Twisted

== Notes ==
* Special note, I guarantee no satisfying ending. Or any ending.
* Also, no satisfying writing... you can look down to see that!
* And, uh, mature content. Like death and maybe worse.
* Imma try and make each chapter at least two thousand words, which is more than a lot of the stories here but less than a lot of good books, so uh.. be prepared?
* This is set in a place called Behiron!
* Wanna help? Help HERE!  https://authors-and-artists.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Twistedflower/Twisted
== Prologue ==
It was an obsessive love for the mythical animal that got her in the alley. Not her. Just in case mom ever found her there while she was busy doing who-knows-what, she’d tell her it wasn’t her fault. Because it wasn’t! How could it be her fault? She was the innocent little cupcake, and her mother was the irresponsible one singing at a trashy bar. She was just bored. 
Kaitlyn’s smile widened across her round face as she discussed the plan with herself silently. Not my fault! Not my fault! Not my fault! The words rolled in her head quickly and mercilessly, running over other thoughts that may or may not have been there previously. She was barely aware of her feet moving as she thought of where exactly to put the dagger for her mother. Not the metal daggers that her friends brought to show-and-tell or the one that that one old hag of a teacher had used to try and hack off an annoying student’s hand off that one time, but an emotional dagger. The ones that hurt most, she added to herself.
The little girl looked around cheerfully at the dark walls towering over her like the mythical giraffe which just so happened to be what Kaitlyn wanted to imagine. This was the perfect place to imagine it. A mythical giraffe, with its sunny golden fur with warm brown spots and its long tongue.
The girl looked around cheerfully for something to used and checked a few of the dark trash bags that surrounded her. There wasn’t much she could use, but she did find one of those baby’s horse sticks, and she quickly grabbed it. The fur was the wrong shade of yellow, being more of the classic very-saturated and no-yellow kind of yellow, but she had an imagination for a reason.
Her eyes closed, and before her closed eyes, a green landscape folded outwards hastily. Green, not gray, Kaitlyn thought gleefully. As she thought of gray, a flash of the familiar gray stone entered her imagination. Nonono, GREEN! The beautiful imaginary landscape she pictured from the scraps of books she got to read or the illustrations from the best of artists shoved the gray stone with hardened red splashed over it away. She sighed with clear relief.
Imaginary Kaitlyn was beautiful. Her mother was pretty, but Imaginary Kaitlyn passed that. She was beautiful. Her usually messy dark brown hair was smoothed down and was gently pushed under a white headband. She had a more feminine and a more adult body, with less of the chubbiness that she had. Her scrapes and scratches from rough play seemed to be gone for good, replaced with radiant pale skin. She was wearing a long white gown that glittered yellow in the Sun.
The Sun...
It was beautiful.
It was huge.. it was...
Perfect.
Note to self: See the real life sun one day, she reminded herself.
Kaitlyn felt the green grass brush against her calf, and she giggled. The grass was soft and pretty, not at all like the glowing, hard grass at Behiron. She loved it.
A sudden snort cut through the beautiful silence next to her. (Kaitlyn didn’t know what sound the creatures made, so she associated it with a pig.) She turned around, and a soft brown nose obscured her vision. Kaitlyn felt as beatiful and rare laugh bubble in her throat. A giraffe! Her heart seemed to skip eight beats at once, and she gave the tall creature a hug. It was so tall! About two times as tall as the biggest cow!
Kaitlyn closed her eyes. I’m glad I’m not underground. This would never EVER fit underground! (Exaggeration. Maybe it could. No, it definitely could. Still, it was bigger than an adult human, which was bigger than all other animals she knew of. 
“KAITLYN! KAITLYN, WHERE THE FUDGE ARE YOU?!”
Kaitlyn jumped at the word fudge, a happy look suddenly falling as she heard the familiar authority in the voice.
”Uh oh,” she whispered to the toy that turned out not to be a giraffe that tilted unbalanced in her tiny hand.
Wait, nononono, it‘s GOING?! ALREADY?!
With that, the golden and green dream left her vision. Instead, the gray, rough ground met her eyes. “Mister Giraffe, we gotta hide,” she told the horse in her hands, hoping that the dream would return any time soon. She already missed the light chickens clucking in the background and the sun.
