The Sheep
Wassup. I realized I can post snippets literally whenever I want without there being a tag game as an excuse. Soooooo I decided to share a snippet from "Devourer of Souls" that I just wrote and am pretty proud of. I even gave it a title for the purpose of this post bc I'm Fancy like that.
trigger warnings: horror, animal death, animal body horror, vomit, gore mention
This snippet is nothing like the rest of DoS in terms of vibes. Please don't be scared. I promise this story is (mildly) normal. This also technically has a lot of context behind it but I like this bit and it works somewhat independently so fuck it we ball!
Taglist: @wildswrites and @little-mouse-gardens
(I tried to post this multiple times but tumblr stopped me, so I's like to thank the nice people who helped me, @ellierenae and @owlsandwich, they were very lovely <3)
Some days later, at the market, the sister whose arm she'd healed approached Seth. She had a messy air about her, with bags under her eyes and thrown-on clothes. Her expression showed panic she seemed to be trying to hide, with little success.
"Seth..." she began, hesitantly.
"Yes?"
"I have a... strange request for you."
Seth raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"What is it?"
The woman seemed to grow more nervous.
"Can you heal sheep?"
She stared at her for a moment, still processing the words.
Heal sheep?
"I must confess I've never attempted it, but I can try now."
The woman nodded.
"Thank you. Come with me, please."
Still a bit confused, Seth followed her, giving Theo a signal to do the same.
They already knew the path to that house. They'd traversed it less than a week ago. But now, the farm seemed to be steeped in silence. It took her a while to identify what was missing, but, when she did, she felt a chill creep up her back.
The sheep, she noticed, were quiet.
With grave steps, the sister guided them to the stable.
Was there a disease among livestock? She'd heard of them, but, in all of her time living there, she'd never been through one. She'd heard it said, from the oldest inhabitants of the town, that they were almost always devastating and that they could ruin the town for months – sometimes, years.
She took a deep breath. If she could heal people, she could heal animals. The life force that flowed through all living things was the same. Healing magic should work on them.
When she was about to enter the stable, she was pulled back. Theo held her wrist tightly, stopping her from going any further.
"Theo..."
"Something's wrong with the sheep," she whispered. "Their bodies..."
"Can you see if it's a disease?" she asked, also in a low voice.
"They weren't sick when we came here. If it's a disease, it acts extremely fast. Their state... it's not natural...
"Not natural? How?"
"Their organs, Seth. They're all... I can't describe it... They're distorted. I can feel them. I can feel the shape they are inside, and that shape doesn't make sense."
Theo loosened her grip on Seth's wrist and she took the opportunity to hold her hand and squeeze it.
"I have to check. If it's a disease, I should eliminate it now. It could put the whole town in danger."
Theo nodded and let her go, but she seemed reluctant to do so.
As she grew closer, Seth noticed a stain on the floor, right in front of the divide where she knew the sheep slept. It was hard to discern from that distance, spread over the irregular straw. When she was close enough to tell what it was, she had to force herself not to trip.
Blood. In a trail leading to the sheep.
"I think it's an illness," said the woman, with her eyes trained on something inside the divide. "But it's much more horrible than any I've ever seen."
Seth reached out with her magic. She could feel the souls of the sheep, although weak. Something was interfering with them.
"Please be careful," the woman asked. "I don't think it's contagious for humans, but..."
Seth finally reached the other side of the divide. She had to swallow the scream that threatened to escape her throat.
The sheep were lying on the floor, some with their bellies up. Their paws were stretched before them, with some contorting in painful spasms. Their eyes were blown wide, but they were looking at nothing, as if they were blind. Their mouths were open, ready to scream, but they made no sound.
Through their sheared skins, she could see shapes trying to pierce them. Some were thin and sharp, like broken bones, but some were made of soft flesh and muscle, almost like bubbles. And some of their organs appeared to have changed places. One of the sheep, closest to the entrance, seemed to have a heart where its stomach should be, stretching the skin every time it beat. Another, in a corner, had its ribs turned upside down, jutting out of its back. Another still, clearly dead, had wool growing out of its mouth and nose and, by the shape of the bulges that filled its abdomen, on the inside of its body too.
The sheep spasmed in agony, turned into something that only vaguely looked like an animal. Their mouths remained open and their eyes wide.
Seth had seen many horrible things when she'd been at the hospital, near the front lines of the war. She'd seen men disfigured, burnt, missing limbs. But this was the first time one of those things had made her puke.
After she emptied her stomach onto the straw, still heaving and with her back turned to those horrifying sheep, she felt a hand on her back. When she straightened, she was hugged from behind and let herself slump onto Theo's chest, comforted by the presence of that soul with hints of divinity.
"You saw them too, right?" she asked.
Theo said nothing, but she felt her nod against her hair.
"How are you taking this so calmly?"
Theo still did not respond, pulling her closer.
"Um... Seth?" called the woman who'd taken them there, her voice shaking. "Can you heal them?"
She vehemently shook her head.
"No," she replied, breathless. "Each one of these sheep would need a huge amount of energy just to make them look close to normal again." She turned to the woman, who took a step back. "End their suffering. Buy new sheep."
Everything I touch turns to supernatural horror. Help.
Btw the sheep thing is 100% Theo's doing (but on accident). She just came back from the Plane of the Gods and has divine body horror powers. Not my fault where my ideas are taking me. B&W originally also wasn't horror but then it just happened, ok?
Please tell me if you feel the snippet is too long. It feels a bit big, but I wanted to include the whole scene. I've never posted a snippet like this before. Still a bit confused about what to do.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Can't wait to share more snippets!!
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