Whispers of the Dead

Kasian walked out of the bar, drunk and alone. Everything was now messed up, and there was no way for him to fix it.

It all started a few days ago, out of nowhere, when his father gave him an ultimatum. Apparently, he was old enough to stop fooling around and find a decent fianceé already. Ideally, if he could choose someone from their circle.

Kasian was pissed. Mind you, he already had a girlfriend. He met her at work, and she was the best girl. Young and attractive, in for all kinds of mischief. She was one of their best employees and was smart. Always laughing at his jokes, not giving him one insult after another, like Mira did.

Seeing the relationship with Mira was going nowhere, he wasn’t so naïve as to wait for her heart to thaw. Over the years, her constant sarcasm and smart-ass comments made him weary. He was in no mood to listen to that anymore.

He decided to move on.

After that, he started dating multiple women, but it went nowhere each time. And now, when he was finally able to find a woman he really liked, his father decided it was time to stop “fooling around”. There was no one else he would choose.

According to his father's condition, he needed someone with loaded parents, but he would prefer someone who would understand this was supposed to be only an arrangement, nothing more. There was only one person on his mind now – Selena.

They were friends for years, and looking back, he thought she would be okay with this deal of his. But… he miscalculated. Selena jumped into this relationship eagerly, and suddenly, he had no idea what to do next.

Should he break up with his real girlfriend to date a fake one? Should he let Selena go and give his father a chance to disown him?

He hesitated for too long, and both ladies found out about each other. His girlfriend broke up with him, and Selena ignored him completely. Yesterday, he had two girlfriends, now, he was single.

He had no one to talk to about this mess, the majority of people hanging around him were there just for his connection. Only Leonard and Mira were his real friends. He had known them since childhood and trusted them. But the thing was, they were both gone. They disappeared that night when they met in the club, and he was unable to contact them.

He was alone now.

Cursing at himself for being so stupid, he wobbled across the pavement, trying to call a taxi. One of the cars slowly drove right up to him. He opened the back door, ready to hop in.

But they were ready, too.

They seized him immediately, and the man sitting in the back seat stuck a big piece of adhesive tape onto his mouth. He fought with him in the car, but he was too drunk. He had no idea where they were taking him, but in the middle of their way, they moved him out and locked him in the trunk. They taped another big piece through his mouth and went on.

Part of the tape was now covering his nostrils, and it was hard to breathe. The worst thing, though, the road in the trunk was extremely shaky, and he could feel his stomach turning. If he starts throwing out now, he will suffocate and die.

Kasian gasped.

Sitting on his bed, he looked around. He was inside a small wooden hut. On the bed next to him, two other siblings were sleeping. On the second bed, propped against the wall, slept his mother with the youngest sibling.

Hearing his oldest son rustling, the caring mother woke up.

“Cannot sleep, Peter?” she asked him.

Right, Kasian remembered. He was dreaming about his past, about his previous life in the modern world before he died. Now he was living in another body. Peter was the name of the young man he was reincarnated into.

“Too tired to sleep,” he replied.

“Do you want a hot milk?”

“Oh, please, mother,” he whispered, “leave the milk for the youngest. I am not a small boy anymore.”

“Right,” she smiled at him. “You are already a young man.”

He lay back on the bed, nuzzling between his two siblings, and closing his eyes. He waited until he heard his mother fall asleep again, and then he slowly climbed down from the bed. Opening the door, he slipped out onto the yard.

Kasian was the son of a rich CEO. This young man called Peter was the oldest son of the poorest family in Riverod town.

They were a family of six living in a small wooden hut which had only one big room and a small yard with a tiny barn and garden. They were able to live happily until the head of the family, the father, had died. The mother was unable to care for four siblings by herself, and she was working at a rich merchant's household as a maid. But the wages were low, and she never had enough food for all her children. Not having time to care for their own garden and animals, this was Peter's role. They were able to manage somehow until a horrible pandemic swept through the town.

Peter came down with a strong fever, and his mother was barely able to pay for medicine. Seeing her oldest son now dying, she was desperate. Kasian was not sure what had happened, but in the exact moment the oldest son, Peter, died, he reincarnated into his body.

But life in this hut was not easy. They were all hungry and dirty. That is, until Kasian saw the merchant's wife. She was fairly young and lonely, her husband was often travelling. Kasian went to wait for his mother once, and he smiled at her. A few nice words, a few gazes, and she was enchanted, no magic needed.

She was not the only one.

Although they still lived in the same old hut, where they all had to squeeze together, they were now able to eat properly. They had clean clothes and every necessity.

But Kasian was unhappy. He was able to feed the family, which was not even his. But his own needs were unfulfilled. The women, whom he frequently met, were leaving him unsatisfied. That was not the only thing that bothered him. He knew he had to stop one time with this kind of lifestyle. In this world and age, people were not taking care of hygiene as in his world. If he caught some kind of sickness, without proper medicine, he would die. Again.

He walked through the yard, leaving it behind him, to look at the woods and fields encircling their town. He raised his head and looked at the night sky. There was no light pollution to hide the stars. He could see the Milky Way and the big, bright moon. The nature here was beautiful. He now had everything he needed, but he did not feel content with this new life of his.

I curse you to always run after those women you adore so much, but never feel any satisfaction, until you feel crazy. Until one day, you will do such a thing that someone will make you pay for it with what is most precious to you.

Remembering Mira’s words, he had to smile. Her curse was beginning to take effect now.

