The Elemental Wolves

Eight-year-old Serena is being put to bed by her mother. As usual, she requests a bedtime story.

"Mommy, can you tell me a story?" She asks with a yawn.

"Of course, baby, you know I always will. Which one do you want to hear?" Her mother asks.

"The one of the lost princess."

Her mother laughs. "Why do you love listening to that one?"

"I don't know, I just love it." She replies tiredly.

"Okay. Let's get into it."

Once upon a time, In the Golden Palace of Aeternum, preparation for the birth of the newly-born princess was in order. The king and queen want this party to be marked in the history of celebrations as the greatest. All the staff move in haste to close the chapters of the last-minute preparations. Fortunately, the beautiful princess coos happily in her nursery undisturbed by the hustle and bustle. This ends too soon though as the celebration begins, aristocratic families pile into the great hall, all hoping to catch a glance of the newborn heir. The music becomes slow, signaling the entrance of the princess. Instead of the entrance of the cooing princess expected, it's the entrance of her hysterical governess screaming, her dress drenched in blood.

"Your royal highnesses, she's gone." She wails hysterically and falls to her knees, staining the floor with her bloody palms.

"What are you talking about?" The queen asks her as the guards move to remove her from her sorry state.

"The princess, she's gone," she trembles as she says this." I stained my dress and went to change, leaving the other nurses in charge of her. By the time I came back, the princess was gone and all the maid's dead."

We watch the king and queen visibly tremble before rushing out of the hall, we assume in the direction of the nursery. Murmurs erupt in the hall, everyone talking about the turn of events. We hear screaming in the queen's voice which renders us all silent.

"Where is my baby? where is my baby?" The queen continues to ask. We hear the king barking orders at the guards.

"Dispatch as many guards as possible put the castle on lockdown, and search the forest area. The princess must be found." The hurried footsteps of the guard's echo as they move to action. The doors of the halls are shut by two guards to stop any attempt to exit by the guests. We all descend into a tensed silence. Hours go by before we are allowed exit but unfortunately, the princess is never found. Her parents still hold onto hope of bringing their daughter back.

"Mummy, I pray they find their baby," Serena says with watery eyes.

"Okay baby, it's just a story though. That's the end of the story. Time to sleep." Serena's mum turns off the light after kissing her goodnight.

TWELVE YEARS LATER.

"Argh" I groan in pain as the force of their blows connecting with my body continues to cause me pain. Each blow to my rib causes a crack, a sharp pain shoots through my body and I can taste the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.

"This is my problem with you," I can't recognize the voice speaking through the pain. "You never beg. You are too proud and I will make sure I break you." The hits continue but I make sure I don't utter a single sound.

I refuse to beg for relief. I refuse to lose my self-respect by begging these horrible and vile humans. Once they feel they've done enough damage they leave and I summon up strength to stand up and go home.

Each step I take is a brutal one and the exhaustion weighs me down so much that I almost don't make it home. In the sanctuary of my room, I slip into the tub filled with warm water, causing the bruises on my skin to sting. Regardless of my stinging wounds, I can't help but feel relieved-thoughts of my impending move cloud my mind.

"Haven College, you really might just become my Haven." From childhood till my now adulthood in this Godforsaken town, I've been bullied by my peers and a blind eye has been turned on my suffering. Pain and frustration have stalked me anywhere and everywhere but finally, I've got an opportunity to escape this place that I call hell. I go to bed after a while, the pain too much to consider food. Thankfully, my mother won't be coming home tonight therefore she won't see me in this state. How I've managed to hide this from her is a mystery.