"Why do you need friends when you have me?" my Mother replied to my question. She burst into a fit of laughter afterwards.
I stared at the ground for a while, embarrassed.
"It's okay honey, I know you want human interaction. It's a part of growing up." She reassured me with a smile.
I smiled back at her. I like Mother. She's so nice. We both just live together in the forest. It gets lonely sometimes. I didn't really care, as long as Mother was with me. She was happy too, I could tell. She told me she liked being away from civilization. She told me that it's too noisy, there's too many people, there's nothing to do...
Of course, I agreed with her. I liked the forest. I couldn't disagree with her because, well, I've never been in a village. Mother told me never to go beyond the forest. She didn't tell me why though. Sometimes I wonder what's out there, but when I do, I feel as though Mother will know and scold me. She always knows what's in my head. It's weird, but I guess it's what you need to be a parent.
Mother's really pretty too. Sometimes, men come and give her gifts, like dresses and flowers. They also give me stuff to get on her good side. Even someone like me can tell. They don't stay around though. Mother tells them to bugger off, because she doesn't want them near me. She does accept the gifts though, before she tells them off.
I asked her why they couldn't be near me.
"You'll see when you grow up."
A man appeared at our door. Mother opened the door, and the man proposed to her. She looked terrified. I've never seen her like that. I've also never seen this man before, so I wondered how they knew each other. She told me to go to my room and read
books while she would take a walk with him. I agreed and then she left with him. I watched her leave with a weird look on her face.
I don't remember what it looked like, but I knew something was wrong. I didn't follow them though. I always obeyed Mother.
Later, she came back. I asked her what happened to him.
"I refused to marry him, and he left," she told me with a smile.
I believed what Mother said, and we did our daily things.
The next day, Mother told me to pick some red berries. She needed them to bake a cake for my birthday. She goes to a woman's house who would buy things for us if we traded with her in return, such as furs, berries, and tools. Mother always made handmadestuff to trade, so she wouldn't have to go to a nearby village. She took somethings she made and told me she would get eggs, wheat, etc. I nodded and we both went our separate ways.
I brought two big baskets; One to put on my back and one for my arm. Since it was the growing season, there were a lot of berries. I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough space to pick all of them. I started to diligently pick them, putting most of them in the baskets, and some in my mouth. They didn't satisfy my hunger though, which was weird. They usually would...
I found a bush of berries with red stains over it. I assumed something mushed the berries and tried some. They were so delicious!
I wondered why...
I picked all the berries, but then I noticed the man's body behind it, with red stains on him. I then noticed he was heavily wounded, and looked like he was torn apart. I tried waking him up, but he didn't. I didn't know what to do.
I stared at his body for a while, and got hungry. Why? What was this sensation? I was confused. The more I stared, the more I drooled. I felt that something was wrong with me. I decided to ignore it and went back home. Both my baskets were full anyway.
I came back home with all the berries. Mother asked me if I was okay. I didn't know I was that distressed looking.
I told her I found the man's body near some bushes, and thought a bear had done it. I told her I was scared and didn't know what to do. She told me to calm down, and we would talk about it after we ate the cake. I sat down quietly while she baked.
After she finished baking, she gave me a slice and we ate in silence. The cake tasted so good! I haven't tasted a cake like this before. We finished, and she started to talk.
"It's your birthday, honey. You're growing up now... There's... something I need to tell you," she said.
I nodded my head.
"We, who live in this forest, are cursed. Just us two. The curse made us, who were humans, monsters that have the same appearance as humans, live off of human flesh and blood. It has been inherited from generation to generation, without a cure, and also varies from each person. That's why we live in the forest, so we don't kill off all humans.
That's also why you cannot have a friend. I'm all you have and need. These berries are called blood berries because they taste like human's blood, which is why I feed you them. You have to eat these berries, or you'll die. We have to eat a human at least once every 10 years. It's supposed to be once every year, but the blood berries extend the amount of time. I only eat men, which explains the body. I have to honey, or else I'll die, just like your father. He refused to eat people, and died from the curse. He was an idiot," she laughed, but then cried, "I miss him. If he didn't love me, he would still be alive... Who knows what he could've done with his life..."
I hugged her and tried comforting her as she cried in my arms. I believed all she said. I was surprised that I wasn't shocked or anything. I just knew that we were trapped in the forest forever. I believed Mother.
"Don't forget, I'll always love you, no matter what you do," she said, as she was still crying, "You're the only thing I have now..."
"I love you too Mother."
We promised to be together until she died. She told me we have a long life expectancy. I liked that. We could be together forever.
Just us two, who depended on each other.
A few centuries later, she died a peaceful death. She was really old, so I didn't expect her to live any longer. I was happy that she died a peaceful death, but... I was unhappy at the same time.
"Mother, now that you're gone, what am I? Am I still yours? Who will love me?" I cried.
This was the sad and twisted fate of us, who were cursed and trapped in the forest forever, with no one to save us.
End.
Fluff's note: I'm done. Yay. \o/ It took a long time to think of an ending. Hope this was satisfying... I guess...
