The Legend of the Cure

This, like I said, is a short version of a story I've been wanting to make into a book. I realize that the characters and their relationships are woefully undeveloped, but some things are included in the short version just to remind me to include and expound upon them in the full version. Still, even reviews pointing out these fairly obvious points are appreciated, as others may shed a light upon what was to me a shadow.

THE LEGEND OF THE CURE

         

The house was solidly built, but still Justin checked every inch of the walls and doors for even a hint of weakness.  Two years before, on his 18th birthday, both his parents had died, leaving him alone.  There was no one else to help him secure the large home.

The entire village was on high alert and checking their own houses on this most dangerous of days: All Hallows Eve.  Each year, as the sun sets on Halloween, as some call it, demons break out of their place in the underworld and take the form of creatures of the night, seeking human blood. They came in many forms: wolves, bats, cats, foxes, etc. Every home in the village was fortified to keep such creatures out; because if a demon-wolf, for instance, found a flimsy door guarding the entrance to a home, it would surely break through in search of its occupants.

To be bitten by a demon-beast was against town law, and for good reason. If someone survives a bite from one of the beasts, he (or she) becomes a half-demon. A half-demon not only thirsts for human blood, as do all demons, but also gains great physical strength and heightened senses with which to hunt. For this reason, the penalty of being bitten is death.

The tradition is for the infected person to be imprisoned until winter’s first blizzard, which arrives like clockwork on the first night of December, and then to be released into nature’s cold fury. The victim dies from cold and starvation during the month-long snowstorm, thus preserving the safety of the village without the need of an executioner. It had been ten years since anyone had been bitten, but the streak was destined to be broken on this fateful day.

As the day wore on, and the sun began to set, there was a loud knock on the door. Justin answered it, and as he did, his heart skipped a beat. The girl he’d always loved, though silently, stood at the door, face flushed, blonde hair blowing in the wind, and fear in her sky-blue eyes.

“Esther, what’s wrong?”

“Justin, please tell me you’ve seen Bree!”

“No, I figured everyone was in their houses already.”

“We were about to close up when my dad asked me to check up on her. When I got to her room, she wasn’t there. You know how she loves to spend every free minute in those woods!”

“Well it’s almost sunset, we’d better find her. Let’s go!”

Bree was Esther’s younger sister, by one year. Tall and blonde like her sister, Bree had a streak of red in her hair to match the streak of recklessness in her personality. But, as Bree was in the habit of lounging in a particularly beautiful meadow in the middle of the woods, they found her without much trouble. As they entered the meadow, they saw Bree just sitting there and picking flowers, without a care in the world. 

“Bree, have you forgotten what day it is?” Esther exclaimed.

“Oh no, it slipped my mind! Sorry.”

Justin broke in, “Girls, we have to go! The sun is almost gone!”

Back they ran, as fast as they could, toward the village. The trio could already hear the tell-tale signs of a haunted night: sounds of bats overhead, the howling of wolves hungry for human flesh, the hissing and wailing of feral cats. Somehow the three made it through the forest unscathed, but as they neared the girls’ home, they could hear the demon-beasts descending on their little town.

Esther reached the door first, and as she called out to her father, a demon-cat leaped out of the darkness right toward Bree’s throat! As Bree screamed, Justin jumped, just in time to knock the cat to the ground mid-flight. The black feline, twice the size of a housecat, red eyes gleaming, regained its footing and immediately turned its gaze on its assailant. Suddenly, a deep voice boomed.

“Esther, you and Bree had better come inside now.”

“Dad!”

“Dad!”

The girls’ father, Jin, was known for being the village’s best hunter, and coincidentally, its most proficient demon killer. Only three men in the village had ever killed one of the monsters, but Jin had once killed three demon-wolves at one go, after being surrounded by the beasts. This feat is made all the more impressive by the fact that the only way to kill a demon-beast is to remove its head.

Presently, Jin had appeared in his doorway with a machete-like sword in his hand, the same blade he’d used to decapitate the three wolves for which he’d become known. This blade he now took and threw into the ground at Justin’s feet. Justin started at Jin’s next words.

“You know what to do, Justin! You may find yourself in worse danger than this one day.”

