1

A hundred moons ago a, I got bit.

I was racing through the darkness, trying to escape the monster I had been introduced to as a father—the same man who would torment me day and night.

He has done it again, trust me.

I'm not sure if he found joy in abusing his own daughter, but it was his regular behaviour, all the same. He barged into my rooms, his fingers clenching the worn-out brown leather belt I had grown accustomed to, and told me to strip off.

One was to wonder if he was my father at all to this day.

And all the while drenched in tears, I'd watch him come to me, engaging with me, while I cursed the day I was born. It wasn't the first, nor was it the second, and like every other day, after the man I called father spat on my humiliated body, I would grab my dress, hurrying out our little house, hurrying off into the woods, seeking for whatever comfort there was, seeking for my own sanity.

My feet pushed through the murk, the call of nocturnal animals jolting me at each second.

Figure struggling to find its way through the dark, my form came connecting with something solid—Some sort of wall, which came out of nowhere, blocking my path.

The impact had caused me losing my senses for a brief second, and with the grunts escaping my lips, my hands reached out in search of anything as some support for my waddling form.

The cry of animals around the area, didn't do so much in helping matters, it only struck even more fear, to my already-withered being.

Turning around to whatever I had backed into, I was left with golden eyes glowing back at me.

Sharp, cold gaze, those eyes appeared dull on my form, and only with a tad of bit of my senses informing me that it was unusual for someone normal to bear eyes like that, did I finally come to register the standing entity stood before me.

What sort of treachery was this?

I heard low breaths pouring out, and at each second that went by, it got heavier, hastened, but I swear those breaths weren't mine—It came from whatever stood before me.

I could feel my legs giving in, my body soon hitting the ground. It was no surprise how I had tripped on my own feet colliding face-first with whatever it was my eyes beheld. And it was only then, I felt something sharp strike against my arm.

A voice said to run, and at once, I took to my feet, ready to make way, when something out of nowhere halted me—Something strong against my body, pinning me down, preventing my movements.

A sharp sting on my neck, had me letting out a sharp grunt, the pain lasting for a second, and in a moment, it was gone.

I could feel something light trickling down my neck, falling onto my arms.

Scream! That voice said in my head, but who would spare a listening ear to a cry of help in the woods, no one in their right mind would be out on this corner at such hour, yet here I found myself, praying to be spared a chance to see the next sunrise.

Blood. My eyes registered the liquid on my arms.

At that instant, my gaze began searching around the area, on the look out for that figure I had come across. Or was I hallucinating?

I could swear that I had seen a beast minutes ago—Skin covered in hairs, whatever that thing was, had arms so long, they could crush me in a second.

Those gleaming eyes which pierced into my gaze, as if wanting to bore a hole to my being. Its form was huge, towering over mine, but I might only be hallucinating, after all, the beatings I had received from that terror in human form, was enough to have me seeing things.

The cold night air whooshed past my skin, its whistle prickling at me. That sure reminded me where I was, and at once I stood to my feet, turning around, back to the route which led to my home.

~~~

One might term me dumb, in fact curse at me, after finding out, I was only back to that very house that was out to having me broken. But what could a girl like me do, with no one to turn to, nowhere to go to?

Was I to freeze out in the cold, or spend the night in the woods which we had now come across as being unsafe? Believe me, there was not a choice given.

The only one which seemed to be in the picture, was going back to that brute of a father, going back to my own tears.

My form felt light, feet tiptoeing into the living room, while my eyes did a scanning of the space, hoping not to find his figure anywhere.

Slowly, I pushed open the door, making my way in at once. Those doors that creaked now got me wanting the services of Ol' Seb, the town’s carpenter who lived out in the market square.

So much visits I had paid to his shop, each one ending with him asking if there were any leaks, any repairs to be made. And as always, my answer remained the same.

"I wouldn't want you coming all the way there all in the name of being kind, Seb" I had said to him just some days ago, but right now, I was wishing I had for once, allowed the man to do as he pleased.

The door creaked once more, my lips tightening at each sound it emitted.

If I was to find the figure of father stepping out of the dark, coming at me, I might as well pass out right on this grounds. My heart couldn't bear any more aches.

I had soon managed to have the door shut, and in a second, my figure had dashed up the stairs, hurrying to my room.

Once inside that space, I shut the lock behind me, form crouching to the ground, while my sobs filled the room.

Could the pains ever end?

Body, and soul, at this point was exhausted of having to go through the same thing over and over again.

Even if it was only a break-/A break from the trauma I faced, but I knew what the answer was. It was bitter.

Lost in my own thoughts, I had soon drowned myself in the sadness that had clung to the walls of the room, living in my tears.