Winter

Despite her body being depleted of energy, Miyuki was fleeing from danger as best as she could. She surely would have had no chance to escape from such a foe had not the mysterious woman allowed her to do so.

Miyuki could think of nothing but the unsettling conversation she had had with the woman as she trudged slowly through the snow.

* * *

“What are you?” Miyuki asked timidly.

“I don’t really know,” replied the woman. “Does it really matter? It’s not going to change what’s going to happen to you.”

“Do you have a name?”

“My name is Natsuko,” replied the woman.

“Natsuko?” asked a perplexed Miyuki.

A grin formed on Natsuko’s dark blue lips. “It seems God has quite the sense of humor, doesn’t he? I never really liked the cold. I always liked it better when it was warm. But look at me now. I suppose it can’t be helped, can it?”

Natsuko then made a move toward Miyuki, prompting the frightened woman to continue asking questions to postpone the inevitable.

“How did you become like this?” asked Miyuki.

The grin quickly faded from Natsuko’s lips. “They did this to me,” she replied. “They turned me into the monster that you see before you.”

500 years ago . . .

Natsuko lived a simple life in her remote village of mostly farmers and fisherman. She was a very quiet woman and liked to keep to herself. The other villagers thought there was something odd about her and were always gossiping about her behind her back. It was harmless gossip, for the most part, but one day the gossip became quite harmful.

The growing season had been a very poor one, putting everyone on edge for the coming winter. And to make matters worse, many of the animals that were going to be used for food had gone missing. Fingers were immediately pointed at Natsuko.

One particularly nasty rumor that was going around was that Natsuko was practicing witchcraft. Many people had reported seeing her many a night entering the forest under the cover of darkness to do only God knows what.

The villagers were never all that friendly to Natsuko in the first place, but they took it to a new level when they began to shun her. Rarely would anyone even look at her as she walked by them. The children, however, weren’t as well versed in the art of shunning. They would harass Natsuko by calling her ‘witch’ and some would throw rocks at her and her home.

The villagers grew irate when one of their homes mysteriously burned to the ground. All the blame was directed squarely at Natsuko, who vehemently denied having had anything to do with what had happened.

That anger only intensified when a man from the village reported finding several animal carcasses deep in the woods. Natsuko once again became the focus of the wrath of the villagers, who believed the animals had been used as sacrifices in some kind of demonic ceremony. And it was that same witchcraft that had led to such a poor harvesting season.

The final straw was by far the most heinous of all acts that could have been committed. Several of the children in the village had gone missing. And after a few days of tireless searching, the children were discovered to have been drowned in a lake.

No trial was needed in this village. They had no time to ask permission to carry out justice as they were several days away from the nearest village that had any kind of law enforcement. They had determined Natsuko was guilty and the only punishment worthy of such a heinous crime was death, to be administered immediately.

So on a most bitterly cold winter day, a group of men kicked down Natsuko’s door and took her kicking and screaming from her home.

Natsuko’s pleas would fall upon deaf ears as she was carried out of the village and deep into the forest. “Please stop!” screamed Natsuko. “I haven’t done anything!”

“Your crimes were intended to destroy our village!” exclaimed Elder Matsumoto, who was leading the group. “So your punishment is to suffer just as much as you have made the village suffer.”

Two of the men forced Natsuko against a large tree while two others tied her to it with several ropes. As tightly as they had tied her up, it was assured that Natsuko would never be able to break free from the makeshift prison.

Natsuko screamed at the top of her lungs and did everything she could to free herself, but it was all in vain. Even if her voice could carry to the village, no one was going to help her.

“Please don’t leave me here,” pleaded Natsuko. “Don’t leave me here to die!”

“Evil has made your heart grow cold,” said Matsumoto. “This is a most fitting end for you, wouldn’t you say?”

Natsuko stopped struggling and her demeanor grew dark.

“Have you any last words?”

“For this, your punishment will be far worse than mine. You have no idea just what you’ve done to yourself and to those who’ve conspired against me.”

Matsumoto motioned for the others to join him in departing.

Natsuko let out a horrendous scream as the group left her to die.

“They sentenced an innocent person to die that day,” said Natsuko. Her demeanor became quite jovial. “And today two guilty people have been sentenced to die. It won’t correct the mistakes of the past, but it’s a good start.”

“You think my husband and I deserve to die?” asked Miyuki.

“Of course you do. Look at why you’re out here in the first place. I heard everything he said to you. He brought you out here so he could kill you.”

“Then he’s the guilty one, not me.”

“So are you saying I should kill him and let you live?”

“I . . .” Miyuki trailed off, not quite knowing how to answer the question.

“You’re both guilty of something,” replied Natsuko. “Everyone is guilty of something. You think your wretched species is worthy of salvation? You all harbor animosity in your hearts for others and take pleasure only in the suffering of those you don’t even know. Why should I stop with the two of you?”

“What do you mean?” asked Miyuki.

“Once I’m finished with you and your husband, I’m going to cleanse this world. I’m going to cover it in pure white. Not a single one of you will be left standing. You want to hurt others and make them suffer? Then this will be your kind’s punishment. I should have done this a long time ago. To think that I gave your kind a second chance.”

“You can’t,” gasped Miyuki.

Natsuko began laughing. “Then find a way to stop me,” she said. “Be the savior to this undeserving world. Allow it to continue rotting from the inside out.” She then motioned for Miyuki to take her leave. “Go ahead, leave. I won’t chase you. But know that I will find you eventually. And I will kill you. And I’ll kill your conniving husband as well. And when I’m finished, the rest of this world is going to die.”

* * *