Aryk, Lilia, and Ragnar stood at the threshold of the door, watching the cart bearing their mother, Fatima, disappear into the dark forest, leaving behind a trail of dust and marks of the cart's passage.
"I’m starting to miss her," Ragnar said, his eyes filled with tears and his voice hoarse.
Lilia embraced Ragnar and began to pat his back. "It’s only been eight days."
After confirming that the cart had departed, the siblings entered the house, closed the door behind them, and proceeded to the kitchen.
The family kitchen was a small space, cluttered with various cooking utensils, sacks of potatoes and onions tucked away in a corner, and a barrel of drinking water near the window. The latter was adorned with a large table where the family gathered for dinner and breakfast each day.
Aryk glanced at his siblings, hesitated slightly, but then remembered the strange matter at hand and clenched his teeth. "I need to tell you something important," Aryk said with a stern voice.
Ragnar, whose eyes had dried from crying, looked at Lilia, who in turn exchanged glances with him before asking, "Does it concern Mother?"
"No, it concerns the fortune-teller’s shop," Aryk replied.
Upon hearing "fortune-teller’s shop," both Ragnar and Lilia were taken aback. They had completely forgotten about the shop and the theft that had occurred there.
"Do you mean that old woman who stole five gold coins from us? What of it? If you want us to go back and reclaim our money, I’m all for it. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time," Lilia said excitedly.
"Yes. I don’t like being robbed!" Ragnar agreed with Lilia.
Aryk fell silent amidst his siblings' excitement, clasping his hands as he sat at the table facing the kitchen window that overlooked the forest. Ragnar sat next to Aryk, while Lilia sat across from him.
"The shop is no longer there, or rather, there was never a fortune-teller’s shop in the village," Aryk said.
A deep silence settled in the room.
Lilia cast a glance at Ragnar, who furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Aryk exhaled deeply and recounted to his siblings what had happened in the market, the peach tree, the old woman’s tale, the fortune-teller’s shop, and the strange gold coin.
"Are you sure it’s the same coin? Do you have it now?" Lilia asked.
Aryk’s expression grew troubled. "Someone stole it from me while I was on my way home. I searched everywhere but couldn’t find it."
Lilia fell silent, trying to grasp what her brother had said. The story of encountering a ghost four days ago was not something one hears every day, nor is it easy to believe!
Ragnar clasped his hands and focused intently on Aryk’s eyes. "Perhaps you’re mistaken. Maybe someone left the coin under the tree. A child or someone else."
"But is it just a coincidence that the old woman we consulted bears the same appearance as the old woman from thirty years ago? And the same scent?" Aryk countered.
"How do you know it’s the same scent? Flower perfumes are common in the village," Ragnar grumbled.
Aryk furrowed his brow as his tone shifted. He stood from his chair. "Ragnar, I can almost swear I’m right. The fortune-teller’s shop has truly vanished, and this is not some falsehood or accusation. Why would I lie to you in the first place? I was the first to disbelieve such nonsense. I wanted to ask her something, but when I went, she was gone."
Tension filled the room. Ragnar slammed his hand on the table in anger. "Aryk, by the great dragon, are you asking me to believe that we encountered the ghost of an old woman who died thirty years ago? And that we did a fortune-telling with her? And that she took the money and touched it? How can a ghost touch money? Aren’t ghosts supposed to be incorporeal? Do they even exist?"
"I understand how you feel, Ragnar, but you need to think outside the box. That old woman knew Lilia’s name before Lilia told her," Aryk replied angrily, trying to maintain a rational discussion.
"But—" Ragnar began to respond, but his sister interrupted him.
"Both of you, be quiet!" Lilia shouted.
The siblings ceased their arguing and glared at each other with anger before sitting down at the table calmly.
"What Aryk says is madness, even beyond madness. But if what he says is true, this is serious. It seems this village has strange things happening, and we’ve become its victims. What if the old woman returns to take revenge on us because we discovered she’s a ghost? Or to chase us? We need to cover all angles and think rationally."
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Both Aryk and Ragnar fell silent, agreeing with their sister’s viewpoint.
"Lilia is right," Ragnar conceded.
"Yes, we need to think about this rationally," Aryk agreed.
After agreeing to discuss the matter logically, silence fell over the kitchen as Lilia placed some bread on the table. Aryk turned to Ragnar, asking him to get some water as he was parched from shouting. But Ragnar seemed frozen in place, his eyes fixed seriously on the forest outside.
"Ragnar, do you—" Aryk began, but he could not finish his sentence before seeing Ragnar signal a zero with his right hand under the table.
Aryk’s eyebrows shot up, and his heartbeat quickened. The atmosphere in the room became more intense, and the siblings' expressions grew more serious, while Lilia continued to murmur in amusement.
When they were younger, the three used to play in the forest often. Since the forest was home to strange and dangerous creatures, they had established numerical codes to use if they could not speak.
The number three meant they had crossed the safe boundary for play, usually twenty kilometers from the village entrance.
The number two indicated they would continue playing shortly.
The number one meant one of them was tired and needed a rest.
These were the routine numbers they had learned from Mr. Roger, Zack’s father. They were codes used by soldiers in wartime to avoid detection by enemies.
However, there was one number that was more important than the others.
