I was frozen where I stood, my heart hammering in my chest. What the hell was going on? Did… Did I? Was that me? Did I kill that old woman? No, No… I don’t understand!

The guards pushed each other out of their pews and ran towards their weapons, all of them shouting “Demon!” “There’s a demon amongst us!” “Kill it with fire!”

What should I do? What was there to do? Should I let them take me? No, they would surely kill me. Should I run? Yes, that seemed the best option. I picked up the scriptures I had just held moments ago and…

“AHHH!” I screamed, smoke floating from between my fingers as I held my hand out in front of me. The Lord’s words had burned me. A flake of black skin drifted from the back of my hand revealing fresh pink and healthy skin. I shook my hand and more of the flakes fell off leaving only more normal skin.

Before I could even ask myself what was going on, the clinking of metal armor caught my attention and I looked up to see the guards charging towards me, their mouths open whilst screaming out their rage towards me. As if by instinct, I lifted my hand towards them but quickly pulled it down by the wrist. What, was I mad? I was trying to kill more people?!?

Forgetting the scripture, I took off to the right and out through the door. I ran past the chickens, past their coup, and jumped over the rickety fence. My arms pumped up and down as I ran as fast as I could. Small shops, homes, and a few taverns whizzed by me as I ran at an unnatural speed. At some point, my mind told me to take to all four and run like an animal and somehow I knew I would be able to escape at an even faster pace.  But I refused.

 There would be no more of this sorcery. Not today. Not ever.

I was still in the poor districts of the kingdom but was quickly heading towards the rich district. I thought better of this. There would be more guards there than here and so with quick thinking, I made for the river.

I was just about to cross the last alleyway, the river only a few feet away now, when a guard ran right in front of me, hitting me hard with his shoulder and sending us both off the side of the street and into the murky water. We flailed and kicked at each other and I was able to catch a glimpse of the shine of his sword as it fell to the bottom of the river. Anger filled me once more as my lungs tightened from lack of air.

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The guard, seeing this emotion in my eyes as they glowered through the muddiness of the water, opened his mouth to scream but the sound was lost in the water. I clasped my hands around his throat and tightened. My grasp was so tight around his soft flesh that I felt his spinal cord underneath my fingers reminding me of the time I had helped pull the neck out of a turkey I was stuffing with my father.

This happy thought brought me back to reality, my anger fading as quickly as it had come and I let go of the poor soul. The guard’s mouth was stuck in a permanent scream, his neck collapsed in on itself. I swam away from his lifeless body covered in armor and watched as it floated away, drifting lower and lower into the depths of the river, most likely never to be seen again.

My lower lip trembled as I said a small prayer for the man I had just killed. I couldn’t help but think I had just robbed a family of a husband. A father.

I pulled myself out of the water and under the shadows of a bridge. My robes were drenched, heavy, and cold. I huddled my back against the wall hoping the structure above my head would suffice as protection from the eyes of the guards. I held my knees close to my chest and let myself fall onto my side. That’s when I started to cry.

In one day I had gone against the Lord’s teaching in the worst possible way. I had murdered two of his followers. The worst part was, it had been easy. So easy. Why was this happening to me? Never before had I felt myself pulled to such evil tendencies. Has God forsaken me? Have I not completed His will in the most suitable of manners? I have dedicated my life to him and now… it seems he has abandoned me.

I let myself out of my own embrace and crawled over to the water’s edge.  Peering into it, I used the light of the moon to gaze at my own reflection. A gasp escaped my mouth as I ran a hand across my head.

The lumps had grown larger.

I pulled my hand back in fear that there would be pain like the last time, but there wasn’t any. In fact, my hand was no longer charred or crispy, but fresh and pink. As if nothing had happened.

Suddenly, I felt eyes on me. I quickly sprawled back to the wall under the bridge. There was nobody there but there was something.

Two red eyes stared at me from the dark alleyways. Gazing at me hungrily from its shadows. Then, they blinked themselves shut and were gone.