It was really as the stranger had told it. When I returned, nobody had noticed my absence. And since Lilly was in the process of being bandaged, I wasn’t gone for too long. This gave me the confidence to secretly return to the stranger within the temple. This was just a poor unfortunate soul, right? I pondered a lot, but even when I asked her, she never responded. The most I could get was a cheeky smile.

Almost every day I managed to find some free time to sneak back into the temple. Since I somehow knew my way, I no longer stumbled through the corridors. My destination was clear. And to be honest, the silent, yet intriguing Sadako seemed a better companion than my chanting friends. Oh, I knew the prayers, I made sure to not fall behind. I even learned to not flinch when I hurt myself, mimicking the indifferent behavior of my peers. And whenever ‘Dried Cedar’ and her entourage appeared to check on us, I was able to maintain a distant gaze, even if she looked closely into my face. But here, with this prisoner, I could drop the stage-worthy pretense, I could be myself. And, surprisingly, she let me have my way. She listened to my daily rantings of how my friends behaved more and more like the undead. I think I even saw a glint of amusement whenever I spoke of ‘Dried Cedar’ and the practitioners. Sometimes she would weave in an inquiring emotion. It seems she was becoming interested in what the world looked like. Naturally, I told her everything.

Because I didn’t know her name, I had decided to give her one. Along the stone steps leading to the bottom of the mountain, small purple flowers bloomed. I recall being surprised since these flowers were not common in mountain areas. Yet these ones seemed to be resilient, withstanding the harsher climate. “Let me call you Violet”, I one day proclaimed.

It was the first time I felt a sharp flash of pain in my head. When I recovered, I saw an angry look in the woman’s face. A myriad of conflicted emotions came crashing at me. I believe up to this day that she was cursing. She then fell silent and did not communicate with me anymore for the next few days. I had to find my way to her on my own. Too bad for her, she had already made damn sure that I had memorized the way by then. Eventually, she gave up and responded to whenever I called her name. Little me was, however, polite, and I avoided calling out to her whenever possible.

I noticed that Violet had begun regaining her strength. She no longer hung from the chains, no, she sat on the floor in an upright position, her eyes closed in deep meditation. Whenever I arrived, she acknowledged my presence by opening her eyes, revealing those sparkling crimson eyes. My routine consisted of walking through the dark maze to the pond, fetching some water, and returning to her. Over time, she began insisting I drink the water as well. I didn’t realize it, but the water actually had magical properties. Since the herbal concoction my mother had created only could do so much, it was this water that essentially saved me from becoming a willing puppet like Lilly and the others. I even carried some water out of the temple, but surprisingly, the moment I hopped over the stream and back into the real world, the water no longer tasted refreshing. It had simply turned to normal water. Dissatisfied, I had told Violet about this, but she did not give me an explanation. Instead, I felt her convey, what is more important is the power it has given you. True words. After nearly two years of regularly drinking the water, I had noticed changes within me. The presence of the practitioners no longer intimidated me. I could feel their power level was no match for the captive inside the temple. And in my childish little mind, I felt I was an extended hand of hers. Nobody could touch me.

The magical properties of this pond also had a profound effect on Violet. Not only did her wounds heal, but it also seemed as if the chains had gotten longer and longer. After one year, the chains were so long, she could walk all the way to the entrance of the room that confined her. However, they did not grow longer. She also did not try to leave the cavern. Instead, she used her freedom to stretch herself, and become physically active, doing exercise routines. I even joined in, but obviously, I couldn’t keep up with her. This woman was kept for Nu knows how long, but her stamina definitely wasn’t lacking! Nevertheless, she considered me amused and cheered me on. I think she regarded me as a pet, in some way.

Naturally, my secret was bound to be found out eventually. After all, the discrepancies between me and my peers began to grow. Even though I still pretended - I am quite convinced I put up a really good act - to be like them, it was the little things that caused suspicion. Like eating at a faster pace than the rest. Or looking up prayers more often than the rest. ‘Dried Cedar’ and her friends couldn’t quite put their finger on why this was the case. After all, I drank and ate the same food as the other children. So all they could do was remain vigilant and scrutinize every action. This was also the time when it became increasingly difficult for me to visit Violet. Often times, I would not be able to return for several days due to the Argus-eyed gazes of the practitioners.

In the end, it was Lilly who betrayed me. You see, every night I would still take a few drops of my mother’s medicine. What I didn’t reckon with was that my peers no longer needed that much sleep. Since Lilly was the most advanced zombie of the pack, she was also the one who sat upright in bed, staring at me with her vacant eyes. Only when I was finished I noticed her eerie presence. She was sleeping in the bed to the right of me and noticed me fumbling with my stuffed hen. The full moon shone through the window, perfectly illuminating what I was doing.

“Rowan?” Her formerly cheery voice sounded like a ghost, actually, very much like the mysterious chants in the temple. Cold sweat appeared on my forehead. I pretended to sleep. But she persisted. “Rowan?” She called out more loudly, waking up all the others in the dorm. Blankets rustled. Suddenly, I felt the questioning glare of nine children. I hugged my pet ever so tightly, keeping my eyes shut. There’s only so much horror a child can take, okay? Especially if they all chant in unison, “Rowan?”

This, in turn, woke up the practitioners who were sleeping in the neighboring rooms. ‘Dried Cedar’ pushed the door open, carrying a large oil lamp in her hand. Behind her, ‘Owleen’ and ‘Royal Pain’ staggered behind, drowsy from sleep. The children turned their heads almost simultaneously towards them.

“What is going on?” She bellowed. Clearly, she was annoyed to have been woken from a sweet dream. The children pointed at me, without saying a word. I heard fast steps coming over to me. Oh please, dear Nu, I promise I’ll be a good boy! My heart beat so fast I thought I would die.

“His toy.” Lilly’s voice broke the silence. I felt ‘Dried Cedar’ wanting to yank the hen out of my embrace, but I resisted. I opened my eyes, looking at her in defiance. She nudged her head, commanding the other two practitioners to hold me down. I screamed as they finally tore my stuffed pet from my little hands. Bits of stuffing fluttered in the air. And one vial dropped to the ground, breaking upon contact. Goodbye, precious medicine!

The practitioner was really angry. “So this is how you evaded us for so long.” She squinted at me, contempt was clearly written on her face. Reaching through the hole at the side of the hen, she retrieved two other vials, one of them was already empty. In the pale light of the lamp, the liquid within the glass seemed clear.

“What do we do? The ceremony is within a moon.” ‘Peach’ had a worried expression on her face.

“At this point, it doesn’t matter if he’s compliant or not. Take him away.”

I was lifted off my bed under loud protests while the other children silently watched me being dragged away. The next thing I knew was that I was thrown into a small wooden hut outside the dorms, with no window or insulation. ‘Owleen’ held me tightly. Being a small boy, I couldn’t do much. However, my resistance was pretty fierce, therefore ‘Royal Pain’ needed to pin me down as well. She almost needed to kneel on me with her entire weight to subdue me. ‘Dried Cedar’ disappeared for a moment only to return with a cup filled with a strange substance.

“You are going to regret your defiance, boy.” With these words, she grabbed me by my hair, lifting my head off the ground. She then angrily jabbed the cup between my lips and forced me to drink a bitter juice. It was so gross, I wanted to throw up, but she only let go of me when the cup was empty. Finally, I was able to vomit. I was feeling so miserable and weak that the other two practitioners let me go without fearing I’d escape. I heard them lock the door, but I was too busy to give a fuck. When I was finally done with spitting out my entire supper, I rolled into a corner, hugging myself tightly before drifting into sleep.