"Claiming the Tithe" by Colt Henderson

Claiming the Tithe

by Colt Henderson

The moon was full that evening and as the sun began to set a couple of forbidden lovers greeted one another under their tree. The rendezvous had just begun, but something was off tonight. They felt as if they were being watched. What they didn't know was that blood had been spilled recently, and something older had taken an interest. After looking for onlookers something broke through the silence. 

HOOT

From above them a familiar sound called out. Their warring tribes both saw the majestic beast the same way; spiritual guidance. When they looked up at the bird, it looked back down at them. They were stunned by reverence, not knowing they courted death.

The three of them stared at one another, the humans holding their breath, the beast sizing up its potential prey. The owl, still lit by the sun, spread its wings and jumped off the limb. It then glided until the magnificent wings flapped and pushed the hollow boned beast up into the air. The guy grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her after the owl.

They ran, and ran. When they were about to stop the trees cleared out and a pond appeared. The owl flew down next to the water and landed on the opposite side of the small pond. As the man pulled the woman into the water she let go of his hand. He stopped and turned around to face her. A shiver ran down both of their spines, and they heard a little girl giggling.

The woman came to a complete stop, while the man dove into the water and started swimming towards the other side. As he swam the pond seemed to grow. The harder he swam the longer it took and soon he no longer felt alone. He stopped, coincidentally, in the middle of the pond and looked around. A cold childish giggle echoed out over the water and both man and woman felt another shiver. 

The man disappeared without a sound. At least no sound escaped him as he sank to the depths of the pond. The woman yelled for him, but was too afraid to enter the water. She did however turn and run once she realized he wasn't coming up. This turned out to be the wrong decision as once she was free of the water her body started to float in the air.

She then starts to fly backwards, over the water, before her body twisted so she was facing the owl. The owl whose eyes were glowing red. And the owl who was the size of a tree. She started screaming and trying to fight whatever had its grasp on her, but it was futile, and she knew it. When she accepted her fate she was lifted upside down and nothing pierced her neck.

As the blood poured down towards the water something interrupted its descent. The body was then twisted so the flow rotated around something moving below it. Once enough of the crimson substance had fallen on the thing below it was clear it was a small girl. She was now rubbing the liquid all over herself, defining her outline clearly. She continued to jump in the air as the blood drained out of the poor woman. The wind blew and a giggle echoed through the trees before the blood covered apparition fell into the water. When the water finally fell still there was no giggle, and no owl.