Quickly thinking, Kaitlyn hopped into a box. As soon as the smoky scent reached her nose, she knew it was a bad idea. It smelled so bad, and it made her wanna vomit... but she already heard the tic, tic, tic of shoes running down the alley. She tried to pull the horse.. no, the giraffe... down into the box to hide, but ended up tossing it out of the box after finding out it was a lost cause. Her heartbeat quickened as a voice, much worse than the giraffe’s snorting noise, sliced through the silence with a blade of loud authority laced with relief but also full of fear, which made no sense to Kaitlyn.
”GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF THE BOX. NOW.”
”BUT-“
”NOW.”
Kaitlyn glared up from the Smoky-Box. That was unfair. How come mom used the dagger before her? Well Kaitlyn had a sharper one. One with a wicked edge that was sure to at least catch her mother off guard. A wicked thought crossed her mind, and before anything could stop her (Not that she’d LET anything stop her), she spoke the hurtful words.
“But Kaitlyn wants a mom who’s there for her, a mom who doesn’t sing at stupid bars.”
In the few stunned moments of silence, Kaitlyn would have guessed that not only did she have the sharper dagger, but she also knew where to put it, and that was why mom didn’t respond.
Then she did, causing Kaitlyn to make a note to herself. Next time, aim the dagger.
”Oh, I’m sorry,” her mother said sweetly, creating a heavy mist of Mom’s-About-To-Lecture-And-Ground-You in the air for Kaitlyn to feel. “Wait,” Kaitlyn started. She was quickly interrupted by her own MOTHER, whose voice had suddenly dropped several degrees. “Did you want a mother who didn’t care? A mother who LET bad things happen to her own child?”
The question took Kaitlyn by surprise. Why would Kaitlyn NEED protecting? Besides, would that mother be there or not? There were many factors that went into this! Like.. why would she need protecting and... will the mother be there. Many factors, too many to count.
“Pfft. I don’t need to be protected.” Kaitlyn scoffed. “Really now?” Replied her mother with obvious sarcasm in her voice, “what’s that behind you, then?”
Feeling an unhealthy dose of fear rise in her mind, Kaitlyn snapped around. It took some effort at first, but then she remembered about the fact that she could just get up and look. What she saw actually wasn’t bad at all. A black trashbag or two. Another box, larger and possibly less smoky. The horse toy. “Nothing bad?” Guessed Kaitlyn.
The grim expression that Kaitlyn was able to see even through the little light told her otherwise. “Open the bag,” her mother told her. Kaitlyn looked between the two bags. One was huge, the other was her sized. ”Which one?” Her mother sighed impatiently, removing some of the tension that plagued the lecture so far. “The big one.”
Kaitlyn did as her mother said as best as she could, which was hardly good at all. “How?” Mom let out an angry noise thar could have only been described a dog trying to speak human. “I.. I.. OPEN THE TOP!”
”Okay.” Kaitlyn looked up, squinting slightly. “Uh, mom, how do I get to the top?”
“AGH, PIGS IN A BLANKET!” Her mother hissed through gritted teeth. “Get something SHARP and CUT it.”
”How’ll that get me to the t- waaaiit, ooOOHHH, I get it! Iknowwhatyoumeannow!” Kaitlyn really didn’t, but seeing the fiery rage spill into her mother’s gaze, she decided it was best not to press her buttons any further. The pale girl picked up a sharp stone from the ground and worked to get the bag open, which didn’t take all to long.
A hand suddenly fell from the bag onto the ground, shocking Kaitlyn and causing her to stumble back a bit. “Mom!” Kaitlyn shrieked, “Somebody’s in there!”
Her mom nodded regretfully. “I’ve been waiting to tell you about this for a while. When he was.. removed, I decided it was the perfect time.. Kaitlyn, that’s Charles Green. A pretty popular crimeboss who, uh.. he did some bad stuff...” her voice choked up, which shocked Kaitlyn a fair amount. Moms could cry?
