Monsters Should Be Crying

Hell is a state when the evils of this world overcome our belief we can conquer them. Demons are no more than humans and situations that cause us suffering and discomfort. The word “demon” itself is simply a dark allegory that we use to make our own nightmares into something bigger than what they actually are, or turn the obstacles in front of us into terrifying monsters so we could feel better about getting over them, to magnify our sense of victory over them. Such is the way of things for the most part, on certain, very uncommon occasions in which something so irrational, something so illogical and so horrible occurs that it makes us wonder whether hell and demons are the actual resting place of the sinful as many religions tell us. These occasions make us wonder whether there are those Satans who are, fallen angels cast down to a fiery world to abuse the damned for all eternity. One such occasion is the story of Marissa Horvat; her story would make any human being wonder how close are relations between them, those maybe-real-maybe-not demons and us.

Marissa was a 17-year-old high school student at the Brushton-Moira high in upstate New York. She was middle height teenager, a thing of beauty for all those who beheld upon her figure. She sported a long brunette hair that reach her hips and big blue eyes that usually looked at the world around them shyly. Marissa spent the majority of her life in loneliness as her parents were both successful career people who would show up home late way past after she would go to bed. She had a brother, but he was eleven years older than she was and did not live with her for quite a few years.  Due to being in a state of constant loneliness, she developed a severe social anxiety by the time she reached her teen years. On top of being hardly in any contact with her parents, Marissa used to dress up to school in the few outfits all the time and in the cruel mind of teenagers she was seen as a poor pathetic girl, even though everyone knew her socio-economic stance was quite the opposite.

One day as Marissa was walking in the halls of her school, lost in thought, she collided with Mark Thurman, the most popular male person in the school, its football star. That same lavishing fellow with the six-foot frame, raven black hair and dreamy green eyes that all the girls at school had a crush on, all the girls including Marissa herself. She had it for him since the seventh grade. Once the two collided Marissa had dropped her books on the floor and knelt down to begin picking them up, originally she hadn’t even seen whom she hit, until he said, “I’m sorry… Um…”

Marissa immediately recognized the voice of the person in front of her and began stutter, “I… I… It’s… my… fault… I… I… am… s… s… sorry…”

Mark smirked to himself and began helping Marissa pick her books up, she got scared of his proximity to her and fell flat on her butt, and he chuckled with as a warm smile was forming on his face. “Hey, is everything cool? um… Marissa Horvat, right?” he said as he is extending an arm to help her back on her feet.

Marissa was hesitant at first but quickly got over her initial fear and took Marks help, as he was helping her back on her feet she stuttered again, “Y… Y… Yes…”

At that exact moment, Sarah Longley, Mark’s girlfriend stormed at Marissa and yelled at her, “Hey, you little pig, get your hands off my boyfriend! I’ve noticed you put your eye on him!”

Marissa in response lowered her head and took a few steps back, Sarah kept on attacking the girl, “Next time I see you near him, I’ll rip your self-righteous eyes out”

Mark got involved in the one sided argument between the girls and said, “Babe, don’t be harsh on her she hasn’t done anything”

By that point, Marissa was nowhere near the couple; she had already run away with teary eyes. By the point Mark finished his sentence she was already locking herself in a bathroom booth and starting to weep softly.

Sarah looked at Mark in the eyes and asked, “Are you blind, Mark? Don’t you notice her constant stare? She’s checking you out for God’s sake”

Mark placed his hand on Sarah’s cheek and said, “Look I know, but she’s an odd chick who can hardly speak to people without having a heart attack, what could she do?”

“The fact that she is shy now does not mean she cannot change, plus she looks g…” Sarah said and Mark silenced her mid sentence with a kiss.

After he finished kissing Sarah, Mark said chuckling, “Don’t worry, baby, I’m not planning to replace you, especially not with that Shaky-Jaw Horvat!”

Days passed and Marissa could not stop looking at Mark on any occasion they were in the same space, no matter how hard she tried, she could not stop staring at him during their classes and during the breaks when they passed each other.  She had not the courage to approach him but nonetheless she kept admiring the football star from afar. Sarah noticed Marissa has not heeded her warming and it angered her beyond measure. She told Mark, “Gather the boys, I’ve a plan how to stop the rebellious eyes of the shuttering doll from wandering into places they shouldn’t”

Mark laughed at his girlfriend request and said, “Sure thing, do as you will.”

