I was only 10 when it happened. The day I would never forget. I remember all the blood and all the pain. I just got home from school, I was tired from the long day and all I wanted to do was sit down on the couch. I arrived at my cabin, the kitchen window was broken. The glass shards seemed to stand out next to The brown wood. I walked inside, I was so confused when I didn't see my mom, she normally greets me. "Mom?" I called out. My voice rang through the house, breaking the silence. I began to make my way to the couch to sit down my bag. My feet pressing on the hard wood floor, creaking with every carefully placed step. I wanted to relax but something was off. There was a giant scratch down the brown wood walls of the hand built cabin. I made my way to the kitchen, walking slowly and alert. Nothing was stolen, but things were broken. The light in the corner of the room was broken. Every hair on my body stood up, I felt uneasy. I continued walking. I froze. My dad was standing there, covered in dripping blood. His blonde short hair was now red. His eyes were wide open like an animal getting backed into a corner. His body was shaking. "Dad are you ok?" I asked as I slowly moved forward. He seemed to just have noticed me, like he was blind for a second, confused. My dad turned me and raised the knife that was in his right hand. His He walked forward, his body trembling with every step. The floor creaked loudly with every step he took. He was about 205 pounds, and all of it muscle. I walked sideways, slowly trying to get away from him. My hands glided across the smooth wood surface on the kitchen counter. It didn't take long before I saw her. My mom. She was lying limp on the floor. Cuts and stab wounds all over her corpse. Blood pooling around her. Her black hair was ripped out at some places, she definitely put up a fight. I should of felt bad at the moment but I didn't. All emotions were wiped away and I tried to slowly get away from the killer. The killer, my own dad. I couldn't believe it. I looked at her and then back at him. Fresh blood dripped off the silver knife. I looked around for an escape. "Y-you killed her!" I squeaked, my voice shaking in fear. I have never seen that look in his eyes, or anyone's eyes. It was like a predator looking at prey, no longer did he look like a scared animal backed into a corner. My dad flung himself towards me. It's like he glided across the wood floor. I ran in the opposite direction, my sore legs pushing me forward. "HELP!" I screamed. My sister came rushing down the stairs, tackling my dad. There was a loud noise that boomed through the cabin as they slammed on the floor. Both of them wrestled on the floor for the knife. The knife cut their skin as they fought for their survival. I kicked my dad in the side of the head, loosening his grip on my sister. "Polly!" I shouted in relief. Me and Polly darted towards the door, adrenaline pushing us to our limit. But my dad wasn't too far behind, knife and all. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I fell to the ground. The knife ripped open the back of my leg, I let out painful scream. I kicked and I kicked to get loose. He pulled me closer, strangling me with his bare hands, I was gasping for air. I quickly got up and ran once he loosened his grip on me. Again my dad got up too. But this time he tripped, and then knife plunged deep into his chest. I looked back, I froze as I watched the blood pool around his body. I turn back around and bolted out the door. "Come on Sky!" Polly shouted. Immediately we went to my treehouse that was in the woods. Polly set me down on a log looked at my leg. "That is definitely going to hurt later." Polly said as she examined the wound. Her brown hair was covered in sweat. We both had finally caught our breath. We agreed that we would stay in the treehouse overnight. In the morning we would head to the castle. Tomorrow we would speak with king Monty. Through the the night every sound kept me up. Every sound made my hair stand on edge. My father was dead, my mother was dead, but me, I was still alive. My leg hurt so bad, I couldn't wait for sunrise. I quietly made my way out of the treehouse. It was pitch black out, but I knew the area. I made my way through the woods to avoid any defenders on the path (Defenders are what Everthorn calls their guards). A branch broke behind me so I froze. "Please just be a deer." I thought to myself as I stared back with wide eyes. Nothing happened so I moved on. I ran my fingers through my brown hair and took a deep breath. The wind blew though the trees, making the most bone chilling noise. I sat down from exhaustion, my eyes getting heavy. I fell asleep. The sounds of the wind and animals faded away.