He gazed at the moon for several minutes, unable to leave. Then he lowered his head, eyes moving across the fields. When the moon was shining brightly, he could sometimes see does with deer walking around, grazing near the fields.

He saw something move again near the woods. He expected another animal, but he recognized a tall figure with two legs running – a human. He kneeled down into the grass, hiding himself.

The person was running his way.

Kasian could see the pale skin and long flowing cloak. He thought he could also grasp a long flowing hair. Was it a woman?

He remembered the stories of the old people from the town. They were often talking about fairies, which danced in the meadows under the moonlight, and if there was some unlucky guy to see them, he usually did not survive to tell the tale.

The woman was now much closer, and if he did not want to be found out, he should start running, too. He wanted to, but… that running figure, it kinda reminded him of someone. He got up to see better.

The woman stopped in her tracks, glaring at him.

He thought her eyes were glowing red, but it was probably only the illusion. He wasn’t able to see clearly, as it was in the middle of the night, with only the moon shining on them.

“Who are you?” the woman shouted at him.

His heart dropped. He recognized that voice. He would recognize it everywhere. Her name appeared on his lips, but he was able to take it back and hide. Was he stupid? What would Mira even be doing here? He was mistaken. It was probably another woman with a similar husky voice.

“My name is Peter,” he said. “I live in the hut nearby.”

The woman started walking towards him, slowly.

“I need help,” she said to him. “I need to hide.”

“Hide,” he repeated. “What did you do?”

“They think I am a witch,” she said. “A jealous woman accused me of witchcraft to get rid of me.”

“I can help you,” he replied. “But… I cannot endanger my family.”

“I don’t care where you will put me. Even a cellar or barn is fine with me,” she said. “As long as I can stay hidden there.”

She was speaking strangely. Definitely different than people in this town.

Kasian grew more intrigued by her with each breath.

She finally stopped near him and raised her head, hidden under the cloak.

His breathing stopped.

It was Mira.

“Can you help me?” she asked him. “Please.”

“I…I,” his words were not coming out.

So he took her hand instead and returned with her to their yard. He slowly opened the door to their barn, where only one cow was sleeping.

“I would let you inside, but our hut is already too crowded,” he said. “And I don’t want to scare my mother and siblings.”

“Tis fine,” she said.

She was out of breath, she probably ran a long time. Her knees wobbled. She fell onto the pile of straw in the corner of the barn. Looking at him, she opened her dry, cracking lips.

“A bit of water, please?”

“I will bring it to you,” he said.

When he returned with a tin mug full of water out of the well, she gulped it down hastily. She choked on it and started coughing. Kasian wanted to hit her on the back to help her force the water out, but reaching out for her, he realized his hands were shaking.

“I will come wake you up in the morning,” he said, hiding his hands behind his back. “I need to hide you before my family.”

“Very well,” she said. “I will stay here for a while to rest, and then I will leave, I promise.”

“You don't…”

“What?”

“You don’t have to leave… so soon,” he added quickly.

“I won't impose on your kindness,” she said and gave him back the tin mug. “I will just sleep for a while, as I am very tired.”

“I will return,” Kasian said, his words almost a whisper.

He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep now.

Kasian just turned over and left, leaving her alone. Mira was looking at the barn door for a while, wondering if he would really let her sleep here, or if he was running into the town to report her, but he did not return. She was sitting in the straw, listening. But the night was quiet, only the chirping of crickets echoing in the air. The cow was sleeping again, her puffing deep and slow.

The barn stank of manure, but Mira did not mind that. She was too tired to think about anything else. She lay down in the straw. Tomorrow morning, she will get up and continue her escape. She was too close to the Lindenod. Now she must sleep so that she will have the energy to run tomorrow.

But sleep was not coming. Instead, once she lowered her eyelids, all she could see was not the darkness, but the hut full of standing corpses. Falling one after another, a horrendous thud echoed in her ears each time. Dorota looking at her, eyes full of jealousy and anger. Severian lying on the floor, his broken nose still bloody from the heavy hit, but his face empty, body not feeling any pain.

Mira gasped. Sitting up in the straw, her body was soaked in a cold sweat. She did not know if she really slept and those were her nightmares, or if she was only hallucinating, being lucid. After several deep breaths, she was able to lie back down.

She felt horrible, though.

“Oh god,” she muttered. “Am I being punished?”

“You can join us if you want…”

She turned her head abruptly, her eyes looking for the source of that voice. But there was no one in the barn. Closing her eyes again, her ears tingled.

“Join us and you will never feel the pain.”

Those voices sounded ominous. She couldn’t see anyone in the barn, yet she could hear them.

“Who are you?” she muttered under her breath. “Why are you here?”

The voices giggled.

“She called us to her, and now she is asking why we are here?”

“Once she wishes to use our power, she will be begging us on her knees.”

“What do you want from me?” Mira asked in her mind.

The voices responded to her thoughts. “You want to use us. You need to pay.”

“Go away. I need to sleep.”

“Spare a few moments of your life, and we shall each go our own way.”

“Whatever, just go,” Mira mumbled.

A wave of giggles filled the air.

A small, sharp pain resonated in her body, deep in her insides. It was as if a dozen mice were slowly nibbling at her heart, running away, squealing with their stolen prize.

Mira only then realized, they had taken specks of her lifespan.

But after that, the souls of the dead disappeared, leaving her alone. The barn was now quiet.

So this is how the warlock's forbidden magic worked. He was asking the souls of the dead for a favor, taking part of his lifespan as compensation. If she uses this magic, they will slowly nibble at her life, too.