Chapter 1~ Blood in the rain~
~Xalia~
Why do you always treat me like this?"
The words had barely left my lips before I was shoved into a dark room that reeked of dried blood. My body slammed against the cold concrete floor, pain shooting through my spine as a cry escaped my lips.
The man I had once called my father looked down at me with nothing but disgust.
To him, I wasn't a daughter anymore.
I was his punching bag.
Whenever life disappointed him, whenever his anger became too much to bear, he took it out on me. Ever since his mistress had abandoned him for a wealthy man, the beatings had become worse. Much worse.
I endured every single one of them.
Because I had nowhere else to go.
"Listen carefully, Xaila." He grabbed a fistful of my hair, forcing my head up until I was staring into his bloodshot eyes. "You're nothing to me anymore. Just a useless girl who serves no purpose."
His palm crashed across my cheek.
The sting burned, but the ache in my chest hurt even more.
"What did I ever do to deserve this?" I whispered, tears blurring my vision.
Without thinking, I spat in his face.
For a second, the room fell silent.
Then his fingers wrapped around my throat.
"You ungrateful bitch!"
He slammed me onto the floor, squeezing harder.
Air refused to enter my lungs.
I clawed at his hands while he punched my stomach over and over again. Every hit stole another piece of my strength.
No...
I wasn't dying here.
Summoning the little strength I had left, I shoved him away with both hands.
He staggered backward.
I ran.
The building was like a maze, filled with endless doors and narrow hallways. I didn't know where I was going.
I only knew I had to escape.
"Xaila!" his furious voice echoed behind me. "Come out now! If I find you... I'll kill you!"
My body trembled violently.
I crouched behind a wall, covering my mouth to stop myself from sobbing.
Please...
Just this once...
God, save me.
The footsteps grew louder.
Closer.
Closer.
I kicked off my sandals and bolted.
Before I could react, I collided with someone.
A broad chest.
Strong arms caught me before I hit the ground.
I looked up.
A tall man dressed entirely in black stared down at me with unreadable eyes.
My heart nearly stopped.
"D-Did... did he send you to kill me too?" I stammered.
Panic consumed me.
Without thinking, I tried to shove him away and run, but another voice froze me in place.
"Xaila!".
He was close.
Too close.
"Please..." I begged the stranger, clutching his sleeve with shaking fingers. "Please help me. He'll kill me."
The man's gaze swept over the bruises covering my face and arms.
His expression didn't change.
"Who's after you?" he asked calmly.
Before I could answer~
A painful grip yanked me backward.
"There you are."
My father smiled as though nothing had happened.
"There you are, my darling." He gently brushed my hair behind my ear. "Why are you making Daddy worry? Do you want me to buy you your favourite cake?".
Anyone else would have believed the act.
I knew better.
He was a monster pretending to be human.
The stranger remained silent.
For one terrifying second, I thought he was going to leave me.
Instead...
He reached beneath his jacket.
A gun.
A deafening bang shattered the silence.
My father screamed as the bullet tore through his shoulder.
Before he could recover~
Another shot.
Then another.
The last bullet struck his head.
Blood splattered across the floor.
I couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
Couldn't even scream.
The stranger stepped over the lifeless body as though it were nothing more than rubbish.
"So..." he said, his deep voice frighteningly calm, "you're the devil everyone has been looking for."
He looked at me.
"Come with me."
I stared at my father's corpse.
The man who had tormented me for years...
Was dead.
"You can leave him there to rot," the stranger continued. "Or, if you're hungry enough... you can eat him."
A chill raced down my spine.
Who says something like that?.
His expensive black suit fit him perfectly, and the scent of his cologne lingered in the air, cold and intoxicating.
Everything about him screamed danger.
Yet I followed.
Because I had nowhere else to go.
Anything was better than the prison I had just escaped.
As his car pulled away from the abandoned building, silence filled the space between us.
Finally, I found my voice.
"How..." I swallowed hard. "How could you kill someone without blinking? What... are you?".
He didn't answer.
He simply kept driving.
I turned to the window, my heart pounding inside my chest.
Was he truly my saviour...
'Or had I just escaped one devil only to fall into the hands of another?'.
