Haunted Scream

The horrible cracking and popping from wood and the human body was nearly maddening. I had never seen anything so disturbing before. A human being painfully transfigured. Each scream was a plea for help and a resignation of hopelessness. They crawled through me leaving me completely paralyzed.

I should have done something for her, but I couldn’t move a limb. My eyes could only stare as the last of her humanity was swallowed up. Skin became rigid and coarse breaking up into bark as it set into place. Nearly all signs that there had even been a human there disappeared now. Only an eerie couple of knots remained with a soulless sorrow of pain.

In the silence of dawn once more I collapsed to the ground as if a hand released me. I gasped deeply for air, nearly feeling like I had been choked. The pounding of my heart and burning of my lungs went straight through my chest. I hadn’t felt like this since the sports festival. I wasn’t certain, but it felt like it was beating three times faster than normal. I felt lightheaded.

I needed to calm down, but the screams still echoed in my head. The feeling of the woman’s death soaked through my skin. It was like wading through sludge completely drenched. I needed a shower.

Staring at the tree time faded away for me. It wasn’t until I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder that I returned. “Are you alright, son?” I looked up to see an elderly man in overalls and a wide hat, most likely a farmer.

There wasn’t anyone else around. It couldn’t have been that long, but I stood up. I had to move again. “I was lost in thought. Sorry for troubling you.” The old man stared at me a little longer, but accepted my answer and started moving on. He gave a confused look to the sudden tree, but otherwise kept walking.

I stepped up towards the tree, reminded of my failure to act. She just was consumed in front of me while I did nothing. How did it even happen? Was this a normal occurrence? ‘What the hell’s going on?!’

A thought came to me. I needed answers and the system could have them. Reaching out my hand, I tried just touching the strange tree to get it to be identified. Nothing. I bit my lip a little as I considered it. Was she alive in this state or already dead? Trees were living things, not in the way humans were, but still alive. A single piece wouldn’t be harming her though, it’d be stealing a bit of hair.

Answers were needed. I reached out and tested around the bark for something easy to grab. It took a little bit to find one that I could pull. ‘Please let this work. I’m just doing this so that I can hopefully save you. Please!’ Before I could change my mind, I tore off the bark.

Taking a breath with it in hand, I hoped it was worth it. Checking my hand, an item name and description came up. I exhaled.

‘Bark of a Cursed Tree – This coarse bark used to be the skin of a human before the curse of a demon captured them. Once the curse is contracted it advances steadily until the body is racked in pain and consumed utterly by the curse.’

‘A curse of a demon! There really is a demon active in this area!’ I immediately started looking around to see if it was in sight. It was stupid to even consider, but it was a reflex. There was nothing. Of course I wouldn’t find them. It was stupid.

The bark in my hand served as an uncomfortable proof. One that slowly made me think back. ‘That tree they were cutting down! It was another person.’ My mind took a little before I realized what that meant. What did I tell Mrs. Erina or Eri’Sol? I didn’t even know.

It was a clue and I could accept that at least. After everything that happened, I couldn’t keep walking. My mind kept replaying it. And another part feared that I’d run into more. There was no idea how many the demon cursed.

By the time I made it back to the room, Eri'Sol was awake waiting for me. There was obvious confusion and curiosity about me. But I just sat down on the bed in silence. She needed to be told, but the words weren’t coming to me. What would I tell her? Mrs. Erina’s friend was probably dead, chopped up by people not knowing that she was cursed? Just saying that sounded insane.

“Minoru?”

I stared at the floor. My hands were shaking. I grasped them trying to hold still. The woman’s scream still faintly dug into me. I felt so cold.

Suddenly, a warm embrace came around me. I lifted my head a little realizing that Eri'Sol had approached me. She held my head. “What’s wrong? You’re shaking so badly.” It took so long for me to move again. Once my body calmed again, I explained to her what I saw and the description I found.

At the end, she had to sit down with her hand covering her mouth as she gasped with realization. Like me, I could see in her eyes that she put the pieces together the same as me. “But we’ll never know for certain, will we?”

“Unless there’s a way to undo the curse of a demon.”

“I’m not familiar with curses. Maybe someone at the Markets would know.”

It wasn’t something that I was equipped to handle. Though maybe I could make a potion that undoes a curse. The Potion Maker said I could think up something and it’d tell me what I needed for it. But it probably was some rare materials. I wouldn’t be able to get it any time soon I’d imagine. I needed to check that later.

Checking back with Eri’Sol, there was something more that worried me. “How strong are demons?”

“I’ve only heard stories. There’s not many, but they’re very old and the most powerful beings known.”

“Are they for the heroes to fight?”

Eri'Sol didn’t immediately answer. I wondered if she was considering having to fight one. There was some shaking that I could see building in her. “Stories and legends say just one demon can wipe out entire armies. They’ve laid waste to entire nations. The Goddess was said to have taught us how to summon you because of their threat.”

It was even worse than I feared. She had never seen one and stories could be exaggerated. But nothing about that description sounded like something that I wanted to engage with at least at my level. We would need the whole party probably and more time to get stronger. But this whole town might could be wiped out before that happened. It was an immediate threat.

I stood up seeing her still completely rattled. These were their nightmares and ghost stories. They probably told horrible tales to frighten them as kids. “I think you should walk away from this Eri. It’s far too dangerous for you.”