Her voice cleared. “He killed somebody we know while another person sang, and.. well, he was removed.“ Kaitlyn tilted her head to one side. “Removed? He’s not gunna survive in a bag, so that’s killing, not removal.“ Kaitlyn began working to get the large body out of the bag, even though it was hopeless. “Kaitlyn, stop.. he’s gone.” She sighed. “No, he’s right there.” She pointed at the body, the thought that he might already be dead not passing her mind.
”Kaitlyn, he was KILLED.” 
“What?!” Kaitlyn’s face twisted into shock. Shock and disgust.. maybe some anger?
”WHY WAS HE KILLED, WHAT DID HE DO?!”
”KAITLYN, HUSH!” Her mother shrieked. Kaitlyn was taken aback at this.. again, she thought mildly. Why was her mother so mad all of a sudden?
”Were you not listening?” Her mother finally whimpered. “He killed our friend. And lots of others.. he had it coming...”
”Which friend?“ Kaitlyn felt a heaviness settle in her chest that was not there before. She wanted to get rid of it, but she didn’t know how. “Zoey,” replied her mother, her self control back and her tsadness changed to bossy authority. Zoey.. her mind vaguely recalled Zoey’s bright smile and gentle hold. It was gone now? Thrown away? Did she even do anything important in life?
That thought was scary.
“Kaitlyn, please come here.”
Kaitlyn hesitated, her mind turning and cranking in new ways. People did that? Why? Why would somebody kill another? 
Will somebody kill me?
As the mind hit her head, she bolted over to her mother in unwanted tears she wanted to chase away. “Will somebody kill me?” Kaitlyn wailed. “Shh. You’re being too loud.” Her mother almost instinctively commanded. “And no. I won’t let them, I promise.” Her mother’s arms wrapped around her carefully until they hugged eachother tightly. 
“I’ll make sure of it, but you have to stay with me for it to work,” she told her with motherly calmness that attacked the bossiness that she usually had. Kaitlyn let the tears and her fears pour out of her as she did. “Then I can promise I can keep you safe. And I can’t break a Mother’s promise.”
”Are mother’s promises better than my promises?” The little girl asked shakily. This made her mom laugh a bit, and she stroked her hair gently. “Of course,” mother responded with a regal twist of her hands. “Then I mother-promise you I’ll stay in sight,” Kaitlyn said, wiping a ripped sleeve across her nose to catch the mucus that threatened to fall. 
“Only mothers can do that.”
A pause erupted between them. “Mom, why did he kill?”
Her mother looked down, her hand suddenly still in her hair. She took a breath, then decided to tell her why, even though she knew that the sheer weight of the fact had killed so many young children in suicide.
”Because he can. If he does kill, he’ll just find a way to get the police to look another way after paying the crooks a fine.” Her voice was back to ice-cold, and Kaitlyn shivered a bit at it. “Not only that, but he’ll influence others to do it. Not only THAT, but a lot of good people have turned bad at not the damn crimebosses, but the fact that they cannot pay for their Protection Fees because people LIKE the crimebosses are asking for a bit more pocket change from the decent poor people,” Her mother yelled.
”I don’t get it,” Kaitlyn told her with a mildly upset expression. “I don’t expect you to yet,” her mother responded and went back to stroking Kaitlyn’s hair. “Just promise me one thing.”
”Okay.”
”Don’t hurt anybody unless they’re guilty of a crime.” she paused, her hazel eyes flickering. “And don’t ever become a killer for money.”
Kaitlyn thought those were heavy but right requests. She nodded slowly. “I promise.”
== Chapter One ==
Kaitlyn was tired of this.
She had only been alone for the short span of three weeks now, and she was already spiraling down to being broke. She had to spend most of the money that she had and most of the money that she got when mom died on a crappy apartment in District Four. Once she was in The Waterfall District, she could really see how lucky she was to have grown up in The Lake District where at least rotting bodies didn’t greet her every move. Every time she saw one, with the glowing maggots crawling from their bloody mouths, she was met with disgusting vibes that shook her body.
The Waterfall District was a loud and merciless place where nobody gave to rat craps over whether they accidentally hurt, or even killed somebody. She hated it here so much.. it was even less bearable now that she was alone. All because of that stupid explosion.  