Aryk looked at the zero and turned his gaze toward the window behind Lilia, recalling Mr. Roger’s tale about the significance of the zero.
In the depths of the jungle, soldiers used a basic number that saved them from death in many cases, as the jungle was home to many deadly and dangerous animals. Soldiers focused on using hand signals, and there was one number among the codes that signaled concern. It was the number zero.
Its meaning: They were being watched!
Aryk thought calmly and began to assess the potential scenarios.
Ragnar was a natural hunter. In the forest, he could hear wolves from two kilometers away and had keen eyesight, meaning what Ragnar saw or heard was not just a bird or something similar. The fact that he made the zero sign meant he was certain of his suspicions.
"Lilia, is there still that chocolate cake we bought on our birthday?" Aryk asked Lilia, keeping his gaze fixed on the side of the window. Ragnar, after confirming Aryk saw the signal, headed toward the water barrel next to the window.
"I don’t think so. Ragnar probably ate it," Lilia replied with a laugh, looking at Ragnar, who had a smile on his face, though his eyes and eyebrows remained unmoved.
"Can you check the fridge?" Aryk asked quickly, maintaining his calm and focus on the window.
"Why don’t you check yourself?" Lilia replied, annoyed.
Amidst the conversation with his sister, Aryk devised a meticulous plan. His steps were as follows: distance Lilia from the window to protect her from danger while clearing the way for Ragnar to act. Meanwhile, he would quickly exit through the door and attempt to capture whatever was spying on them.
"You’re closer, and I’m really, really serious!" Aryk replied in a cold tone.
Noting Aryk’s strange behavior, Lilia got up from her place and headed toward the fridge. Meanwhile, Ragnar reached the water barrel.
"Aryk, the barrel lid isn’t moving. Did you pass me the knife next to you?" Ragnar inquired, positioning himself comfortably, preparing for action.
"Of course," Aryk handed the knife from the table to Ragnar beside the window. He had deliberately aimed it toward the window to facilitate Ragnar’s next move.
Lilia turned to tell Aryk that the cake was gone but was startled by the scene before her.
A knife in the middle of the room. Her brother Ragnar leaping swiftly to grab the knife and hurling it out of the window towards the forest. Aryk hurried to the door, grabbing a large stick, and within seconds was outside the window.
After hitting the ground, Ragnar quickly got up and jumped from the window. "Did you find it?" he asked while surveying his surroundings cautiously.
"No, nothing moved. I’m sure it only took a second or two to search the trees. You go first; I’ll guard Lilia," Aryk replied.
Lilia peered out the window. "What on earth is happening?" she shouted, demanding an explanation from her brothers.
"I’ll tell you later. Make sure to lock the front door and stay near the window!"
"But—" Lilia sought a logical explanation for what was happening, but her brother responded with a tone of anger and annoyance, "Lilia, hurry!"
Lilia was startled by her brother’s shout and rushed to the front door, securing it firmly before returning to the kitchen. She dashed to the window, carrying a large frying pan, and took up a defensive stance.
"Ragnar sensed someone watching us," Aryk explained as he kept watch of their surroundings.
Lilia's eyebrows rose in surprise as she understood the reason for her brothers' strange reaction. They had been discussing mysterious occurrences in the village, and now they were being watched? Lilia quickly grasped the situation and grew more serious.
"Did you inform Mr. Roger?" Lilia asked. The best way to defend themselves now was to inform an adult, and fortunately, Mr. Roger was close to them.
"Wait. Ragnar is out front assessing the situation. If he notices anything unusual, I want you to tell them immediately," Aryk clarified.
Lilia nodded in agreement.
Ragnar returned from the forest, his face marked with a complex expression. "It seems the situation is normal here, Aryk. There are no anomalies, no signs of branches indicating someone fleeing, and the ground bears no footprints."
Aryk was surprised by Ragnar's report. He had expected the silence and lack of footprints and branches to be unusual. Aryk sent Ragnar back and went to investigate the place of the knife.
In the forest, alive with the sounds of birds and insects, Aryk moved among the towering trees, searching for the knife. He was startled by a strange metallic shape on the horizon. It was the knife.
Aryk approached the knife, deeply embedded in the tree trunk, and did not examine it further out of fear that the watcher might return at any moment.
After inspecting the area around the knife, Aryk felt an unsettling sensation but chose not to delve further. "It seems we were mistaken. It must have been an animal or passerby. We should return quickly," he decided inwardly.
Aryk retrieved the knife from the trunk and headed back to his siblings. On his way, he scanned the forest, characterized by the distinct smell of trees and the soft soil covering the area, but it was unusually quiet.
As he neared the house, Aryk called out, "Ragnar, it seems you were wrong. I found the knife, and it is intact."
Ragnar’s expression, once confident of their being watched, furrowed in confusion, while Lilia emerged from her hiding place. At the same time, both looked at the knife Aryk was holding.
Their brows furrowed, and their eyes widened in fear.
"Are you sure, Aryk?" Ragnar asked sternly. "You didn’t touch the knife, did you?"
Aryk furrowed his brow. "No, I didn’t. I removed it from the trunk as it was." He looked at the knife in his hand.
Amidst the strange decorations on the wooden handle and the gleaming metal that gave it its edge, Aryk found a dark, sticky red substance. "It’s blood!" Aryk whispered in a low voice.