Two weeks had passed since the encounter between Marissa and Mark and their lives proceeded as usual. Marissa was the shadow girl she had always been, looking at the subject of her affection from afar unable to reach him, and he kept being that same bright morning star illuminating her otherwise bleak life without knowing he is the subject of her undying admiration.

At the morning of a one Thursday, Mark caught Marissa on her way to math class and called her from the side of the hallway, “Hey, Horvat!”

Marissa who was unused to being called at stopped in her tracks and turned her head around slowly, she saw Mark approaching. Her heart began racing as excitement began to fill her body, *what he could want from me*, she wondered to herself.

“You know…”, Mark said, “I’m sorry for what happened with Sarah the other day, I hadn’t had the change to apologize for her childish behavior back then because you kind of ran off” Marissa just stood there and nodded shyly.

Mark kept on saying, “I’ve been meaning to break up with her anyway, she’s gotten on my nerves with her over the top jealous antics. I think you are cute, and a tiny bird whispered in my ear that you might be into me. So what do you say, would you like to hang out and Lonewood House after the classes today?”

Lonewood house was a lone abandoned shack at the edge of Moira, hence the name.

Marissa’s face turned red, although she herself could not tell at the time if it was due to the excitement or due her embarrassment. She stuttered trying to fake self-confidence, “Y… Y… Y…yes s… s… s… sure!”

Mark smiled at her and said lovingly, “Well then, I’ll be seeing ya!” and he proceeded to walk off to his classroom, but not before winking at her.

Marissa was about to explode due to her joy, the guy she was in love with for so long asked her and not anybody else out on a date. She wanted to jump as high as possible, but refrained from doing so knowing it would embarrass her even more than her already tomato colored face. Instead, she went to her classroom as the bell began ringing.

As this was happening, Sarah was watching the whole ordeal as a diabolical smile formed on her face.

Time couldn’t pass faster for Marissa that day, before she noticed it her wrist watch displayed 2:55 pm, after seeing the time displayed on her watch she thought to herself, *Just five more minutes and my dreams are coming true*. The last final five minutes of Marissa’s last class felt like an eternity passing but once the bell rang, she stopped thinking about anything that is not Mark. She grabbed her books and notes, shoved them into her bag pack and ran out of class. She kept on running lightly through the school halls and outside of the institute. People were looking at her, but she did not care, all that mattered to her was the moment when she sees Mark again. What Marissa did not know was that those looks weren’t ones of judgment but of surprise, she surprised everyone around her with her smile, as she is almost never smiling.

Marissa kept running throughout the town until she was able to make out Lonewood’s features clearly, then she stopped herself and began walking slowly towards the old wooden construct. On her way there, she started wondering if this whole thing was just a cruel prank to embarrass her or make fun of her. Nonetheless, her belief that it was a genuine date forced her going forward, until she was about thirty feet from the entrance to the wooden building she noticed Mark standing with a basket in hand, she heard him call out, “Marissa, come on in, I’ve got us something to eat”

Marissa followed Mark’s husky voice that disappeared along with him into the confines of the dark wooden shack.

Once she entered the wooden lightless construct, she felt two stiff arms grab her by her sides and dragged her backwards. Before she could even utter a sound, she found herself being held down on top of an old dusty couch. She stuttered, “Wh… what…” However, before she could make another sound she had been pulled down even further and she found herself flipped upside down, with her legs facing the ceiling of the old wooden shack.

Then she saw who was holding her down, it was Brad Shaw, it was one of the football stars from her school’s football theme. He whispered in a devious tone in her ear, “Now we’re going to have some fun together”

Marissa’s mind began going into the darkness places imaginable, her psyche became Tartaros itself. She tried to escape Brad’s grip but she was too weak to do so, tears began rolling down her delicate cheeks. As she was trying to fight off her restrains, another pair of hands grabbed her by the hips and pulled her skirt down violently, the hands belonged to one Thomas Kennelly, he was one of the members of her school’s wrestling team. Marissa tried fighting harder after understand what is about to be done to her but all she did was lose more strength fruitlessly.

She began begging, “P… p… p… please… d… d… d… on’t”

In return, Thomas smacked her across the face so hard blood began flowing down her lips, as the realization was beginning to set in; Marissa closed her eyes and began weeping. Thomas and Brad violently raped Marissa while executing every command thrown at them by Mark and Sarah who were looking on mockingly at the act that was made to steal the purity of a innocent girl as part of a cruel humorous payback for her so called crimes.