The explosion had shocked everybody. First of all, explosions were more ‘uncivilized’ and looked down upon, so nobody really did them. They usually used a flick of a blade or a pull of a trigger. Instead, her family was killed by a bomb. Second of all, her family was hardly much of a target! They were all good to everybody they saw. (For the most part, anyways) Why would anybody decide to suddenly attack one of the few good people? Even a few of the criminals who managed to hear about the bomb were shocked! 
Kaitlyn only remembered the explosion vaguely. She was walking home after an hour of staring at the clear Lake from afar when it started. Kaitlyn didn’t feel much of the explosion, but she did feel a sharp object fly outwards in her direction and cut her on her knee. The rest of everything else was a haze. She remembered waking up on the ground where the explosion had happened with a groggy feeling.  
When Kaitlyn had regained some of her conscience, she stumbled to the flaming broken house to look for anybody who may have survived, coughing constantly in the heavy smoke that weaved around her head. “Mom? Dad? Max?” She had called. There was no response, although she did find the burnt bodies of her mother and father. 
Kaitlyn shook herself back to reality. She sighed and opened the door to her apartment. She only recently decorated, which for her meant throwing things down together in a habitable area so that she could sleep and eat there. A mattress was off to the corner, a pillow and a blanket thrown onto it. She had a counter complete with a sink, a microwave and a fridge with a few cabinets lining the walls, filled to the brim with microwavable or easy meals. She had a bookshelf full of fiction books that looked interesting and history books about the earth. About what was above the dark caves..  
Kaitlyn put a gentle hand to the healing wound on her knee. She looked around the room again. There were still two unpacked bags of stuff she could use, but this apartment couldn’t hold that much. It was literally two rooms: One room with everything but a bathroom and a bathroom. That was all. She got up from the hard floor and stretched a halfhearted stretch before walking to the bags to check for anything that she could fit in here. Hastily pulling out a calendar and a familiar painting, she tried to avoid thinking about the death of her family. Don’t think about them, don’t think about them.. now I'm thinking about them. Okay, think. Bunnies! No. Ooh, the overworld! Think of THAT! 
As she skipped around the upsetting thoughts that plagued her mind, she hung the calendar and painting quite close together on an empty cracked wall. She stared for a long moment at the painting. Maxwell had painted it, sort of just to tease her. It had him on one side and her on the other. “Best siblings” it had scribbled down in blue lettering. Of course, she was his only sibling. She smiled calmly. She missed him..    
Think of something else!
Kaitlyn quickly scanned the calendar. “Wait,” she whispered, “Tomorrow’s Protection Fee day? Agh, CRAP!” She looked through the bags again in newfound terror. Each fee was thirty dollars for her district, which she did not have to waste on pocket money for people who didn’t need any of it. She began searching through the bag, tossing out a lot of stuff she didn’t need until she reached a small white wooden box.    
The light box felt familiar in her hands, and she felt a pang of guilt. It wasn’t her fault everybody she cared for had died, but she still felt the pang of guilt that threatened to make her cry sharp and clear. She had gotten this box for her birthday along with a hundred dollars. “To start you off,” her mother joked way back then, even though this would do next to nothing. She hadn’t used any of the money yet, but she figured now would be a great time. She hastily grabbed three tens and slammed the lid shut. The memories faded away when she put the box down, which came to her as a wave of relief.        
Kaitlyn quickly threw the money carelessly towards the door, hardly stopping to stare at where she left it. The girl grabbed a few extra dollar bills to stuff in her jacket’s pocket, just in case. She eventually flopped down on her bed to sleep for a while. It was a long day, and even she needed a break, even after doing nothing most of the day.               
When Kaitlyn woke up, it was already nearly midnight. Her sleep wasn’t very fulfilling, but rather it was shallow and sort of painful. She looked around her room blankly. Where am I again? She thought for a few minutes before recalling the previous events. Oh. Right. Apparently she hadn’t gotten used to all of it. Kaitlyn sighed and buried her face into the pillow. 
