The Goat Man
Ana was watching the sunrise, slumped on the patch of grass in front of the cave.
It was an image I wanted ingrained in my skin, to haunt me for the rest of my days. The sun cast its light over her dark locks, illuminating her skin and creating starlight over her naked legs.
The cold didn’t even try to bother her; no goosebumps covering her skin. A thin shawl with red and gold flowery motifs hugged her shoulders.
Next to her were some of the tomes she took from the library.
I stood two nights without sleep to translate them for her.
She read almost all of them and found out that the master of them all would have the power to disrupt the contract.
Either that meant God or my brother. This left us with two options. We die, or… we die anyway.
“I miss them deeply, Tiberius! Sometimes, I would tap on the Mirror just to see their faces. As long as their smile filled the glass, I would be relieved. And as for my father… he is either hiding or he is dead.”
“He is hiding,” I stated, walking towards her. I stopped next to her, crouching down. “He is ashamed of himself.”
Her nose turned upwards, her voice softer than the sunlight. “How do you know that?”
“The last time I was in my…brother’s lair, I heard the whispers. They keep count of every soul any of us from the Order failed to rip. Your father is hiding from the Mirror.”
“So, I cannot see him?” she asked, looking at me.
“Or I.”
She moved her gaze again to her old family home.
We stood in pleasant silence. Slowly, her fingers intertwined with mine, the desire to take her away from all this flooding me.
“How many more souls, Tiberius?” she asked, placing her head on my shoulder.
She would ask me this every day. The question was like a clock, ticking in my brain.
Reminding me of all I’ve put her through.
“Three,” I whispered.
Three more souls, and I still have not found a way for her to become human.
My mistake and my selfish plan made me want to throw myself over the edge, without a skull, so I could feel the pain devastating my body and mind.
“And then?” she breathed, her warm breath touching my chest.
The answer to that inquiry was better left unspoken. She either died or I would be human, and she would be in eternity.
Reversing the roles.
“Master, can you not modify the contract?” Andrei asked, clearing the kitchen table with a rag.
Since Eugen joined us in my lair, Ana made a rule for everyone to eat only in the kitchen, unless serious illness. The three of us men bowed to her and agreed by saying Yes, my lady!
Ana walked into the kitchen with a warm smile on her lips. Just for me.
“I can only, if I ask my brother,” I responded, my eyes looking at a fixed point over the stove.
“Are you two talking about the contract?” Ana asked, grabbing a mug from the cabinet.
“Yes. We are rummaging through our brains,” Andrei answered, throwing the rag away.
“Do you have one?” I asked with a smirk.
Both looked at me as if I threw them into the fire.
“Any luck?” Ana asked. She poured herself a cup of water. As soon as her lips touched the ceramic mug, images of them touching mine flew to my head. Rubbing my eyes, my burning thoughts were replaced with my brother.
He made me realise how selfish I was during all these centuries. How I took Ana and made her suffer just for my purposes.
My eyes focused on my inim?, who was watching me as though I was out of my mind.
“We are looking in the wrong place,” I said, jumping from my seat.
“Alright, I don’t know what has gotten into you,” Andrei shrugged.
But Ana was focused on my words. “What do you mean?”
“My brother wants to become a human to get his piece of land. And according to the Order’s lore, only a pure soul can eradicate evil by crushing the skull and taking the head. Seen any pure humans?”
“The child!” Andrei shouted, one finger in the air.
“How the devil could you suggest sending a child to end a powerful creature?” I retorted, a tightness settling over my chest.
“Andrei! Eugen can barely lift a haystack!” Ana shouted, placing the mug on the table with force.
“You are right,” the ghost nodded, placing a hand on his chin. “Well, master, if you had waited just a few more weeks, then maybe Ana could have done it.”
“No, I could not,” she said, raising her head. “I didn’t know back then how vile that creature is.”
“That is right. Ana wouldn’t have hurt a fly if there hadn’t been the contract gnawing at her.” I grabbed her hand and kissed it, apologising with my eyes.
“I will leave you boys,” she said, beaming again at me.
To think there was a time when I would ask myself if I could make her smile.
I shook my head; the same guilt I felt anytime I watched her collect a soul captured my senses. “She gets sick every time her scythe cuts.”
My hands grabbed the end of the table, pushing it forward, its legs squeaking on the stone.
“I was such a fool, Andrei! There is no excuse for my behaviour. I took an innocent girl and smashed her dreams. She wanted a family of her own, her mother and sister to be at peace, and I came and wrecked everything.”
“It sounds like you’re in love.”
I jerked my head towards the ghost, his words crawling over my skin. The child said so too.
And they were right. What else could I name the feeling of my stomach turning when Ana had to take a soul, or how could I express the sensation of giddiness when she was in my arms? And what was with the happiness when I imagined the four of us in the house I bought?
Even without a heart, my mind took over all those feelings. Or, just as Ana, love can bring your soul back. Something precious to hold onto.
