POV: Nora
I am tied up.
To this wooden post.
Like an unwanted object someone forgot to throw away.
My whole body trembles, but I can't run.
Not now. Not like this.
And before my eyes, the storm has passed.
The fight…
That absurd carnage…
It's over.
They won.
Three young people.
Teenagers.
Like me.
Their faces are dirty, panting.
But I know.
I feel it.
They're not monsters.
They're not soldiers.
They're human.
And if they just listen… even for one second…
If they let me explain…
They'll understand.
I didn't do anything wrong.
I was just born like this.
They walk toward me.
Two boys. One girl.
The blue-haired boy and the red-haired girl stay a little behind.
It's the other one who steps forward.
The terrifying one.
A black gaze. Deeper than the night.
His skin is mixed, but that's not what freezes me.
It's his calm.
That emptiness in his eyes.
His hair spikes upward, as if the air itself refuses to touch him.
He wears a gray uniform. Simple.
An embroidered star sits on the left side of his chest.
A government uniform.
My throat tightens.
My stomach flips.
No.
No, no, no—
I panic.
Words tumble out too fast.
They're all I have.
My only weapon.
— "Excuse me… are you with the government? Please… this is a misunderstanding. I know I look strange. But I haven't hurt anyone… it's just… just my appearance—"
He stops.
Right in front of me.
So close.
I lift my eyes.
He stands over me, looking down as if deciding whether I'm useful… or disposable.
His voice drops.
Calm. Too calm.
— "Yes. I am a government operative."
A pause.
— "And my role is simple. Eliminate anomalies."
My breath catches.
He continues.
No hatred. No emotion.
— "Your body is inconsistent with humans. A horn. Shattered eyes. Sharpened teeth. That's more than enough."
Then he says it.
The word that falls like a sentence:
— "Demon."
Before I can react, a click echoes.
Something cold touches my forehead.
A gun barrel.
My breath breaks.
My heart slams against my ribs as if it wants to escape without me.
Tears spill uncontrollably.
I panic.
I try to speak, but my mouth won't move.
He watches me. As calm as ever.
And then he speaks again, slowly, almost with compassion:
— "Any last words… demon?"
My mind blurs.
Everything dissolves—
Except the past.
My life unravels.
Grandpa. Grandma.
I'm sorry.
I will never repay the love you gave me.
Memory swallows me whole.
⸻
Memory — Nora as a child
The room smelled of warm herbal tea and old dust.
Light barely slipped through the hand-sewn curtains.
— "Come here, my child. I found you a pretty mask…"
Mami's soft voice echoes in my head.
I run to her, barefoot on cold stone tiles.
— "Why do I have to wear a mask?"
Innocent. Curious.
I look up at her.
She kneels and places the mask in my hands.
A fabric mask, carefully stitched.
Wilted floral patterns, faded gold thread.
— "Because you are too pretty. The most beautiful girl in the world."
She smiles, but her eyes are heavy.
— "If people around here see your face, they'll want to hurt you. It protects you, my child."
I laugh.
Too young to understand the fear behind her voice.
— "I'm really the prettiest? Thank you, Mami! I love you!"
She hugs me tight.
— "Of course you are."
⸻
I never went out alone.
I didn't play with the other children.
But I never lacked anything.
Mami and Papi gave me a home.
Warm meals.
Stories from the Old World.
Love.
And even though questions sometimes crawled inside me—
Why are my teeth like this?
Why do my eyes glow in the dark?
Why must I avoid people?
—I buried them.
Their affection was enough.
Until they fell sick.
Today.
⸻
This morning, I leaned over their bed, worried.
Papi couldn't speak anymore.
Mami whispered, voice fading:
— "We're fine. Don't worry. Stay home."
But I knew.
They were lying to protect me.
So I put on my mask.
I clenched my fists.
And I ran.
Through the alleys of the Dead Zone.
I knew an apothecary—
An old man who helped the elders.
Mami took me once.
Just once.
But I remembered.
I ran.
Faster than ever.
I had to save them.
And on the way, I crashed into someone.
A little boy.
Scrawny. Fragile.
The impact was harsh.
I stopped.
He didn't.
He fell violently.
His back hit the wall.
His head too.
He lay still for a moment.
I froze.
He rubbed his head, wincing—then snapped at me, voice sharp as a whip:
— "Hey you! You should apologize to Varac, who is ME!"
I froze even harder.
I had never spoken to a stranger.
Ever.
But I was lost.
Terrified.
So in a trembling whisper, I said:
— "I'm sorry…"
He got up slowly.
Dusty clothes. Annoyed glare.
Then he shrugged:
— "Fine. I forgive you… only if you show me your face. Take off that weird mask."
My heart lurched.
