The Heart of a Monster

The young boy ran across to the room, followed closely by the tall slightly aged man. His hair was reclining, but he still had the youthful glint in his eyes.

He watched the boy carefully as he went straight into the layered blankets, and he leaned on the door frame.

”No stories tonight? ” The young boy said in a small voice, making a cute face with half of his chin inside his blanket.

The older man laughed and walked to him. ”Why, I thought youd never ask. ”

The boy giggled and he moved a little for the older man to sit comortably, his happiness evident in the wiggle of his feet underneath the sheets.

”So, today…I am going to tell you about a legend. ”

”Legend? ”

”Mhm. ” Came the mans answer. ”In a village far away, a little more than a thousand years ago…there lived a woman. ”

The boy leaned closer, so the man could lace his hands into his silky brown hair.

”This woman married her husband at a very young age after a whirlwind romance. It was all roses for her. She was kind, and everyone in the community loved her. Things were perfect. But as the years rolled by, she slowly started to fall out of favor. ”

”Why? ”

”Patience, ” The older man said, playfully pulling the boys hair. The boy giggled and moved his head closer.

”She fell out of favor because she didn give birth. Years passed, but she still wouldn bring forth a child. The community people started to gossip about her barrenness, and spread bad rumors about her. At first, she was unbothered. Her husband loved her still and that was all that mattered. She did hope for a child, though, but at that point, the peoples thoughts didn get through to her too much. ”

The older man sighed, and looked at the boy, who nodded as a signal for him to continue.

”One night, however, she saw her own husband with another woman. Apparently, he was going to discard her and bring in a more fertile woman. A woman that would bring forth children. ”

The boy gasped. ”That is bad, ” he said.

The older man shrugged. ”Not as bad as what the woman did afterwards. She offered a sacrifice to a deity and in her words, begged for a child. She didn care what the child would be, or who the child would become…as long as she conceived, it didn quite matter to her. During the sacrifice, on the day the stars aligned into a perfect straight line, she offered up the maiden who her husband was set to replace her with. ”

The boys eyes widened. ”She was bad too. ”

”Being desperate is worse than evil, boy. Can I continue? ”

The boy nodded. ”Go on, please ”

”After the sacrifice, she became pregnant. She immediately became the apple of everyones eyes once again, including her husbands. Her husband forgot about his other woman and she disappeared into nothingness. Like she was never there. But the deity that she had prayed to was the deity of revenge. Her labor came on a day when the stars were not expected to align. However, right at the time she entered labour, the stars fell in a straight line. ”

”Is that a good sign? ”

”Well, everyone thought so, and everyone went to witness the labor. It was long, but somehow she kept going. She lost blood and was weak by the time she actually gave birth. The baby was welcomed with the most happy kind of welcome, but something was wrong. ”

”What was? ”

”The baby simply wouldn cry. No matter what. The midwife tried patting him gently, gently pulling his finger, or any of those methods…they just won work. Then she hit him. A little hard. He still wouldn cry, so she left him to himself. They washed him and brought him back to his happy mother, as everyone dispersed. The next morning, both his mother and the midwife were found dead. ”

The boy gasped.

”Yeah. But that was only the beginning. The baby grew, and from the very first day, the community never saw rain. They were thrown into starvation and drought, and the sun never shone upon them again. Animals would die wherever he touched, and if he drank from a source of water, it would turn bloody. The community had to find a solution. Someone to help them. ”

”Who did? ”

”A very strong sorceress. She told them the boy was a beast. The personification of revenge brought to the world to destroy it. And they had to get rid of him. But, he was immortal. Invincible. ”

”So what did they do? ”

”The witch thought of a solution and told them…to remove his heart. He would still survive, but without his heart, he wouldn be able to manifest his powers. He will coexist with everyone without being able to bring harm. ”

”Did they do it? ”

The older man nodded. ”She gathered the most powerful witches of the world back then and together, they put him under a dizzying spell and removed his heart. From then on, he wasn powerless, but became harmless. ”

”What happeend to the heart? ”

The older man shrugged. ”Some say they kept it in a moonstone guarded by the god of revenge himself. Others say, the head witch ate it. While others….they say it was thrown into the future, so he would never be able to find it. ”

The boy swallowed. ”What happens when he finds it? ”

The older man watched him quietly, then stood up and turned off the light. ”If he finds it…then death to the world. ”

The older man watched the boys frightened expression before he gave a small chuckle. ”I don think he will find it though. ”

”Really? ” The boy asked, unable to stop his relief.

”Really. ” The man said.

”Then thank God. ”

The man nodded and started to walk away, before he stopped. ”Only, the day the woman gave birth…she didn give birth to one. ”

”What? ”

”She brought forth…two of them. ”

The mans smile was dark as he closed the door gently and walked away.