The storm came without warning. The sky, as if covered in dark spilled ink, the fog in the forest was getting thicker and harder to see through. The rain, spilling as if filled with rage, but somehow the forest felt alive, filled with warmth.
"Honey, hurry up, or we are not gonna make it to the village soon," said Anna.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming, so stop nagging like my great grandma," said Fredrick.
"What! How dare you call me a granny? Wanna die?" said Anna.
"No, honey, I was just saying, hehe, forgive me," Fredrick said.
Mr. and Mrs. Fredrick, a couple who had been married with no child for five years, had been returning from the river deep in the forest that night, soaked to the bones, clutching a worn-out lantern that seemed as though it could go off at any moment. The wind tore through the trees, cold and carefree. But beneath the storm and roars of thunder, a sound stopped them — a cry, soft, fragile, almost human.
"Dear, do you hear what I heard?" said Anna.
"What? No, I didn't," said Fredrick.
"Ohhh, come on, honey, you did. It's the cry of a baby," said Anna.
"No, it's not, anna.They said there have been reports of mysterious and strange things happening in the forest. I think we should head back and ignore it."
But before he could finish, Anna was already heading towards the side of the cry.
"Anna, wait! Please wait, honey!"
Anna stopped in her tracks. "What?"
"Alright, we can go have a look, but you have to stay close to me."
"Deal," Anna said almost immediately
As they walked hand in hand towards the sound—
"There! Honey," Anna said. Behind a tree in a dark corner lay a child, wrapped in silk as dark as midnight. Her pale skin, almost turning white because of the rain, still it glowed.
"Goodness!" Anna gasped. "How could a child be out here? In the storm?"
She walked straight towards the baby without hesitation and took her in her arms.
"Fredrick, look, it's a girl," Anna said, holding out her arms so he could see better.
For a moment, her eyes opened — a piercing shade of black shot through with deep red — then, in a moment, faded and turned golden red.
Fredrick, who saw this, hesitated for a moment. "She's not right, Anna. We should keep her back to where she was found."
As they were debating whether or not to take the child, a soft cry came from the corner where the baby was found — a woman with a silver horn on the side of her head, covered in white silk. Beneath was a skin as white as snow, but part of it was bathed in red.
"Blood," Anna gasped.
"She is not human! We should get out of here," Fredrick said.
But before they could take a step, the woman cried again — this time more human, more desperate, and hopeful.
"Please… the child… she has done wrong, yet is being punished. Can fate be less cruel? Please… I can't be saved, I'm dying, I know… but please, give the child a chance to experience parental love, because what the future holds for her, who knows, who knows…"
But at that moment, there was no movement, no heartbeat — only a pale, cold body lying on the muddy ground and the sound of the fierce wind passing by. She was dead.
Quickly, Fredrick covered Anna's eyes.
"Dear, let's get out of here," Fredrick said, taking the baby from Anna, about to put her back when the wind blew again, causing the baby to shiver — weak, hungry, and helpless.
Anna, not caring about whatever decision her husband had made, took the baby from her husband's hands into hers protectively.
"No, don't leave her," she said. "She would die. She's ours now," she whispered, clutching on to baby a bit more. "Whatever she is, God brought her to us."
Her name would be Lila.
And so, that was the beginning of the child found beneath the raging storm — she became Lila Fredrick Azael, daughter of the village chief.
And for sixteen years, the night of the Crimson Rain was just a story…
Until the storm returned.