I Want Your Heart

• Mariyam Malik, Grade 9, Plumpton High School -
• Short Story
• 2022

Excellence Award in the 'Unleashed 2022' competition

The heart-eaters had come at the dead of night.
Jawaria had heard the deafening bang of the door being ripped from its hinges. The distorted being growling at her. Its skin, dark and depthless obsidian, their eyes elongated and piercing, catching every sign of movement. Revolting slime covered the entirety of their bodies and razor-sharp teeth that glistened in the moonlight.
It closed in towards her mother and had torn her body to shreds. Bright red liquid smeared the marble floorings. Jawaria had been too shocked to move. They spared her. They licked their tarnished and blackened tongues at her and left.
Jawaria gasped as she shot up from the tiny mattress she had been sleeping on and wiped at her sweaty forehead. Her thin shirt was sticking to her and she felt sweat trickle down the back of her neck. She was in her tent. The point of her dagger dug into her skin and she slid it into her pocket.
She shuddered at the fading memory, that day had been the most horrific day of her life. She could clearly remember the stars that had blinked innocently at her, mocking her while she was drenched in her mother’s dried blood tinged with flesh.
Jawaria slipped out of the tent, intending to get some fresh air until someone knocked her into the softness of the sand. She couldn’t let out a terrified scream before something slimy covered her mouth. She heard the familiar snarl of a heart-eater. She could hear the petrified thump of her heart and it growled at her in glee. Its talons were wrapped around her wrist like a vice. She could see the scintillating stars again, winking at her, calling her to them, into the afterlife.
The heart-eaters grip intensified and Jawaria could feel tears trickling down the side of her face. She felt the heart-eater's warm tongue lick at the blood that was oozing out of her wrist. She wanted to vomit all over this abomination of a creature.
The heart-eater had become distracted as of now. Its eyes glinting, almost glowing in desperation as its pointed teeth now grazed her arm. She slowly moved her leg and kicked at the heart-eater's face. The heart-eater howled, the vibration echoing into the night.
The heart-eater was upon her in an instance. She felt for the dagger in her pocket. She aimlessly penetrated the beast with it. The heart-eaters skin was atrociously greasy, the dagger glided easily through its body. It shrieked as coal-black ichor spurted everywhere. Just before it fell to the ground, he took a taloned finger and pierced her heart.
Jawaria’s vision was beginning to blur. She could see vivid red fluid dampening the sand. A burning sensation blanketed her, so powerful she lost the ability to process what had happened. Her body felt as if a dozen needles were stabbing into her. She had no medication. Jawaria was dying. She closed her eyes.
And drifted towards the stars. Their expectant arms open.