Under Her Cursed Scythe

He was extremely lean and emaciated, akin to a skeleton which barely held up some muscles to cover its innermost. His skin was terribly pale, like a huge plain sheet of paper, and due to the lack of exposure to the natural sunlight, his limbs were a bit crooked and ill-formed. What's more, because his current condition made it impossible for him to bath, his ginger hair was that of a beggar, dishevelled, messy and smelly.

'Twenty more souls!? Are you kidding me?' Alivia protested at the back of her head. 'That monster is never going to stop being greedy, isn't it? How can I possibly hunt enough souls in just six days' time?' She pondered while her jaws dropped in disbelief.

' If only you stayed dead...' She gazed back at the boy in her mother's arms with aggrievement as though a growling dog was staring at a cat, its natural enemy.

He or "the zombie" as Alivia liked to address, was her older brother- Luke Hestia... who was supposed to have kicked the bucket five years ago, at the age of 13.

"Do you want to stroll around the house for a bit?" Alivia's mother asked Luke after she had laid him back on his comfortable bed. "The stars are very beautiful tonight. We can lie down on the grass and-" Her voice died down when Luke weakly shook his head. "Oh, I'm sorry, child… my poor child...I'm sorry I forgot-" her mother spoke with commiseration and the gaze she gave him was filled with sorrow but at the same time, it was tender, calm and maternal, something that was never spotted from the ones she gave to Alivia. "I'm sorry that you have to suffer so much...your sufferings should have ended when-" She halted.

Then, after inhaling and exhaling a deep breath, a forced grin crept across her face. "Rest assured, Halloween will come soon... and as soon as you consume the right dose of Lord Beelzebub's elixir, you can wander around and do anything you want again! You just have to endure this condition for a few more days…just a few more days." she promised in a soft gentle tone.

'Ya right! Like he had the brains to think or imagine anything.' Alivia jeered in her head and the corners of her mouth curled subconsciously.

"What are you smiling at? Are you rejoicing because your brother is in this pitiful state?" her mother snapped when she stood up from the bed, ready to take the souls to her "ritual room" next door, and her eyes came across Alivia who was standing there, grinning.

The corner of her lips descended instantly. "No, mother. I would never laugh at that..." Alivia said, colouring her words thickly.

"You'd better not." her mother uttered as her eyes bulged with a terrifying intensity. "By the way, why are you still here? Don't you have more important things to attend to? Like doing the things from the list of chores I gave you?" she asked, a flinty edge to her voice.

"Oh...yes...yes, mother! You're right!" Alivia responded quickly. But at the back of her head, she thought. I don't get it. Why can that brainless creature make you happy with such simple reactions while I can't? She wondered. What did I do wrong? What did I miss? Am I still not the perfect daughter for you?

"Then, go! Start working!" her mother ordered. "What are you waiting for? Those chores aren't going to be done by themselves, right?"

"Y-yes, mother." Alivia answered resignedly as she hastily marched away.

When she ambled past the door of Luke's room and her shoulder accidentally bumped against it. Dust sprinkled from the old, dusty calendar that was hanging above the door. For a brief second, she felt a slight tingle beneath the bridge of her nose and then, *ah-choo, ah-choo, ah-choo!

After letting out three consecutive sneezes, she raised her head and wondered. 'Why did mother keep this dusty old calendar? It's not even- Oh... Of course, …' She rolled her eyes when she heeded the red circle on the number 14 on the calendar.