บท 5: 5. Shade

The door of a certain bakery slams outward as a woman in traditional bakery outfit comes barreling out, shocking nearby passersby. Her smooth raven hair tamed by a red ribbon, in direct contrast to the frantic expression on her face. While carrying a child in her arms, she shouts loudly.

"Everyone! Listen! Listen up! There is a crisis! Gather everybody!" People turn to take notice of her, giving her all the attention while a man in farmer clothes, carrying a severe expression, slowly trots towards her.

"What is the matter, Linda? Is the child alright?"

The woman nods at the question and tries to put the child on the ground, he doesn't let go, and so she sits down while holding him.

"Lukas is fine, Steve. But I fear..." Her voice chokes up at the last sentence, her emotions spilling over.

The eyes of the man widen in fear, and something akin to understanding. He takes two steps forwards and grabs her shoulders, steadying her.

"Tell me, Linda! What happened!?" The woman looks up at him in shock, her eyes tearing up.

"Rick... He... He is still in the forest! They were attacked by some beast!" She shouts out loud as the people nearby begin murmuring. An old man in particular looked thoughtful, rubbing his beard.

"A beast, you say? It's been a long, long time, since anyone had ever been attacked around here" Everybody hears the old man and murmurs amongst themselves, hotly debating the topic. The man, seemingly deciding something, speaks, a loud rumbling tower above all the other voices.

"Linda, where is it? Where is the beast?" She opens her mouth to speak, but it is the child which answers. Eyes bloodshot from crying, fluids leaking all over the place, the child turns around and points towards the trees, trembling while whispering in a hoarse, hateful voice.

"T-t-that w-w-ay" Shocking everyone in the act of speaking up, believing him to be too traumatized to function. The brave boy shows his resilience in face of danger by recovering quickly. The man, Steve, eyes the boy for a second before nodding in approval. Turning to address the crowd, he speaks with power, a strange charisma flowing out of him.

"Gather all abled men! We're going in, and we're not coming out until we kill that beast!" The crowd cheers, some women shouting that they want to go as well, but the man shakes his head.

"You have to take care of the children; one dead is one too many" Steve somberly tells them.

"Spread the message! Count the children! Quickly!" As everyone rushes to fulfill this task, Steve turns around towards the woman and child. He looks pensive.

"Lukas... tell me everything" he says. Linda opens her mouth to protests but is silenced with a look.

The boy slowly opens his eyes, his mouth set in a thin line. He speaks, clearly this time, hate restrained in his every word. "I will" Steve nods

"Good, start from the beginning, don't leave anything out" Linda looks between the two and just sighs. Knowing this has to happen, but her eyes open wide on the next words spoken.

"But Steve..." The boy looks up into the eyes of the older male. "When you go to kill this thing, take me with you."