And I Had Darkened

Before

The servants called her metis because the girl was born with no powers, like a body with no soul, darting from one corner to the next, never saying hello or goodbye, always hiding in the dark. They barely knew her, not many saw her at all. The girl was a ghost in the house, a mere white bony figure in the dark and nothing more, like dust on clothes, easily overlooked.

Till one day she attended a party, a gathering of the most influential people in Agatheas, their daughters and sons hand in hand, drinking whatever the Ragnild's served that night. The girl stayed behind never attending parties, she didn't like them anyway, she wasn't invited, nor did she want to be invited.

But this time her mother requested she come, a gift for her upcoming 12th birthday that would be overlooked for the more popular sister. The girl couldn't refuse the offer not because she wanted to come, she couldn't refuse because she didn't have a choice, she never had a choice when it came to them. The word was foreign on her mouth, it will always stay foreign for as long as she lived.

In the night of the party, people were dressed in their outrageous attire, fur on fur, patterns of every kind made by popular tailors and showered with jewels from head to toe. The girl might have run away from horrific sight of those people and their powerful stench of a colon but her mother held her hand. First, it was soft then it was firm.

She was showcased to this people, like a slave being sold off to a master, she looked the part, wearing a white over sized shirt her mother gave, a big bulky chain, cuffed on to her neck. But the girl no longer cared, they had done this a million times, over and over again but tonight was different, a steel stage was in the middle of the room.

The guest smiled at her, but it was more of a leer, it didn't take long till she knew what the stage was meant for and it gave her chills. It was for her and whatever showcase her mother had planned, she was exotic to these people after all.

A little whimper escaped the girl's voice, her mother noticed, dragging her to the stage, whispering to her ear softly for only the girl to hear. "You noticed sooner than I expected." The girl flinched at the sound but when her mother brought a whip out she cowered in fear, sweat trickling down her spine as her mother brought her to the stage and pushed her on all fours.

She laid on the floor, the cold steel greeted her, as the guest moved towards the stage watching, waiting for the whip to land on the girls back. The commanding voice of her mother filled her thoughts, consumed her mind as she had stayed there bend helplessly. "My beautiful pet, ladies and gentlemen."

No one knew the girl's story, all assumed she an orphan in the family since she was treated in such a way. They did not know the girl was cursed, her magic was given away to a witch in exchange for her body to follow her mother's wish. Her mother only needed one child, her sister, it was an easy exchange for her right from the beginning.

The crack of the whip met the ground, as the girl trembled there, uselessly thinking of thoughts to take her away from this nightmare but none ever did. Even the day as she saw the old prince and he had smiled at her. The whip hit her back as she arched at the pain, her mouth gaped open. She wanted to crawl away from it but she stayed put, not able to move. Her mother kept striking until the fabric on her back tore apart, then she stopped.

The girl was crying, her voice sour from all that happened, but when she relaxed thinking it was over, her mother proclaimed to the whole room. "Anyone is welcomed to whip her until she dies. She will stay here until I tell her to move."

The room shouted in hooray, filled with sadistic lust. The girl stopped breathing, stopped thinking, as her mother ripped her shirt in shreds, her body became exposed to everyone, the skin of her body met the stale air, her sweat clearly visible and the lines of the whip showcased.

Embarrassment fueled her mind, and lust grew from the old men in the room, some from women too, every last bit of her dignity died right then and there. The girl just didn't feel anything anymore as pain greeted her, the whole room filled with her screams, tears and blood.

She didn't know how long it lasted, it felt like forever, her mother didn't let her black out from the pain, always slapping her to stay awake. Her blood was warm on her back, as it dripped onto the floor, exposed skin and flesh touched the whip, her bones might have been showing. But people saw it as entertainment.

The girl felt empty, violated and broken. No one cared as they whipped her in other areas other than her back, leaving her wounded, bruised and bleeding everywhere. The girl might have died right then when someone knocked on the door, opening it as a huge gust of air filling the room, stinging the open wounds.

"Enough. You'll kill her, what's the fun in that Sirathia Ragnild." The queen was standing in front of the door as she said it, the king in front of her and their children behind her. They entered the room swiftly and dismissed the girl on the stage but their children hadn't. The oldest princes face was full of horror, as he stared and stared onto her body, towards what they did to her but the youngest prince looked at the girl's eyes.

A twitch of sadness but the next moment it was gone, leaving a face of unnerving certainty. The girl was forgotten by the people in the room, all the tension was on the royal family and hers. She soon drifted to sleep as darkness greeted her and she greeted it.

Hoping for one day, she would no longer awake to the light.

***

The girl was standing behind a poll attached on the ground, covering most of her body and face, the only features to be seen were her eyes and hair, draping over her body like water falling down a waterfall.

Her family was in the garden, eating and talking with her sister, sandwich bits falling on her sister's clothes while they were smiling, laughing like a family. There, sitting beside her sister was an unfamiliar guy dressed in black, golden buttons and untamed hair.

The girl was curious yet jealous. Is that what it's like to be a normal girl she thought. The girl looked away from them and stared out to the open blue sky, birds flying overhead. One, in particular, stood out to her, a bird with black wings and feathers with a single strand of gold on its back. How weird she thought, how mysterious.

The bird had violet eyes, they were cloudy yet clear, hard but soft, scared but never lonely. The girl envied it as it flew in the wind, the bird had chirped at her, looking through her eyes into her soul, it seemed to come closer but hesitated before it did. It chirped again coming as close as it could without her parents noticing. The girl smiled at it, eyes sparkling with happiness.

It flew away after she smiled, leaving quickly but not hurried. The girl stared back into her family and the mysterious man sitting beside her sister, hand in hand. The man turned and saw her in the shadow, their eyes intertwined with each other, yet he didn't see what other people saw. The hate they gave towards someone like her.

The man looked surprised and gave a lazy smile back at her. The girl was thrown back by it, a warm flush leaving her face, he was beautiful. Stunning, and seemed to glow with the sun. The man had seen her reaction and coughed a laugh. The girl looked surprised and she shyly looked away, her heart beating out of her chest like fire, wild and untamed. It was the first time she felt alive for a long time as they kept giving each other side glances.

The girl wanted that feeling to last forever.

*
Hey!! Like or comment if you want and thank you for reading the beginning of my novel. Even if you don't stick around until the end, it's nice knowing you bothered to read it. >\\<'