"A monster! She's a monster!"
A shrill loud voice echoed inside the house.
The young girl just stood there, silently watching her mother wail non-stop while trying to step closer to the corpse of the man who was the stepfather of the girl.
The corpse was disfigured that you could not make out the face of the man. Blood splattered all over the walls and onto the couch, the blood of a man who tried to defile the girl. But she was unable to speak to defend herself, still traumatized.
Sirens could be heard in the background along with the hushed whispers of the neighbors with a shocked expression displayed on their faces. They were scrutinizing her openly but it didn't matter to her.
All she wanted was for her naive mother to believe her and no one else. Even though she had expected that hostile reaction from her, she still had her tiny hopes up that as her own flesh and blood, her mom would side with her of all people.
She watched disappointingly as her mother stared at her not as a child, but as a monster. Her mother's eyes were full of hatred that she felt like it could pierce her.
"Y-you! You're not my child! I did not give birth to a monster!"
Her mother was seething with anger.
"You should just die and go to hell!"
That was the last thing her mom said to her before she was dragged out by the two policemen.
She should feel hurt right now, bawling her eyes out for how her own mom had just cursed her existence but she was unable to. She did not feel like crying. The only thing she felt as of the moment was nothingness. It was as if emotions had left her body, making her an empty soul. She did not know if this was a good thing or not.
Hands slammed on the table broke her out of her own thoughts.
"Are you mute or what? We're here for hours already and you haven't talked a single word. Tell everything what happened back then."
The man in uniform commanded while staring straight into her eyes.
She was brought into an interrogation room and was asked for hours but they did not get an answer out of her. Instinctively, the girl recalled the nightmare from earlier.
Her mother was out on a Friday night with her boyfriend a.k.a. her stepdad, as her mother insisted. She felt a bit relieved knowing that she had the house to herself. Finishing up all of her assignments, she hummed as she grabbed the remote from the table. She bounced in her step heading to the couch, a smile was evident in her eyes. She tucked herself in the couch then turned on the TV, her favorite cartoon show was airing.
After a while, she fell asleep on the couch as the TV continued to play in the background. She jolted awake when she felt a callous hand caressing her arm. She lay still frozen as she looked up at the man hovering above her.
"You're a gorgeous little girl, Calla. You wouldn't mind playing with your daddy, right?" He smiled wickedly.
She watched with wide eyes when her stepfather moved his hand up a little bit. Goosebumps appeared all over her skin and her heart rate escalated, fear crippling her body. She could only open her mouth but the man was quick to cover her mouth with his hand, effectively shutting her up.
"We don't want your mom waking up now, do we? Shut up and be a good little girl, Calla."
Her breathing quickened as his face was getting closer. His rotten breath from intoxicating alcohol repulsed her to the core. Realizing the danger she was in, her reflexes kicked in and she kicked and punched with all her might. She managed to land a kick on his groin, using that opportunity to crawl away from him.
Before she could even move another muscle, a hand yanked her hair so hard that she cried out. Tears brimmed in the corner of her eyes as another hand shot out tightly gripping her left arm. She was pushed down on the cold hard floor with sheer force that she felt like it would leave a bruise on her head.
When she felt fingertips clutching the hem of her pj's, her body and mind went numb. Tremendous fear overtook her as tears streamed down her face. She kicked wildly without aim but to no avail and hardly bit the hand covering her mouth that she could feel the metallic taste of blood.
She heard her stepfather cursing and the sound of slapping. She felt the sting it left on her face, her lips burst open but she could not feel any amount of pain. A sudden surge of power overwhelmed her being as if she was being possessed.
She spoke the word that she never thought of saying.
"Die."
Her words were laced with venom.
All of a sudden, the body of his stepfather hovering above became immobile and she saw the veins almost popped out of his neck. He was looking at her with a terrified look, his face paled and sweats were rolling down on his face.
The body burst and blood splattered all over her. A trickle of blood flowed down through her nose. Her breathing stopped. Her mind stopped working.
I killed him.
That was the last thing she thought of before she lost consciousness.
She woke up from the scream of her mother. A scream filled with agony and pain. Her mom had a horrified look on her face, fat tears streamed down her face while covering her mouth. She could not believe the gory scene in front of her. Her mom became sober as she took in everything tragic that happened right before her eyes.
The girl stood up and took a glimpse of the mirror on her side. Her clothes once white were now covered in deep red with a foul odor. A blood not of her own but of the man she just killed. The memory was still fresh on her mind. She looked blankly at her mother who had a wild look in her eyes, desperately calling for the cops to come here.
She felt like she became an entirely different person. The traumatic event from last night had changed her. With the deadly power she did not know she possessed, terrified her immensely. Unknowingly, she hugged herself as if that simple action could keep her safe from everything.
A few days after, she was bailed out of jail for the lack of evidences that she committed the murder aside from the blood on her clothes and there were no weapons found in the crime scene. Her mother sank into depression and later killed herself from grief. With no one to turn to, she was brought into an orphanage away from her place.
The sky was low and gray that afternoon as she sat at the swing with a distant look in her eyes. No other kids would try to get close to her as she seemed aloof and detached from reality. From that day of the incident and up until now, she did not utter a single word. She did not bother to interact with other kids her age as well. She just kept onto her own, with walls built up around her.
"Calla, come here for a second."
The nun called out to her.
She looked back and saw her waving for her to come. She stood up and started approaching the nun.
"Can you bring this list to Chloe at the grocery store? It's just around the corner. I forgot to add these ones to the list I gave her."
The nun warily smiled at her.
She nodded and took the list from her hand. As she was walking down the road, a thunder rumbled out of nowhere. She looked up in the sky and noticed the dark clouds began to form in the sky. She quickened her pace, unaware of the black vehicle tailing behind her.
"We found her." A gruff voice spoke up on the phone.
She was about to turn around the corner when a sudden screech made her halt her steps. Two large men came out of the black SUV with tattoos all over their arms and neck and started to approach her. Her mind kept signaling her to run away when she took a glimpse of the guns tucked behind their pants.
She slowly turned around and was about to dash when she bumped into something hard.
"Oops. Gotcha."
The thumping of her heart increased as cold sweat formed on her forehead. She gripped the list she was holding as the man in front of her with a menacing aura loomed over her. The two men behind her circled around her, hiding her from the eyes of the people passing by.
She held her breath when the face of the stranger came closer towards her.
"Nice meeting you, Calla. Humans are evil, don't you think so?"
She stood frozen when he crushed her into a hug. She could not think of anything as she felt very intimidated by the presence of the man.
"Humans don't realize how precious your power is. Don't worry, we'll be your family from now on."
His voice left no room for argument. She did not understand what he meant but her guts told her that she didn't stand a chance against them, that it would only lead to her demise.