***
Blood. All the girl could see was blood. It covered her clothes and its stench wafted around in the room. In despair, the girl began to sob and hug her mother's shredded garments. Like a soothing lullaby that justified her actions, her mother's last words continuously played in her head. 'No matter what, you must stay alive.'
Those words were her saving grace and prayer. Her mother had died so that she could live, but why did she feel this way? She had survived, yet her stomach was full, and her heart was empty.
Footsteps echoed in the hall and suddenly halted near her door. Despite the muddled state of the girl's mind, she turned her attention towards the door and braced herself to face the person on the other side. The door slowly creaked open and a woman with long wavy brown hair and dimples was standing in the doorway
Her eyes slowly assessed the situation while she warmly smiled at the little girl, whose guard was up. "Hello, I'm your nanny."
The little girl was uncomfortable with the new and unfamiliar presence. She could sense that the woman who called herself 'nanny' was not a nice person and hid malicious intent behind her smiling eyes. In a cautious and stiff voice, she asked, "Who sent you?"
The nanny continued smiling and openly ignored the girl's question. This sent the girl off the edge as she silently stared into the nanny's eyes and quickly spotted a crack in her façade. Her eyes held disgust and contempt for the girl who was covered in blood. The nanny barely managed to hold back a gag and walked towards Kritana like a predator cornering its prey. Kritana began to back away until her back hit a familiar wall and could only tremble in fear as the nanny moved closer.
The nanny was only inches away from Kritana. The girl continued to visibly tremble at the feeling of the nanny's hot breath on her cheeks, and the woman laughed mockingly at the girl while roughly caressing her face. She then violently pulled on Kritana's hair and lifted the frail girl from the ground as if she weighed nothing.
While the girl struggled and groaned out in pain, the nanny violently whispered, "In this manor, I am god. Don't oppose me." Tears started to stream down the girl's bloody face and her body went limp.
As soon as Kritana passed out, the woman grinned in euphoric pleasure; the girl's pain delighted her to the point of dizziness. While grinning, the woman carried the girl to a basin of cold water and dumped her body inside. The girl's body began to shiver wildly, and she was shocked back into consciousness. In a cold voice, the woman whispered, "Bathe yourself, you filthy rat."
At her voice, chills ran along the girl's spine. Her voice sounded cold, but it was also laced with pleasure. At that moment, the girl realized that the nanny enjoyed tormenting her. She continued shivering, but it wasn't because of the cold.
3 years later
A little girl was sniffling in a room that was littered with rotting loaves of bread. The years had not treated her well; her eyes were aged and shone with a maturity that a normal eight-year-old shouldn't have, and her arms were as thin as sticks. Her hair was cut sloppily and barely reached her neck, and her body was riddled with scars and bruises. The most recent injury was a slap mark on her right cheek. Its outline was clear and visible, and the girl still winced in pain at the slightest touch.
Pain. Pain had been her constant companion over the past three years. Her nanny enjoyed tormenting her whenever the chance presented itself, and the maids and tutors turned a blind eye to the blatant abuse. The once cheerful girl that had loved running around was gone. Her existence had disappeared from the face of the earth and had died with her mother. In her place, was a gloomy girl who was almost devoid of emotion. The only hope she had, was of one day meeting her dad and sister. She was sure that once she became a useful tool for her father, he would give her the affection and protection that she had been starved of.
The door slammed open and the girl's heart almost stopped, her nanny's eyes shone with a bloodthirsty glow. The nanny grabbed the girl by her arm and applied pressure. The girl began to scream and tried to struggle out of her nanny's grasp, but the woman easily overpowered her. The girl was weaker and smaller than most eight-year old's, there was no way that she could overpower a grown woman who had enhanced her physical strength with divine power. A searing pain spread through her arm, and the girl descended into the darkness.
When she woke up, she felt the cold hard floor against her back and a set of cold piercing eyes. She sat up in a daze, only to see the nanny sitting in a chair across from her. Her body subconsciously flinched in fear until she looked in the nanny's lifeless eyes. She recognized the smell that was on her clothes, but she still stared in disbelief at her hands. A blue light emitted from her small hands and her eyes were glowing. She glanced at her nanny's dead body and spotted a small hole in her chest. Blood gushed out of her former abuser and the stench of her corpse wafted around the room.
She looked down at her blood splattered clothes and felt the adrenaline rush to her head. She had just taken her first life and had awakened her magic, but she appeared to be eerily calm.
Once she had cleaned herself up, she felt an overwhelming presence near the door. It soon opened and a mysterious man waltzed into the room. His eyes silently scrutinized the girl and grinned once he sensed a trace of magic emitting from her. He silently ordered for his attendant to take the nanny's body away and introduced himself while his eyes shone with greed. "Hello Kritana, I am your father."
At the word 'father,' Kritana's attention turned towards the man and her crimson eyes beamed in anticipation. This was the man that her mother had chosen. He must be as kindhearted as her mother was to people who were useful. Her tutors had told her that he valued usefulness, and if she was right, she was useful now.
With a smile, the girl took his callused hand and said, "I can be of use father."
He was her ticket to affection and protection, if her family didn't love her, then who would?
***