*Morning*
"SKY! SKY! WHERE ARE YOU!" Polly shouted in the distance. I tried to get up but the pain in my leg was excruciating. The grass was stained red, I don't remember when it started bleeding but all I knew was that it hurt. "Polly!" I tried to scream, but all that came out was a muffled screech. I attempted to scream but my throat was sore from yesterday, it almost felt swollen. The trees seemed to stand as tall as mountains, the tree bark seemed almost perfect and not chipped at all. The leaves were a perfect green, and so was the grass. Twigs and branches were scattered across the ground, they were almost a perfect brown color. A butterfly with blue and green wings landed on my nose, distracting me from my surroundings. The butterfly just sat there, peacefully. "Sky!" Polly yelled as she got closer. I chucked a rock at a puddle, making a loud splashing noise. The butterfly flew away but Polly heard the rock hit the water. "Omg Sky!" Polly yelled as she ran towards me. Polly poked at my wound and tried to see how bad it was. "It is so difficult to smell anything out here." Polly said as she rubbed her nose. She tucked her brown hair behind her ears and pulled out a bag full of cobwebs. "As you know these should help with the bleeding." Polly assured me. I winced in pain as her finger touched the wound. I flinched. Polly kept on looking around. "What are you looking for?" I asked. "Nothing." Polly replied. "Can you walk?" Polly asked. "I think so." I shrugged. Polly helped me get up. "To the castle!" I cheered. Polly looked worried. "Yeah." Polly said sounding almost sarcastic. We made our way down the trail. "HELP!" Polly shouted till a guard rushed to us. "She was stabbed." Polly told the guard. The guard nodded; his iron armor made noise as he moved his head up and down. The guard picked me up and carried me to the castle. They put stuff on my cut, it burned. They wrapped up my leg. I was free to roam the castle till my sister arrived. I made my way down the hall. The carpet was a royal red, the walls black. Torches lined the walls. I saw the throne room, the door was cracked open. "Polly, it's nice to see you again." Said a voice from the room. Polly? I peeked through the door. Polly was standing in front of the king. Guards sat on both sides of the room. "I'm not here to cause any harm, I have at least 5 years till I owe you." Polly replied. "5 years," The king scoffed "more like 5 minutes." The king laughed. "I'm not the reason he didn't make it! Monty, think about the consequences!" Polly shouted. The king clenched his fist. The king kicked Polly down to her knees, his metal sword in his hand. "What about my sister! She can't go through this alone! You'll die!" Polly quickly shouted. "If you kill me now it risks the prophecy! You'll die, we don't know how long you'll have, what about the other two!" Polly pleaded. Polly started to cry as the king raised his sword. He stabbed her, through the neck, cutting off her head. He chucked her head across the room. My face turned red. "Clean up this mess and burn the body." The king said. The blood blended into the red carpet. I ran, I didn't know where I was going but I ran. Tears flooding down my face. My eyes burned from the tears, my head hurt from crying. I burst into a bathroom, slamming the door, I slid down the door, falling on the floor. "Sh-she's dead!" I thought. Panic hit me like a bullet to the chest. I couldn't breath. My vision blurred, turning black. I passed out.
*5 years later*
I walked down the empty halls in my uniform. Voices echoed in the distance. I entered the library, dusting shelves, rearranging and putting books in the correct place. This has been my life for 5 years, i have been a maid. In 4 weeks I would be 16, Polly would be so proud. Every time I hear they name, Polly, I choke on my words. "Hello Sky!" A voice said behind me. I turned around and there stood a boy, he looked around my age. He had brown, short hair. He had brown eyes and a gentle smile. His clothes looked expensive, he looked familiar. "Pardon me sky but have you seen my dad?" The boy asked. "What's your fathers name sir?" I asked. He looked at me with surprise, his brown eyes grew large in shock. "I apologize, I forgot to introduce myself." Laughed the boy. He scratched his head. "I'm am Kage, Son of King Monty or Everthorn!" He said. My heart dropped. This was the prince. I've been here for 5 years and I didn't know he was the prince. "Please forgive me your majesty." I begged as I lowered my head. "Your fine." Laughed kage. "I am deeply sorry prince, your father is in a meeting with some guards." I replied. "Just call me Kage." The boy said. I nodded. "Fancy a chat?" Asked Kage. "It would be my pleasure." I responded. We walked over to go sit down. "Would you like some tea, water, or anything else to drink?" I asked. "No thank you." Kage politely declined. "How long have you worked here?" Kage asked. "I was 10 when I got here, 11 when I started working, and I'll be 16 in 4 weeks." I said with some pride cracking in my voice. "Really! I'm turning 16 in 3 weeks!" Kage said with excitement filling his voice. We talked for almost an hour, getting to know each other. He escorted me back to my room. He seemed nice and kind unlike his dad who was very short tempered. I have to admit, Monty isn't all that bad, minus the fact that he murdered my sister. The guards here were terrible though. The guards were the reason there are locks on the maids doors. I got dressed into my sleep gear, and layer down. Slowly drifting off...