The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 30

Having returned to the village, the men were greeted with silent shock. News of the missing family had quickly swept through the village, and many hoped they would be found alive. But seeing the bloody sacks sent many away, weeping in grief and fear, realizing that the threat to their lives was rapidly escalating. As they carried their lifeless burdens to the village burial ground, Nelu saw a face smiling among the crowd. Alina had, somehow, escaped her mother's watchful eyes and stood at the edge of the burial ground, a joyful smile frozen on her face. A few of the young boys had already made remarkable progress in digging the family's grave and after instructing the men on where to place the remains, Nelu walked up to Alina, bent down, and scolded her.

“Alina,” he began. “There is nothing here to be happy for. Where is your mother?”

Making eye contact, Alina continued smiling, as though pleased with the tragic demise of the small family. At the end of his patience, Nelu called for his wife, who was already hurrying from their house. Running up to her side, Anca took her by the hand and pulling her away, scolded her as well.

“I told you to stay nearby. Why must you defy me?” Those who remained near the burial ground scowled in disgust at the small girl's disrespect, for the gruesome demise of their visitors. By this time, everyone knew Alina's odd behavior but at the same time, they felt strongly about her inappropriate display of pleasure at the sight of death. It was as though she thrived on it, seeing the shredded remains of what was, not long ago, a vibrant young family, anticipating a long life and a future for their now-deceased daughter.

Walking back to the grave, Nelu looked into the freshly dug pit and determined it to be deep enough for the tragic event they were about to carry out. Studying the crowd, he saw the faces of those he had lived with all his life; the people he trusted to always stand together. But what he saw was not strength or determination. It was as though she thrived on it, seeing the shredded remains of what was, not long ago, a vibrant young family, anticipating a long life and a future for their now-deceased daughter. The tired eyes, the lack of expression, and with some, a tear trailing down the cheek. For a brief moment, Nelu shared their pain and fear, However, this soon turned to rage as tears gather at the corners of his eyes.

“This cannot be happening,” he began. “We cannot let ourselves be beaten by this! Look at all of you! I see no strength! No anger! What has happened to us?!” One man, a farmer, raised his head, and with resentment in his voice, provided an answer.

“What happened?!” he replied. “We've never experienced anything like this, and then that demon came to our village and...”

“My daughter has nothing to do with this!” Nelu interrupted.

He had already had words with the people of the village, at one of the meetings at the church and had had enough of their suspicions.

“She certainly could not do this!” At these words, Nelu picked up one of the sacks, held it over the open grave and dumped out its contents. What fell in were the infant's remains, its small pale-yellow body fell through the air, landing on the bottom of the grave. This led the crowd into an emotional outburst of tears and anger, realizing that the creature that had been stalking the village had broken all of them. He had already had words with the people of the village, at one of the meetings at the church and had had enough of their suspicions.

The rest of the sacks were left closed and carefully lowered into the grave. There was a long moment of silence, as the crowd bowed their heads in reverence for the dead. Shortly, a woman's voice was heard amongst the silence. “Someone should say something.” Their priest had been dead for weeks, and there was no one in the village qualified to carry the authority of God. Looking at the empty faces around him, Nelu quickly volunteered to speak on behalf of the village.

“Dear Lord, these strangers came to us from a faraway place. We did as your son would have done. We took them in. Now, they have fallen into the hands of darkness and as we give their remains to this sacred ground, we ask that you take them into your kingdom. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ, amen.”

Nelu was not especially well-spoken, but what came out of him was nothing short of poetry, as those standing around the grave began to weep. They knew the young family as unwanted guests, people whose arrival was, at the very least, ill-timed. Some, of course, were upset at the sight of the infant’s mangled body, while others had already found the target of responsibility and as from the very beginning, the blame would lay solely with Alina. Now, they lay in the cold earth, victims of something they had never heard of and as far as the rest of the world was concerned, they had simply disappeared, never to tell anyone what was driving the people of Gura Haith to the edge of panic.