Chapter 2
October 31, 16XX
There was fire. It burned, it cleansed, it tore everything in its way. Lio's eyes watered and she was hacking out her lungs as she inhaled the smoke around her. Their home was in shambles.
She watched on in horror as her lover screamed. He had been caught by the villagers and had him tied in chains. They threw oil on him, making sure he was covered from head to toe. He thrashed and cried, looking directly into her eyes as the priest dropped the torch on him. 'RUN', his eyes seemed to plead. Lio turned away, her heart hammering in her chest as she slipped away with a hood thrown over her head.
"The bitch is over here!" A large man bellowed, his eyes were wild with anticipation. Lio swerved and ran the opposite direction of the larger man. She made a left, then a right, and then another left. Until she hit a dead end. She had ended up near a cliffside that was too steep and too high to get down from.
A twig snaps behind her. She turns to see the large man again, though this time he has an axe. She glances at it, then looks back up at the man. "Pl- please, I'm not a witch! I beg of you!" She gets down onto her knees, "I'm just a farm hand! Please spare me!"
The man scoffs, "save your sorry excuses wench!" He lunges at her, aiming high for her head. In this split second, Lio ducks fast and slips out from under him. Her heart pounds as she stumbles and shifts as fast as she can. She takes refuge leaning against a tree opposite from the cliff. The man is appalled but shakes out of it for a second to try again. This time low, aiming for her legs. Lio tries to run sideways, but her foot catches onto a root below. Making her face plant amd eating dirt. Thunk! The lumberjack's axe gets stuck in the tree. He struggles to get it out. In that split second, Lio felt immense relief.
BAM!
She slumps to the ground, twitching. Something warm blooms from her head. A bloody rock gets thrown next to her field of vision. "You idiot! Were you playing with the witch?!"
"N-no sir!"
The priest comes into Lio's blurry view. He sighs and looks back at her. "It doesn't matter, I'm just glad we got this wretched little thing under our hands." Lio closed her eyes then, accepting whatever was in store for her.
"GYAAAH!" Lio's ears pierced from the blood curdling scream. Her eyes snapped wide open. She heard something heavy fall around her.
"A-a demon!" The priest cried out, "A demo- AAAGGGGHH!" his scream turned into a gurgle, and then into deafening silence. Presumably some of his blood splashing onto Lio's face.
"Ah ah, not quite." An amused voice rang out. "Now let's see what we have here…"
A silver haired woman came into Lio's view this time. Her eyes a deep blue staring right back into Lio's own fading orbs. "I saw how you dodged that big oaf, I'm quite impressed. I'll let you live and you will owe me. Do you understand?"
Lio couldn't retort, her body was becoming cold. Her mind is hazy. The older woman clicks her tongue and grips Lio's chin.
"I said,'' She looks deeply into Lio's eyes. "Do. You. Understand?"
Lio looks back into the other women's deep blue eyes. She slowly nods, not because she understood, but because something in those eyes of the older woman compelled her to. A sort of trance.
Satisfied, the older woman leans back. Cutting a slit on her arm and letting the drips fall into Lio's mouth. Each droplet slowly but surely made Lio feel revitalized. As if she were drinking water from a crisp and clear mountain river. The woman eases Lio up and propped her against a tree.
"My name is Meredith White, and you?"
"Lio… Gardener…" she muttered. Lio's vision was back, she blinked a few times from disorientation. Her eyes landed on Meredith's cut hand.
"Y-your hand… Did they do that?" Lio shakily points at the slitted palm of the older woman. Meredith blinked, then guffawed.
"Hahaha! Oh child! I did that!" She laughed. Then she straightened her posture, pulling back from Lio's form. "You are under my care now, child. You are a part of my people."
A second passed and Lio looked back up at the older woman. It was only until this moment something had clicked in Lio's mind. "How am I still alive?" Meredith stared back at her in mirth. Her eyes held some sort of private amusement.
