[Incoming critical situation: vitality rate at (percentage) Initiating backup protocols. Do you require assistance? Yes or no.]
[Respond promptly to ensure optimal support]
"....."
Eyes fluttering open, Renee's ruby irises pierced through the walls of her subconsciousness. She lifted her head up slowly, but stopped short when a throbbing headache echoed through her skull, and she winced as the pain pulsed with each heartbeat.
Blood trickled from her forehead down to her chin, a crimson stream that seemed to draw in the predators lurking outside, like vulture's lurching to a wounded prey.
Confusion mingled with the pain in her head, she felt disoriented, and it took a while before she realized that the car had suffered from a collision, leaving them trapped amidst the remnants of twisted metals and shattered glasses.
"No, not like this, I need.. I need to get up." Her own voice was barely audible to her ears, but she persisted, refusing to stay low.
In her attempt to move, a wave of weakness held her captive, and all her bones felt as though they had been crushed by something. Renee helplessly sank back to her seat as her remaining strength got consumed by that one movement, and she turned her head the other way to look at her brother whose head was resting on the steering wheel, but there was no movement from him.
Her breath caught in her throat as she fumbled with words, her lips trembling, wanting to call out to her brother who hadn't moved an inch.
"C… Cyrus." She struggled against the dizziness and whispered his name, her throat closing due to the uncomfortable lump stuck in her windpipe. She turned her head to the window and saw the monsters dragging themselves forward, their hungry growls increasing with each step.
She tried to move out of instinct, but soon regretted it when a sharp pain shot through her spine, and a short cry escaped her lips.
[Vitality rate at (percentage) initiating backup protocols. Do you require assistance? Yes or no.]
The system's voice pierced through the monster's endless growls, and Renee's heavy gaze settled on the yes and no section displayed on her hologram.
She hardly knew what it meant, she didn't understand what the system was asking, but even then, she reached a shaky finger to the hologram and clicked on yes. What it stood for, she couldn't process a thing, it felt like there was a thick fog clouding her vision now, her brain was shutting down, and all she wanted to do was sleep.
[Initiating backup protocols….]
At this point, Renee could feel her eyelids grow heavier, and she couldn't help but use her last minute to wonder; if she falls asleep, and she wakes up, where will she find herself? Everything was going so well for once that she thought that maybe, this life could really give her that moment she failed to experience in her previous life.
Was her brother going to die too?
Maybe… maybe this is for the better. At least, they'll both be reunited with their family, and she won't have to suffer in this monster-infested world by herself. This was better! It has to be, right?
But…
Closing her eyes, Renee could hear the car door being ripped open with a strength that certainly couldn't possibly belong to a human. She awaited the pain that would come from her flesh being torn by these heartless monsters, but what she subconsciously expected never came.
Instead, angry growls and agonizing screech of mutant monsters filled her eardrum, and when she managed to lift her eyelids, through her lashes, she could see the monsters had all been slaughtered, their bodies sliced into pieces on the bare floor.
A pair of black boots approached her car seat, but she could hardly keep her eyes open at this time.
Giving in to the deep sleep that plagued her consciousness, she let go of her defense, succumbing to the darkness that drew her in. However, it didn't end there, because the deeper she fell into this abyss, the more alarmed she became until– as if time had suddenly shifted, she was encountering one of the most traumatizing memories of her past life.
The landscape morphed to how it had been one thousand years ago, before such cities and technology were invented. She was walking beside her mother who brought her to the royal Palace, then she was only thirteen, and unlike every child who would be deemed privileged enough to visit such a glorious palace, she wasn't the least happy to be here.
Infact, she was terrified to her bones.
"Mother." Her big round pleading eyes looked up at the woman who continuously led her to the grand Palace, and she whispered out of fear.
"I don't want to be here. Let's go back home."
She made her fears known, but her mother turned deaf ears to her pleas, it was almost as if she was deliberately ignoring her, but when she grew persistent with her request, her mother stopped walking and eventually spared her some attention. For a moment, Renee predicted her mother's angry reaction. She was awaiting the slaps her mother would give her for talking too much, but instead of getting hit like always, her mother crouched down to her level and stared at her gently.
Deceivingly.
"Renee my child, what is it? Mother is here to collect some money from the Palace, okay?" She uttered softly to her daughter, adjusting the crumbs on her hair. "Your father, your brothers, and your sister would need to fill their stomach, they've been hungry for days so we're here to collect money, okay."
"Are we… Are we going to leave after that?" She nearly squeaked, grabbing onto the fabric of her dress, and when her mother nodded, she felt somewhat relieved to know they wouldn't spend much time here.
Taking careful strides past the decorated courtyard, Renee could sense the intimidation lingering behind the walls of every building, and she shuddered at the feeling this place gave her. Renee stopped walking when her mother stopped in front of the palace gate, and she whispered something to the guard who suddenly left, only to return with a plump, short woman who had a pouch of coins ready in her hand.
"As expected," the plump lady smiled as she took in the girl's fragile features. The girl on the other hand had slipped behind her mother's back, shielding herself from the inspecting gaze of the woman, and without warning, she was immediately caught off guard when one of the knight's grabbed her arm and pushed her forward till she was kneeling in front of the woman.
Renee froze when the plump lady tilted her chin up, and she could hear her hum in contemplation. "She'll do fine in the palace."
"Believe me, she will." Renee could hear her mother side with the woman who handed her the pouch containing silver coins. For a moment, Renee failed to grasp the idea of what was happening, and the exchange of pouch in her current situation suddenly made sense.
She was being sold!
"Mother, don't!!" Panic gripped her heart, and she wanted to run back to her mother, but the other woman grabbed her arm roughly and drew her back.
"Let me go! Mother!" Renee cried and kicked, struggling to entangle herself from this bargain. She desperately called out to her mother, eyes filled to the brim and tears rolling down her cheek, but the woman she called mother was only interested in the amount of coin the lady had given her. Without sparing her frightened daughter a glance, she bowed at the woman and smiled gratefully.
"I shall take my leave now."
"No! Mother, don't do this to me! Take me with you. I promise never to offend you! I swear I'll do anything you ask!! Don't leave me here, please!!" Renee cried out as the other woman dragged her into the palace, and despite her pleas, her mother never once turned back to look at her.
She had been obedient, she always listened even when she knew she wasn't in the wrong. She worked extra hard even at her age to ensure a day like this would never come, a day where she would be given as a slave to the royal palace, but in the end, her sacrifices were for nothing.
From that day onwards, when the doors to her freedom were shut, her life in the Palace became the worst part of her nightmares.