Evil comes from human beings, just as honey comes from bees.
—Golding
A fly flew into the room through an open window.
Everything in the room was black: the curtains, the marble floor, and the furniture. Only the daffodils in a golden vase brought a hint of lively color to the darkness.
Ten-year-old Nadia Vasika watched it circle the ceiling for a while before following some scent toward the drapes. But a gauze screen blocked its way, so the brightly colored fly settled on it alongside hundreds of others.
Behind the drapes was darkness, but when the wind blew—perhaps stirring the curtains that blocked the sunlight—Nadia could make out the silhouette of a person.
He sat in a high-backed chair like a king.
"Bring her over," said the man behind the drapes.
"Come, darling." Nadia's mother took her hand and led her a few steps forward.
"Stop," said the person inside. Nadia and her mother immediately halted. "Let her come alone."
Nadia's mother released her hand, but Nadia did not move.
For some reason, she was afraid of the person behind the drapes.
Nadia's mother gently pushed her between the shoulder blades, and Nadia slowly walked toward the curtain. The flies all took off when they sensed her arrival, yet they only circled overhead instead of leaving, buzzing loudly.
The person in the high-backed chair rose to his feet and slowly approached Nadia.
That indescribable stench grew stronger. It smelled like rotting rats, and it was this scent that had drawn the flies here.
Then the man crouched down, and Nadia instinctively took a step back.
"Do you know why you came here?" the person behind the drapes asked.
"Yes," Nadia said tremblingly.
"Tell me."
"To become... to become the next 'village chief' of Paroldo," Nadia said.
"That is what