Chapter 22.5
In the state of California, near the border of Mexico, there is a tiny little village that, according to the government, does not exist. This village does not have a hospital or police force or any other form of emergency workers. Which is why crime runs rampant.
In this village there once lived a drug dealer and a prostitute. The two of them once shared a night together and a couple months later she discovered she was pregnant with his baby. Surprisingly enough they agreed to live together and raise the baby, probably the most responsible act anyone ever committed in that village.
Nine months later, Tenna T. was born.
From the moment she was born, Tenna learned how to fight. She learned how to throw a punch and how to shoot a gun, all so she could survive in that terrible village. She was strong for a little girl and could hold her own against any adult. And her parents were always there to care for her the best they could.
Unfortunately they died in a shoot-out when she was ten years old. After that she was all alone.
Tenna stayed in that village for another eight years, surviving any way she could. When she turned eighteen she left in search of a better life.
She travelled around for almost a year, mostly on foot but sometimes she would come across a polite soul who would drive her to a nearby town. Eventually she arrived in Los Angeles, and oh how excited she was. She thought for sure this would be where she starts her new life.
But she was wrong.
Tenna had actually arrived in a bad part of the city. But she couldn’t tell the difference because it looked way better than her old village. It didn’t seem bad to her.
But as she was walking through an alley she was confronted by four men. They were thin but well-built and fairly well dressed. They all smiled disgusting grins filled with lust and Tenna knew straight away what they were after.
She was sure she could take them. After all she’s taken down men twice their size. But she stopped when she got a look at their eyes. These men, they were different from the people she fought growing up. Back then, everything everyone did was to survive or because they were too deranged to understand. But these men… they were different. They did this for pleasure.
This thought terrified Tenna.
She couldn’t move. She’s never been frozen with fear before. She didn’t like it, she felt weak. But she just couldn’t fight back. Not even when they started tearing at her clothes.
They suddenly stopped when the tip of a blade appeared at the front of one of the men’s throats. He gagged when the blade disappeared through his neck. Blood spurted from his mouth and wound as he collapsed to the ground. Standing behind him was a thin, tall, lanky young man, with a blood coated knife in his gloved hand.
Before any of the other three men could react, he swung his knife and sliced through another man’s neck. The other two screamed and tried to run away, but the boy was faster. He grabbed one of them by the back of his shirt and stabbed through his neck. Finally he sliced clean through the last man’s neck, cutting off his head.
Tenna panted as she watched the killer. She was completely speechless. She had seen plenty of deaths and murders in her life, but nothing like this. The way this man killed, it was almost like an art.
He turned and faced her. She flinched when he started walking towards her. Their eyes met and pure, unadulterated fear washed over her. Because this man did not have the eyes of a human.
He had the eyes of a beast.
His face suddenly softened and he sighed. He turned around and reached into his sweater. He pulled something out and made some sort of motion that Tenna couldn’t see. Then he turned back around.
“You don’t belong here,” he stated.
She blinked curiously when he handed her a piece of paper with writing on it. It was a crudely drawn map, but legible.
“Follow those directions to the main part of the city,” he explained, “there you will be able to make some honest money.”
He scratched his neck awkwardly and sighed. “And if you’re so inclined, you can move onto something better. A few hours away there is another city that does not have a name. But it is known throughout the state as the ‘Nameless City’. It should be easy enough to find.”
He looked at her with sad eyes and for the first time ever, Tenna felt like she had connected with someone.
“I think you’d fit in well there,” he said.
And with that he turned and left the bewildered Tenna. She stayed crouched there in the alley for a few minutes before she stood up and left, following the map through the city.
Just like the boy said, she managed to make some honest money in the city doing odd jobs for many different people. She learned many things, like how exciting and beautiful the world can be sometimes.
When she made enough money to easily survive on, she decided to go looking for this ‘Nameless City’ the boy mentioned. She asked around and apparently there were plenty of weird rumors surrounding the place. This only fueled Tenna’s curiosity and she immediately left for it.
She walked most of the way because anyone who was nice enough to pick her up quickly dropped her off in the middle of nowhere when they found out where she was going. This only made her more excited.
She arrived in the ‘Nameless City’ in a few days and she knew the second she stepped into the city limits that she belonged here. She wasn’t sure how she knew, she could just feel it.
She used the money she earned in L.A. to buy a tiny apartment that only had a couch. But she was proud because it was her first ever home. She lived there for a couple days before looking for a steady job.
She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She wasn’t even sure what she was good at other than fighting. But she didn’t want to fight anymore. She wanted to do something else, something fun.
As she was exploring the city she noticed an ad on a bulletin board for a photography class. This interested her. So she decided to take the class. After all she wanted to reinvent herself.
After her first class, Tenna found she had an affinity for photography. She loved it and apparently it loved her. She was very good. She could make a good photo out of everything.
When she finished her class she managed to get a photography job for the city’s magazine. Her first steady job. She was so happy.
From here she moved on fast and strong. With her first paycheck she started renting a nice, big apartment with many different rooms. With her second paycheck she bought many different pieces of furniture. After that she spent her money on whatever she wanted.
It wasn’t long before she made an actual friend. She was a girl who lived in the same apartment building as her. Her name was Devi and the two of them became fast friends. Tenna liked Devi for her odd personality so they got along well.
To this day Tenna still lives in that apartment, she’s still friends with Devi, and she’s still a photographer for the city magazine. And it’s all thanks to that boy she met in L.A. She’s not sure who that boy was. But she does hope he’s as happy as she is.
And it’s been a very long time since she’s had to fight for her life.
