Prologue
I felt numb to the touch as the officers held me down on the ground. The fresh dirt covered my tear-streaked face and my wet nightgown. The noise around me blurred in and out as I cried my heart out over my lost family. As they roughly pulled me up, I glanced back at the place I used to call home as the paramedics rushed in and out of the house alongside more officers. As I watched through blurry eyes, one of the officers turned me back to the metallic inside of a truck. They grunted out an order to me as I climbed up into the vehicle, slowly phasing in and out. They all thought that I had committed this crime. They saw me as a monster. I thought to myself as people in dark gear got in behind me. Each one had different types of guns in their hands while staring at me with a cold look in their eyes. I dropped my head down as my tousled dark brown curls fell over my dark brown face.
Monster and other colorful slurs fell out of their mouths the entire journey to wherever we were going. The vehicle came to an abrupt stop before the doors flew open and officers with guns greeted us. I slowly got to my feet as one of the people behind me roughly pushed me forward. Stumbling forward, I caught my footing again as the others looked on in amusement. “Where are we?” I asked as I felt the need to say something, anything to get away from the fact that I was now the butt of their joke.
“The hospital.” One of the people in dark gear spoke up as the others stepped out of the way to let the tall, grim-looking man through. As he made his way towards me, I climbed down the back of the truck while, what I assumed were guards, closed the door behind me. Once he was standing in front of me, he roughly grabbed my face while moving it from side to side as I grunted in pain from his grip. “An odd-looking monster.” He commented as he examined me with his dark brown eyes as I stared back at him. “Get her in a shock collar in case she decides to use her powers during the examination. Keep your guard up at all times. You’ve seen what she did back at the farmhouse.” He called over his shoulder as he roughly released me before turning away. “Shall she turn hostile, shoot her without a second thought.” He ordered as the guards around us all nodded before something tight wrapped around my neck, almost choking me. After they made sure the collar was working by shocking me, they surrounded me before we made our way into the hospital. The looks I got from the staff and the patients made me wish the floor would just swallow me whole. As we made our way through the halls, I slowly dissociated from everything around me while my body just moved on its own. I couldn’t think about anything else besides the faces of my now-deceased family. How could such a normal day end in complete chaos? How could I have let my guard down so easily? I thought to myself as the raised voices pulled me from my thoughts.
“Sit down on the bed!” One of the guards yelled with an impatient look in his eyes as I slowly looked around at my new surroundings. We were now in a hospital room, away from prying eyes, with three guards plus the one currently shouting at me, and two nurses who stood off to the side. One of the nurses looked scared out of his mind, and the other looked at me with disgust. Slowly lowering my head, I mumbled an apology before sitting down on the bed. The nurse with a disgusted look on her face walked up to me. She didn’t say much as she placed a hospital gown on the bed next to me before she returned to her position at the door. The guard quietly stepped up and unlocked my cuffs. Once they were off, he stepped back a little as the other three guards stepped up with their guns drawn. “Get dressed.” He ordered while crossing his arms over his chest. I looked around at the people in the room, none budging to give me privacy before I swallowed my nerves. Slowly easing off the bed, I quietly slipped off my soaked nightgown with much difficulty. I now only had one hand after the incident before tossing it onto the black checkered linoleum. All of my inner demons began to eat away at me at the feeling of the judging eyes staring at my body. I had been a tall big girl my entire life with low self-esteem and little confidence in my body. I had hanging fat on my arms, a big gut, back and side rolls, and big thighs that rubbed together, creating burn rashes. They’d always be tended to by my mama, who’d treat them with her healing powers. Quickly reaching for the hospital gown, I pulled it on in haste. I slipped my right nub through the sleeve before sitting back down on the edge of the bed. My mind had ventured to an even darker place than it had back at my home when I found my mama and my younger siblings.
[~~~]
The next few months had been filled with chaos as I had been transferred to a prison for supernatural beings. Since, after all, I was a nature witch who they had hauled in from a farm. I had begged and pleaded that I was in the wrong place for several weeks until it finally dawned on me. No matter how much I cried and pleaded, everybody saw me as a monster. A monster who murdered their innocent family in cold blood, or that’s what the people in prison kept telling me. When it wasn’t the prisoners or the guards, it was the nightmares plaguing my sleep every time I closed my eyes.
I thought luck would be on my side when my trials came by, but it just seemed like I was falling deeper and deeper into the darkness. I cried so hard at my first two trials that they had to keep rescheduling. Everybody would instantly judge me as soon as I walked in. Hell, even my lawyer had judged me. He didn’t even want to work with me as I was a huge danger to the entire town. They all saw me as a monster crying crocodile tears who was caught in the act. Maybe I was a monster. I thought to myself as my third trial started while the entire room stood for the judge.
“No tears today?” The judge inquired as I slowly took my seat while hanging my head low. I was exhausted. A year had passed since my family was killed. I had spent an entire year in that prison crying my eyes out and begging to go back to how life was before this entire mess. But every time I opened my eyes, I was back in my cell. This prison wasn’t like a prison you’d see on TV. It reminded me of juvenile detention where one person was placed in a room by themselves. It was four walls with one door, one bed, one sink, and a toilet. Nothing else, nothing more. The court continued as usual while I watched people I knew my entire life take the stand and testify against me. The neighbors that I used to help out, the farm hands that worked at our farm, all of my friends, and people who had watched my siblings and me growing up. All had taken the stand and called me all types of things while telling me how monstrous I was my entire life. All the lies filtered in through one ear and out the other as I couldn’t help but laugh at my predicament. It felt like fate had something against me. I thought to myself as the people around me gave me odd looks while my lawyer nudged me.
“What the hell are you doing? This could be used against you.” He whispered harshly as I quietly shook my head at his words.
“Can’t you see that no matter what I do, I’ll always be on the receiving end?” I inquired as he sighed before tuning back into the court while I proceeded to phase out. It didn’t take long before the trial came to an end. I was to spend my entire life in prison for my crimes with no bond as my lawyer tried to get in minimized. His attempts were futile as the judge, and the jury was completely convinced that I was the monster the media portrayed me as. I wasn’t going to waste my breath even trying to fight it.
It didn’t take long before I was taken back to prison in time for dinner. I quietly followed the guards as they led me into the cafeteria before uncuffing me and leaving. Once they were gone, I mindlessly grabbed a tray as one of the prisoners behind the counter slapped down a glob of food. Once my tray was full of food, I turned towards the clutter of tables filled with other prisoners before I spotted an empty table. Quietly sitting down, I picked at my food as the cafeteria buzzed with conversation. I was on my own today since my friend, Cordelia, was still in isolation from the incident that happened a few months ago around the time of my second trial. As I quietly picked at my food, somebody approached my table before I glanced up at the new stranger.
“Mind if I sit here?” She inquired as I quietly shook my head as I watched her take a seat on the bench across from me. She seemed like an interesting person. The orange prison attire stuck out against her brownish-red skin and the odd scarf around her neck. Staring more intently at her scarf, I could tell that it was handmade, but its stitching and its unique pattern. It was a mahogany red with darker threading that looked like sigils. “My name is Nuri.” She introduced herself while staring at me with her hazel eyes before pushing a loose strand of long silky black hair behind her ear. “I just wanted to say that I believe you and I’m here if you need a friend.” She smiled while turning her attention back to her food.
“Lilium but you can call me Lily and thanks. That’s much needed.” I introduced myself while returning her smile. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all. I thought to myself as we made light conversation not knowing that that one interaction would lead to more. That we’d be such good friends and end up in isolation in the next few months for an unwarranted fight.
