Empire of Blood

II

Milan walked across an empty highway, shivering half to death. Her legs were aching and she felt as if her limbs would fall off but she knew that if she were to stop walking, she would freeze to death even quicker. So she bared with the pain and continued to walk. She didn’t have a destination in mind but her goal was survival, even if it meant walking for hours on end without stopping.

With nothing else on her mind, the happenings of the night played in her mind again. She still could not believe her father’s true, monstrous face. How could she have been so blind to not have known what he really did for a living and what he was truly capable of? She felt utterly naïve for believing her father was some angelic being. Not only had he killed so many people but he had even threatened to kill her – his own daughter. In her current state, she really wondered if death would have been a better option than behind kicked out of her family. Now she was all alone on the streets with no food or money. She couldn’t believe she was really in this situation. Had she been home, she would have curled up under her blankets and cried herself to sleep. But now that was not even an option.

Ridding such thoughts from her mind, Milan continued to walk for what seemed like hours until she found herself in a dark road with a few women standing on the side of the road. Had the situation been any different, she would have looked the other way. However, she was feeling exhausted and needed to rest. If she was going to rest anywhere, it would be with other women around her. They may be strangers but Milan found it easier to trust women than men.

She walked up the road and towards a few women who were huddled together on the curb side. They were dressed in flamboyant outfits and had faces full of make-up but to Milan, they didn’t look too out of place. The whole street seemed to be buzzing with people dressed like them.

Without much thought, Milan sat behind the women and leaned against the wall, a sigh of relied escaping her parted lips. She felt glad to be able to finally get some rest. Before she could close her eyes to rest them a bit however, a loud cough beside her pulled her out of her reverie.

“What brings you here, little girl?” a woman dressed in a fluffy pink dress asked her in a hoarse voice.

Milan was about to answer but she didn’t get the chance to because another woman sat on the other side of her and spoke in her place.

“Leave the girl alone, Beatrix,” she hissed in a deep foreign accent before she pulled Milan up by the arms. Milan really wanted to pull her arms out of the woman’s grasp and sit back down but the woman was much bigger than her and her body was too sore to do anything too strenuous.

“You shouldn’t be here, Sweetie,” the woman said as she walked Milan to another street. “This isn’t a place for someone your age.”

Milan didn’t understand what she meant and she didn’t know how to respond so instead she just nodded.

“You should go home. It’s late, your parents must be worried.”

At the mention of her parents, tears sprang up to her eyes again. Before she could help it, they began to fall down her face.

“Oh no sweetie, what is the matter?” the woman asked, her voice softening.

Instead of answering, Milan shook her head before running away from the woman. Her body begged her to stop and rest but she just continued to run until she no longer physically could. She suddenly fell to her knees and began to cry once again.

She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, but not long later, a car parked beside her and a man walked out.

“Hello there, is everything alright?” his voice was gruff but gentle.

Milan looked up at him but the tears in her eyes blurred out his face. However, despite his gentle demeanor, Milan could not help but feel uncomfortable by his presence. So with as much power as she could muster, she stood to her feet and gently smiled at him.

“I’m fine,” she said before she tried to walk away from him as fast as possible. Before she could make it far however, the man caught up to her and stood in front of her, blocking her way.

“It’s very late, let me take you home.”

“It’s fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “I live close by.”

“Don’t be silly, it’s raining. I’ll drop you off,” he pressed on. Milan looked around her and realized for the first time that it really was raining.

She didn’t say anything to him this time though, instead she tried to walk around him. He didn’t seem to like that though.

“Listen little girl, get in the car while I am being nice,” he warned, his eyes darkening. Milan looked around and noticed that she was in a desolate alleyway. And with her body feeling all bruised up, she knew she would never be able to outrun the man before her.

“P-Please let me go,” she whispered.

But the man didn’t listen. Instead, he forcefully pulled her by his hand towards his car.

She tried to resist; she really did, but she was feeling mentally and physically exhausted. Instead of fighting for her life, Milan’s body suddenly shut down and she found herself becoming unconscious.