Winter - Chapter 7

Chapter 6 Despite her body being depleted of energy, Miyuki was fleeing from danger as best as she could. She surely would have had no chance to escape from such a foe had not the mysterious woman allowed her to do so. Miyuki could think of nothing but the unsettling conversation she had had with the woman as she trudged slowly through the snow. eee "What are you?" Miyuki asked timidly. "T don't really know," replied the woman. "Does it really matter? It's not going to change what's going to happen to you." "Do you have a name?" "My name is Natsuko," replied the woman.

"Natsuko?" asked a perplexed Miyuki. A grin formed on Natsuko's dark blue lips. "It seems God has quite the sense of humor, doesn't he? I never really liked the cold. I always liked it better when it was warm. But look at me now. I suppose it can't be helped, can it?" Natsuko then made a move toward Miyuki, prompting the frightened woman to continue asking questions to postpone the inevitable. "How did you become like this?" asked Miyuki. The grin quickly faded from Natsuko's lips. "They did this to me," she replied. "They turned me into the monster that you see before you." 500 years ago...

Natsuko lived a simple life in her remote village of mostly farmers and fisherman. She was a very quiet woman and liked to keep to herself. The other villagers thought there was something odd about her and were always gossiping about her behind her back. It was harmless gossip, for the most part, but one day the gossip became quite harmful. The growing season had been a very poor one, putting everyone on edge for the coming winter. And to make matters worse, many of the animals that were going to be used for food had gone missing. Fingers were immediately pointed at Natsuko.

One particularly nasty rumor that was going around was that Natsuko was practicing witchcraft. Many people had reported seeing her many a night entering the forest under the cover of darkness to do only God knows what. The villagers were never all that friendly to Natsuko in the first place, but they took it to a new level when they began to shun her. Rarely would anyone even look at her as she walked by them. The children, however, weren't as well versed in the art of shunning. They would harass Natsuko by calling her 'witch' and some would throw rocks at her and her home.

The villagers grew irate when one of their homes mysteriously burned to the ground. All the blame was directed squarely at Natsuko, who vehemently denied having had anything to do with what had happened. That anger only intensified when a man from the village reported finding several animal carcasses deep in the woods. Natsuko once again became the focus of the wrath of the villagers, who believed the animals had been used as sacrifices in some kind of demonic ceremony. And it was that same witchcraft that had led to such a poor harvesting season.