Blood stained her face, loved ones looking at her warily as she stared back at them menacingly. “This is who I am, and there is no need to be afraid.” she said, stepping forward. She raised her hands slowly, placating the rising emotions in the small room. The rest of her family huddled behind the kitchen table, the same one that has always been in this home. Her home. Her mother and two younger sisters shifted back, fear showing on their faces, while her brothers moved to be in front of them. “That man, that thing was not our father,” Keana continued, keeping still. “I have seen the creatures–” “Oh, shove it, Keana! I’ve heard enough conspiracy theories!” her elder brother Aren interjects, throwing his arms out wide. She did not miss this sign of defense, his protecting her sisters and mother. “We haven’t seen you in years, years! And the first thing you do while in town is kill not only our father, but three other townspeople!” Keana is unable to mask her surprise at Aren’s knowledge of her movements. While only one other individual she had taken care of had been in this particular village, her home, she hadn’t been too far away for the other two. “Oh yes,” he chuckles humorlessly, “I knew it was you, sent by the Bureau of Intelligence, though I’ve heard you’re no more than an assassin. A killer, Keana! How much do they pay you to end the lives of people already suffering!?” “Aren, back off a bit, let her explain,” her other brother Marcus murmured, setting a hand on Aren’s chest, to hold him back, to calm him down. She did not miss the glare of distrust Marcus threw toward her. Her training allowed her to remain steady, though her rage warmed her face. While she was used to Aren’s hostility, Marcus had always been kind. She knew she deserved his hesitancy but it stung more than she had expected. “There are things that the monarchy does not tell the people, for good reason,” Keana spoke slowly, softly. This was beyond treason to speak of outside the offices she’d been training in for the last seven years. She could only hope her telling them the truth would help them. Protect them. “There is a curse that has ravaged the land,” she continued urgently, “for almost decades now. There are hundreds of people employed by the king trying to figure out what it is, what is happening to our citizens.” A note of panic, nearly imperceptible, entered her voice near the end. Marcus’ eyebrow raised, catching it. Aren remained stoic. “There are these creatures, we are not sure what they are, but they, they,” she stumbled, closing her eyes to gather herself. It had been a long while since she’d been lost to her emotions, but that’s the toll of family, she supposed. Taking a deep breath, she went on. “They infest a host, a human body, the mind, and take over all capacities. It is believed they came to our world at the same time of the Great Divide, for that is a few years afer that when they started appearing. I have been chosen and trained to detect them. I showed an… aptitude, of sorts, in finding them, when the Bureau came through all those years ago.” She had been looking between her brothers during her explanation so far, but now she met her mothers’ eyes. “That is why I was taken to the capital, for schooling and training. I tell you this now in hopes you will understand why I never visited. Only wrote sparingly.” Her mother’s mouth became a tight line and her eyes glassy. The pain etched on her face told Keana all she needed to know of the love her mother still bore her. Keana knew her family had been compensated, but to lose a child? If you ask a mother, there is no price worth it. And as the eldest daughter, beautiful as she has grown to be, she knew she would have brought her family a sizable bride price. Not that she would change her fate, but she would have been happy to have stayed. To not carry the burden she does, as an executor. A tight nod was all she got further from her mother, of understanding. Of acceptance. Before Keana switched her focus back to her brothers, she spared a brief glance at Penelope and Auvie, the latter tucking her face into her mothers side, shoulders shaking. How she had missed them. She swallowed against the knot in her throat, clearing away the regret of not being the older sister to guide them into womanhood. “Why are we just now hearing about this? Why isn’t this common knowledge? If there is a curse on the land, if people are being possessed, shouldn’t everyone know about it? Wouldn’t everyone know?” Aren threw these questions at her, his voice tense but his body visibly less so. Shaking her head, Keana exhaled heavily. “The masses would fall into chaos. There would be little trust between neighbors, between friends. Even… family.” The last word came out small, sorrowful. “It has been for the best that the knowledge is kept contained, until there is more to know.” “I have been, uh, hunting. In this area, for weeks now.” She looked down, aware of how it must sound, seeing as their father was now dead at her hands. “I knew there was a cluster of these creatures nearby, Wyrdems, we’ve called them. They have very particular habits that I track, and am able to discern who has been infected.” “Why kill him?” Marcus had turned his body toward her, crossing his arms over his now broad chest. They have grown so much, she thought. Being face to face with them, the pain of losing her family finally, truly sunk in. She knew she had missed them. But until now, she just hadn’t known how much. “There hasn’t yet been a way to cure the infected, no antidote