With disease and famine claiming lives left, right, and center, Yama, the God of death, had his hands full. It had given us, the damned and condemned souls, a chance to escape the prison, Narka: the torture cell responsible for doling punishment to all sinners, that held us for eons.

We may have recognized emotions once, but the pain and suffering we had endured in Narka had stripped us of it. All we knew now was insatiable hunger, fear, and anger.

The journey from the lowest depth of Narka to Mrityu Lok, the human realm, was riddled with hurdles. Indra, the God of gods, had sent his most fierce battalion to recapture us and send us back.

Did he think we would surrender now that we finally had a chance to see the light of day? No. Absolutely not!

We fought. Our numbers fell by half, but the rest of us managed to escape to Mrityu Lok. With Indra's army hot on our trail, we needed vessels to hide. Alas, the only ones we could enter and possess were the soulless, the dead, and buried. Beggars can't be choosers. We did with what was available. One by one, my brethren claimed the dead and rotting.

I found a vessel before being spotted by Indra's minions as well. Albeit a little smaller than what I would have preferred, it was in a relatively better condition. I stretched my arms and kicked my legs, and the wood that encased my vessel gave way.

I heard screams; It was music to my ears. It had always been. I was a man that took pleasure in gut-wrenching screams before an arrow to my chest had ended my first life, and Yama's servants had dragged me to Yam Lok: the place all souls had to be brought to, to be judged.

All that was ancient history, now.
I sat up and looked around. An enclosure filled with humans dressed in black from head to toe welcomed me with emotions ranging from shock to fear and everything in between.

A lone woman stepped forward. The emotion in her coal-black eyes, which rivaled her attire, was a mystery to me.
"Sora," She called, holding out her hands, beckoning me to take them.

"Sweetheart, get away from her." A man with deep-set eyes the color of stone embedded in Yama's crown shielded the woman from me. There was a hint of fear in them. "Look at its eyes; it doesn't know you. Our daughter is gone. This is a monster!" 

The woman's orbs, however, stayed glued to me. The unidentifiable emotion in them was more intense than the first time I had laid eyes on her. She pushed the man away and stepped closer.

"Sora," She called again, her voice stung me like a swarm of bees. It reminded me of Narka.

No. Never.

The hunger: an eternal, inescapable curse, returned tenfold. My feet moved on their own accord. I crouched and pushed off the narrow, shiny plank, landing on the woman's bosom.

I expected her to scream, begging me to let her go. That's how I liked them. That's how they always acted.

She didn't.

She wrapped her too warm arms around me, "Baby girl..." She whispered softly, caressing the back of my head. "Thank you for coming back to momma."

Her every word, every touch, seared my soul, turning me inside out. I couldn't take it anymore. She would have to go. My nails, pale and stubby, dug into her flesh.

She winced and held me closer. "I missed you too, baby girl." She continued, fearless.

I should have chosen a different vessel. Alas, I was stuck with this one.

An all too familiar sensation graced the back of my head. Pain.

"Der! How could you?" The woman cried, searching my eyes. "Daddy didn't mean it, Sora. He is just in shock."

"Let my wife go, demon!" The man's stable voice betrayed the fear that was coursing through him.

I turned. The enclosure was empty, barring the three of us. I glared at the man; his lips quivered.

The fight had gone out of him.

I lept again, abandoning the woman and going for the man. He stepped away. I landed on the cold white floor.
Picking up a pointy-ended piece of wood, he brandished it, slashing at the air.

Useless.

He looked past me, "Sweetheart, it's a monster. Sora was two. Look at this creature. It's not our daughter. Let's leave." He eyed the exit, I guess he was pleading the woman to leave.

Yes, that's how you must act.

I bathed in the fear that was now rolling off of him in waves and took the chance; avoiding the weapon, I kicked him in his shin. Though my vessel was small, eons of rage which pumped through me made up for it in strength.

The man fell to my feet, and without a moment's hesitation, I bit into his neck. The flesh gave way without much resistance.

The aroma of blood and the supple texture of flesh as I feasted on it felt divine.

"Sora,"

It was the woman again. Without my knowledge, she had closed the distance between us. She crouched next to me. Blood seeped into her black robes, turning them darker. It didn't seem to bother her, "You haven't eaten since yesterday, baby girl. Are you feeling better now?"

There it was again: an emotion I couldn't place. It scared me. I needed to get rid of the woman, but my limbs refused to heed my command. I didn't know why.

Who is she, I wondered. Perhaps a trap laid by Indra, I reasoned, and before her outstretched hand could touch me again, I fled.

"Sora, come back. Come back to momma!" I heard her call. I sensed fear in her words... and pain, just like I wanted.

However, it didn't matter. I needed to get away, to escape.