—
August 30, 202X
RING RING RING RING!
The twin bell alarm clock rang throughout Lio's small bedroom. She slaps the alarm clock multiple times until the incessant ringing comes to a silent stand still. It was morning and she would have to get up early again today. She isn't used to this routine, in fact, she dislikes it. She realizes that her body is in a cold sweat, her stomach aches, her mouth twitches. Not good signs to wake up to…
Her groggy mind thinks back to yesterday, the moment inside the private dressing room. The room had smelled sharply of fresh blood, yet there were no blood stains or signs of a struggle in sight. Much less a body. With the amount that she smelled, she could've sworn that it was enough to leave a crime scene there. She remembered the way Damian looked at her, perplexed and a tad annoyed at her presence. As if whatever he had done was just nothing to him. She had, in that moment, given a shitty excuse and ran from the room. Telling him that she would look over some emails from their agency, "Blue Angels." She couldn't wrap her head around it.
The thought of the smell of copious amounts of blood made her body react suddenly. 'Shit,' she thought, 'hunger pangs…when was the last time I had it? Fuck, fuck, fuck. I can't let this get out of control…'
She gets up, but the sudden movement makes her head spin. She holds onto the wall nearest to her as she jerkily makes her way to the kitchen.
She flings open the refrigerator door and looks inside. Nothing. Not even one packet of the goods. 'Fuck, I fucking forgot.' She thinks to herself. She goes to the living room and picks up the rotary phone, dialing a few numbers on it.
" shhhhhh click!... Y 'ello?" An older man's voice rang out through the receiver.
"Hey’a Tony, could you hook me up with some of your supplies?" She replies back. Tony was a black market dealer who also works as a nurse at the local hospital in the city. He usually takes some donated blood down to the black market, making quick easy money for himself. It wasn't ethical, sure. But at least it was better than actually killing people.
" 'Ey ya already called about it yesterday. Remember? A hundred bucks for the twenty of 'em? Geez don't be losin your marbles already Lio." Tony quips.
"Oh… Really? Um… thanks Tony. It must have slipped my mind… haha."
"That's quite alright, also I didn't see you around yesterday what 'append love?"
"Ah, sorry Tony. I got a new job, well more of a favor for an old colleague of mine. Still getting paid for it, so…" she drifts off. She crosses her arms, the feeling of cold air licking at her skin as sweat pours off of her.
"Ah I see, well if you ever want to come and take a good look at some modern technology to upgrade to. Then you know where I'm at." He chuckles.
"Thanks man, but like I always say 'If it ain't broke then it's still good,' and alright see you there." Lio softly puts down the phone, making sure it makes a ker-chuck sound before leaving it alone.
She just stands there for a moment, trying to calm her hunger. The room swerves and curls around, her vision encasing a sense of brain fog. She clenches her eyes shut.
Beep bop boop!
A joyous melody plays in her room causing her to jolt at the sudden noise. She gets up, walks to her bedroom, and hovers over her flip phone. It's a number she's never seen before. She picks it up.
"I'm stuck with you," Damian spits out. It seems like he wasn't taking the news quite well.
" 'ello to you too, sunshine." Lio retorts back.
"If I am stuck with you then you need to follow some set rules for me." He says matter of factly. "You must always pick me up in the morning to drive me to work, next you will do any menial tasks no matter how small, and lastly… Do not get in my way. Understand?" His last words are emphasized and cold.
Lio didn't like the sound of that, but she bit her bottom lip. Holding back her inner voice as she wanted to tell him to fuck off and die but she didn't. "Yes, understood."
"Excellent, now pick me up. I will send you the address." Click! He quickly hangs up, leaving Lio to stand there. 'How can he just act like there's nothing wrong? Am I crazy, did I really hallucinate the whole interaction? No, I couldn't have. My nose would never lie to me. He's a monster.' She thinks desperately to herself.
