A little girl appears in front of Samuel and tries to wake him up.

Samuel's head’s pretty dizzy and he can’t see the girls face clearly. The whole scene seemed familiar but very giddy and wobbly.

“Hello there! It's time to wake up, or you will be late!”, says the girl. He can’t seem to see the girls face clearly, she was very young about 8 years old. Her voice echoed and seem to fade away.

“Get up! I am hungry, could you cook me my breakfast already! Wake up, big brother!”, says the girl as she threw fits as the voice dims and fades.

“Lilith!” screams Samuel and he gets up and trying to grab her hand.

All of sudden, his heads clear up and realizes that he was dreaming.

Now he was holding a hand of a little girl, that he wasn’t familiar with.

The little girl blushes because of Samuel holding her hand all of sudden, she’s also holding a wet cloth.

This little girl was wearing a little green frock and uptied ponytails with bright red ribbons on her hash brown hair. Her eyes were also brown and she looked about 5 to 6 years old.

“Hey, who are you? Where is this place?”, questioned Samuel as he continues to hold the girl by the hand.

The girl's eyes suddenly started to gleam,

“My name is Rina Oswald, welcome to Old rock ore’s pub!”, greets the little girl.

Samuel then examines his surrounding, he was in an unusual old room. It looked like an attic of some old run-down house. The room was dusty and cobwebs had pillaged every nook and corner of the room. There was just a small window which lightened up the dark room, and the only source of light. There were also multiple boxes crowded in the room, as dust piled up on it. They seemed never been moved for a long time. In the corner of the room, was blanket laid on the wooden floor where Samuel found himself waking up.

“This doesn’t look like any pub to me!”, said Samuel, then he makes an intimidating face, “Get me out of here! Your tricks won’t work on me! Trying to be a defenseless little girl, thinking that I would go easy on you!”

Suddenly the trap door opened on the floor and a man pops his head out,

“Oh glad you woke up! You have been out for hours, thought you were dead! Come down, I cooked some berry soup. It might rejuvenate your immune system anew, also there is my old set of clothes, I think it would fit you, perfectly!”, said the stranger, then he turns towards the girl, “Rina come down help me, lay down the bowls and let big brother get dressed.”

“Okay, papa.”, replies the girl.

Samuel let go of her hand, and she followed her father down attic. She even picked up the towel and a bowl of water along with her.

He was puzzled as well. He had no idea how he ends up here.

The last thing I remember was walking through the hills! Somehow I had a feeling to keep moving and the next thing is…

Then he peers at the clothes lying beside him. A dull blue sweater with red and black striped muffler and a simple dull blue winter cap, also a pair of woolen pants. The clothes look pretty old and worn out, but it was warm. Samuel without any hesitation accepted their hospitality. It was better then nothing.

He peeked down the trapdoor, all he saw was old wooden floor along with the nauseating smell of alcohol.

Then his eye fell in a cane stick that was placed in the corner. Dust had collected on top, but it was still quite sturdy.

Guess this will have to do, for now until I get a decent weapon.

He picked the cane and went down the stairs through the trapdoor. When he landed down the stairs, he saw more boxes neatly placed all around. It had a label of some very popular wines. It looked like a storage room.

“Big brother, the soup is ready! Follow me!”, said the little girl.

Samuel suddenly turned towards her in surprise.

No! It can’t be Lilith.

*tch*

Samuel lets out a sound of disappointment but still follows her, through the old passage.

The room smelled of rum and beer along with the scent of decaying wood. The old shack was pretty old and damp.

Samuel looked much better, before he had nothing but rags and bare naked. Now he looked like a normal hometown boy like an ordinary kid in his teens.

They walked through the passage until, they reached the kitchen, where the bowls were laid on the dinner table.

The kitchen was very old fashioned but neat and clean.

There stood the girl’s father, who sported a goatee without a mustache. He had a long brown hair that he uptied with a pony. He wore a olive green collarless T-shirt and wore a pink apron that had many stains, that marked that it has helped them keep tidy for a long time.

The girl’s father served the soup into their respective bowls. There were three bowls placed filled with hot juicy berry soup. It was a local appetizer that was made with the berries found in the hilly forest. The soup was quite thick and red color with many pieces of berries floated on top. It was a rich source of fiber and vitamin C, folate and potassium.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

After he served the soup in the bowls, the girl's father greets them,

“Have a seat, you should savor it before it gets cold”, he then notice’s Samuel’s hand, “What are you doing with my father’s cane?”, questioned the man in bewilderment.

The little girl just marched and grabbed her seat before everyone else, and held her spoon, ready to chow down.

Samuel then glanced back at the cane he was holding,

“Oh, this fell down while climbing down the attic.”, replies Samuel tactfully, and places the cane on the corner in a standing position. Then he grabs his seat naturally as if he spoke out the truth.

The girl’s father also took a seat with everyone else, he then closes his eyes,

“I thank the Lord who has taken pity and shed his mercy over, us a humble peasant. Thanks for blessing us with food on the table! Now dig in!”, said the girl’s father, but Samuel had already was gulping down the soup before they even started praying.