“Don’t you hide away as you do when you encounter difficult situations, Goat Man! I am quite fond of the woman,” the ghost warned.
I stood up, my feet walking towards the ghost. “Don’t worry, I plan to make her the master of my world, life and soul.
And once I get my heart back, she will rule that too.
” I turned to leave, but I halted in the middle of the kitchen.
“I will say this once: I apologise for mistreating you, Andrei.”
I stomped out, pulling Ana from her room. She landed right into my arms, her gasp sending thrills through my body, and I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Goat Man, what do you need?” Her cheeks flushed at my scowl. “I wanted to teach Eugen to read. His mind might be bright, but he lacks skills.”
“I have an idea.”
I pulled her away and went to the library. Without a word, I got one of the tomes out. I flipped to the pages, the paper harsh against my skin. As my eyes found the passages, I read them out loud.
The master of all must die, while a contract is fulfilled.
The master of all must perish at the hands of a good entity. The kind that knows honesty from evil.
The master of all needs to have his skull upon death, their head swept away.
I raised my head to Ana, and she nodded.
As a smile broke over her lips, we realised that we had found our way out.
The eighth soul
The hoar-frost clung to our coats, skulls and scythes.
“Why don’t we go already?” Ana asked, eyeing the only window of a century-old building with a light on.
We were observing the apartment edifice since nightfall. The stars and moon were hidden by clouds, Brumar already blowing its winds.
“Just wait,” I whispered.
She huffed, impatience passing through her body. Her opinci were hitting the ground repeatedly, her eyes fixed on the lamp.
The city of Sibiu was sleeping, except for one woman.
When Ana tapped her Souls’ Mirror, a woman was presented to her, a teacher who had no intention of resigning from her school. She was notorious for beating children during classes, but as the principals did not care for the children or parents, she was still inflicting terror.
“I do not want to make it easy on her, Tiberius,” she mused, blowing three times in her chest, her fingers grazing her cross-patterned ie.
“I know you will not, inim?,” I smiled, watching the lady of my eternity.
The eighth soul’s house was glued to the Clock Tower, the sophisticated Roman numbers, letting us know that half of the night had already passed while we observed the woman creating her lesson plan.
Outside the Old Town of Sibiu was the house I acquired for myself. How a woman like Ana changed my view of life, so that I wanted to take the three of them with me.
I watched as the next soul threw her pen and notebooks on her desk and left the room.
“I’m going! She is at ease enough,” Ana announced, grabbing her floating scythe.
While Ana dealt with the woman, I had to run and pick up a surprise for her, the reason I delayed her ripping.
My steps were light on the wet cobblestones; the market stalls were assembled for the day. Some men were trying to lift the wooden tables from a truck, while others were unloading their merchandise. They were hollering at each other, oblivious to the sleepers.
The moon was hidden under heavy clouds, rain waiting its turn to wash up the dusty streets. The autumn was coming to an end, the icy air of the night cutting through the skin of the people mulling around the Old Town.
I stopped at a small shop across the Small Market, the colour of eggshells decorating its walls. My knuckles rapped three times, and a hunchbacked man opened the door.
“My order,” I demanded, “please!”
One memory of my rudeness came to mind.
“Asking people nicely won’t kill you, Goat!” Ana threw her hands in the air, her cheeks pink.
“Maybe physically not, dear woman, but it will definitely wound my image!” I retorted, anger rising high.
“What image? You are already the image of death. Nothing could be worse than that!”
I stepped in front of her, my nose grazing her forehead. “Are you sure?” My voice rasped on her skin, making her tremble.
It did not kill me, but why would I stretch the rope of my sullen mood and reputation?
A small package was placed in my hands, the deadpan voice of the man scraping my ears. “Whoever puts this on, they would wear it for the rest of their days.”
“As it is intended,” I said as parting words.
Back to the roof we stood before, I watched as my ripper angel smeared blood on the windows. She took her time with this one, crossing the Sixth Commandment for the eighth occasion.
Before going to Sibiu, we had a discussion about how she was able to care about two things in life.
Me and God.
God was light, and I was dark, and together we had a place in her soul. Painting her life grey.
“It’s done,” she said, a bit pale, standing before me, her white wool socks drenched in blood. “She won’t torment children anymore.”
She made her scythe disappear, taking her hair and braiding it quickly. A new blue swirl appeared, staining her eyes.
As it was the previous time, she didn’t free her stomach’s contents, but the paler colour of her skin worried me.
“I’ve got to show you something.” I squeezed the box in my palm, anxiety causing my pulse to quicken.
“Oh?” Her eyebrow shot up, her hand coming to rest on my arm.
Every word she had ever said to me was stuck in my mind like a prayer was to Ana. It was the perfect moment to show her what awaited when we would be free of the curse I’ve placed on our heads.
I whisked us out of there, leaving behind for a short time the lore that surrounded us.