sacrifice 《 ✔ 》

December 21st-Winter Solstice

Sacrifice Day.

The shortest day. The longest night.

The sun was only just rising, and everyone was outside to watch the beautiful day being. Church bells were ringing, the choir singing. The chimneys were sending ribbons of smoke into the air as people cooked, baking all types of bread and pastries.

Jimin wasn't at Warrington Cliff though, to eat breakfast and watch the sky as always. To clear the clutter that runs about his overactive head.

Instead, he was sleeping in. Sleeping in, something of which he never did. Normally he would wake up to his heart racing, but no. He was given sleep. The best sleep of his life.

When he awoke though, his hair looked different. Brown. A deep brown, the color of chocolate. It very closely resembled the fur of a deer or a rabbit's just before the first frost.

He didn't quite notice the change. Not even in the bathroom when his mother coated his skin with buttermilk,  neither of them saying a word. Silence has never been louder.

Taehyung was the one who again pointed out the shift in color. "It's brown," he said.

"Brown?" Said Jimin,  hand flying to his head.

"Mmhm." Taehyung reached forward and snatched a strand of hair straight from Jimins head. Jimin winced slightly at the sudden twinge of pain and looked at the single strand of hair between Taehyungs fingers.

Brown as he said.

"Wow..." he said. "That's the nearest black."

"Maybe it will go completely black."

The boy was confused. "Why would it go that dark...?"

"It's seasonal I guess," Taehyung shrugged.

He nodded yet again. Seasonal. That made sense.

Jimin then spoke again. "What are we supposed to be doing today?"

"Oh... preparing for selection. Everyone is. That's why we've all gotten buttermilk baths. Even old man Jones and Preacher Jack."

Jimin nodded. "How are we supposed to do that...?"

"Just... I don't know... groom yourself. After lunch, everyone has to stay in their rooms until sunset. The feast is at eleven, and the sacrifice is at twelve exactly," Taehyung said as he stood up.
"Say your prayers and vows." And then he was gone.

Jimin sat alone for a moment. More than that even, he sat alone for hours and only realized such when the bell for twelve sang. Lunchtime. He stood and walked his way towards the kitchens for his small meal. Apples, a sandwich, milk, and a few other random snacks holding them in his hands now, he didn't feel much like eating.

He sat in front of the mirror on his bedroom floor and ate nonetheless, watching himself. His hair was messy, dark. His eyes... they looked almost golden in the sunlight, another oddity. The way his body was changing scared him. It was too fast. He could have sworn that in another moment, his canines would have turned to slender fangs.

They didn't.

He bit his lip as he finished eating and grabbed his hairbrush to maybe sort out the fluffy mess on his head. Maybe. He blushed and stared at himself, not in vain, but in curiosity. He was already growing sick of looking at himself but had yet to turn away.

How long had he been sitting here? Hours apparently. By the time he put the hairbrush down, his hair was silky and the sun had lowered just beyond the horizon to make room for the sun. He changed clothes and made his way to the dining hall to find the room bustling already. He spotted his mother and YoonJin somewhere in the crowd but they decided that they were meant to go unbothered, especially for the night.