Prologue
Prologue
I gently laid the little girl down on the cracked ground before standing and looking around at the room and over the bodies as the sirens blared outside of the warehouse. Or what was left of it. Pieces of brick and metal gave way as the orange-red tint of the sun setting painted the sky above. My breath came out in quick, heavy pants as I slowly lowered myself onto the dark concrete floor, my mind finally going blank.
I just wanted to have a family. I thought to myself as my eyes prickled with unshed tears. The same tears that I had been holding back all this time.I just wanted to be loved. I just wanted to save her.My thoughts drowned out the sounds around me as I hadn’t even heard the shouting or the guns being pointed my way. I didn’t even react as my face was shoved into the broken concrete floor and my wrists were cuffed while the other officers commented on the gruesome scene laid out before them.I just wanted to close my eyes and never wake up again. I wanted to be anywhere but here.The little voice in my head whispered as they pulled me onto my feet. As they led me toward the entrance, I threw a glance over my shoulder at all of the corpses lining the floor again. My sonic boom was powerful enough to kill a large group of men. Each body looked the same with blood dripping down from their eyes, ears, and nose. The little girl who I held in my arms also got caught in the aftermath of it all and she too had blood dripping from her ears. It was then that I knew I had gotten her too. She didn’t deserve it. I was a failure. I killed an innocent girl while getting rid of the bad people.
They’re not going to hurt me anymore. They’re not going to hurt anybody anymore. Those thoughts echoed around in my head as I was placed in the back of a cop car. Though it felt like a tiny weight had lifted from my shoulders, I felt alone once again. Like all the other times, the world would come crashing down like usual only to drag me back underneath the water again. Forever alone, forever drowning.
“Wren. Wreeeen,” the familiar voice called, pulling me from my disassociation as I quietly looked around. It took a second to realize where I was again. I was stuck in this prison, separated from everyone behind this thick glass wall as my lawyer kept calling my name from outside. As a frown marred her beautiful brown skin, she huffed and walked through the glass as if it weren’t thicker than the concrete walls. I still wasn’t quite sure how I could hear her either, but I chalked it up to her powers. “Hmm, give me one second,” she added while placing a hand on her wide hips before waving her free one as the muzzle slipped from my face and plopped onto my lap. “Better! How in the hell did they expect me to talk to my client if she wore a muzzle every fucking moment of her life?” She flipped a long skinny braid over her shoulder before waving her hand again as a chair appeared in front of me where she promptly took a seat. “Well, how are you going to greet your favorite person this time, darling?” She asked while crossing one long leg over the other.
“Hello, Eve,” I muttered as she huffed before standing from her seat. “Eve, please no.” I groaned as she easily pulled me up and into her arms for a warm bear hug. “I didn’t feel like crying today,” I muttered, squeezing her tight and burying my head into her braids as she patted my back. She was unbelievably short, but made up for it in her own way.
“I know, darling. You’re always like this, but what does your favorite person always tell you when she visits?” She asked as it felt a little better to not be drowning too deep in the ocean of my emotions.
“That it’ll get better soon,” I mumbled in reply as she nodded. “Eve, it’s never going to get better. This is my life, my prison. I hurt people.”And people hurt me, I wanted to say but I bit back the words as they left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. Nobody cared what I wanted. It had always been like that since I was younger. The one time I felt like I was more than nothing, it was quickly ripped away from me as I was thrown back into the place that brought me so much misery and heartache.
“None of that now, darling. From here on out, you’ll have to hang on tight to the bit of happiness you get while life throws all types of obstacles at you. If the fate angel says life will be better soon, you best believe it’ll happen. Have faith in yourself like I do for you. I want you to find your happiness and not end up dead,” she spoke while pulling back to look up at me, gently reaching up to wipe my tears away. “Plus, Evagelina is never wrong. My twin is as smart as me.” She smiled as I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of me. “I don’t know if I should be happy or hurt thatthatmade you laugh,” she joked while looking me over with those warm brown eyes.
“It still amazes me how well you can act. To pretend to be a human your entire life must be stressful?” I asked while sitting back down on my bed as Eve plopped back down into the seat in front of me.
“Pretending? Darling, I’m a demon who specializes in dreams and illusions. I can be and do anything I want to,” she huffed while tossing another braid over her shoulders. “Evagelina said that becoming a lawyer would be best for me since I love arguing.” She rolled her eyes at that before focusing back on me with a big smile. “And because of that, I got to meet you. Plus, I get to sneak anything into this maximum locked prison. It’s odd how they magicproof it from the rest of the supernaturals, but it’s so easy for me to slip in.” She laughed while pulling something out of her pocket. It looked like a small worn piece of paper. “Before I give this to you, I need to explain to you what’s gonna happen once I leave, okay?” She asked, her playful expression being replaced by seriousness as I nodded. “This will be our last time meeting each other,” she started as my eyes widened.
