My relief was short lived; the distant timbre of human speech hit my ears.
They weren’t in the house yet; I had time. Maybe a minute max, butenough.
I hooked one arm under Nurghle’s front legs and grabbed my axe with my free hand. Stumbling forward to the fur-coveredhatch, I tossed the rug to the side and lifted the handle with the toe of my boot. First the axe went in, then Nurghle. I crawled in with him, fluffed the rug to drape over the door properly, and lowered the boards. Bathing us both in darkness.
The door opened and closed violently. I couldn’t believe I’d mistaken Nurghle’s antics for a break-in this morning. The intruders were making no effort to be quiet.
My breaths seemed soloud. I covered my mouth and said a silent prayer to nobody that Nurghle would keep his noises to himself. Floorboards creaked all around and above me. When a heavy step was placed on the fur rug covering our hiding location, I nearly screamed.Please don’t feel the handle. Please don’t feel the handle.My eyes watered.
“She’s not back ‘ere,” a deep voice called out.
“I’m going to check the loft.” Another unfamiliar voice. Who were these fucks?
I counted my pounding heart beats, reaching well-passed three hundred before another word was grumbled.
“Anything?”
“Just storage. You?”
“No battery. There’s a water dish on the ground. You think she has a pet?”
I didn’t know what made me more furious, being called a “battery” or having these men acknowledge my cat’s existence. They better leave him out of this. Whatever “this” was.
“Let’s wait outside to see if she shows up. Cassius said she walks around without being targeted by the beasts. Maybe on a midday stroll?”
“Sure, whatever. Honestly, might as well stay the night at this rate if she doesn’t show.”
“We’ll see.”
My front door thudded closed.
Fuck!Hot rage and adrenaline made me clench my fists. What was I supposed to do?! Just sit down here until Nurghle started screaming and revealed our hiding location?! Hope they give up?! Just die and surrender my home?!
A princess, eaten alive by this world…
I listened to the soft drone of their conversation outside. They sounded like they’d landed on some kind of engaging topic. The occasional “no way!” or “right?!” discernable amongst the gibberish. This was the best distraction I was going to get next to them leaving or sleeping, and I wasn’t sure I had enough time to wait for either of those.
After Cassius left, more followed. I had to prepare for this to become my reality: repeated waves of attacks. I couldn’t hide forever.
I needed to kill them.Now. As much as my soul ached at the thought of taking a life, it was them or us. I felt Nurghle’s soft fur against my leg. There wasn’t time to question it, too much was on the line.
I lifted the hatch just enough to pull my body out. With a little luck, I hooked the end of the axe around the partition wall, using the handle as leverage to pull myself out. It wasn’t soundless, but between their chatter and the sounds of the forest growing livelier as evening approached, my grunts and the wood creaking were somewhat camouflaged.
I saw the shine of Nurghle’s eyes staring up at me, his black fur blending into the dark. Iwouldbe back to let him out.I closed the door, smoothed out the fur rug, and stood with axe in hand. Its blade looked sinister in my white-knuckled grip, leaning against the pale cotton of my dress that was about to be stained red.
A deeply rooted part of myself screamed that I didn’twantto do this. I shut her up. She didn’t get a say in this; it was time to focus on survival.
I wasn’t a killer, but I was willing to sacrifice myself to save my home. It was time to say goodbye to “me”.
Detach. Dissociate. Do what must be done.
They were just outside the door, I could hear the shifting of their weight on the steps. I opened the window panes as quietly as I could, breathed in the humid evening air, and softly dropped into the clover. The soft green cushion under my feet muted my steps as I inched slowly, but intentionally, to the edge of the cabin.
I drew the axe back by my side, centering myself. One more big, deep, quiet breath.
This is my home. My peace. And nobody gets to take it from me.
I swung my weapon around the corner.