Between the commands, Sarah would mock Marissa’s hopeless begging and pleading.

Once the deed was done, Sarah approached the broken girl that had been covered in sweat, blood and semen and grabbed her by the throat. “If you come near my boyfriend ever again, or tell anyone about what just happened here, I will kill you with my own bare hands, am I clear?” She barked at Marissa who due to the exhaustion could only nod in obedience.

Sarah let Marissa’s body go and spat in her face, she then said, “Let’s go, it’s time we leave this slut alone, boys” and the group left laughing.

Once Marissa was alone once more, she broke down and began crying profusely. Sometime later, Marissa managed to get back on her feet, get dressed and began stumbling back home.

Once she arrived home, to the lack of her surprise, it was empty. She dragged herself slowly to the shower, as her whole body was aching. Far worse, her whole being was hurting. She entered her shower space, turned on the water and set on the floor, once more beginning to cry her heart out. She was crying not because of the pain, but because she felt like she had been betrayed, she felt like she was Caesar whose back was stabbed seconds ago by his long time friend, Brutus. After fifteen minutes of crying, Marissa got out of the shower, put on her pajama and decided she should call her older brother, hoping, maybe, just maybe, he could comfort her.

Marissa grabbed the phone, rang the number and put the phone next to her ear, first ring, second ring, third ring and then a familiar voice answered, “Yes…  Hello… Who’s that?”

Marissa hesitantly answered, “Hey Bryce, it’s Marissa”

“Yeah, what the hell do you want?” he barked at his side of the line.

Then Marissa realized her brother was drunk, he became an alcoholic once his girlfriend, the one he had been seeing for five years dumped him. Marissa tightened her grip on the phone and began stuttering into it, “U… U… I.. I…”

Bryce cut her off and shouted at her, “Speak already, Damn it! I don’t have all day for you!”

As tears began streaming down Marissa’s eyes again she answered in a shaking tone, “Two guys from school… they hurt me…”

Bryce began laughing and said thoughtlessly, “So, you’ve fucked two guys at once and now you regret it? Wow, from you I did not expect to be such a whore.”

He heard Marissa is crying and yelled at her, “If you do not leave me alone, I’ll tell mom and dad what you’re doing with your free time, you get me?”

Marissa stuttered through her endless tears, “Y… Y… Y… Y… yes…. B…. brother…”

She put her phone down and broke down into miserable crying again, Marissa ended up crawling to her bed where she cried herself to sleep.

Two weeks passed as if nothing happened at The Brushton-Moira high, Marissa would come to school every day, study, share zero eye contact with people and get back to her empty home to do her homework, find some pastime activity to occupy herself with and then she would go to sleep.  She repeated this routine for thirteen days, on the fourteenth day since the incident, instead of going home, Marissa found herself standing in front of the place where she was so badly hurt; Lonewood House.

The girl had no clue how she had gotten there and why she did not even notice she was going there in spite of the fences and roads, she had to pass to get there. As she was staring with an empty almost dead gaze onto the wooden construct, Marissa felt shivers run down her body, but something about that shivering was different. It was almost as if it did not run simply along her body, it did not run simply down her spine, but it felt like it had run through her flash, into her bones, right through her spine and into her core itself. It was a kind of shivering Marissa had never felt before, and she knew all about shivering, as she was a girl who is scared of her own shadow.

A soft voice was heard coming from behind Marissa, “I manage to find beauty in this broken Panorama” said a stranger that was standing behind her. The girl froze in her place and her heart began pounding as fear began filling her body. The stranger proceeded to say, “Marissa Horvat, right?” Marissa began running horror scenes in her mind all over again; she swallowed a bit of saliva in order to try to reanimate her frozen body. Suddenly she felt a hand touch her shoulder, and the stranger who had gotten really close to Marissa and said, “Hey, you shouldn’t be scared, I’m here for you.”

Once she heard his words, for some reason unknown to her, Marissa began to feel better and the horror scenes in her mind all but disappeared. She turned around to find a young handsome man standing behind her, he had been tall and well built, not too muscular but not skinny as well, his hair was spiky chestnut hair and his eyes gleamed with green pigment. His clothing consisted of jeans and an unbuttoned black shirt with its sleeves folded up to his elbows. This was the man of Marissa’s dreams, she did not know how he approached her and why she could not hear him coming, but she felt confident around him for some reason, so she decided to take his word.

