It was a bright day for a funeral.
The brutal sun was beating down aggressively, yet the air was so cold that Mathew could see each of his breaths as they escaped his dry lips.
Everyone had already gone… Though everyone only equated to the few people who still claimed to be friends of the 2 pseudo-orphans that were left to fend for themselves.
And there they stood: Mathew and Maggie Dredon, dressed in hand-me-down jackets and beanies taken from Goodwill. Mathew held his hands in his pockets, his gloves missing a few fingers, and his sister was hugging herself tightly as she stared down at the headstone that sat atop newly buried ashes.
Perhaps she was cold like he was:
A type of cold that was indistinguishable from the numbness that sat even deeper inside them.
"E-everyone left." Said Maggie, shivering.
"Yeah..."
"No one stuck around…"
"I mean, it's pretty cold out here." Mathew released a frosty puff of air to punctuate it.
"We're the only ones left. Just us. No one else."
Mathew realized she wasn't talking about the funeral attendees.
Their father had left them a decade ago, leaving them with their mom and her parents. Their Grandfather had died a couple of summers back from lung cancer, though it was genetic and not his fault. Ironically enough, their mother had struggled until her last day against the same disease only a few weeks prior… And it WAS her fault.
All that was left was their grandmother, and she was no guardian; if anything, she was Mathew's dependent. She was terminally ill and couldn't even remember her own name.
Mathew had been acting the parent for months at this point. He'd held everything together… or at least he'd tried.
But he had failed to save her. He couldn't save anyone.
"Hey…" Said Maggie.
"Yeah?"
Her voice began to shake:
"Are… are you going to leave next?" The words shook Mathew from his thoughts, and he turned to look at his sister.
She looked back at him, one eye half-shut and twitching violently as a single stream of moisture escaped from it and streaked down her cheek. It was natural for the cold to make your eyes water after all.
For Mathew, though, it was a switch. A powerful feeling of bitterness spawned in his gut. The numbness was bad, and the cold was unrelenting, but even combined, they were nowhere near as awful as the bitterness.
Mathew couldn't even think about logic at this point. He only wanted to silence that feeling.
"Never." He replied. "I promise you."
Maggie's blue lips began to tremble, and so he reached out and grabbed her by her hand, clasping it in both of his as he made one final declaration:
"No matter what happens, you and me will always stick together."
That had been one of the last conversations Mathew had had with his sister. Fate had made a liar out of him, had cheated him out of his word.
He had indeed left her, and though it was due to the most unbelievable circumstance, the fact remained that Mathew had broken his promise.
…..
As Mathew broke free from the memory, emotion threatened to send him to his knees.
He was just as much of a failure now as he ever was. He had failed to save anyone, including those most important to him, and now he was stranded in another world with not even an inkling of how to return.
He cast his vision once more on the helpless pair of sisters, recalling the words that had triggered his memory: 'You said we would always stick together no matter what.'
It was almost word for word what he had promised his own sister. A familiar feeling stirred within his stomach.
It was bitter.
"Ophelia… We should let them go." He said slowly, the words escaping him almost on instinct.
She stiffened
"What?" she said through gritted teeth. Mathew exhaled.
"I don't know what I can say to convince you, but we can't turn them in to the outpost."
"…Why?"
"I don't know… It just makes me sick to think about it."
"It just makes you… Dread, are you mad? What nonsense are you spewing? They are man-eating monsters." She spat each sentence out.
Beyah had a look of horror on her face. She looked like this was the first time she had heard such an accusation.
"M-monsters? What do you mean?" Asked Siyah.
"Yes. Monsters. That is indisputable. You are a pair of vile things called Enfiri, creatures that feast on the blood and flesh of humans. That is why we were sent to apprehend you."
"That… Can't be true…"
"It is impossible to deny it. I saw the missing hand of the bounty hunter."
Beyah's reaction was visceral. Her pale complexion took on a shade of green.
"I… I didn't…" One hand went to her stomach, and the other to her mouth, and she began to violently heave as if trying to vomit, though nothing came out.
"She didn't mean to do it." Siyah finished her sister's sentence. "This has to be some sort of misunderstanding.."
"Misunderstanding? It's clear that the girl is a monster. Right now, she is suffering from Sunblindness, which is evidence she is in the middle of a frenzy."
"Sunblindness? Frenzy?" Mathew questioned.
"When Enfiri taste human flesh, they enter a state of Frenzy. So long as they are out of direct sunlight, they grow many times stronger and quicker, and can heal their injuries faster. Their teeth and nails achieve the durability and sharpness of steel, and their vision becomes able to pierce through darkness."
"She doesn't look strong…" Mathew pointed at Beyah: "She looks pitiful."
"That is Sunblindness. When not in frenzy, she can walk beneath the sun as a normal human would. However, once the rays of the sun touch their skin, they are weakened considerably, and their enhanced vision is replaced with complete blindness."
"So she's harmless to us then?" Mathew said.
"Dread, you do not understand. The fact that she is currently in frenzy means that she has consumed human flesh. I am certain she devoured the hand of the Bounty hunter, Creas."
"Please… We didn't know what we were… No one ever told us! We have been raised by our adoptive father since we were young… My sister has never hurt a fly before today!"
"That is absolutely meaningless. Even if I were to believe your lies about the past, the reality is that she has harmed someone now."
"It was self-defense… She had no choice."
"You killed your own adoptive father in self-defense?"
"No… It was the bounty hunter who killed him. My sister would never—"
"What obvious deception. Do you really expect me to believe you?" Ophelia sneered.
"It's not—" she began, but Ophelia cut her off again.
"Is your sister mute? Can she not speak for herself?"
Beyah was looking down, her silvery eyes wide as they saw nothing. Her hands were pressed against the ground, and her entire body was trembling.
"What are you shaking for? Speak, monster, or I will kill your sister."
Beyah opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She seemed completely despondent.
"Ophelia, we can't kill her," Mathew said, trying to stop her from doing something rash.
"Yes, we can."
"Because she's a monster?"
"Precisely."
"In case you forgot, I'm a monster too."
"That is a different matter, Dread. Because of the contract between us, you cannot disobey me."
"Then why can't we forge a contract with them as well? I'm sure you could do with more bizarre creatures serving you."
"Not possible. We require the supplies promised to us for this bounty."
"Why not just try to do a different job? In fact, if we keep them around, they could help us on the next one if you really don't want to set them free, that is." That seemed to get her thinking about a response for a moment.
When she finally opened her mouth to speak, a new voice interrupted her:
"Pardon me, but I don't think setting those creatures loose is a good idea."
Mathew and Ophelia turned their heads to see who was approaching. A man in thick boots, padded armor, and a triangular hat stood a few dozen meters away.
It was the bounty hunter from the saloon.