The Red Door
The Spinster's Curse
*banner by yssa_kikz143
“Are you related to Kim Yoojin?” he blurted out. The genuine confusion in her beautiful face answered his question even before she put it to words.
“I’m afraid not.”
He nodded quietly. He must have a slip of mind or the semi-darkness must have played foolishly with his eyes. “Sandara, must you really keep the reason of my departure a secret from me?”
“It would be better if you knew nothing of this,” she said. “It would make you an innocent lamb.”
“An innocent lamb?” he scoffed.
“Believe me when I tell you that it would be better this way.”
Jiyong sighed. “Must I really leave so early?”
She relaxed a little. “Yes.”
“Very well,” he tightly said.
“It is a relief to hear you say so,” she said. “I must leave. Farewell.”
She turned to leave. As she did, she was not able to see the stubborn look on Jiyong’s face. He had no intention of leaving just yet. He shall find out the truth behind Sandara’s eagerness to make him leave. He shall seek answers from the townspeople and he shall observe the little cottage atop the hill discreetly. That will be his task tomorrow. But for the time being, he shall seek the comforts of his bed first and maybe dwell on sweet dreams that have been keeping him peacefully asleep for the past nights.
Sandara was up and about in time to see the sun rise. She immediately attended to her chores, trying not to think of what awaits her in her new home. It was odd, she silently thought. She was never bothered by trivial things before but now, she found the thought of her moving to a new home quite bothersome. She thought of her mother and wondered how the woman would survive without her. Her mother wasn’t as young and healthy as she used to be. She would have to ask their leader to allow her to visit her mother and cook for her or do her usual chores. Her thoughts then strayed to Jiyong. As she did, she paused for a moment and looked ahead at the town. She would not be able to check if he heeded her warning. But even if it’s just days, she knew Jiyong was no fool. If he was, how would he then know all the things he taught her?
She pulled her attention back to watering the vegetables in their garden. She wanted to learn more from him but she knew there wouldn’t be enough time for that. And Jiyong did not belong in a simple town where she lives in just like how she could not imagine herself leaving it and going to a faraway place.
“Sandara!” her mother called. She looked up and saw her peering through the kitchen door. “Come here for a moment.”
With a blink, Sandara obeyed. She was surprised to see her mother was up this early. Upon reaching the house, she immediately took notice of how her mother seemed. . . disoriented. She watched her curiously as she paced back and forth in the small space of their kitchen. When she finally noticed her, she stopped and stared at her uncertainly. Her mother sighed afterwards and went to take a seat. “I’ve packed your things,” she informed her.
Sandara chose to remain silent.
“You’ll be leaving any moment now,” her mother broke the silence.
Sandara silently nodded. “Is there anything else?” she asked, surprising the other one.
Although she had heard her daughter asked questions before, she could not help but get surprised with Sandara’s new found skill to ask questions smoothly. “Nothing,” she finally answered.
Sandara nodded. “I shall resume doing my chores now.”
The woman watched Sandara resume her chores, a frown marring her forehead. She had once dreamt of having her own family but life, as she realized, does not always give what one desires. She gave up on that dream long time ago when she discovered their Mother. Driven by grief, she joined the brotherhood and empathized with its cause. A reward was promised for them in return for their loyalty and services. But up to what point?
It was some time later when their leader arrived. A casual greeting and farewell were exchanged between them. However, there seemed to be more than that in their minds than they wanted to say. The leader was wearing a satisfied and almost smug smile; the woman had a controlled posture while Sandara looked worried. The leader either chose to ignore this or he did not notice it at all. He helped her carry her things as they made their way to the forest. They walked in silence and although Sandara had been a constant dweller of the forest, the direction they were heading to was unfamiliar to her, even the surroundings. The trees seemed taller, the roots bulging from the soil seemed bigger and the branches were thicker. She also noticed that it was dimmer even if it was broad daylight. She looked up and saw that the thick branches and dark green leaves were mostly obscuring the sun from view. She was quite used to darkness and dimness of the forest especially at night but there seemed to be something odd and eerie about the air that was making her uneasy. It surprised her for up until now, she still wasn’t quite used with the sudden surge of human emotions. Human, she thought. The word clung to every corner of her mind and she could not help but wonder why the word was getting larger and larger in her mind, it was as if her brain was silently screaming the word to her.
She looked around her surroundings again. She frowned upon realizing that they weren’t following any type of trail or path. Upon realizing this, she became more attentive to her surroundings and the landmarks. How would she able to sneak out and visit her adopted mother if she did not know the way back to the cottage? It also struck odd how the quality of the soil seemed closer to that of the sand.
