Lucifer's Queen (PUBLISHED)

Prologue I

"She looks so sad mommy," a small boy whispered to his mother while pointing at a little girl.

"Don't look at her darling. We don't look at people like her." His mother hurriedly grabbed his hand and scurried away with him.

Elizabeth O'Riley sat alone in one of the park's three sandboxes, playing. She could clearly hear the whispers of the parents and children surrounding her.

"I heard she's cursed. She doesn't believe in God and that's why she's like that."

You're wrong!

The urge to defend herself against all the mean things these people were saying about her was strong, but she didn't. Even if she did say something they would not believe her. Defending herself would almost certainly make matters worse.

None of it was true though. They were all hurtful and hateful lies her mother, Rachel O'Riley, had fabricated. She didn't want all the members of the community to know the truth.

Elizabeth had never asked to be born into a family filled with deceit.

"I don't want you around her Lucy."

Emotions of sadness filled her small chest. She could feel her throat tightening.

Don't cry.

She had to continuously remind herself of this. If she cried her mom would punish her and Richard, her father, would do nothing about it. So, she smiled as the whispers continued to pour.

"But she looks so sad mommy," Lucy turned her head to the sad girl.

"Don't look at her baby!" the woman said as she covered her daughter's eyes.

"But mommy."

The mother grabbed her hand and drew her away from the monstrosity that was the child.

Glen Vincent was a predominantly Christian community. People who were not religious were scorned and looked down upon. That was not the case with Elizabeth, and certain members of the community were aware of the truth. They knew why she was so despised, and it had nothing to do with her religious beliefs. She believed in God, of course, but who would believe a child? In the Glen Vincent community, children had no voice.

Her lips trembled, her shoulders shook, and her heart ached. The once-blue sky turned gloomy, as if God sensed her sadness. She could not hold it in any longer. She bowed and began to weep.

Without warning, the sky opened, and rain poured down from the heavens. Parents and their children began to run and seek shelter. She released all her sorrows into her tears.

She cried until her throat felt hoarse and even then, she continued to cry. The rain battered her flesh, soaking her ragged and ripped garments in the process.

She was neither permitted nor given beautiful clothes to wear like her sister, Grace. She did not get to enjoy special privileges such as attending school. Elizabeth wished to go, but they just would not let her. On days when she was alone at home, she would slip out of the basement where she slept, into Grace's room, and teach herself to read from the books scattered on the floor. She was even required to perform all the household chores while Grace enjoyed her childhood. Her mother and grandmother made certain of it.

She did not want to hate her sister, but she was just as rotten as their mother. She would bite, kick, and grab her hair while shouting her favourite song, which she had composed herself. It was a spoof of the song "Queen Elizabeth". A song that she could hear hammering in her head even while sleeping.

Dumb Elizabeth will die tonight,

Either by mother or she'll commit suicide,