The smell of damp air lingers as the little girl's adorable, large eyes glint at a streak of light from the cloudy sky above. Her short black bob barely touched her white, worn-out dress. Her new red shoes were a gift, a present from her teacher for being the smartest kid in the class.
Unlike most, she stayed quiet, watching the sky turn gloomy, while the energetic ones played in the classroom, bored perhaps. Running along and playing with whatever they had in mind. A lightning bolt struck, as everyone shrieked and the kids ran to hide, yet she, being the one closest to the window, remained unbothered.
"What a weirdo. Is she not scared?"
They whispered among themselves, gazes of disdain too early for a child to view another as such. Undoubtedly, she had always been the odd one out.
"Sshhh, she can hear you. I heard she's cursed. She knows when you talk, even from far away, and people die when she talks to them."
"But Miss Sarah talks to her."
One of the kids questioned. That silenced them. The little girl didn't care what they had to say about her. Her eyes fixated as she continued to watch the smaller streaks of bolts in the sky.
"Death..."
A mutter. Another brilliant lightning strike nearby hits the electric pole, causing sparks and a booming sound that rattles the window slightly. Thus, another round of wails from the kids, much louder and harmonized this time, as tears run down and muck of snots.
"Miss Sarah, I'm scared!"
One of the kids hugged their homeroom teacher, and the others followed. Their bodies trembled as they hugged the young lady tightly.
"It's alright, don't cry. It's just raining."
The kindhearted Miss Sarah tried to comfort them, but among all of them, that little girl who had her large eyes yet still glued to the gray sky outside, she worried her the most. She was never a normal child to begin with.
The thunderous roars continue before another strike of lightning blinds her. Out of nowhere, a woman appeared before her, drenched, looking directly at her, face inches away. Her skin is blueish-pale. She wore an unnatural, wide smile on her lips, as her stench was damp and sickening, yet the little girl paid no mind, ignoring it as if nothing.
After all, that lady was not the first. She glanced slightly and saw a man's head rolling side to side, smearing blood underneath the cabinet, his eyes wide open. The man burst into laughter as his rolling intensified, always back and forth.
Hiding inside the cabinet was a little boy, pale with dark circles under his eyes, glancing around the room, as if afraid, whilst trembling. Another, a little girl, lying motionless under a long table, her face as white as powdered snow, only her eyes wide open, darting around bizarrely.
She knew none of them was alive. Even as a child, she began to realize she wasn't like everyone else, able to see both the living and the dead. But they seemed to share similar traits: those glowing red eyes, filled with hatred. With that, she knew they were not humans.
She does struggle to differentiate between them, especially those which hides their hatred well, so it was better to remain silent most of the time. Luckily, that classroom was far from the worst she had encountered, as spirits and demons linger in every part where darkness lingers, and that's everywhere.
The school bell rang, notifying the end of the day. Parents came to take their kids out of the heavy rain, except for her. She stood there in a daze, gazing at the somber panorama. Her small red umbrella was in her hand, yet unfolded. The thunder continues to boom; it doesn't seem to end, and neither does the rain.
"Ene."
A voice called to her as the thunder struck again, that of a woman and another, much deeper, as if... echoing. The woman's voice was her classroom teacher, Miss Sarah, as she approached her with a warm smile.
"Do you want me to send you back to the orphanage? I know it's close by, and you always walk by yourself, but it's raining heavily, and the road is dark. It's dangerous. What do you say? Ene?"
Ene didn't seem to focus on her suggestion at all, her eyes unblinking, pinned to the back of that young woman. Behind her, a man in black attire was looking down at her with a grim expression. She knew he wasn't human; she could feel it almost instantly, but his eyes weren't red; they were pitch black. She held the man's gaze while responding to the woman in front of her in a low voice.
"No. It's okay. Someone came to get me."
Their gaze unwavering, as she blinks softly at the man a few times. Curious about him, scanning his every stern feature.
"Who came to get you?"
Miss Sarah, confused, looked around the front door. The parents and children had already left, and Ene was alone there amid the cold. He leaned down closer, meeting their gazes much closer as she pressed her lips together, gulping softly. Her small heart was beating against her chest as she gripped her umbrella tighter. The man squinted his eyes slightly with piercing eyes, as if looking through her very soul. Ene lowered her head slightly as if asking him in a whisper.
"Who..."
"Malum."
His words, deep and echoing in her mind as she, too, spoke his name, were instinctively heard by Miss Sarah.
"Malum? Who's that?"
Miss Sarah asked again. He leaned back as she felt the longer part of his hair that fell forward brush slightly against her cheek, much to her bewilderment. The man walks away toward the front door, with her gaze following the figure's every move. Ene hastens to open her small red umbrella, rushing to his side.
"Ene! Where are you going?!"
Ene didn't mind her call at all as she left the building anyway, bracing the rain.
Another streak of bolt surprised the young woman. By a mere second, she could have sworn she saw a man beside the little girl, only to be replaced by black mists that dissipate. Malum continued walking alongside her. Her small features were unseen under her tiny red umbrella. Mud smudges her red shoes.
"May death be upon you, be it day and night, black and white, and death and life. For death comes for you, tonight."
She recited softly.
"You've remembered them, although you've only heard it once."
His words are deep and low. Ene only nodded. She had heard him recite it before, but she couldn't remember when. They continue walking down the street together as the rain finally calms down. She was barely wet, and Malum didn't seem to be drenched at all from standing in the rain without an umbrella in hand.
A headlight beamed high in an unsteady manner. She turned around, only to be run over by the drunken driver, and was grazed violently by the tires. A momentary bump was felt inside the black slick car, jolting the owner.
"Huh? What was that? Did I run over a speed bump?"
It sobered the scruffy middle-aged man momentarily, yet he didn't even bother to stop. The little lady now lay waste on the side road, with a missing arm, a missing shoe, and a dropped red umbrella, rolling along in the chilly breeze.
The road is now painted a beautiful red, much to his preference. The tiny head crushed on the side, her small face frozen in emotion, her eyes lifeless. Drenched not only by the rain but also by her own blood, as her face and body were now soiled with mud entirely. Malum watched the whole accident with a satisfied outlook that darkened.
"For a beginning, a beautiful ending."