She wondered what to do now, and ended up walking around the fourth district. And wow. Everything was so unlike the third district! Not in a good way, of course. The place reeked of smoke, which she had noticed before, and at least a few bodies littered the ground most everywhere. The people were not friendly at all, giving her untrusting glares and dismissive scoffs left and right. The cold gray stone ground was for the most part rough and hard to get around, but she managed. Most of the people were better at weaving around the cracks in the path or the surprising holes than her, which revealed some sort of arrogant voice in her. Yeah, well I come from a place that isn’t a trashbag.
Kaitlyn looked around for something kid-friendly for her to do. Unfortunately, not much was there for people her age. There was a daycare near the middle of the district, but it still wasn’t quite for her age. It was four the five year olds that lived in fear that their mommies or daddies might be killed by some low-born criminal. Kaitlyn‘s unimpressed gaze fell on a park. Its grass glowed faintly in its green brilliance. Kaitlyn took a few moments to recall the books. Above ground, the grass didn’t need to glow.. that was amazing. She sighed and walked towards it. The closer she got to it, the more aware that the park wasn’t really for children she got.        
The slide ladder was made out if wood, and it had splinters and nails to cut through any finger. It had a brittle gray slide to ensure that a child were to fall if they tried to slide down it. There was a set of monkey bars, with paint that looked chipped away, and if little Max were to climb them, they would likely break. There were some poles propped together to look like the outline of a swingset, but no swings hang on them. The most disturbing part of it was the litter. Not just the litter in general, but what the litter was.        
Clear bags with hints of white powder resting in the corners, empty syringes, broken bottles, and the regular junk parks from District Two had. She shivered, realizing something quite suddenly. This was no place for a child at all. More of a place for idiots to get all high and do whatever people did in that state of mind. The girl shuddered at the thought if whatever poor child would come here, and quickly let the thought fade.
Kaitlyn sighed. I guess I won’t be finding any good places here, then. The girl glanced around warily before looking around to find somewhere just to sit around. She looked at her wrist which housed a metal watch, and for a moment she got lost in the quiet ticking of the device. After one. How nice. Her sigh rang out in the still silence, and she walked around quite aimlessly.         
Eventually, she made her way to a bar. She hesitated before walking inside of the busted old thing. Neon lights flashed at the edge of her vision, and the splintered wooden floor was set aglow. The gag-inducing smell of cheap booze and smoke rose to her nose, and the only thing that seemed good about it was the singing. The honey-sweet and silky singing. She stared longingly at a wineglass that somebody was cleaning, and checked her pockets. She had a little money in there;hopefully enough to buy herself a glass of wine that was watered down.         
No law saying I can’t anyways, even if drinking isn’t a wise decision. But hey, I can do whatever the hell I want.          
She walked up to the man with the glass. “Sup,” she said to him. The words felt strange in her throat. God, she missed being able to speak to another person.       
He looked up boredly. He scanned her for a moment, as if judging her. Judging her. She glowered at him. Try me.         
”The fxxk do you want, kid.”         
”Please refrain with the swear words,” Kaitlyn advised him halfheartedly, “it gets really annoying after, like, the first few times.”         
”Fxxk you, too kid. Anyways, I asked a question.” He glared at her coldly, any trace of an emotion other than indifference washed out from his scarred face.     
”Oh, cool. Wasn’t listening. I want wine,” she answered twice as coldly, or so she hoped. His stare scanned her yet again.          
“Pfft. Yeah, right. And how old are you, princess?”         
She straightened at being called a princess a bit, but shuddered in disgust at what he might do with that information. What if she kept it away from him, making him blind to her personal life? Was he really not going to give her the dxxn drink?          
“My age doesn’t concern you. I have the money. You have the drink. Fair trade.”         
She gave him the money that she had in the pockets of her jacket to prove her ‘I have the money‘ point she made. Kaitlyn glanced at the bartender expectantly and held out her pale hand. She inwardly groaned when she heard him speak.         
”Y’know, alcohol can do some crazy sxxt to kids. What is your age?”         
”There aren’t any rules here,” Kaitlyn objected, feeling a burst of anger in her, “so give me the godxxm DRINK.” That earned her some stares. At the bystanders, she glared at them the same way she glared at this crook in front of her. This is my business.         