found nor created,” she said carefully. “Once it’s happened, there is no undoing it. That thing hasn’t been Father for some time now, and it would have been only a matter of time that something terrible could have happened.” To all of you, she didn’t add aloud. There were tears silently streaming down her mother’s face, but not Penelope’s. Her face was hard, Aren’s sister through and through. Keana felt an inkling of pride at the fierceness that shone through her sisters eyes. She fingered the hilt of her sword, not seeing Auvie’s face still pushed into her mothers side. “If this is all true,” Aren said after a moment, obviously contemplating her words, “then what now? What do we tell people, if we aren’t supposed to know?” Keana internally relaxed, relieved at the acceptance of her words. While she didn’t, and couldn’t, tell them the entire truth, she had not lied to them. “You must tell them it was an accident. Hunting, in the fields, traveling, he fell or ate something wrong and became ill.” Her mother broke the near silence with a quiet sob, her grief finally vocalizing. Aren and Marcus quickly turned, Aren putting an arm around her and guiding her to a seat at the table and Marcus pulling Auvie into him in a protective embrace. Penelope didn’t stop glaring at Keana while she moved forward to her mother, sitting down next to her and grabbing her hand. “This is all assuming we believe everything you’ve said,” Aren looked up at her, his piercing gaze holding a weariness borne of responsibility too young and winters too harsh. Keana took a tentative step forward, looking for permission. Aren and Marcus shared a look before Marcus gave a slight nod, and Aren beckoned her to take a seat. Relief coursed through her again as she sat at the opposite end of her mother, placing one hand on the table and the other kept at her side. Keana swallowed loudly. “I know this is the farthest from ideal, but it is good to see you all.” Her voice was tight. Marcus’ eyes softened slightly while Aren gave a tired smirk. Penelope finally looked away, now refusing to meet Keana’s gaze. Auvie remained tucked into Marcus, and their mother quieted her sobs and took a deep breath before speaking. “It is good to know you’re alive, my beautiful girl. I believe what you’ve said. I knew you had a purpose beyond this village and I am proud of you. Your father,” she choked, “would have been proud of you.” “I must reassure you, these creatures are devious.” Keana said, seeking to offer what comfort she could. “They observe so carefully that you would not know they were there. Father would not have acted very differently, if at all.” Keana hoped it reassured them, but knew it was a slim chance. Her mother merely nodded her understanding while wiping her face clean of tears, sniffling loudly. Keana kept going. “Simply telling you any of this forfeits my position at the Bureau.” If they find out I’ve shared, she added to herself. “I say it so you understand what happened and why.” Keana felt a tiredness overcome her, physical and emotional. It didn’t help that she had put down four villagers, four of the infected, in the last week with little rest. Her job had always taken a toll on her. “But there is more,” she added, softer. She hated what was to come next, the conversation she didn’t want to have but knew she must. She swallowed her fear, her pride and pressed on. “I was already on my way here when I came across these Wyrdems. The sector of the Bureau I work for discovered that the gift I have, the predisposition for finding the creatures, is likely to occur within families.” Penelope’s eyes shot toward her. Aren sat back in his chair to drape his arm behind their mother, and Marcus’ eyebrows slowly raised. “It’s the reason I didn’t just leave after I finished.” “Finished murdering people,” Aren muttered under his breath. Their mother put a hand on his, slightly scolding and Keana clenched her jaw. “The Bureau created a safe haven for the families, so they can run the same tests as when I went, to see if any of you can do it as well. Once tested you can either join the Bureau, or stay and live there under their protection, or return home.” “And there it is,” Aren huffed dismissively. “Beyond killing dad, there’s another catch?” His glare returned full force. Keana pushed on, unphased. “They will persuade you to join if you have the gift though.” As they persuaded me, she thought bitterly. “Since you’re my family, I volunteered to come get you, in place of a guard. It’s better this way.” “Well, that wildly depends, child.” It was a cold, cruel voice, similar enough to Keana for her to jump up and pull out her sword. In the same moment, with reflexes that impressed her, Aren dragged his mother and Penelope away from the sound of the voice, closer to Keana. Marcus’ arms shot out, away from Auvie, as he took a few steps back before bumping into a small cabinet against the wall. Auvie turned toward them, her eyes lined with a light green glow, the confirmation Keana needed to know what had happened to her little sister. Auvie hadn’t avoided looking at her because she was crying. She did it to hide the fact she was actually a Wyrdem. “You missed one,” that voice said out of Auvie’s mouth, her face twisting into something unrecognizable. Keana edged carefully around the table, placing herself between what was left of her family and the thing that was no longer her sister. “Actually, I just needed to know which one of you it was.” Keana smirked before launching herself at her sisters small, infected body.