Her Name Is Styxx

Turn Of Events

A cave glowed a florescent blue as a child huddled in a corner to keep warm. The sounds of clanging metal could be heard nearby from the men that worked tirelessly on their weapons. Among the group of traveling men, there was boy no older than fourteen. He had found this female child in the woods, and saved her from imminent death from a vrykolakas1. Upon saving the girl, he dressed the wound on the child's ankle and brought her back to his family. 

"My name is, Aleksei, and I'll take care of you from now on." The boy had said as he carried the girl from the forest.

Aleksei had taken the child to a nearby cave that his family had been using, and waited for his family to return with the prize of their hunt. Not a long time had passed when about six men sauntered into the cave, all covered in blood and sacks of grains and other foods in hand. When the men noticed the child, they immediately got on the defensive as they looked disapprovingly at the youngest male in their midst. 

"What is this?" The oldest man questioned angrily.

"I have brought her with me. She will be my responsibility." Aleksei spoke firmly as he stood before the child.

The group of men argued with Aleksei for some time, before finally, allowing the young girl to stay with them. The older men refused to teach the child anything, and the boy only taught her how to cook and clean up after them. A few years would pass, and the developing child would get subjected to harsh treatment and what she believed to be torture. Aleksei would always explain to the crying girl that it was to help their survival, and if she could help the family thrive then she should be proud. Yet, no matter how many times the older men hurt her, she couldn't produce the results that they wanted. Angered by the girl's inability to reproduce, the older men resorted to seeking out further developed women and exacting the same treatment upon them. The older men never actually returned to Aleksei and the girl, and caused the boy to become desolate and depressed. The girl attempted to cheer him up, but no avail. Finally after some weeks, the boy stated that he wanted to teach her how to hunt and defend herself. Taking her out into the snow covered woods, he took her far from the cave in which they lived. Explaining how to sneak up on an animal was his first topic, then he handed her a bow and began to teach her on how to use it. 

"I'm going to go over their hunt, so if you need me, just go that way." Aleksei smiled weakly as his eyes darted around.

The girl nodded quickly before shuffling through the snow quietly. Some time had passed and there was no signs of any wildlife, so she decided to turn back and speak to Aleksei. When she arrived back at their meeting point, she couldn't see him anywhere. The child became worried and began to wander in the direction that he gave her. She walked on for hours and couldn't find the boy, and soon the skies began to turn gray in color as snow began to lightly fall from the sky.

"I'm alone again." The child whispered as tears began to fill her eyes.

"Why?"

Jolting out of bed, Styxx breathed heavily as she ran her fingers through her hair and over her body. Squeezing her eyes shut, all she could hear was the screaming of the child and her innocent voice questioning what was happening. Pressing the palms of her hand into her eyes, a hiss escaped her lips as her right eye began to sting. This was honestly the most terrifying dream to her, and it just felt so real throughout the whole thing. Leveling out her breathing, she finally rested her hands on her lap and opened her left eye slightly. Her right eye was still hurting from the pressure she had accidentally placed on it with her hand. Sliding out of her bed, she went straight into her bathroom and turned on the hot water. Quickly stripping out of her sweaty clothes, she immediately entered the walk-in shower and stood underneath the cascading water. Soaking in the warm liquid, Styxx leaned back against the cool stone wall behind her as she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind.