Ana #3
The Goat Man ignored my question and went on with its idea.
“I saw that you care for stray animals and for your family. You donate old clothing to the people in need from the parish. I know you help your neighbours with every little thing they ask.” I heard rustling from my left, like a hand breaking the water.
“And that should be your motivation. If you do not deliver the ten souls, then you’ll visit some graves. ”
I masked my inner turmoil with another question. “What happens after I…collect all these souls?”
The water sloshed again. Its body moved to the edge of the pool, resting its hooves on it. “You can either choose to live in your elevated form, or I assume you die.” His shoulders lifted. “And I will become human.”
I shifted my gaze to the Goat Man. Marching up to the pool’s edge, my feet reached its elbows. “You did not say this! And it was not written in your aggravating contract!”
One of its long hind legs stretched over the skull’s chin. “Did I miss writing that part?” He smacked the skull’s lips. “Or you did not read it, because the distress took over your thoughts?”
It was the first time seeing it up close, my prudishness getting in the way.
Its skull was ivory, and behind it stood the abyss.
In the candlelight, I could peek at two white eyes, engraved with dark swirls.
It made me wonder how the Goat Man looked as a human being.
Would the man behind be handsome, or would it be gruesome as its Soul Ripper form?
“And how is the return to human form achieved?” Its last words puzzled me. If it were this eternal being, why would he want to become mortal?
“None of your business,” he said curtly. “Therefore, human, you will either perish for your family to mourn you, or you will see them wither away. Either way, I win.” The Goat pushed off the edge, the cold water touching the shoulders, making swirls in the abyss.
I gritted my teeth.
My heart wept tears with all these answers he gave me.
“What will you gain from my suffering?” I asked, turning myself from him.
“Whatever my gain is, it does not concern you.” Its answer showed me how little this brute was. I might have been gentle, and I might have wanted to look strong in this penitence of mine. But the creature who stood behind me was a small being.
It either meant that its stake was high or that the Goat Man liked tormenting people. Or both.
Shaking my head of those thoughts, I asked the last question that crossed my mind. “When will this baptism take place?” My fingers curled, thinking that I would have to swim in this world of the unknown, and not only that. I will have to murder people.
“In five days. One day before your first collection,” it replied, his voice dead.
“What is with the stags?” I said, keeping my voice steady.
“Another excellent question. I don’t know.”
I sighed, fixing my eyes on a torch, its flames distracting me from the infuriating Goat Man.
“You are shallow, Goat. I offered my soul, and you give nothing but crumbs in return. I was raised to be a good person with fear of God. But I see you not as a God, nor a demon. But as a petty immortal.” I took a deep breath, my eyes following the blaze of the torch.
“You want me to do your own work, but you mock me. I accepted my fate without grieving what my life could have been. I left my mother alone, since my sister will leave with her husband. And you offer scraps.”
I did not even notice it getting out of the water. Its warm breath heated my skin as the Goat Man talked over my ear.
“You will see your family only through your Souls’ Mirror. Do you think their human mind will understand what you are?” he chuckled. “The stags perhaps appeared here only because they are one option for your new form, the other one unknown to me.”
The Goat Man took a step back, the heat of its words stabbing my heart. “When it was my time, it was a goat and a cat. I thought the cat was too trivial for a role as mine, so I embraced the goat form.”
I bit my bottom lip, thinking what else I could choose if not a stag. The ones that stood vigil outside reacted to me as if I were their master.
Oblivious to my thoughts, the Goat Man spoke further.
“Taking the skull off your head returns you to an enhanced version of your human body. There will be no more heat or cold that could affect you. You will never be wet from the rain or drenched in sweat when the blistering sun is up in the sky.” It took a deep breath, raising the hairs on my arms. “And you’ll never feel a beat within your chest.”
The coat on me was drenching my skin in sweat. Not its words and its proximity. Those were blistering my mind and heart.
My mind couldn’t filter any word as its scent reached my nose.
I felt its eyes on the nape of my neck. My breathing became shallow, this new world making me want to dive into the pool. All the thoughts that passed through my head could not expel the pressure the Goat Man placed on me.
The cold from the cave did nothing to destroy the blaze I felt on my back.
“Do you have your answers, Ana?”
Its breath briefly touched my ears, as if making this on purpose. My name on its lips sent another tremor through my body.
“No,” I replied, turning to him.
And my heart rampaged.