Marissa asked the stranger, “How did you know my name?”

The stranger took his hand off her shoulder, straightened up, and smiled, he then said, “I know a lot of things, including the unfortunate event that occurred to you here recently.”

Marissa felt at that moment as if she was kicked in her stomach, it was a terrible feeling; she began feeling as if she was being dragged through this incident all over again. The stranger proceeded, “Trust me, I know how it feels like to try helping someone you care about and get punished for it because it does not sit well with somebody!”

Marissa had collected herself and stuttered, “W… W… Wha… What’s your name…?”

The stranger ran his hand through his clean shaved chin and said, “Unfortunately I cannot tell you my own name, because names are a troublesome thing, you can give me one if you like to…”

Marissa stared at him confused and let out, “Lucian!”

The stranger smiled again at Marissa and said, “So be it, Lucian shall be my name for as long our acutance lasts, however, may I know why the madam has called me so?”

Marissa lowered her head in embarrassment and answered quietly, “I used to have a crush Michael Sheen’s character Lucian in the Underworld series”

Lucian began laughing and in order to reassure Marissa he’s fine with her decision he said, “Well, it’s way better than Mark anyways…”

Marissa raised her head and began laughing along.

Suddenly Lucian stopped laughing and said in a serious tone, “Well now that we’ve come to know each other a bit, I’ll explain to you why I am here” Marissa just looked at him intrigued and smiled an innocent smile. Lucian continued saying, “I’m here to help you, help you to make these animals pay for what they’ve done to you, I know that’s exactly what you desire Marissa. All I need is your consent on the matter.”

Marissa took a deep breath and asked shyly, “Pay how?”

Lucian pulled his hand out of his pocket and extended it to Marissa while saying coldly, “In the most appropriate way of course!”

Marissa’s eyes began to widen with the hate that had been accumulating inside her toward the group and she said, “Only if you let me watch”

Lucian pressed his thumb and said, “If you promise to be careful”

Marissa shook his extended hand and said with excitement, “You’ve a deal!”

Lucian smiled once more and said, “Now allow me to escort you home, miss”

“Let’s go, mon sieur”, she answered and they walked together to her home, there they parted ways and Marissa felt genuinely happy even though she returned to her as-usually-empty home. She felt like she finally has a person she that could call a friend, someone that she could go to in time of need.

The days had gone by, and Marissa hadn’t heard from Lucian, but it did not bother her, for some unknown reason, even to her, she remained happy, maybe because she was so sure he’ll be back and do as he promised. During the break between the fifth and the sixth classes, Marissa was outside of her school building. She was sitting on a bench and suddenly she felt a shiver, one that penetrates her flesh, into her spine and all the way down to her core. She looked to her left and then to her right and she saw Lucian standing by the school’s fence. He called her and told her, “Once you’re done here, come with me and let our business begin its course!”

Marissa smiled to him and could not wait until her school day was going to end she was overrun by curiosity as to what is Lucian planning to do to the people who had hurt her so badly. Luckily, for her, the time flew by quickly and once her classes were over, Marissa ran out of her school into the spot where she saw Lucian earlier – he was still there, waiting for her.

Marissa said, “Well then, let’s do our thing” and moment later she found herself at the lovers cliff, a place in upstate New York were young couples would go to be alone. She and Lucian stood just a few feet away from a car in which was Brad along with some half naked girl. Upon seeing this, Marissa’s insides began boiling to the point where she was visibly trembling with anger, Lucian told her to wait in her spot and enjoy the show.

Lucian walked to the car where the two teenagers were making out, he shoved his hand through the driver’s window, grabbed Brad by the hair, and pulled, he pulled so hard that along with Brad’s body the car door fell off its hinges. Brad and the girl began screaming in terror as to what is happening to them. Brad even tried getting out of Lucian’s grip, but to no avail, he was not strong enough.

Once he realized he could not over power the man in front of him, he began shouting in panic, “Who are you? What do you want? Let me go!”

As Brad was being dragged across the ground by Lucian he noticed Marissa was there too, he began apologizing and begging her to help him, but she simply started laughing in irony and mocking his requests.