”Fine kid, jeez.” He scoffed and hastily filled a glass, his narrow eyes focused on the wine. She rested her head on her arms and waited patiently as she could for this bartender who pissed her off to finish the heck up. Was this prxxk purposefully taking his time? Her patience was worn thin already from all that had happened.
She glared at him and snatched the wine glass. “Thanks.” She muttered before turning to a seat secluded from most other people. She heard the woman that was singing up on the stage stop, and the crowd clapped a bit before turning back to their normal conversation. Kaitlyn stared at the drink with a face scrunched up to look like confusion.          
Should a fifteen year old really be drinking wine? She pondered the question for a bit nervously, weighing out the obvious wrongs and rights of the situation as carefully as she could.        
Should a fifteen year old live alone? No. And yet here I am. She looked down at the dark red wine and took a slow and careful sip. She didn’t want to get drunk and then hurt tonight, and she would make sure that the drink wouldn’t make her go pick a fight with somebody, or.. she shuddered… anything worse.  
Wow.          
It tasted like crap, but at the same time it had a nice sweetness she had been craving. Maybe more expensive wine would taste better, but for now, this was all she had.          
Within an hour of trying to drink the wine down slowly and ignore the side effects, she finally finished and stumbled back home, a feeling of hopelessness and dizziness falling over her.          
How am I supposed to make it out of Behiron alive if I can’t make it out of a town sober.. her thoughts screamed at her, causing a small headache as she flopped down on the bed yet again.          
Before she knew it, a calm wave of sleep crashed over her and chased the headaches away for the night.           
== Chapter Two ==
“Mom, how do you sing?”
It was a dimly lit day. The grasses were making subtle glows, and some of the fires on the torches flickered, but that was all the light that Kaitlyn and her mother had that day on the feilds. The pair had been talking about casual things. The surface, story books, drawings, things like that. Kaitlyn had no reason to ask her mother the question, and yet she did. 
Her mom looked at her, an amused expression planted on her delicate face. Kaitlyn took a small gulp of musty air and closed her gray eyes, waiting for her mother to respond.
”You don’t need to know, dear. Bedsides, why would you want to know? Girls that sing are a dime a dozen.”
Kaitlyn pondered this. Singing came easily enough to her, as long as she sang in her raspiest voice, and she figured only her and her mother could sing. This new information was actually rather mindblowing. Other people sang? What a ridiculous world she lived in.
”Who can sing? Are they better than you?”
This earned a light and airy laugh from her mother. The laugh that Kaitlyn had so rarely achieved was a blessing, a warm and soft blessing she could curl up against. The little girl with so little knowledge from the world smiled, and eventually joined in the laughing. It always made the laughter from other people warmer, as far as she knew.
”No, not at all. Much worse,” said her mother still laughing. Kaitlyn took a moment to realize that her mother was joking, and looked up at the cold blueish black ceiling of the cave. “Then I better get better than you.” She grinned up at her. “How do you sing again?”
“Lovey, ya won’t get better with my singing.” Her mother smiled down at her. “Learn by yourself.”
“But... but that’s haaarrrrd,” Kaitlyn complained. Her mother’s smile was suddenly lost. Kaitlyn, surprised, looked around to try and find it. It wasn’t hiding behind the grass.. did it disappear? The seven year old huffed as the ancient woman who clearly knew nothing sighed. “You can learn something from me, but I can only take you part of the way to your dream of success,” the woman advised her.
“When I grow up, I’m gunna be a singer like you!” Her mother’s smile, though somewhat distant, returned. “I thought you didn’t want to fall in love and get married?” Her mother’s voice was calm but yet teasing. Kaitlyn snorted. “What does mushy love have to do with anything?” Kaitlyn asked the woman. Her mom smiled a bit, as if relishing in her daughter’s ignorance. “You can’t make a stable job with singing alone. I don’t approve of you getting married to a rich criminal for the easy life, but if you want to be a singer, you’ll have to marry.”
“That’s yucky. Marryage doesn’t last.” She looked up. “You know that already.” Her mother scoffed. “Sometimes it does. You should know.” Kaitlyn hesitated to respond. She didn’t. What of her new daddy left her mommy? Kaitlyn shook away the thought. “Fine. I’ll have two jobs, I’ll have three jobs! But I will sing one day.”