After a while, Sandara noticed an outline of a little house from afar. It seemed well-kept compared to the one she lived in with her adopted mother. The roof was partly made of maroon bricks with a tiny chimney on top of it. When she finally stepped into the clearing, she then had the full view of the cottage she’ll be living in. there were no fence around, may it be broken or not. The wooden door was placed on the center – it was polished and painted with dry red. There were windows on either side of it.
“Welcome to your new home,” the leader said.
Sandara blinked and glanced at him. He was smiling at her but she did not feel any warmth from it, unlike Jiyong’s smile. “Will I be living alone?” she asked.
“Yes,” he answered. “But I could stay if –”
“I prefer to be alone.” Without waiting for an answer, she then headed towards the door and pushed it open. She stepped inside and let her eyes roam around. A set of chair sat at her left side while a glimpse of a door at the right part of the house near the kitchen can be seen. She went through the tiny hallway and stopped as it opened wider to a kitchen and dining area. She turned around and went to the door she passed by a while later. She opened it and realized it was a room. A small bed that could be greatly called as a cot was pushed against a wall. A small wooden cabinet stood facing it from the opposite wall. Aside from those, the room was completely bare. She felt a presence behind her. “Did someone else live here before?” she asked.
“None,” he answered.
Sandara nodded, finally understanding why the house felt so bare. “Is there anything you’d like to say?”
His eyes narrowed a little. “There are a lot of things I’d like to say but I’m afraid this isn’t the right time yet. For now however, I expect you to not wander around, especially in the middle of the night.”
“I understand,” Sandara unemotionally said. “You can leave now.”
He stiffened but whatever he wanted to say, he kept it to himself. Instead he said, “Expect my presence and company later for we shall be having another gathering and since you are yet unfamiliar of the place, I shall serve as your guide.”
Sandara chose not to answer. She just blinked at him. Anger flashed at the leader’s eyes at her outrageous and disrespectful act but instead of reprimanding her, he just left without a word. When he was out of sight, she turned back to the room and started placing her things in the cabinet. It did not take her that long to finish the task since her things did not even fill half of the cabinet. She then went outside of the house and circled around it. She realized that the house was perfectly isolated and built in the middle of the vast forest. Not a single trail or path can be seen, too. With a blink of her eyes, she moved forward and started gathering things, broken branches and dry woods.
Time passed by. She only noticed it when it was getting dark. She straightened up and headed back to her new home. She left the twigs and branches she gathered at one corner in front of the house before going inside. She went straight to the kitchen and took the gas lamp sitting at one corner. It was already filled with gas and so, she did not have to worry of finding a supply to fill it. There was also a matchbox beside it. She usually uses rocks or stones in making fire but she also knew how to use a match. She lit the lamp first and went to check the kitchen shelves. She found a loaf of bread and so, she decided to settle with it as her supper instead of cooking something up. She made two slices and ate them quietly.
She did not show any sign of surprise when the leader arrived some time later. She silently followed him as he led her to the place of sacrificing and punishing. Slowly, Sandara started to feel excited by the thought of seeing her mother again.
Her thoughts remained on her mother as they made way to the clearing. Unperturbed by anything, she held a light expression on her face. They walked and walked until they finally reached the place. Her eyes immediately scanned the faces of the people who arrived earlier than them. There were more or less twenty people so she did not have a hard time spotting her mother among them. Her face went brighter and she was about to go to her to greet her when a hand encircled around her arm tightly – stopping her. She paused and looked up. The stern face of their leader greeted her. He shook his head once but the authority was there. He then nodded to his left side, silently telling her to go there. With an impassive face, she responded with a tiny nod.
“Gather round, my brothers and sisters!” the leader then called. The others circled closer, all eyes and ears on him. “Tonight, another sacrifice shall be offered to our dearest Mother.” All eyes then went to one part of the clearing where an unconscious bounded man lay. “As our previous ceremonies, Sandara shall have to honor of sacrificing the lamb.”
All was well at first until a sound broke into what seemed to be an ordinary night to the brotherhood. Everything happened so fast then – the leader just glanced at the direction where the noise came from then two burly men broke out from the circle immediately went to the source of the noise. As soon as they went into the forest, murmurs started circulating around, all of them wondering what could the sound of disturbance be. Grunts and moans made them silent. All of them went still as they listened to what seemed to be a commotion. There were sounds of hissing, sighing, heavy breathing and a thud. With curiosity evident on their faces, they waited for their brothers to emerge from the forest.
After some time, they finally stepped back into the clearing, throwing a man in the middle of the circle. There was a deafening silence that followed. Unknown to most of them, Sandara’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Jiyong’s face.
The silence seemed to go on. Everyone was surprised. But the leader was able to recover ahead of them. “It seemed like we have two sacrifices tonight.”
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got new banners!!
by yssa_kikz143
Sorry if it took me a while to update guys, been so busy then I got sick. Oh well. . . hahaha
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