Regret

The bleeding stopped. The crying didn’t.

Fresh, youthful tears stained the kitchen floor, the moisture mixing with the dust on the marble surface. Those few droplets hardly made a difference to the gray tiles, colonized by dirt and lint through centuries of neglect. If anything, it was the salt in those teardrops that stirred the darkness lying dormant within the mansion.

“Darkness” like me.

I observed the young girl’s antics. Curiosity, amusement, pity—I couldn’t tell what it was that drew me to her anymore. It had been too long since I last felt anything. Even longer than when I cast aside my humanity.

It was like watching a lost little lamb stumble its way to the butcher’s knife. This child would not be alive for long. It was a miracle she even survived the forest outside in the first place.

Her dress, prim and luxurious as it was, was a poor shield against the elements. It was easy to picture how this noble maiden tumbled through the brush with those gashes and tears all over the fabric. She might not be bleeding anymore, but if any seamstress laid their gaze on her, their eyes would bleed instead.

It had been hours since the girl first snuck into the mansion in a breathless daze. I could still taste the fear and panic that she left behind at the entrance. That honey-like sweetness that she exuded as she felt her life teetering on the edge. The frantic beating of her heart, much like a strawberry on top of a delicate confection. It took me everything to restrain myself from devouring her soul right away.

She was running away from someone. Whoever her pursuer was, they were smart enough not to step inside. Smart enough not to turn this “dessert” into a buffet.

Reining in my hunger, I allowed the girl to wander these accursed walls. That initial terror gripping her as she escaped by the skin of her teeth might be sweet, but it would be nothing compared to the flavor her despair would bring once she abandoned all hope. Souls were like wine. All that fear had to ferment.

So before my meal, I spectated this juicy lamb fattening herself up for me. I hummed along deep inside to the rhythm of her tiny footsteps. She pitter-pattered her way to the dining room, then the kitchen.

It was there that she gorged herself on the decaying food left untouched for ages. Salted meats, cheese, vegetable scraps—the ravenous little beast cared not if she poisoned herself. How hungry was this human? And here I thought I was the one who had not eaten for centuries.

After leaving every single cabinet door open, the shameless thief started bawling again. She murmured to herself words that sounded like music to me:

“Mom… Dad…”

Worry not, child. Your parents would have more than enough in their coffers to pay for your bodiless funeral.

“No!” she uttered in sudden defiance. “I can’t go back! I… I…”

She couldn’t even finish her sentence before the floodgates in her eyes reopened. Pathetic.

With how many precious tears she was wasting, even I was unsure if the food poisoning or dehydration would break her down first. No matter. I had more than enough time to spare. What was a few days in the eyes of eternity?

The foolish lass wandered around the mansion for hours. It was no maze, but seeing her navigate the shadowy corridors and stagnant rooms so aimlessly made it seem that way. To her credit, she was able to cast an orb of light, keeping the darkness at bay. A passable achievement for someone her age. Had she stayed home, she might have ended up a great sorceress one day.

“Hello? A-Anyone?”

She would hold conversations with the furniture, only to hear no reply. Color progressively drained from her eyes each time. Her sanity slipped slowly, but surely.

How long before that feeble orb abandons you, too, I wonder?

But when she chanced upon the library, her eyes lit up. Why am I not surprised a young mage like her would view books as friends? The bibliophile inside of her kept her spirits up, delaying the inevitable.

That awestruck look on her face felt nostalgic. That’s right. I had that same look before as a mortal. It was my own thirst for knowledge that led me to this mansion all those years ago. A moth to a flame.

My research—my obsession—might have been for naught, but I held no regrets. Being able to savor the souls of fools like her was a reward in and of itself.

And what a fool this one was. From the grimace on her face as she browsed the shelves, it was obvious she lacked the comprehension to decipher these texts, most of which predated even me. In the end, she settled for some random necromancy tome. Must have been so simple, even a child could understand.

Oh. Hold on.

I wrote that one.

How did that end up in the mansion? Odd.

Wait. Why that smile?! What’s so funny?! How dare you treat it like some mere storybook! Banish that filthy visage this instant! Confound it all!

It was supposed to be ME torturing HER. I’ll show this littl—

“Oh wow! It really worked!”

Before I knew it, I was recalled to the material plane. This girl… summoned ME?!

Impossible. A necromancer could only exert dominion over those lesser than them! A child like her would barely even be able to raise a mere skeleton. Calling upon the likes of me had to be a mistake!

“Hello, Mr. Skeleton!”

Her wide, innocent eyes met my hollow sockets. It was then I knew for certain; the child had indeed made a mistake. The fact that I retained my free will, the fact that I could kill her at any moment—the spell she cast was flawed.

She had not become my master.

“I’m Esterlize! But you can call me Ester.”

My appetite was gone. Murdered. Just looking at the glee plastered on her face made me sick to my core.

“I was feeling pretty lonely, but now that you’re here, I’m feeling a lot better!” This mortal idiot even did a little twirl. I ought to end her insufferable existence this insta—

“Gosh, this book is awesome! I love it!”

“... It is?”

Those words somehow escaped my skull without my permission. I did not mean to say that.

Just kill me already.

Curses. I’m already dead.

“Yeah! I can’t wait to find more friends! Oh, before that, what’s your name, Mr. Skeleton?”

“You’re talking to a lich.”

“Lychee? Aw, that’s such a sweet name!”

This girl was not only dumb, but deaf as well. Must have had a death wish, too, grabbing the bones of my fingers and rattling them like it was a handshake.

I should have killed her at that very moment.

Maybe then, things would not have ended the way they did.