A sudden unpleasant light filled the scene, and then suddenly, Kaitlyn was back at her apartment, curled up in a ball. She lifted her head in a groggy way. “Mom..” she groaned a bit and put her head back onto the pillow.
Five years since they left, and you’re still hallucinating. Wow. She groaned. She didn’t want to get up, but she had two things. One, she had a job at a coffee shop. Two, she had a bad streak of being absurdly late to the building. Five more minutes... She turned over. Right now, she needed the sleep that was coming to her. Right now, she also needed the money.
Kaitlyn decided not to set a timer. Surely she had time wired into her brain. She could wake up when it was time, and she knew it!
Of course, she probably should have known to wake up at the darkness that slowly cradled her vision. She didn’t, of course.
Then, before she knew it, she was two hours late.
Oh, lovely. She sighed into her matress and pushed herself clumsily out of the bed, glaring down at the floor. She greeted everybody (With the exception of certain times) with this glare now, so it had become a habit. A bad one for sure, but she knew it wasn’t going away any time soon. Besides, if she kept it, she’d usually interact with less people, which was never bad. Eventually, Kaitlyn gained the will to not have to work late and she got dressed.  
The girl smiled at the mirror. It was herself.. the pale skin that everybody had, the gray eyes, the dark brown hair, the thin body... but she looked like she was ready to work. Even though she really wasn’t. It was a good way to get the boss not to fire you when you don’t want to work but have to, so you go in unprofessionally while looking like a professional. A white dress with medium sleeves and a bottom that went down to her knees hugged her tightly, and she wore a black sweater. Under the dress, she wore black leggings and pants, and over her hair was a black ribbon. She hoped this would help the boss not fire her...  
Well, the longer she stared at herself, the less likely it was for her to keep her job. She huffed and quickly ran out of the apartment. She skidded a bit, and turned to run towards the workplace. The entire way there, she was busy cursing at herself. Friggin’ idiot. 
Finally, she was there. Thirty minutes had passed since she left her building, she knew it. She threw open the door, and people stared at her with wide eyes. Kaitlyn panted and walked towards the counter she was supposed to stand behind to take the orders. “Here’s to the fools who come up late.” A scoff turned up next to her. “Great to see you, too, Jessica.” Kaitlyn sighed and looked at the girl next to her who had the dxxm nerve to tell her that.  
Her eyes were met with that fiery red hair that matched this woman’s temper and an ugly sneer. ”Boss wants to talk to ya. Didn’t seem happy you were late again. I’d be scared, sister.” Kaitlyn didn’t react to the ‘sister’ part of the sentence, even though she absolutely hated it when she was called that, especially by this stuck-up bixxh. Kaitlyn drew in a deep breath. “Okay then.. where is he.” Her words formed more of a rock-solid statement than intended, but Jessica didn’t mind. 
The woman pointed outside. “Actually, he’s right out there. Surprised ya didn’t see him. Surprised he didn’t fire your axx on the spot.” She giggled dreamily. “Guy made a wise choice gettin‘ rid o’ you. Just like he’s wise with everything else..” she sighed happily, and Kaitlyn felt a shudder of disgust. “Two things,” she told her, “One, gross. Two, dream on. You’re not getting with him.” A sheepish grin spread across her face. The dagger was back in her possession. “Maybe six years ago you can get with him. Wait, no, still way to old even back then.” 
Kaitlyn walked off, feeling a beautiful trickle of pleasure as she saw, from the corner if her eye, Jessica’s wrinkled face go from dreamy to enraged in a split second. Gotcha. “See ya later, ‘good lady.’”
Eventually, Kaitlyn found it out of the resturaunt and right outside where she could be seen by the bigman. The boss. She made a short little sigh and walked up to him. Just try not to aggravate him, she reminded herself with a shudder. “Hello. Uh.. do you need me?” He spun around, and Kaitlyn jumped back a small step. “No. No, I don’t. In fact,” he growled, leaning closer to her. So close she could smell the booze he’d had last night in his breath. Brush your teeth. It doesn’t cost that much.. “I don’t want you here. You’ve been late too many times, and I am done.“ 
”So you’re firing me, then?”  
