The Villain's Daughter

Chapter One - My Worst Nightmare

I was sitting on the window seat in my bedroom, taking in the beautiful scenery surrounding our mansion. My window overlooked the gardens, where my mother and I tended to the plants and flowers there nearly every day. I remember as a child on one of our daily strolls through the gardens, she picked up a wilting, lavender rose and held it in the palm of her hand. Knowing that these were my favorite flowers, she held it out in front of me and asked me to watch the flower carefully. The dying petals soon began to liven as if it was blooming for the first time in spring. I couldn't stop smiling at the way she managed to use her magic for something so small, yet so meaningful.

She's told me that her magic was once dark, full of hatred and revenge, but after I was born, she said that I brought all of the light into her life that she was missing. I know that she only told me of her dark past so that I don't make the same mistakes as she did. Mother is always telling me of how easy it is to slip into the darkness, but I don't know that I ever could.

A voice calling from outside of my room pulled me from my thoughts, "Lilith! Darling, I'm going into town for a little while. Would you like to come along?"

I smiled at the thought of finally leaving the castle grounds. We only leave every few weeks, so that we're careful not to risk our true identity. We usually place a cloaking spell on ourselves, to make our appearances seem different to the human eye, but it's still better to be safe than sorry. Seeing as I get very few chances to leave the grounds, I take the opportunity to explore whenever I can.

I shouted back to my mother, "Of course! I'll be out in just a minute!"

I scurried over to my dresser drawers to find something that most villagers wear. I threw on a simple gown with an apron, then went to the mirror to tie a scarf over the top of my head. Once the scarf was tied and my curly, jet black hair pulled away from my bright, violet eyes, I glanced to my right and noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A wilting, lavender rose was sitting in the vase at the corner of my dresser. I grinned at the small memory, taking the rose into the palm of my hand, and watched it bloom just as my mother taught me on that day so long ago.

I took one last look in the mirror and headed down the stairs to see my mother dressed as a villager as well. Little did I know, when we took a step out the door of our beloved castle that was the last time we would ever see it.

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The pebbles crumbled beneath our feet as we walked through some back roads in the small town, making our way to the market. After a few minutes of walking and making conversation with a few villagers passing by, a strange feeling clouded my senses. I felt as though we had shadows other than our own. I glanced over my shoulder to see no one there, but the air just seems different. Today seems different.

I lightly grasped my mother's arm, "Mother, perhaps we should start heading back home."

She gave me a strange look, "Darling, don't be silly. We haven't even made it to the markets yet."

She was about to continue on her way, until I tugged at the light fabric of her shirt, "Mother please, I'm feeling a bit.. ill.. all of a sudden."

She furrowed her brows at my actions, her deep, violet eyes searching my own, "Lilith, what's troubling you? I know how much you love the fresh fruit of the markets."

Just as I was about to warn her, a shout sounded from behind us and two men appeared from the corner of my eye. I fully turned to face them and noticed that they were dressed in some sort of armor. I took in their strange appearance, noticing one with a bit darker skin tone had a tattoo on the back of his wrist. I couldn't quite make out the image, but another shout coming from afar scrambled my thoughts, "Get her!"

Before I could register what was happening, I caught a glimpse of light and a slashing sound of metal cutting through the air. It's like my thoughts were scattered, my own heartbeat was louder than any of the screams coming from the startled villagers around us, my eyes were darting from left to right in an attempt to understand what just happened, until they finally connected with where the metal came from. A silver sword had been plunged directly into my mother's heart. I watched in disbelief as her bright purple eyes met mine and she dropped to her knees, falling to the ground before me.

A blood curdling scream sounded from my own throat as I dropped to my knees beside her. It sounded so distant as everything was happening so quickly. Tears began welling in my own eyes as blood began to pool around the both of us. I lifted her head onto my lap, making sure that no blood became knotted into her beautiful black locks. My eyes darted from left to right, judging how bad the wound was and making sure she didn't close her eyes. I placed my hand over the wound, as my eyes searched hers for any sign of response, but I was only met with a dull, fading color.

I begged through my sobs and the tears that streamed down my face, "No, no, no, no, no... NO! You can't do this to me! You can't die! You can't just leave me like this! Please, please, please stay with me! Please! I'll do whatever you want, okay? I promise! We can just go home and-"

Her soft, blood stained hand lightly stroking my cheek stopped the words from pouring out of my mouth, "Lilith.. I.. love... y-youu..."

Tears continued to flow down my cheeks as I used my other hand to grip onto hers, "Please no.. please! Please don't leave me! Please!"

I searched her eyes once more, only to see the light leave her once bright, shining purple orbs that I loved so dearly. The same bright eyes that would squint with joy every time the sweet sound of her laughter filled the room. The bright eyes that met mine every time she told me how much I meant to her. Those bright eyes that I will never have the pleasure of seeing again for the rest of my life.

Suddenly, the sword was ripped from my mother's rib cage and it was then that I noticed, her murders were still here. The murderers who took the life of the only parent, the only friend, the only person that ever mattered to me. Her blood was on their hands. As my eyes connected with the cold, dead eyes of her killers, all of that pain, grief, and sorrow faded into only one emotion.

Rage.

A piercing scream sounded through the air as I was suddenly on my feet in front of my mother's attackers. I shouted, "YOU DID THIS!"

"YOU MURDERERS!"

Heat from the anger and blinding rage made it's way to my face as I started growing taller and taller. My mother's spell vanished, revealing my true form. The men below me seemed startled as they shouted, "Holy shit! What the f***!?"

Another shout, "Get your tranq man!!"

I nearly laughed in their faces, they think they can take me down with a little tranquilizer gun? We'll see about that.

One shot fired.

Black scales began to cover my arms and legs.

Two more shots fired.

I was nearly 5 feet taller than them at this point.

Suddenly, ten shots fired at once.

Well shit.

My vision became blurry, but I noticed myself growing smaller and weaker. My head began spinning and my world was fading in and out of darkness. As I crashed onto the hard cobblestone below me, a deep, conercened voice sounded through my haziness, "What are we going to do!? We can't just leave her here!"

"I could care less if she rots to death in a damn cell, but you're right. We're taking her back with us. Get the baggage and let's go."

I felt arms wrap around my back and under my legs and it seemed like I was floating. That's the last thing I remember until I finally gave in to the darkness.