Lucian dragged Brad’s body to the edge of the cliff and then pulled him onto his feet, he looked at the youngster who by that point already wet himself and said, “Stop trembling, you might fall off” as he lets go of Brad’s hair.

Brad began thanking Lucian for not hurting him and Lucian turned his back to Brad, but once the youngster began to regain his cool Lucian turned around and hit him so hard his body was sent flying off the cliff into the abyss below it.

Lucian turned to face Marissa and saw she was smiling and applauding him, he winked at her and proceeded to walk towards the car where Brad’s lady mate was sitting, frightened. She began skulking as tears run down her face, “I did not know he did anything, I am not connected to this in any way, I just came here to get laid”.

Lucian shoved his head through the window, and whispered in her ear coldly, “You’ve seen too much, young lady” and proceeded to bite a chunk of her neck.

The hole in the girl’s neck began letting out copious amounts of blood, just a few moments later she was a lifeless shell too.

Lucian returned to Marissa and picked her up onto his arms, she smiled at him a wide smile and began saying “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Lucian smiled back at her and said, “It’s not the time to thank me just yet, Princess, Now let’s get you home.”

A moment later, the duo was at Marissa’s doorstep and she asked Lucian curiously, “How do you do that?”

Lucian chuckled softly and said, “I’ve a few tricks up my sleeve, you know…”

Marissa smiled once more at Lucian and skipped happily into her house, even though she was once again alone, she was in no way lonely. She felt loved, she felt amazing.

The days were passing by and Marissa’s personality began to change, people began noticing her uncommon happiness, in fact, she even began speaking to people on a regular basis. All of this was made possible by a single person, a stranger such a short time ago who was now closer to her than her own biological family.   Two weeks had passed sine Lucian took out Brad, he was knocking on Marissa’s door. It was a Saturday morning. Marissa came out to him and he informed her that Thomas and Mark are together now, at a secluded place.

Marissa gleefully exclaimed, “That means we should make haste! I’ll change into something more casual and we’ll get to it, okay?”

Marissa was about to get inside her house and Lucian said, “No need for that, I’ll handle everything”

A second later, Marissa found herself standing at some abandoned building, dressed in her every day clothes as opposed to the pajama she was wearing just a moment ago, she was awe struck, but her awe was quickly turned into anger and despise. She saw Mark and Thomas sitting at the middle of the building, on tattered couches, smoking pot carelessly.

Lucian started walking towards the two of them and when he was about a step away from the two teenagers Thomas noticed him and called out, “Hey who’re you and how’d you get in here?”

Lucian simply brushed him off by smacking him a few feet away with a single strike of his hand, Mark then got up as well and then Lucian turned his gaze to him, asking, “So, you are the one who hurt this lovely girl? Huh?”

Mark couldn’t even utter a sound and he felt sharp pain coming from his stomach, Lucian already hit him, hit him hard. Lucian kept battering at Mark so hard each strike caused an open wound on the teenager’s body. After a few blows Mark was on the floor, spitting blood. Lucian then grabbed him by the jaw with one arm and raised him into the air, Mark grabbed Lucian’s arm with both of his hands and began uttering something incoherent. Lucian did not care to hear any of Mark’s words and yanked on the teenager’s jaw ripping its right side off his face. Lucian dropped Mark onto his feet and the teenager was barely standing, with his lower jaw hanging on its left side by a thin strip of skin and muscle, as his tongue wiggled freely in its new found space while blood gashes all over the floor.

Mark was trying to say something, and Lucian responded in clear annoyance, “Don’t you ever shut up?” as he is punching a hole through him causing Mark’s limp body to fall onto the ground.

Thomas came to his sense and had to witness his best friend, literally broken, falling onto the ground – the sight made him begin crying. Marissa who heard his crying turned to him with a deadly emotionless gaze in her eyes and said, “Monsters shouldn’t be crying.”

Thomas raised his arm in the air and tried reaching Marissa as he was apologizing to her, but it was too late. Lucian grabbed his head with his bloodstained hands and yanked it to the left, snapping Thomas’ neck in the process. He let go of the teenager’s limp body and said sarcastically, “I thought wrestlers are meant to be tougher than this.”

Lucian then noticed Marissa’s crying and put his arm on her while asking, “Everything’s alright?”

Marissa wiped the tears away and a smile formed on her face, she answered, “Yes… Just a few bad memories that will soon cease to exist.”