“Exactly.” He nodded and spun around, leaving Kaitlyn alone. Axxhole, she thought furiously, sticking up the finger that spoke words right out of her mouth.  
For a while, the girl stood there. She stood there with that furrowed brow, with those crossed arms. She was FURIOUS. How COULD he?! Maybe she wasn’t the best of the best workers, but she still needed a job! A hot burning filled her eyes, and a warm tear slid down her face. I can’t help anybody like this, let alone myself.. GREAT, now I need a new job. She looked around, brushing a few dark hairs out of her face.  
Stupid. Stupid, stupid, STUPID! She turned around again towards the brick wall and threw a fist at it, her dark eyes suddenly, reflexively, producing some more tears. She yelled out of a little pain and a lot of anger.  
Nothing she did though would ever reduce her anger. Nothing she did would ever get her job back.  
”Did that hurt?”  
Kaitlyn, surprised, whirled around with speed she didn’t know she possessed. The first thought that entered her mind was not a nice one. No, I don’t want to die! Tucking her now purpleish blueish fist into the pocket of her sweater, she made a fist out of the other. ”Screw off,” Kaitlyn snapped. She took the short moment of hesitation on both sides to observe him.  
He was tall. A little taller than her, in fact, so she had to look up slightly to meet his eyes. He was wearing a very nice suit that was a dark gray color with black stripes slicing into the thick fabric. He wore a white shirt that was quite obviously clean, and it hid his neck quite well. He wore long black pants. Although his clothing seemed shady, even she had to admit that the man has style.  
And the man. Wow. He definitely looked different from the normal citizen. Instead of the white and pale skin that had come to wash over the citizens of Behiron, his skin looked like something ripped right out of one of her fairy tales for the world above. It was a rather dark color. No, not dark. Definitely not light though, either. He wore rich, luxurious, golden jewelry on his fingers, almost as if he was daring somebody to rob him or better yet, kill him.  
Lemme guess. Extra protection? She looked down a bit at his chest and saw it. Hanging on golden chains was a small badge. This rich bastxxd managed to summon enough money to be able to pay for extra protection every month. She snorted a bit, but she was sure to do it in her head. Wouldn’t want a rich guy to turn her in for scoffing.  
”Woah there, Doll,” the man said, lifting up his arms in a way that made him seem like he was surrendering. She visibly cringed at the name. “I’m not gunna hurt you.”  
Now if she were a character from, say, a book, she knew what she’d do. She’d conveniently have a blade or a throwing star or something to attack the attacker with, or at least threaten him. But she wasn’t from a fantasty ‘happily ever after’ book. She was from real life. Instead, she just had to rely on herself. “Yeah? And how do I know that? How do I buy that, HUH?!“  
The man looked amused. He reached into his jacket’s pocket, and Kaitlyn felt her heart skip two beats. He had a knife, didn’t he? He was about to pull out a knife.. and kill her!  
With those thoughts in her head, the turned away from him and the wall behind her and ran. She ran away from her house so he couldn’t follow her. She looked around. The waterfall! She was vaguely aware of his gaze following her, maybe trying to figure out where she was going to kill her in her sleep. Not today. 
No matter what, she didn’t stop running. The lights flew past her vision, the people turned to stare, her legs began to hurt. She still ran. After a while, she turned back, a small glitter of triumph in her gray eyes. “Hah..” she panted. “I beat ya. I did it.”  
Kaitlyn took a smallstep backwards and sighed, pressing a hand to her chest. God, that did a deal to her lungs.. how long had she been running? She looked down at a painted silver watch. The night had come over her quickly, that was for sure. The girl sighed. Looks like she’d have to stay at a hotel for the night. Then tomorrow, she could look for a job and her house.  
That was something she wouldn’t think of every day. She hoped she wouldn’t think of finding her house again, but.. she never knew what to expect.  
Category:Literature
Category:Drama
Category:Fantasy
Category:Fiction
Category:Original Stories
Category:Original Stories (Unfinished)