Killarney, Ireland, 1840
Kian O'Braonain was the best friend anyone in the world could ever have. He could run as fast as lightening, climb like a cat, and hit a bird with a stone from twenty yards. While Aaron seldom had a chance to play with his friend now that he was older and had more responsibility, his Ma usually didn\u2019t mind if he walked home with Kian after mass, and the boys would spend several hours running around the base of Torc Mountain, tossing stones in the lake, or running through the village scaring the chickens and the cows.
Today was a bit different. Last night, there had been several taken from various homes around Killarney, and though the village was rather large as such towns went, the numbers were starting to dwindle. Not only were people being taken in the night by the Dark Ones, rumor had it that some of those who had been claimed were members of the Order, ones that were supposed to be left alone according to the agreement. Aaron heard the whispers, not only from the adults in his own home, but from behind hands in the market, in church, and as he and Kian made their way through the village. The weight of worry rested over Killarney like a woolen blanket, and despite their need to revel in the freedom of a few hours\u2019 break from chores, Aaron did not feel like giving chase to his best friend that day.
\u201cI suppose you\u2019ve heard what they\u2019re all whispering about,\u201d Kian said, sitting down next to Aaron on a large stone which was part of the ruins of an ancient castle they often came to explore.
\u201cYeah,\u201d Aaron muttered, his hands folded in front of him. \u201cI\u2019ve been hearing it for a while, but\u2026 do you think it\u2019s true? The agreement is over?\u201d
Kian shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know. I ne\u2019er hear my ma or da say two words about it. All I know is what my grandma told me before she passed away\u2014not to worry because I am of Hunter stock, whatever that implies.\u201d
\u201cRight,\u201d Aaron nodded. He wasn\u2019t sure either. \u201cAnd my granddad insists we\u2019ve nothing to worry about either. But I\u2019m not so sure.\u201d
Kian scratched the back of his blond head. Aaron had always thought it was odd that his hair was so fair. He didn\u2019t look like many other people he knew. He wondered if that had anything at all to do with the agreement or the Hunter stock he spoke of. \u201cI don\u2019t suppose there\u2019s much we can do about it anyway. I\u2019ve heard that once they get ahold of you, all you can do is pray that God takes you good and quick.\u201d
Aaron shuddered at the thought. \u201cBut what if they turn ya, and you don\u2019t go to God right away? Then what?\u201d he asked.
Shaking his head, Kian said, \u201cMy grandma said that we can\u2019t be turned. Only the others, the ones without the agreement, can be turned. That\u2019s why we have the agreement.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s true,\u201d Aaron replied, biting the corner of his lower lip. \u201cMy ma said that Seana O\u2019Malley was turned just last week, and she\u2019s been thinkin\u2019 she was safe because of the agreement for almost sixty years. That\u2019s what my ma said anyway.\u201d
\u201cI think your ma must be mistaken,\u201d Kian interjected, picking up a rock off of the ground and tossing it nowhere in particular. \u201cI think the O\u2019Malley\u2019s weren\u2019t ever really part of the agreement. They\u2019ve been boasting all along, but they are really just others like everyone else.\u201d
\u201cYou say it like being an other makes a person worth less,\u201d Aaron pointed out, thinking of all the people he knew from church and town who were not protected, one in particular, who happened to be an O\u2019Malley herself.
Kian shrugged. \u201cMaybe they are,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, there must be some reason why the Dark Ones stay nigh of us.\u201d
Unable to reason that through his brain, Aaron just shrugged. \u201cIt seems to me that everyone should be able to go to bed at night without thinkin\u2019 they might awake to a pale face and large teeth hovering above their bed.\u201d
\u201cAnd it seems to me that the others might find a way to better protect themselves,\u201d Kian replied, dismissively. \u201cNow come on; let\u2019s go back into town. I\u2019m starving.\u201d
Without further argument, Aaron pulled himself up off the rough stone and followed Kian back toward the village. From here, they could see a sprinkling of houses, all small with thatched roofs and missing chinking. Most everyone had a plot between one and five acres; only a few had larger sections of land, and those people were considered a bit more important, whether they were others or not. The land was hilly with lots of little rocks, and Aaron could remember how he\u2019d helped his granddad gather the stones when he\u2019d first started tilling the land up several years ago, when his da had gone off to serve the landowner and they\u2019d been given a larger plot. Though they grew a few other crops, mostly for sale, everyone here depended upon the potato. And the ones who were said to live in the hills and only came out at night depended upon the others.
Neither of them felt like running today, and as they began to make their way past the houses on the outskirts of town, they heard lots of hushed voices and whispering. Clearly, everyone was still uneasy about the rise in deaths and turnings at the hands of the Dark Ones recently. Despite what Kian\u2019s grandma or his own granddad said, Aaron was apprehensive, and not just for himself or his own family. As he plodded along, his thoughts turned to the beautiful face that had caught his mind\u2019s attention earlier, and he hoped he might spy her on his way through town.
He was lost in a daydream and might have walked right past her if Kian hadn\u2019t nudged him and pointed to the yard near Renny O\u2019Malley\u2019s house, who happened to be her uncle. \u201cThere\u2019s Aislyn,\u201d he said in a whisper, \u201cthe girl you\u2019re always gawking at.\u201d
Aaron turned to look at her, and without disagreeing with Kian\u2019s chide, he felt a smile envelop his face. She was the most beautiful site he\u2019d ever seen in all his eleven-and-a-half years. Though she wasn\u2019t but nine, her green eyes twinkled, and her smile made his heart catch in his chest. She had long red hair that fell down her back in curly ribbons, and he loved to see it billow in the breeze. Today, she wore a simple brown frock, but it never mattered what she had on; she always looked lovely.
\u201cAre you plannin\u2019 on starin\u2019 at her all day, or are you going to say hello?\u201d Kian asked, nudging him hard enough to knock him forward and out of his stupor.
\u201cOh, right,\u201d Aaron replied, a shade of red creeping up his neck. He waved at Aislyn O\u2019Malley, and she raised her hand slightly in recognition before she smiled in return, which lit Aaron\u2019s heart on fire. Then she turned away, following her mother across the yard.
\u201cYou\u2019re such a dolt,\u201d Kian said, a smirk forming across his face. \u201cOne glimpse of Aislyn and you turn into a blabbering fool.\u201d
Aaron felt a bit embarrassed, but he knew what his friend said was true. \u201cI guess I just can\u2019t help it,\u201d he replied, running his hand through his light brown hair. \u201cShe\u2019s\u2026 beautiful.\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re going to marry her someday,\u201d Kian teased, his voice sing-song.
\u201cI hope so,\u201d Aaron admitted, putting an end to the song. If what Kian said was true and the O\u2019Malleys were never part of the agreement, then Aaron knew the sooner he married Aislyn, the better. He\u2019d do anything he could to protect her from the Dark Ones. Of course, being only eleven and a half, he was aware that it would be several more years before he could marry anyone. Nevertheless, he vowed that day to always keep Aislyn safe, no matter what.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Killarney, Ireland, 1840Kian O'Braonain was the best friend anyone in the world could ever have. He could run as fast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shadows-bargain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demonslayerrmanga.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}