I wanted to run.
But my legs refused.
So I answered like Mami taught me:
— "I'm sorry… I can't. Mami forbids it. It protects me… from bad people."
Varac didn't accept it.
— "How dare you? After hurting ME!"
He stomped his foot like a spoiled child.
— "It's basic manners to show your face when apologizing! How am I supposed to know if you're sincere?!"
I didn't know what to do.
Everything was moving too fast.
I just needed medicine.
So, panicking…
I took the mask off.
I bowed slightly, face uncovered.
— "I'm sorry for bumping into you…"
Then I put it back on. Quickly.
But it was too late.
His smile had already formed.
Not a happy smile.
A sticky one.
A smile that clung to my skin.
His eyes gleamed with something foul.
— "Oh… I get why you hide your face."
He laughed.
— "Such a pretty girl…"
His words confused me, but—
I remembered Mami.
Her words.
So I smiled too, timidly.
— "Really? Mami said that too. That it's to hide my beauty."
He nodded, twisted grin stuck to his lips.
— "Of course. I understand."
He stepped closer.
— "What's a pretty girl like you doing alone out here?"
I didn't see the trap.
Not yet.
— "I'm looking for medicine… for my Mami and Papi. They're very sick."
His face lit up.
But something felt wrong.
— "Oh! Really?!"
He shouted unbelievably loudly.
— "I'm actually… a medicine seller!"
He extended his hand.
— "Come with me, please. I'll give them to you. For free."
My heart warmed.
It felt like a miracle.
— "Thank you… thank you so much!"
I followed him.
We crossed several alleys until reaching a larger one.
There, he pointed at a wooden pillar.
— "Wait here. Against this pillar. I'll be right back."
So I obeyed.
Naive.
Hopeful.
Desperate.
I leaned against the cold wood.
And waited.
He came back.
Varac.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
A massive man followed him.
Broad-shouldered.
Face hidden under a filthy hood.
Bare arms covered in veins and scars.
Clothes torn, dirty—yet he didn't look poor.
He looked… accustomed.
Accustomed to obeying orders.
Accustomed to grabbing. To binding.
To selling.
Varac pointed at me.
Like pointing at merchandise.
And I didn't understand.
Not until that man moved toward me with that cold certainty.
I couldn't run.
My legs wouldn't listen.
My heart slammed so violently I thought it would crack my ribs.
Then—his arms wrapped around me.
Cold. Heavy.
And I was bound.
Just like that.
No time to scream.
The man said nothing.
He didn't need to.
He tied me to the wooden pillar, in the middle of the street, as if it were normal—
as if I were a package to deliver.
Varac handed him a coin.
He took it.
Left.
No words.
No glance.
And I stayed there.
Frozen.
Tied.
I didn't understand.
I wanted someone—anyone—to tell me it wasn't real.
But it was.
Varac walked closer.
He placed hay at my feet.
A pile he'd gathered from who knows where.
He worked methodically.
Calmly.
Smiling.
I panicked.
— "What… what's happening? Why… why are you doing this?"
My voice broke.
Weak.
Like me.
He stared at me for a long moment.
Then he took off my mask.
The mask Mami gave me.
The one she told me never to remove.
The one that made me invisible.
Safe.
Hidden.
He looked at it.
Smiled.
Then threw it to the ground.
He crushed it under his heel again and again until nothing remained but threads and dust.
Then he mixed the pieces into the hay.
And I felt something tear inside me.
A thread.
Thin.
Fragile.
The one that kept me standing on the inside.
He fixed me with that sick gleam in his eyes.
— "You want to know why I'm doing this?"
I didn't answer.
— "It's simple. It's because you're hideous. You look like a demon. And today, I'm going to be named Varac, the Great Demon Hunter!"
He laughed.
A hollow, fake sound.
He walked around me like a vulture circling a corpse.
— "Actually, I should've left you your mask… It would've built tension. Good thing you've got a hood. That'll do."
He pulled my hood down over my face, half-hiding it.
As if preparing a stage.
A spectacle.
And I didn't recognize anything anymore.
Not the streets.
Not the people.
Not even the world.
— "But I haven't done anything wrong…"
My voice was barely a breath.
My throat burned.
He stopped.
Looked straight into my eyes.
— "You don't need to do anything. You look like a demon. And this is the human world. You don't belong."
There it was.
The truth.
Not Mami's truth.
Not Papi's.
Not the sweet lies they wove to keep me smiling.
The world's truth.
I was never protected.
Never safe.
I was hiding in a bubble of sugary lies.
A fragile illusion made with love but powerless against reality.
⸻
Back to the present.
And today…
I was caught.
Not because I hurt someone.
But because I exist.
I'm going to die.
It's that simple.