The smell of damp air, the little girl eyes glinted soft to cloudy sky. Her bob hair barely touch her white worn out dress. Her new red shoes was a gift, a present from her teacher for being the smartest kid in the class. Unlike most, she stayed quite watching the sky while the energetic ones played in the classroom. Running along and playing with whatever they had in mind. A lighting bolted, as everyone shrieked and the kids ran to hide, yet she being the closest to the window remained unbothered.
"What a weirdo. Is she not scared?" They whispered among themselves. Undoubtedly, she had always been the odd on 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 continued to watch the smaller streaks of bolts in the sky.
"Death..." She muttered alone. Then another brighter lightning strikes nearby, hitting the electric pole causing sparks with a loud thunder. Another wailing from the kids heard, as some begins to cry.
"Miss Sarah, I'm scared!" One of the kids hugged their homeroom teacher tight.
"It's alright, don't cry. It's just raining." The kindhearted teacher tried to comfort them, but among all of them, that little girl worried her the most. She had never been a normal child to begin with.
The thunderous roars continues before another strike of lightning blinding her. Out of nowhere appeared before her was a woman drenched, looking directly at her, face inches away. Her skin blueish pale. She wore an eerie smile on her lips, as her stench was damp and sickening yet the little girl paid no mind. After all, that lady was not the first. She glanced slight, 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 intensifies, always back and forth.
Hiding inside the cabinet was a little boy, glancing around the room, as if afraid. Another, a little girl, laying motionless under a long table. She knew, none of them was alive. Even as a child, she began to realize she wasn't the same, being able to see both the dead and the living. She does struggle to differentiate between them, so she remained silent most of the time. Luckily, that classroom was far from worse among she had encountered. But, they seemed to share a similar traits; those glowing red eyes, filled with hatred.
The school bell rang, notifying the end of the day. Parents came to take their kids from the heavy rain, yet she stood there, emotionless. Her red umbrella in hand. The thunder doesn't seem to end and so is the rain.
"Ene." A voice called to her as the thunder strikes again, that of a woman an another, much deeper. Miss Sarah went closer to her with a warm smile.
"Do you want me to sent you back to the orphanage? I know its close by and you always walk by yourself, but its raining heavy, and the road is dark. It's dangerous. What do you say? Ene?" Ene didn't seems to focus on her at all, her eyes was instead pinned to the back of Miss Sarah. A man in black attire, looking down at her. She knew he wasn't human, she can feel it, but his eyes weren't red, it was pitch black. She hold her gaze to the man while responding to her teacher, with a low voice.
"No. It's okay. Someone came to get me." Their gaze unwavering.
"Who came to get you?" Miss Sarah, confused, she looked around the front door. The parents and children had already left, only Ene alone there amidst the cold of the weather. Ene tilted her head slight as if asking him in a whisper.
"Who..."
"Malum." His words deep, echoing in her mind as she too spoke of his name instinctively, heard by Miss Sarah.
"Malum? Who's that?" She asked again. He began to walk toward the front door as her gaze follows the figure. Opening her small tiny red umbrella, she rushed to his side.
"Ene! Where are you going?!" Ene didn't mind her as she left the building.
Another streak of bolt surprised her. By a mere second, she could have sworn she saw a man beside Ene before replaced by black mists that dissipates. Malum continued to walk beside that little girl, her small body not seen under her tiny red umbrella. Her shoes stained with wet mud, as she walks close to him.
"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 soft.
"You've remembered them, although you've only heard it once." He said. Ene nodded soft. They continued their walk down the street together as the rain calmed down. A headlight beamed high in an unsteady manner. She turned around, only to be ran over by the drunken driver, grazed violently under the tires.
"Huh? What was that? Did I ran over a speed bump?" It sober him momentarily but he didn't even bothered to stop. The little lady now lay waste on the side road, a missing arm, a missing shoe and a dropped red umbrella. The road now painted red beautifully. The tiny head crushed on the side, as her eyes lifeless, she was drenched not only by the rain but that of her own blood. Malum watched the whole accident with a satisfied outlook. His gaze darkened.
"For a beginning, a beautiful ending."