Hearing these words, Justin was grateful to find himself facing the cat with a weapon that had proved itself in this situation before.  But just as Justin picked up the short sword, the cat pounced! He jumped out of the way while swinging the blade toward its neck, but not fast enough. The sword instead cut the beast’s shoulder, enraging it. Before Justin could recover his balance, the cat was on him!

Instinctively, he raised his left arm to shield himself. As the beast closed its jaws on his arm, he swung the blade. But the damage was done. The blade proved sharp enough to remove the creature’s head, but not before it had buried its teeth in Justin’s arm.

He fell down, still clutching the weapon, staring at the demonic jaws that were attached to his arm, knowing his life was over. Everything he’d wanted to do and experience, every goal and expectation for his entire life…gone. He was frozen in place, unwilling to accept what had happened, not wanting to admit to himself the truth: that he would become a monster, and that he had to die.

The next month was a blur, after he turned himself in to the village guard, who placed him in a secure holding cell while his body underwent the inevitable changes. He didn’t exactly know what to expect, since no one had ever heard of a half-demon bitten by a demon-cat.

The first thing he noticed was the smell, or smells, as it were. Suddenly he could smell everything…everyone. His other senses increased as well, of course. His hearing became more sensitive, and he could see better in the dark, but the smells! They were everywhere, from the food still on one’s breath, to the steel of the bars that held him, to the faint smell of…flowers? They smelled familiar. Just then, a thin, pretty young woman with tears in her blue eyes and a red streak in her blonde hair approached his cell.

“Bree, you shouldn’t be here.”

“They can’t do this, Justin! You were just trying to protect us!”

Her tears touched him, and he could barely contain his own. But he had made his peace, and was ready to give his life for the good of the village.

“You know what I’ll become if I don’t do this. Please, just go home. I’m ready to die.”

The next day was the first day of December, the day leading into the season’s first blizzard. At sundown, the village guard members took Justin to the gate of the village, where many of the villagers already gathered. There were some tearful goodbyes. Finally Larech, the leader of the village said, “It’s time.”

As he walked toward the gate, Justin kept his head held high, proud to know he was doing the right thing for the village. Then, as he stepped out into the southern valley, he turned to watch the gate close. For a brief moment, he caught a glimpse of a familiar pair of tear-filled blue eyes, just before the gates swung shut with the loud metallic sound of finality. For a moment, he wondered whether it was Esther or Bree whose gaze he had met as the gates closed. Then, shrugging his shoulders, he turned away from the village.

His mind was already made up as he walked to his frozen doom. He was headed for the meadow where he and Esther had found Bree on that fateful day, to remember happier days among the flowers and trees. Already the cold air blew, signaling a winter that he judged would arrive quickly and violently in less than an hour. He didn’t feel the cold, though, as much as he normally would. With the changes in his body, he was probably less vulnerable to the cold. This mattered little, since no one could survive a week-long blizzard without food and shelter.

As the night drew on, Justin’s eyesight became sharper. He became more alert to his surroundings: hearing, smelling, and seeing more than ever. A fox rustled some leaves nearby, making him jump. As he jumped, he hit his head on a branch overhead, breaking it. He landed, then rubbed his head while he looked for the stump of the branch he’d hit. It was over ten feet in the air! Not only were his senses sharper with his change, but also his strength (which had always been fairly average among his peers) had more than doubled over the past month.

But no matter, he didn’t have time to enjoy it, he needed to get to that meadow.  But…was he faster, too?  He took off and was surprised to see the trees flying by, and before he knew it, he was there. It was nice to know that he could run faster than he’d ever imagined, but now there was nothing to do except wait.

He sat down against a tree as the cold began to bite him. Clothed in only light garments, he shivered as the first snowflake fell. As the wind and snow increased, he stood up and started walking. Soon the ground was covered in several inches of snow, and despite his keen nocturnal vision, he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

While he walked aimlessly through the frigid darkness, he thought of his childhood when Esther and Bree would come with him on “adventures” through the forest.  He remembered the happy days when they would explore the tree-covered mountainside known as Hope’s Peak looking for caves, but too fearful to actually enter the dark caverns.  As his body grew numb, and his eyes heavy, he thought to himself, “So this is what it’s like to die. I don’t suppose there are many easier ways to go. Maybe I’m lucky in a way.” He smiled weakly, but wryly, at such a morbid thought. Then, as his consciousness drifted, he saw in his mind’s eye a pair of blue eyes looking at him, and again wasn’t sure if they belonged to Esther or Bree.  Suddenly, he slipped on a snow drift, and fell to the ground, barely knowing it happened.  He closed his eyes and whispered, to no one in particular, “Goodbye.”






