True Villain (The Life Beyond: Book One)

four

"Mama!" a small voice screamed over the shouts and cries around her. The little child ran through her parent's mansion, her black hair flowing behind her as she practically glided through the halls. The Great Hall's doors were open and hearing the loudest growl come from there she headed that way, scared of what she would see. 

Once she reached the doors she froze, her mother laid on the ground, her blonde hair was stained in red and her body was covered in blood and unmoving. A beast stood over her. It's snout stained in red, his eyes glowing with hatred as it glared at her bleeding father who struggled to hold his weight up with his sword. Her father didn't even look directly at her, didn't look at his dead wife either, just glared at the monster before him. Her father coughed, blood rising to his lips as he shook his brown head and spit out the blood. His green eyes seemed lost and crazed, despite the situation the man tried to smile, almost mockingly to the beast. 

"Mama?" the whisper came out soft and broken from the small child, but it caught the attention of the beast who immediately turned to look at her. She saw something flash in its eyes and took a step back as it moved towards her. It was a wolf, a large black wolf, its pelt looked like the night sky and the tips of its fur looked like it faded into smoke. The Black Dogs. Her mother had read her stories about them, they were supposedly guardians of magic, but they looked more like monsters to her. He killed her, he killed her mother the girl thought as the beast came closer. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her father glare and his grip tighten on his sword as fire coursed through his arm and into it. 

Sniffling the small girl stood frozen. She knew she couldn't run, she couldn't hide, this beast killed her mother. Closing her eyes the small girl cried, unsure of what to do. "Papa," she whimpered out, but no voice spoke to her. Instead everything went oddly silent, like someone had turned off all the sounds. 

The girl was yanked back, her older sister grabbing her and turning her around to shield her eyes. But the little girl had already seen, she had seen the beast barely at her feet, its head sliced off, and she had seen her father his throat ripped but his sword near him, she had seen her poor mother covered in blood and dead on the ground. All the sounds started rushing back into her ears and she heard her sister's voice. 

"Shh Rose, we will be okay. We just have to run." her sister said looking around the halls and running through them. She ran past dead bodies and never paused, her eyes only leaving the exit when she would look down to check to see that the small 4 year old was still holding on. The older girl froze when three large monsters stepped into her path, holding the child behind her she glared at them. But the babe cried harder, knowing what would come next. 

One of the beasts growled and the small child clung closer to her sister as she heard their words. "Kill the girl. We have to take the pup. It's what Alpha would have wanted." She looked up at her sister afraid, but her sister didn't react, could she hear them too? But the older girl kept whispering foreign words under her breathe, her eyes glowing and her long brown hair picking up a breeze.  

Rose tried to cling closer to her sister but found that a odd wind was picking her up, pulling her away, wrapping her in an a invisible cloak. "Lilly!" the child screamed, the girl smiled. 

"Rose everything will be okay. You will be safe. Just hide and somebody safe will find you. I'll keep you safe but I need you never to come back here." but the child didn't understand, and she kept trying to reach out and grab onto her older sister. "I love you Rose, I do. No matter what. Just remember what happened tonight is what happens when you defy the Fates. I will be able to shield you, but they will always be looking for you Rose, so you need to keep running." 

Fire erupted around the room and the older girl looked forward, watching the wolves stalk closer as her baby sister was carried away and shielded by a strong wind. The elfish girl kept muttering foreign words under her breathe and bringing to life different elements, but despite this the little girl knew she would never see her sister again. The small child tried to fight through the wind, she couldn't leave her older sister behind. But the wind just kept pulling her away and wrapping her in what seemed like more and more cloaks. But the girl didn't look at her own glowing body or the spells cast on it, she looked back begging for everything to be a horrible dream.