea, Lazarus”, her voice now sounded really serious, “this is an order”.

But the bite hadn’t been in their plans… “It’s curious”, he thought, “one Lazarus regained his life, and another one has killed his lover to save her”. He began to laugh.

Then, a convulsion came from his body. It was like his stomach was being squeezed by an evil hand. He vomited blood and looked at the moon. “You, fucking bitch, are you laughing at me? Why are you torturing me like this? She ordered me to kill her, so she could be safe in heaven, next to God. What have I done wrong? You want to kill me? If that’s it, do it now, and prevent me from suffering again!”

The blood he had vomited a minute before began suddenly to trickle over the snow. It formed a word. Only one, but enough to understand what its meaning was. In crimson letters was written the word DIE.

“Okay, now, come to me. Come for me. Kill me, I’m waiting!” An invisible hand took him by the neck and threw him against the old oak, breaking it in two. The demons inside the tree began to escape from the underworld and saw the boy. He was unconscious, but still alive. As the wolf’s eyes had done, theirs began to fill with blood, and they were drooling profusely.

The only thing he could see was a lot of monsters pouncing on him, with their mouths open. Then, he felt the pain of the bites.

A chilling cry was heard, impregnating the night with a gloomy feeling of despair.


LAURA RUIZ GARCÍA 04/05/2010