Chapter 2: A new life of solitude
Estefan froze. A corpse lay on the ground before him. His small chest rose and fell rapidly as he gasped for air, horrified by what he’d just seen.
"It can’t be..." he sobbed, crawling toward the body. "It’s - it’s not Mama..."
With trembling hands, he pulled at the figure to reveal its face and to his surprise it was a man, someone Estefan had never seen before. Relief mixed with confusion. He staggered backward, heart pounding, but pressed on. Something urged him forward.
He didn’t know what was happening, but he felt like he should move forward. To see if he could find his mother and to solve the question regarding how this man came here, was he alone? Estefan’s thoughts were filled with questions because this was the first time such a thing ever happened.
As he ventured deeper into the woods, more corpses appeared. Some slumped against trees, others lay sprawled across the ground and he saw his mother’s arrows; he knew them by their distinct featherwork which were embedded in many of the bodies.
Why would she kill them all? He thought to himself because this was confusing, she went to hunt dinner not people and who were they? Why did they come here or how did they come here since this was a walled up estate under the protection of the Duke who was his father.
"Mama...?" he whispered, voice barely audible. Why would she kill these people? Who were they? He stepped back, eyes darting between the trees.
Ten... thirteen... maybe more.
Then suddenly his head struck something dangling above making him shriek and he instinctively stepped away. But slowly, with a dread that gripped his spine, he looked up.
A pair of lifeless feet swayed gently above him.
"No... Mama..."