Justin awoke at the gate of the city to a chilly sunrise. As if on command, the gates opened. One of the morning watchmen stepped out, and almost stumbled over him.

“Justin, you’re supposed to be dead!”

Justin opened his eyes, confused. He stood up and looked around tiredly, wondering how he got to the city gates, and more importantly, why he was alive. His eyes finally focused on the soldier in front of him.

“What day is it?” Justin asked. The heavily bundled soldier answered, “It is the eighth of December. The blizzard is over.”

After the guard signaled to one of the other soldiers to summon the village elders, he took Justin to the prison where he had been a week before. As he waited in his cell, he began to think about his survival. How could he have survived? And why? There must be a good reason, right? He thought to himself, “Why me? All I tried to do was what’s right. Why am I here? Am I supposed to live?

Through the dark brooding a faint desire began to shine. Dimly at first, but quickly an overpowering yearning burned brightly in his heart: the will to live! It was the desire to survive, to breathe, to just BE in this world, in which he still found himself, though he knew not why. All he knew was that he had found Death, he had given himself to It, and It had not taken him.
The decision came from the council: Justin was to be beheaded by the soldiers immediately.  He thought to himself, “Why do they fear me so much? I’m not dangerous. I don’t even feel a desire for human flesh or blood. Maybe I’m different, or cat-demons are different. I have as much a right to live as anyone!  …No. I will not die here. I’ll just escape. Who would stop me? No one. Who even could? No one!”

As the soldiers came for him, he decided his path: he’d head for the caves at the foot of Hope’s Peak, of which few people knew. So when the door opened, and a soldier said, “Come with us,” Justin looked back with a determined face.
“No. I’m going to live. I’ve done nothing wrong! AND YOU CAN’T STOP ME!”

He leaped through the four soldiers that had come for him, pushing them aside with ease, and sprinted toward the gate. He heard the guards raise the alarm and smiled, knowing they’d be too late. He ran past the watchmen before they knew what had happened. They saw little more than a blur. He sped into the forest and made his way toward the mountain. There, in the network of caves into which few had ever dared enter, he could surely find a safe place to hide and think about what had transpired.

Once he was well on his way, he began to slow down to a walk, which for his was still a crisp pace. Immediately, he began to feel an overpowering hunger, and a realization hit him: he hadn’t a bite to eat in over a week! He made his way to a spot where he knew his favorite fruit grew wild and sweet: blackberries. He knew that some berries still clung to their branches through the blizzard that had ravaged the landscape.

Once he found them, he grabbed a handful of blackberries and shoved them in his mouth.  As soon as he swallowed, however, he retched and puked up every last berry. Confused, but still starving, he tried once more, with the same discouraging result. Just then, he heard the sounds of horse-hooves pounding the earth. The guardsmen of the town were on his trail! Feeling a hunger-induced desperation, but not wanting the sure death that would accompany his discovery by the guards, he dashed toward the caves.

Relieved by the fact that he’d heard his pursuers long before they had reached him, he slowed his pace. Presently he arrived at the overgrown opening in the stony wall. He paused at the entrance, looking back, and if anyone had been watching, they would have seen a single tear escape his eye just before he vanished into the darkness.

Once inside, his eyes quickly adjusted to the mirky gloom of the caves, and he was amazed to see the true size of the caves. When just a boy, he’d wandered into the caves, accompanied by Esther and Bree, with only a torch as their guide. If only they could see it like this, he thought, as he gazed into the vast subterrane.

He began to explore the caves, with both the curiosity and agility of a cat. After over an hour of running and leaping through the caves, he began to realize how thirsty he was. Faintly, he could hear the trickle of running water. He frantically ran toward the sound.

