Snow Witch'S Journey
Rumors come true

I tried to use the compass a second time after Rowan gave me the other victim's information, but the result was still the same as before. In this way, the chances of them being found would be even smaller. Leave the next option, meet the victim's lover.

The man looked shaky. In his dark house and the curtains that deliberately did not let the light in, his eyes were always unsettled, glancing around as if there were other people besides myself and Rowan. He always muttered that his lover, Elis, was dead.

“Do you know someone who hates him or maybe Elis has hatred for someone?” soft ask. I tried to calm his uneasiness that had not stopped since my arrival.

He shook fast. “No, he's a good person.”

“How about you? Did you ever physically hurt her?”

“Hu-our relationship is fine. We never hurt each other,” he said accompanied by the sound of his teeth snapping against each other.

The man improved his sitting position for the umpteenth time. Whether someone or something makes him feel uncomfortable. When I was asking him a question, sometimes he gripped the handle of the chair when someone passed in front of the house or he hugged his knee when he heard the sounds from outside.

His pale face and growing uneasiness made me even more curious. I asked him what he was afraid of now.

At first he chose not to answer me. He kept refusing to look at me. When, I wanted to touch him, the man shouted as if he was afraid of me. But before long, he decided to speak, “That creature. It was that thing that brought Elis. L saw. That night, cold and stormy, he told me that if I wasn't serious about this relationship, he left. But, I'm confused. I didn't give him an answer and he left. It was then that the creature emerged from the fog of the storm, with red eyes and black skin, even behind the window, that I could still feel the horror of the creature. The creature moved very quickly like a wolf and took Elis away. I don't know what to say or who. I'm afraid it'll come back here and kill me, like Elis.”

“Do you know what that creature is?”

“Like human, but with longer arms and claws. Not like any living thing I've ever seen before. I think it's a snow ghost, like the rumors people are talking about.”

“What rumors?”

“Host Elfor.”

I heard it at the market. The merchants also mentioned the Ghost of Elfor. Apparently, Ghost Elfor is a scourge story in this city that is often discussed. When the scourge comes true, the terror grows larger, not only impacting the child as his true purpose, but also propagating to the adult.

Snow ghosts are generally well known along the Frozen Line Edge. However, the countries in the south and beyond also know the same story, but with different names. All stories have the same figure and the same fear. Snow ghosts are the embodiment of snow spirits. It can resemble a woman, a man, an animal or an inexplicable form, but is generally a beautiful woman with pale skin and ice-white hair. A snow ghost will trick a person into getting caught in a blizzard.

There are similarity of such stories from the testimony of the man, the ghost and the blizzard. I wouldn't be surprised if the perpetrators of the missing people are nothing but snow ghosts. To me, I believe. It would be silly and stupid to compare it, but my mother was a person who could not be touched in any way, like a snow ghost. It has strengthened my trust, not for Rowan and some of the townspeople.

“Elfor people's name?” ask me in wonder.

“Yes, but the man disappeared a month before this incident.”

“If she is missing, why not put on the missing person search list like the others?”

“For what? No citizen here likes that guy,” grunts the guard. “We all hate him. Sometimes, some residents pelted their homes with stones or bottles. And they will not be arrested for vandalism because the guards themselves support their actions.” I was surprised because he said it so casually.

“Why?” I kept urging him to give the truth.

“Because the man was strange, he always locked himself in his house, never smiled or opened the door for the neighbors. She's also a witch, but she's not as good as you, miss.”

I'm rattled. Rowan said earlier that all the citizens here never showed hatred for each other. Believing that it is impossible if such hatred or violence occurs in this city. The guard was also proud when he told me.

I was thinking about what was happening in this city, maybe because of some peculiarity that was happening among themselves. Not a ghost, a monster or a blizzard. A different understanding of what is meant by normality that makes them dislike someone. They are so hateful, so afraid of what you think they are deviating from what they should be. I believe, if it is true what the guard said, then the attitude of the citizens to Elfor made his mental stability disturbed, therefore he chose to stay away from the social environment that forced him.

Maybe that's why the people in the market were so scared when they saw the black blood, they were afraid that it was Elfor, but not afraid to ask for my help who was also a witch.

After that, I immediately went to Elfor's house. The house was very messy, every room was filled with scribbles from charcoal. Some of the scribbles looked rough and unidentifiable, but there was one writing on the wall of his room that made me curious. ‘Men in black here!’

I asked Rowan and the neighbors around but no one knew what the writing meant. The man in black could be anyone, a merchant or a gatekeeper. My guess is that Elfor and the man in black have something to do. Elfor seemed to be afraid of the figure, the black lines looked even more untidy than the others, as it was written in haste. Whatever it is, I can't be sure if it's any clearer, maybe other people will have different opinions with me, but I believe in my own. For the time being.

In the house, I not only get strange writing on the wall, but everything about Elfor that has not been wasted. Therefore, I used it to search his tracks through the compass. The pointer began to spin like it lost its purpose when I grasped it tightly and I imagined its figure. It didn't stop even when I opened my eyes again. His spin instantly swallowed and stopped at a point. Northwestern.

“What do you think?” ask me on the compass, just talk. He should know what I mean.

He clucked, knowing my intentions, “Although I forbid you, you will still go, right?"

The compass now understands me. I gave her my best smile. A smile that showed my confidence in her. Unfortunately, he could not see it.