The little girl was also surprised as Samuel started to drink directly through the bowl, without even using a spoon. He lifted the bowl to his face and drank straight through it.

“You sure seem quite hungry, but you have to be careful, the soup is hot!”, warned the girl’s father.

But it seemed that it didn’t stop Samuel from finishing the bowl after he gulped down the soup down his throat, than he placed the bowl on the table,

“Seconds, please!!”, he requested.

“Your lips! it’s swollen!”, exclaimed the girl’s father.

The girl’s father refilled Samuel’s bowl and they all had a hearty breakfast.

Later, the girl, Rina helped her father to pick the soiled dishes as her father washed the dishes.

Samuel had stuffed himself full as he sat on the chair as he leaned on the table while he glanced through the kitchen. The room seems quite old.

“I found you outside the town down the road, you were unconscious and without much clothes. It's very dangerous running with so little clothes, it's very cold out here.”, said Rina’s father without turning his back, busy washing the utensils.

“My house is pretty old. The rooms are pretty tiny as most of the space was reserved for my pub bar. Although it is little-crowded living here, we were still happy. Serving ale and dinner for travellers passing by which was the source of our income. Although this is a little town, we were content. Until the people started going missing.”, said gloomily as Rina’s father washed the last dish.

Then he wiped his wet hands with the apron and approached a portrait of a woman, hanging on the wall.

“Everything went so well, until Erica’s disappearance. Taken away by the spirits of the mountains!”, said Rina’s father as he teared up while seeing the portrait.

The girl then approached her father,

“Papa!? When will Mama come home? Rina has been a good girl. So could you tell mama, to come back?! Please, papa.”

Her father got on his knees as he embraced her daughter.

“She will come home, soon enough!

Samuel lost in thought,

Disappeared, huh? Same as Lilith and Abigor!

If only I could have protected them!

If only I wasn’t foolish enough to leave them behind, all alone.

He then shut his eyes close,

Hang on you guys! wherever you are, I will find you even if it means stepping back into this trash nation and charging into the palace itself!

Even if it were meant to take upon a whole nation by myself!

I won’t back down, just you wait for now.

“Old man, you don’t have to worry about this spirit from now. It’s gone for good.”, said, Samuel.

Rina’s father was shocked, he got up from his knees,

“What.. what do you mean by that? You really, really mean it? Will Erica returning home? I have to tidy up the home before she returns. I have to change the bedsheets and.. and fix the roof as well. She gets worked up, if found out I was slacking around. Oh for her return, we should throw a big feast! A grand one! You too are invited, young man! We will celebrate-”

“It’s better you forget her, she won’t be coming back, anymore. But at least the people in the village are safe, for now.”, interrupted Samuel. He had seen piles of human skeletal remains in the werewolf’s cave, and one of them might belong to girl’s mother, Erica.

“What are you, saying? Don’t joke around! We have lots of work to do, no time for jokes, haha!”, denied Rina’s father as he tried to shrug away Samuel’s comment as a joke.

Samuel was annoyed and ticked off,

“I am not kidding around! Stop hoping, it’s useless, I saw the skeletal remains and if she was spirited away as you say! Then it's better to accept the reality and move on! This is pointless, you-”

Rina’s father grabbed Samuel by the collar,

“SHUT UP! Don’t talk as if you know everything! You liar!”, retorted Rina’s father angrily.

Samuel got angrier and pissed.

“Why, you-”, then he saw the father’s eyes. It was pale. His eyes were wide open in anger, but his pupils seemed distant. Even though he could see, he had closed his eyes from perceiving the reality. He was not ready to accept his reality and continue to cling on a false hope.

Samuel wanted to punch her father and knock out his lights off. Give him a beating and implant the back reality that he was avoiding to see. His fist was throbbing, and he was ready to land a punch.

“Please stop this! Please, papa, don’t hurt big brother!”, exclaimed the little girl as she burst into tears trying to break them apart.

But he stopped. Samuel couldn’t bring himself to punch her father. They had shown kindness and hospitality, to a stranger to that. He couldn’t punch the girl’s father in front of her. For some reason, the girl reminded of someone! Someone close to him in the past.

The father had closed off his eyes from seeing the truth, for the sake of his daughter.

He was weaving a cloth of lies just for the well being of his only daughter, his only remaining family.

Samuel held down his anger, in response was pushed out of their pub.

“Get out of my sight! Never ever return here, If I see your face again! I will kill you!”, screams the father angrily, and slam the door shut close.

Samuel lays down on the ground, facing the sky. There were many people staring at him strangely but he never minded that.

He watched the soaring sky as he thought back about his past,

I said all those things to that man but I did the same.

Whenever you guys asked the same thing about mom and dad, I also lied back then telling that they will be coming back anytime soon!

I knew that they won’t but I still couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth.

I am a horrible big brother, I know that!

A stream of tears flow out of Samuel as he stared into the sky. People watched the strange boy lying down the dusty cold ground as wept watching the sky. But they didn’t approach him.

Samuel then wiped his tears, with his sleeve end of the Sweater.

I shall set things right for once and all! For your's sake, as well as for my comrades! I will find you guys, and make them pay!