A Skinwalker’s Observation

"Curiosity killed the cat," a quote well-known to many. When Kyle noticed his older brother suddenly being petrified after staring down the narrow hallway leading to the unused room of their house, his instinct was to see what Jean was looking at. 

He searched for anything strange but found everything as he remembered it to be - nothing out of the ordinary. 

"This... This. L-Look at this," Jean stuttered as he handed Kyle the photo and the magnifying glass. He pointed out the red part with a trembling finger and instructed Kyle to align it with the background after looking at it. 

Kyle did as he was told and, in less than five seconds, his body went cold with fear. He could almost hear his heart pounding loudly. "I... I don't remember ever seeing this painting before," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper as cold sweat formed on his brow.

"When was the last time we were in that room?" Jean asked, but Kyle couldn't provide a definite answer. They both struggled to recall the last time they entered the room, their memories were foggy at best. This lack of recollection didn't make them feel any better.

Kyle tried to make the mood lighter by asking a question. "The door looks new, so it can't have been that long ago, right?"

Jean could only shrug.

With a silent agreement between them, they made their way to the garage to find things to protect themselves. Jean found a metal pipe, and Kyle chose a portable chainsaw. They also got the key from their dad's room.

As they stood before the door, Jean took a deep breath and inserted the key into the lock. The door creaked open slowly, revealing a foul odor that made them both gag and cough.

"Gah! What's with this smell?" asked Kyle while recoiling and covering his nose in disgust.

They turned on the light and were met with a scene straight out of a nightmare.

The walls were covered with macabre art made from blood, hair, and nails. There were paintings of different people depicting different emotions. There was an old woman showing rage and malice as her body contorted and twisted with pain. A young child begged silently with her hands raised to whoever made eye contact with her. The other portraits seemed to watch them with sinister intent.

Their gaze was then drawn to the center of the room, where a carcass of a puma lay with maggots crawling in and out of its flesh. It bore a striking resemblance to the puma their widowed neighbor owned.

"What the f*ck are all these?" Kyle whispered, his voice quivering with fear. And as if in response, the computer in the corner hummed to life, casting a chilling glow over the room.

And it was at that moment…

"What are you two doing?"

It was their dad.

***

As the siblings tried to uncover the mystery behind the inconsistency of their memories, a dog could be seen walking silently in the castle of the Kingdom of Bram. The black dog stood at one meter high and didn't really have much presence.

The people didn't mind it as it wandered into the King's chamber; not even the soldiers and servants paid it any mind.

It sniffed around, and after realizing the king wasn't in his chamber, its body began to morph into a man clad in an all-black outfit. His green eyes focused on the chamber where he had taken the red-haired lady.

The man who had recently appeared as a dog was what people called a Skinwalker. He had the ability to shapeshift into any creature he desired, as long as he met the necessary requirements.

He found the king collecting some red hairs, but, as usual, he remained silent.

The King had been acting strangely since the death of his wife and his mistress. He made questionable decisions, such as marrying off Princess Rocielle to the opposing kingdom which ended in a disaster. But the weirdest thing was the lack of concern from the people.

The man tried all sorts of things, like stealing in plain sight, pretending to kidnap someone, and casually mentioning he would poison the king. But their reaction was the same every single time.

It didn't really sit well with him how easily the king had allowed Elian, the crown prince, to travel with the lady he met for the first time.

Needless to say, something weird was going on in the Kingdom.