Elifero burst through the front door.
"Mom!"
The lights were not switched and the house was silent. Often when coming back from playing, he would hear his two sisters bickering and mostly the noise can be heard the moment one enters.
His chest tightened. He remembered that his mother said she would be heading out to buy groceries in the morning.
"Bloom? Raim?" His voice trembled. "Stop hiding. I brought you-"
Nothing.
Rooms were empty. Doors widely open except for his sister's rooms, which was not strange considering that he thought Bloom and Raim were supposedly in the house. Shadows moved strangely in the corners.
He reached their bedroom. Hand shaking, he pushed the door open.
Blood.
Not enough words could describe it. Only movement, fear, confusion. His sisters huddled together, crying. Alive...but frozen in fear. Their eyes calling out for help as they saw their older brother. Something lurked in the shadows behind them.
Moonlight spilled through the torn clouds outside.
He froze.
One step back. Then another.
His heel caught on something.
He stumbled.
Grasping at the window curtain, he tried to steady himself... but the fabric tore, slipping through his fingers.
He fell.
Cold flooded his side. Something wet soaked through his clothes. Moonlight poured into the room.
He looked down.
Blood coated his hands, his arms, his chest.
Slowly, he turned his head.
Beside him lay a body. No head. Fingers still wrapped around a kitchen knife.
His eyes widened.
Then lower - what he had tripped over.
His mothers head stared back. A metallic tang filled the air. Sharp. Bitter. Stomach twisted.
He screamed.
Legs kicked, hands shoved, sobs tore from his throat. He clawed at the floor, shoved the head away, scrambled, tried to stand.
Run.
The thought screamed louder than his voice.
And he did.
****
Across the fields, Pedro which is Elifero, Bloom and Raim's uncle, Pedro spotted a column of smoke rising above the treetops. Heart hammering, he spurred his horse full speed, screaming for Elifero and the children, praying he wasn't too late.
Branches whipped past. The wind carried distant cries of animals. The scent of fire stung his nose. He raced toward the village, faster than he had ever run before.
****
When he arrived, the house was silent. Too silent.
Elifero was gone. Only a trail of blood led into the side of the village.
Pedro's breath caught. He stumbled over the threshold - and then he saw them.
His nieces, lifeless. His sister-in-law, sprawled across the floor. The creature had fled, but the damage was done.
A low growl of rage escaped him. He slammed the door.
His eyes followed the trail of blood Elifero's shoes had left. But others, heavier, clawed at the ground in the same direction. Pedro didn't know what they were, but he didint stop.
He mounted the horse and spurred it forward, heart in his throat.
****
Pedro ran, calling the boy's name, hoping, praying. Then he saw him...Elifero, froze in the middle of the chaos, staring at the village he once knew being devoured by the fire. Flames consumed the village like a living beast. Bodies lay scattered, silent or writhing
Pedro's voice cracked through the night."Elifero! Hold on! I've got you!"
Pedro's hands reached him just as the creature or whatever had followed was nearly upon him.
Hands grabbed Elifero. He barely had time to register the touch before the horse bolted, carrying them both away.
Then a sudden strike. The horse's leg collapsed beneath them. They fell hard. Dust and ash filled the air.
Elifero's vision swam. Panic clawed at his chest. He felt a strong grip around him. Not the monster. But his uncle's arms held him tightly, shielding him from the fall.
Pedro tries stepping upwards, coughing blood that splattered onto the ground and Elifero's clothes. Pain wracked his face, but he forced words through gritted teeth.
"You... listen... Elifero... live! You only get one.... life! Remember this!" his voice cracked, each word heavy with blood and smoke. "Run... don't look back... ever..."
Elifero's heart raced. Tears streaked his arm, eyes fierce yet filled with fear, before shoving him out of the chaos.
The firelight danced across the ruined village, illuminating bodies and shadows alike. Elifero ran, the echo of Pedro's voice hammering in his mind: " You have to survive. No matter what you see. No matter who you lose. Never look back."
Behind him, smoke rose. The night groaned. The world burned. And he never did.
****
Morning came, Elifero lay aside the road, kilometers from the village he once called home, a car came to a slow stop.
Elifero's eyelids flustered. The world was blurred, the brightness of the headlights stabbing at his vision.
Someone moved toward him. He could see only the lower part of the person, he saw only pants and boots, the rest hidden in the glare.
A rough hand lifted him effortlessly. His eyes closed again before he could even register what was happening.
The car engine hummed quietly. The smell of fuel mixed with the cold night air. Elifero's body went limp. The events of yesterday -fire, blood, screams pressed heavily on his mind. Exhaustion won. He sank into darkness.
Somewhere, a faint rustle of tires on gravel echoed. The figure carried him steady, deliberate steps. Elifero felt nothing but the firm weight of the stranger's arms, the chill of metal under his fingers, and the unsetting certainty that he was no longer in control.