The Dark Blood
The Spinster's Curse
*banner by yssa_kikz143
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There was something sinister at the leader’s face. He looked like he had the greatest moment of his life. The others, however, became restless as they all looked at Jiyong, who was now bounded. His eyes widened as he made sounds through the cloth that was placed inside his mouth. His eyes went to Sandara but she was wearing a blank look, as if she does not know him. He moved and squirmed, trying to escape from the bonds of his feet and hands, but there was no success there.
“Moving on, let us resume the ceremony,” the leader announced loudly. He flicked his fingers. Instantly, two of their brothers responded. They went to the unconscious man lying in one corner and brought him over the sacrificial table. “The intruder shall come next after the normal sacrifice.”
Sandara stood motionless on her spot. As what has been the trend lately, a silver dagger was handed to her just as the man was settled on the table. Thus, the ceremony began. Jiyong watched everything with wide eyes. Fear made his heart beat loudly inside his chest. No, this is not the Sandara I came to know, he thought. There must be something wrong, there must be something. . . . but as he looked at Sandara’s emotionless face, he did not know what to think anymore. There, in front of him was the same face he came to know, the same lips he came to taste, and the same eyes that moved him. He cannot be mistaken, she is Sandara but. . . he cannot understand what is going on.
Now, he started regretting as to why he followed Sandara’s stepmother into the forest. He and his stubborn curiosity led him to where he was now. He finally understood why Sandara wanted him to leave. The town was obviously some kind of a sick joke. A lot of questions ran through his mind. Are they only sacrificing men? What are the sacrifices for? What is this ceremony about? Moreover, what kind of a group did Sandara belong to? Are they even human being?
Everything suddenly went eerily silent. He went still as something terrifying filled him. He looked around and saw that everyone had their eyes in the middle, at Sandara who was holding the silver dagger above her head. “To Mother!” she declared and buried the dagger deep inside the man’s chest.
A scream could have escaped from him but he was too shocked to even think or move. He did not want to believe that Sandara did that. His mind was in denial. There was no way that the naïve girl he came to know can take someone else’s life without even feeling something – guilt or remorse. But as he stared at her, her face was blank. Her eyes were void of emotions. What is going on here?
As if someone heard his question, a strong gust of wind suddenly filled the surroundings. It was so strong that it came as a surprise to see the trees not being uprooted or to see everyone else, even himself, still safely on earth. Murmurs filled the air. He could not make any sense of what they were saying. Out of nowhere, a scream broke into their senses. All eyes turned to the source: Sandara’s adopted mother. She looked scared, no, frightened. Her eyes were wide with tears. One trembling hand was on while the other was pointing at something upward.
As if synchronized, all heads then turned towards the direction where she was pointing. And there, they saw Sandara floating in the air, unconscious. The wind encircled her like cocoon. She went in circles for a few minutes while the others just stood on their spots, transfixed.
“Do something!” a woman’s voice screamed.
“No,” the leader quietly said. “The process is beginning.”
“But it’s not yet time!” the woman screamed again. “The moon and the stars are. . .” she paused then looked up. But then, there was nothing in the sky but total darkness. “No, this could not be.”
“It is beginning!” the leader announced joyfully. “The process has begun, my brothers and sisters. But it would not be completed tonight yet. Just watch for the meantime.”
He was not sure why but Jiyong had the feeling that no one was actually paying attention to what the leader was saying. They were just too transfixed in watching Sandara’s floating body.
“MAKE IT STOP!” Sandara’s adopted mother screamed.
Sandara’s body froze. Everyone went silent again. The woman looked scared and relieved at the same time. There was also a look of disbelief on her face and he could just read what was on her mind, as well as everyone else’s. They were all thinking of the same thing: that the woman stopped the wind from ceasing Sandara’s body.
It was impossible, Jiyong knew that but he was about to believe that Sandara’s adopted mother has special powers when Sandara’s eyes suddenly flew opened. Instead of the warm brown orbs, he was greeted by nothing but white eyes. Her hair eerily floated around her without the help of the wind. Her hand bearing the silver dagger then started to lift. From his point of view, he could just see that her hand looked. . . odd, it was as if she was fighting against some invisible force, as if she was not in control of her arm anymore.
They all watched in awe as to what will happen next. Slowly, the dagger started pointing at her heart. Jiyong then realized that his presumptions were right. She fighting against something that he cannot see or they could not see. Who would want to point a dagger at her own heart?
“No. . .” a woman cried. “Sandara, what are you doing?!”
“Hold her!” the leader’s powerful voice filled the place.
And then, it happened. Sandara buried the dagger deep inside her chest, where her heart is. As if that was not enough, she dragged it down until Jiyong could see great amount of blood flowing from her chest.
A strong gust of wind encircled Sandara again and as if defying the law of gravity, her blood oozed forward instead of falling down. It was weird but it was as if the wind was the blood out of her. It went on the blood out of her until she ran out of it. He could just see how pale Sandara was. He did not have to think of it but there was no way the girl could survive after something like this. He thought that since she was drained from blood already, she would then fall to the ground. But no, that did not happen. Instead, she went on floating in the air with her blood shaped in what like a solid ball in midair just in front of her. Out of nowhere, black particles started circling around the ball of Sandara’s blood. Slowly, the red blood started turning black. As soon as it was darker than the night sky, it flew straight back into Sandara’s chest.
Then, her body dropped to the ground.
“Sandara!” the woman screamed.
Jiyong thought he saw every strange thing already but it seemed like it was just beginning because Sandara then started standing up. She looked around and smiled. Everyone was too shocked and stunned to move. She glanced at his direction. As their eyes met, her smile grew wider. And even if he was glad to see her all right, he could not shake off the feeling that something was wrong. He checked her thoroughly. The front of her shirt was stained but it seemed that the bleeding has stopped. She looked. . . normal generally. But there was still something wrong so he looked back to her face. Everything was the same except for. . . the expression on her face and the shape of her eyes. He frowned at the familiarity of it.
“We met again,” she said. He recognized that it was Sandara’s voice but the tone was different.
And then, it hit him. “Kim Yoojin?”
She smiled knowingly.
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