Karma

Victim 20

The sight of the pristine kitchen made my breathing stop. Why the fuck was I here?

The girl and man were sat at the table again, however a game of chess was in front of them this time. The board was set up neatly, yet the pieces were untouched.

"You've been awfully quiet today, you haven't even offered a go at this and it's your favourite game. Is there a problem, darling?" The man in front of the little girl had an evil smirk on his lips and a weird glint in his eyes.

The girl gulped, not moving her eyes from the wooden table. The only sounds audible were from her shallow breathing. Her jaw clenched and then unclenched and the whole process was repeated. The grin on the man's face didn't move.

And I couldn't help but think: I know you. But I couldn't pin point where I'd seen him. My mind was blocking something; not letting me into those depths. That terrified me.

"Tell me. Tell me one thing. Your wish came true. You cheated the system," his eyes were wild, like none I'd ever seen before. They were the eyes of a crazy man and yet, I could tell he wasn't crazy. "How the hell did such a young girl do that? You're six and yet... you possess the mind of someone in their mid years. How the fu-"

She closed her eyes, before reopening them extremely slowly, like she way buying herself time. Before she looked up at the person in front of her. And it wasn't a brief glance. She really looked them in the eyes with a look of determination that I had always longed for.

A slow grin snaked it's way onto her face. "Need and want are two completely different things. I didn't want my wish to come true. I needed it to. Need is more powerful than a thousand men. Want could fuel an army. Need could fuel a nation."

The man sat back and started to clap his hands. The sound bounced off of the walls and even I, a mere bystander, winced at the sound when it reached my ears. The sound stopped abruptly and the man leaned against the table. It creaked under his weight and the chess pieces threatened to fall. The girl shrank back in her chair.

Any confidence she had gained slowly shriveled away.

"You've uncovered one of my deepest secrets and your mother," he laughed. "Your mother is going to live up to her name."

The girls eyes snapped to his and the man smirked. "Oh yes, you heard right. She will destroy. You." Her hands balled at her sides and she let out a slow breath, before looking the man in the eyes again.

"I'm not afraid of you," she whispered.

His eyes narrowed into slits and he slowly got up from his chair. He walked around the table and, when he was near enough, he lifted her chin up with his middle finger.

"You should be, my dear child."

A tear snaked it's way down the girl's face. At that moment her face was the picture of brokenness. She was broken. "But... but your name means happiness." She whimpered under her breath. It was quiet, but he seemed to have caught it because the man knelt down to his level.

"And what does your name mean?" He asked, a smile on his face signalling he was enjoying every ounce of her pain.

She gulped, before moving her head away from his finger. "I-Innocence."

The man tutted under his breath. "I guess we don't all live up to our expectations." Was all that he sneared, before kicking the table. It slammed into the wall on their right, causing a crack in the pristine paint work. The chess pieces flew across the floor and the board snapped in half. The girl didn't move, she merely sat there with her eyes diverted to the floor and her shoulders shaking.