The Nachzehrer

It’s been a year since my sister died, and I have hardly slept since. I was away when it happened. But how was I supposed to know what would happen to her? I was trying to provide for our very big extended family, shopping at the market, when it happened. I might not have seen it happen, but I was the first one to see the results of her actions. Maybe if I had come home sooner, I could have stopped her. I could have stopped her from cutting open her veins in the back of the barn, and bleeding out next to the pigsty. 

The funeral was short because winter was approaching and there was much to do. Despite the largeness of our family, I was one of only three to show up alongside our parents. Maybe that’s why such tragedy is befalling us now, as I run from the house, the last one remaining. 

(sounds of a man running away, panting, running from faint oinking)

After she died, things returned to as normal as they could be. Until people started going missing. First, it was our second-youngest sibling, the brother born directly before her. He was her twin, but he didn’t show up to the funeral. He was busy tending to the fields, one could hardly blame him for worrying about our well-being for the winter. 

Next, our aunt. She made a bigger fuss during her departure. As she squealed like a pig, I ran to her room as quickly as I could. 

(pigs squeal, mixed with woman screams)

But when I arrived, the room went silent. Silent, except for the sound of chewing animals and pigs.

(crunch munch munch)

I searched the room high and low. But I could find no sign of her or any animals. I raced to my father and dragged him to the room. But by the time we arrived, the sound was gone. When asked, no one claimed to have heard my aunt’s struggling. No one but me. 

Our second eldest sibling was next to go, the sister just younger than me. But this time I was prepared. I waited all night, every night, listening for the pigs. I insisted that we needed to abandon our own pigs for safety. But no one would listen. Still, the pigs were on the other side of the field by the barn. There was no reason for a pig to be near our house. 

Yet when our second eldest sibling was taken, I heard them once again. 

(oink oink oink)

I raced around the house, desperately trying to follow the sounds. It all started with my youngest sister, I knew she was causing this somehow! From far beyond the grave, she wanted us to follow where she laid. If only I had been there to stop her that summer day before she ended her life in sin. 

( pigs oinking and the sounds of a man running around the house in a panic. Heavy breathing )

(the sounds of a door slamming open, and a loud pig squeal.)

But that hardly mattered now. She was gone, and I was too late as I always was. My sister had taken another victim, and no one could hear the sounds of their suffering except for me.

(sound of a man breaking into tears)

I insisted our remaining family start attending church. I thought if we prayed hard enough, and begged earnestly for forgiveness. We could be saved from her. So we went to church, and we begged for forgiveness for not paying enough attention to our youngest sister. 

This could have worked. This should have worked. As we left the church, we were forced to walk through the graveyard back to our truck. I thought it would be smart to visit our sister’s grave. To tell her how sorry we all were that so few of us went to her funeral. But as we walked up to her grave, the church bells rang, and my mother collapsed.

(ringing of the church bells) (A body hits the floor)

My father immediately tried to help her up, and I ran to assist. But when I felt her skin, it was ice cold to the touch. My mother was dead, and as I looked at my sister’s grave, it was dug up. Her coffin was open, yet the body was nowhere to be found. 

We didn’t visit the church again.

Time dwindled by, and I failed to stop every one of my relatives’ deaths.

So now I am running, running away as fast as I can to town to get away from this country where my sister lies with her shadows of pigs. Before I realize it, I am running to the church graveyard. She is there, but maybe if I reach the church before she reaches me, I will be saved. It’s the only option I can think of. I have to get to the church before the bell rings, and my sister’s pigs catch me. 

If only I could run faster!

(end with church bells ringing, and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Faint oinking and the sounds of eating ensue.)