Lucian smiled at the girl and took her back to her home.

Marissa felt that once Sarah would what was coming her way she would not have the chance to see Lucian any more – after all he is only there to help Marissa make those people pay for what they have done. She was not saddened by this however; on the contrary, she was happy she could find a friend, even if it was just for a short period.

Three days after their deaths, a shared funeral for Mark and Thomas was being held. It was a rainy day; all of the attendants were clothed in black and brought black umbrellas with them, the two dead teenagers were inside large decorated wooden coffins, after the prayers and the goodbyes these coffins had been placed in the ground and covered with dirt. At the end of the funeral a few police officers stopped Sarah and began questioning her, “Are you Sarah Longley?” asked one of the officers. Sarah replied positively, the officers continued, “I’m sorry we’re doing this on such a short notice but we have reason to believe that there is a connection between the deaths of these two and the disappearance of Bradford Shaw, you were close friends were you not?”

Sarah answered, “Yeah we were, and I was dating Mark four six months.”

The officer proceeded to ask, “Tell me Sarah, do you have any one you don’t get along with or someone who dislikes you really badly?”

Sarah had been surprised by this question and then she remembered Marissa, but she hesitated to state her name and simply replied negatively.

The officers thanked Sarah for her cooperation and proceeded to question other attendants of the funeral. At the same time, Sarah considered whether Marissa could be the reason her friends and sweet heart are dead. Soon enough she gave up the idea upon remembering the condition of their bodies when they had been found, *a girl like Marissa could not break anyone’s neck let alone punch a hole through a human being*, she thought to herself.

That evening Sarah returned home late, she had decided it was a good idea to get drunk to relax and forget her hole for a bit, she stumbled towards her front door. Her home should’ve been empty – her parents stayed at Mark’s; however once she touched the knob she noticed the door was unlocked.

Sarah cautiously entered the house, which had been filled with the night’s darkness. The odd situation sobered her up and she asked quietly, “Is there anybody here?”

No answer. This time Sarah asked in a louder tone, “Mom, Dad, Are you home?!”

She heard a light switch being turned on and the light from the building blinded her momentarily. Once she came to, she noticed Marissa standing at the other side of the room. She shouted at Marissa, “What the fuck are you doing here, you bitch?”

Marissa hasn’t said a word, she simply stood there.

Sarah walked towards Marissa but stopped herself midway, she uttered, “Wait… it was you… you di…”

A sharp object had slid Sarah’s throat and Lucian was standing beside her falling body. While Sarah had been suffocating on her own blood Marissa sighed in relief and called out, “That’s it!”

While a puddle of blood was forming underneath Sarah’s body, Marissa decided to check out her big house and she what she owns. She went to the kitchen and found herself unimpressed, then she carried on to the bedroom and while in the hallway on her way there she came across a mirror in which she noticed something red on her shirt. At first she ignored it but after making a few steps past the mirror she decided to return and find out what was that red thing on her shirt.

Much to her horror she realized most of her shirt and skirt had been covered in red, she was covered in Sarah’s blood.

It was not supposed to reach her, but she was soaked in the crimson liquid, there was not a single piece of skin on her palms that wasn’t covered in it.

She called out to Lucian, but he didn’t answer…

She called out again,

Still no answer,

At this point Marissa began to panic and look for him, she went to the kitchen and then to the living room shouting his name along the whole way, but no matter how hard she looked or how loud she shouted there was no reply and there was no Lucian.

Marissa stopped by a wall next to Sarah’s dead body; she cupped her face into her arms and began sliding down to the floor.

She had finally realized she was alone in this house; it was only her and a corpse…

She finally realized that there was no Lucian around to defend or save her…

Marissa placed her head between her knees and encircled them with her arms smearing blood all over her body. As she did, she also began running horror scenes through her mind, but they did not make any sense…

She could not punch a hole through a man’s chest with her arm,

She could not rip a jaw out of its place,

She simply could not do such things!

Blood and red lights began flickering outside the Longley family’s house, and Marissa began crying due to realization she was all alone…

She cried because there was no Lucian…

She told herself in a shaky voice, “Monsters shouldn’t be crying, Marissa.”

The girl had begun to hear sirens and the shouting of people outside of the building and then she felt a familiar kind of shiver; one that penetrates through her flesh into her bones, through her spine and all the way to her core.