Cherreads

Chapter 3 - Marked

Found it!

The room was a mess, the furniture was moved towards the center of the room and dust filled the air.

Between the place where the bed used to be and the wall was a small crack in the wall that was covered by a piece of wood.

Out of the crack Jack pulled a small bag of cloth, inside were a few coins.

He moved towards the table that now sat in the middle of the room and emptied the bag.

10, 20, 30, 40, 3.. 43 copper coins and two silver, No paper notes.

Taking the 43 copper and one of the silvers he placed them back in the bag then he hid it back in the crack, covering it with the piece of wood and then dragging the bed back into place.

He picked up the coin and placed it in his pocket.

I'll just assume that this is enough to buy me some food.

While looking around he took the fishing spear and placed it on the bed.

I'll let this sit here in case someone comes, it is the only thing worth stealing so they won't think this place was robbed or something.

Placing the sandals on his feet he walked out of the house and looked back at the dirty floor.

I'll mop the floor when I get the chance.

Going from the small yard of his house, to the dirt road he moved towards the well and after pulling a bucket of water he took a few sips and looked around the neighborhood.

From the well onward there was nothing but a grass field, the rest of the houses on the street were similar to his but what caught his attention was the house across to his. A larger two room house with a slightly larger yard than his, painted white with a wooden roof.

It also had a thick X on the door drawn in chalk.

It's day time and there is nobody on the streets, did they leave as the sun broke?

Looking towards the neighbor's house he decided to walk towards it.

I need to confirm something.

Now inside of the yard he looked around the neighbor's place, there was a small fenced area that had little to no gaps to it, inside of it was some hay covered by a small roof made out of wood. There were feathers here and there.

Moving towards the window Jack slowly made up the courage to look through it, His expression grew tense as the air turned cold.

On the bed inside lay a person, pale with a heavy unnatural fullness.

Jack couldn't look any longer as he quickly moved away from it, leaning on the wall and looking away from it.

Give me a break.

Breathing heavily, he felt as if he was on fire.

So that's what the X means? Dead man inside?

Getting up, he quickly walked on the road and towards the way shrine.

So those candles last night were people paying respect to the dead?

For how long?

He looked around to find more X marks on the other houses.

One, two.. Three

Jack walked towards the way-shrine at the split of the dirt road.

Seven.

The breeze blew up the dirt from the ground into the air.

Nine..

Numbering the houses, there were a total of 12 houses out of which 9 were marked with the ominous X. Jack didn't dare to look inside of the ones that were unmarked.

Now in front of the way small stone carved shrine, he could see its details.

It was relatively new without any form of wear to it, the inside of it was round and carved with a scene of a four legged blue dragon with great wings flying in front of a boat holding three people during a storm that were praying towards the dragon.

There were 21 candles their scent was a mix of soft honey and a foul fatty odor, some were almost completely melted while the others still stood tall.

Lower from the depiction there was a sentence carved into the stone.

"Oh! Overlord of Storms!"

"Oh! Ruler of all Waters!

"Oh! Guider of the Lost!"

"May we be blessed by your mercy."

It seems that I'm able to read the local language.

"Guider of the Lost.." Jack took his palms and clasped them together in a praying manner before closing his eyes.

One second passed.

Then two seconds.

Now three seconds.

MEOW!

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