As he came to the opening of another cave, he became aware of the fresh scent of the underground river. He descended into this deeper cave, only to find the faintest glimmer of light as the passage leveled off. Somehow a crack existed in the side of the mountain that let in a sliver of sunlight, illuminating an opening, of at least ten feet in diameter, in the floor of the cave. As Justin’s eyes took in this beautiful, improbable sight, he could see the running water through the hole in the floor.


He lay on his belly at the edge of the hole, putting his hands through the opening, and brought a handful of pure spring water to his mouth. As he continued to drink, he found the water to be surprisingly warm and refreshing in sharp contrast to the winter weather of the outside world. Then, when his thirst was fully quenched, he continued his search of the caves.

As he continued to wander the cavernous maze, he gradually made his way, through many winding and tortuous tunnels, back toward the entrance to the caves. But as he neared his destination, his sensitive ears picked up the sound of…children. He quickly leaped up onto one of the rocky formations of the cave to get a better view of the cave entrance. Crouching on his fifteen feet-high post, he could clearly see two boys, probably brothers, who had stepped into the cave. Suddenly he was aware of a scent that could only come from the children—blood!

He could see a scratch on the arms of one of the boys, and for a moment an overpowering hunger…or was it thirst…overcame him as he focused in on the blood. He stood ready to pounce on the boys, when he suddenly caught himself, and almost fell down out of shock at what he’d almost done. He realized, then, that all the stories about half-demons were true. They were driven to feast on humans, whether they will or no; and unless the boys left the caves at once, they would not be safe.

“LEEEEEAAAAVE!” he cried, his voice booming off the walls.

Screaming, the boys ran out, as fast as their feet could carry them. Then, exhausted from fatigue and hunger, Justin fell asleep on the ledge. He dreamt of loneliness, misery, and regret.

He awoke, as the sun began to set, to the sounds and smells of men and horses outside the caves. He looked down and saw the head of village council, Larech, enter the cave. He was carrying a crossbow, and was accompanied by four armed guardsmen, two of which held torches. Larech looked up, and saw Justin’s eyes gleaming in the dim light.

“Come down, Justin! Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“No! There has to be another way. I survived for a reason. Is there no other way?” He felt tears welling up in his eyes.

“There is no other way.” Larech said. Then, under his breath, he said to himself, “not  any more.”

But Justin’s hearing was too sharp. “What!? What do you mean not any more?”

Larech looked up, squinting in the darkness, obviously surprised that Justin had heard him, and said, “There used to be a cure, but there are few now who even know it as a legend. It was abandoned many years ago.”

“Why was it abandoned?”

“The half-demons wouldn’t accept it. Your kind are unwilling to lose your new-found power. The first half-demon who refused was expelled from the village during a snowstorm, and he did not survive. That is how we came to have the tradition that has never failed us, until you!”

Justin could see Larech’s disdain and increasing anger more plainly now. However, this mention of the cure had given him some hope. He even began to feel a sense of purpose, and with it came a strong determination to obtain this cure.

“Okay, so give me the cure! I don’t want to be like this at all!” he exclaimed.

“Sorry, no one in our village even knows what it is anymore. And even if we did have it, I can’t take the chance that you’ll refuse it at the last minute. So come down now, or I’ll kill you here and let the rats bury you!”

With that, Larech shot the crossbow, intending to drop Justin where he stood. Justin, famished and weakened, was too slow to completely dodge the arrow. It hit him in the side, but barely cut open Justin’s half-demon skin. Enraged at the attack, he leaped down onto his antagonists! The soldiers pulled their swords too slowly. The rampaging, snarling half-demon shoved all four soldiers out of his way, and landed, teeth first, on Larech’s neck!

As Justin knelt over Larech’s body, the soldiers fled the caves, mounted their horses, and raced away at a frantic pace. A minute later, Justin came to himself, and backed away from the sight of the bloodied corpse he’d mauled. Grief-stricken and afraid at what he’d done, he ran from the cave, wishing he could forget what had just happened. As night fell, and more soldiers were sent out after him, he wandered aimlessly southwards, teetering on the edge of despair. Only a faint hope that the legend of the cure was true kept him alive…