Proglogue
The old gods were weak. They had glutted on the spoils of countless wars and the frightened praises from lower forms of life. They had too much. Had contented themselves for too long.
It did not take long for the new gods to take advantage of their weakness.
After declaring themselves the rightful rulers, it did not take long for the old and new gods to go to war. Full of newfound might and lust for power, there came a challenge for any god to prove that they were the most powerful, worthy of ruling over everything beside and beneath them. All gladly accepted the challenge. Only one prevailed.
For who could defeat Death?
Mina’s feet scraped through the dust as she beheld the being in front of her. She came to a halt and blinked up at the reedy thing, now standing mere feet away. Its skin was brown as leather and hung from its bones in the same manner of the pile of rags adorning its skin. It was once a plain dress, Mina thought. Nothing too pretty.
The thing—it was once a woman, Mina surmised—blinked down at her with milky eyes that glowed like twin moons. That was how Mina knew that she was staring at more than a simple vagrant like herself. Reggie called them barely-theres. As in, the poor soul who was reanimated while in the process of death was now barely there, inside of their own body.
A half life, Reggie had referred to it as.
The ancient barely just stared and stared at her. They weren’t known for talking, according to Reggie’s stories. They lived a long, long, long time. And they stayed silent all the while. It was said that if they so much as open their mouths in your direction, you were marked for death. Millie, the girl who lived around the corner, once swore to Mina that a barely had gasped when it beheld her father the day before he’d left for sea. He regaled the family later that night with the tale of it, even poked fun at his wife and daughter for showing even a bit of concern.
He left the next day with a smile on his face. Millie never saw him again.
Mina furrowed her brow. It was perhaps the saddest way to live, she decided. Partially inside of your living body, partially in the underworld. Like a living ghost. “I see you,” Mina told her. “There’s still something in there.”
The barely studied her with unseeing eyes from where it stood. Then, the thing cocked its head, as though to study Mina from another angle. It closed its eyes. Inhaled. Opened them again. Its lips cracked apart to reveal a mess of rotted teeth and a bloated tongue. The words that escaped its lips, however, were perfectly clear and recognizable. It was a simple statement. A warning.
“They cannot keep you here.”
Mina took a shaky step back. She had never heard of a barely who had spoken before. Perhaps she was imagining the entire thing. She rubbed her eyes with her fists until she saw stars behind her eyelids.
The barely had somehow moved without sound. When Mina opened her eyes again, the thing was now right in front of her. It blinked at her again, mouth still agape. She tilted her head in the other direction and took another deep breath.
“They cannot keep you here,” the barely said once again. This time, though, it was Regina’s voice that escaped its mouth. Her words were frantic, full of anger and remorse.
Mina’s hands began to shake. She felt her brow furrow from confusion. “What?” She asked in a whisper. She remembered those words—remembered when her sister had spoken them to her. It was long after Mina had her run in with the barely, when she and her sister had been taken to the convent by the authorities who had picked them up off the street.
They were the last words Regina had ever spoken to Mina.
Before Mina could piece any of what was happening together, the barely moved again. Quickly and silently, it grabbed Mina by the shoulders, digging its bony fingers hard into her skin. Mina looked deep into the wretched thing’s eyes and saw her own horrified expression, mouth agape, eyes wide. The old woman opened her mouth and roared the words once more so that they could cut through the sound of Mina’s screams.
THEY CANNOT KEEP YOU HERE!
