Pandemonium

Chapter 19

"She's so beautiful! Honey, I want her!" The short woman pointed at Sierra as she urged her husband to adopt the girl. "Dear... but her eyes... it looks like a bad omen to me."

"Oh, hush up. There's no such thing as a bad omen, her eyes are gorgeous!"

Did she just call her gorgeous? No, that's not possible! Maybe that woman was gesturing to someone standing behind her. Bewildered, Sierra glanced backward to find nobody. She looked at the woman, pointing at herself, she mouthed, "Me?"

The woman nodded in affirmation, "Yes dear. You!" Sierra blinked rapidly and pinched herself... It wasn't a dream; it was real... but how? Nobody wanted her, why was this woman calling her pretty? Overwhelmed, she ran back upstairs to her room.

The woman frowned at the sight of the running child. Poor girl, hadn't anybody told her how beautiful she was? Her resolution to adopt the little girl hardened. She was going to take the child away from this horrid place which seemed to treat her as a monster... They were the real monsters, not her. She glanced at the shriveled old man, who was the in-charge, "I wish to adopt the girl."

A bit weary, he questioned, "Are you sure?" he leaned in closer and whispered, "She's a demon, she sent her own mother to prison for dying." The woman's eyes narrowed, this place was full of shit. No child deserved to be called names like that. "Yes," she confirmed, "I want her." Her husband was about to disagree, but one glare from her and he shut up.

The paperwork was soon done and one day Sierra was walking with the couple, her little hand enclosed within the woman's palm. "Go away, demon child" the old man sneered, causing the girl to cower behind the woman. The woman glared at the man and looked down at little Sierra, caressing her cheek she said, "That's not true, dear. You are my daughter and you are beautiful." Tears of joy glistened in her eyes, "Thank you, mommy" she whispered. Smiling, the woman walked happily with her child, unaware of the resentment brimming in her husband's mind.

Day in, day out...months passed by in a blur. Each morning, brought some improvement in Sierra. With her mother by her side, she started accepting her eyes. Slowly, but steadily her confidence grew, she started to talk more. She gained weight, her bony frame now looked healthier. It was going all good, until one day everything changed again.

Sierra hid in the closet as her mother had instructed. "What a-are you doing?" her mother's voice shook. "What I should've done ages ago! You brought that abomination home. Since then nothing has been going good for me at work." He grabbed a knife and headed towards his wife in slow deliberate steps, "My juniors don't respect me as they used to! Because you took in the demon child."

Her steps faltered. Her husband, who once loved her was now about to kill her. Sierra, her little Sierra... How was she going to protect her daughter? One moment she was standing, worried for her child and the next moment, all she felt was, pain as she fell to the floor, clutching the knife that was plunged into her heart.

"Mommy!" Ah! Her little angel... As she lay dying, she only hoped that Sierra would be alright.

Before the girl could reach her mother, she was grabbed by her hair, "Come here, you little runt!" She screamed, she felt as if her hair would be ripped apart from her head. "Stop screaming!" He gritted as he pulled her hair more harshly.

Whimpering, Sierra shut her mouth. "Say one word about this and you'll also join your mother, you understand?"

She nodded. "Good," he released her hair, "Now when I call the police and my colleagues arrive, you will not say a single word." She nodded in agreement and soon enough their house was swarmed with officers in uniforms. Vincent, her supposed father, acted distraught over his wife's death. He was the head of the police department, everyone supported him. There was nothing she could do to punish her mother's murderer.

It was after the incident, that the beatings started. Like everyone else, he blamed her for his wife's murder. "If only she hadn't chosen you, she would still be alive..." In his drunken stupor, he abused her. Hitting her till she completely passed out on the floor.

None of the police helped her. They acted as if they never saw the scars and bruises littered on her body. The weight she had gained disappeared and she was a bony mess all over again. Her body littered with scars and bruises, her physical will to fight broken. With no one to help her, she became a shell of herself.

One day, a real break-in occurred... the robber had killed her father. "Dammit," he whispered under his breath as he saw the child staring at him. Instead of screaming like he thought she would, she looked him straight in the eye and said, "Thank you." The robber was taken aback, why would a child thank him for killing her father... That was when he took notice of her... That sick bastard! He hit her! Feeling responsible for the child he bent down to her level and asked, "Would you like to come with me? I can teach you how to fight."

Fight. He would teach her how to fight, she would never have to take a beating again. With determination clear in her eyes, Sierra whispered, "Yes."

That was the day, she left the naïve world behind and entered the world of crime. Surprisingly, they treated her more as a family than others. She was meant to be here, there were people like her here... the ones who were abandoned by their families... it was like a giant family to her. She was happy and this time she would make sure that it lasted.

"They are the only family I have. And by helping them with their needs, I'm helping my family. The authorities are shit! They never help people like me, like us. That's what I'm doing; I'm creating a world where we don't have to feel like outcasts- abandoned and lonely. A world where we too are seen as humans and not monsters. That's my cause." She finished.

"You've got it a bit wrong. You see..." "SHUT UP!" she cut me off. "I'll do whatever it takes to fulfill their dream."

"Even if it means killing innocents?"

"They're nothing more than collateral damage in awar." She got up and dusted her clothes, "You like chaos, right?" Tilting herhead she glanced at me, "You'll be the witness to one of the greatestpandemonium I present to the world."