“Is it me?” I asked, worried I had driven her away as she softly shook her head, her expression softening just a touch.
“No, darling. Fate has other plans for you. It might be better or it might be worse. Only you will be able to make that decision when the option comes up.” She smiled at me, but it was one of sadness. “Once I leave, they’ll bring you an appetizing meal. After you eat, you will sleep and awake in a new place. No matter the cost, you must survive, Wren. It’ll seem hard at first, but you’ll meet some women who will each give you a brand new perspective of life, but you gotta be open-minded. None of that overthinking you do,” she warned with a shake of her finger as I smiled. “From there on out, you’ll meet tons of people who will either love or hate you. You gotta open your heart to the ones who are willing to get to know you. Not the you that you show on the outside, but the you in here,” she explained while gently shoving a hand to her chest. “The kind, fragile you that you locked away for so long.”
“How do yo—”
“Dream demon with illusion powers, remember?” She answered with a soft laugh as I nodded. “I will enchant this so it can stay with you at all times without getting dirty, but promise me you’ll only open it when you’re truly safe.”
“I promise.” I nodded as she handed me the worn paper before I inspected it. What did she mean by opening it? It was never folded nor was there anything on it. “Eve, are you su—” as I looked up, all evidence of my lawyer and the chair she made appeared were gone. A few seconds later, the door to my left opened as one of the guards strolled in with their protective headphones on while carrying a silver tray. They walked towards my glass prison as no noise penetrated the walls around me. The guard finally came to a stop in front of the first set of doors outside the glass dome before unlocking it. He gently closed the door behind him before proceeding to do the same thing with three more doors until he was now standing in my room where I still remained sitting on my bed. He watched me carefully as he walked over to the table to my right while placing down the tray before backing out of the room and locking the door behind him. We remained watching each other until he exited through the door from my left again.
Sighing, I folded the piece of paper up and tucked it into the waistband of my pants before standing from my bed and heading over to my table. Slowly lifting the plastic top, my eyes watered at the food before me. Steam mashed potatoes and gravy greeted my teary eyes alongside some fried okras and baked chicken. With trembling hands, I carefully scooped up some mashed potatoes and gravy while breaking off a piece of the chicken before bringing it to my mouth. Just the smell alone reminded me of the one family that truly wanted me. It reminded me of a place I felt like I belonged. And now, here I was, shoving food into my mouth with tears streaming down my face, thinking about how well they got the seasoning down and all the memories this small meal brought up.
Finally finishing, I wiped my mouth with my sleeve as my sobs echoed around me in the quiet glass dome. My body and my eyes felt heavy as I dropped down onto the cold floor while curling into a ball, hugging my legs to my chest. I just wanted to be free. To be loved. To have a family. Why couldn’t I have that after so long of trying to chase after it? Those thoughts swirled through me as the next thing I knew, I was being jolted awake by raised voices as I opened my eyes. Darkness greeted me as I looked around before feeling the familiar tightness on my face. When had they put the muzzle back on? Where was I?
Grating metal silenced us all before something pulled my chains back against my wrists and ankles. When had they shackled me? What was going on? Suddenly, the floor beneath us gave way before we were blinded by the brightness below us as the chains seemed to loosen before we were falling. Screams echoed around me as I strained my eyes on the small red head just a little away from me and a hole not too far from us before we plopped into the sand. An odd vibration ran through me as I strained my ears to hear the low growling.
Hurrying, I pulled the red head towards the hole as she questioned me but didn’t fight me before screams echoed from behind us. Glancing back quickly, my eyes met with a set of hazel eyes as I ushered her over immediately, noticing the women running away from something a little further behind her. Quickly helping the red head down into the hole, I followed behind her before hazel eyes fell in after us, not before hastily pulling someone else down in behind her. We all quietly listened to the beast rampage outside our little cave as we took the time to get better acquainted or at least the other three did as I nodded along when the red head now known as Yareli introduced me. Looking at her more clearly, I noticed the red fins along the back of her tan arms and legs while she looked between us all with dark green eyes before my attention turned to Hazel eyes. She was known as Nuri, who revealed that she was a fire mage while the other person she pulled down, a woman missing part of her right arm was Lilium who was a nature witch. It felt nice to finally know that I wasn’t alone when it came to being different. Eve’s words echoed through my head as I leaned back against the cave and sighed. Maybe I needed to be open-minded like she said.
