Everything was on fire. The child had never known such blaze before this moment as she coughed and sputtered with tears in her wide chocolate eyes. She’d heard a yell from her mother that had woken her up, yet she’d gone back to sleep. And now here she was. Her small legs carried her from her room to where the yell had come from. Perhaps her mother had been hurt?

    She pushed open the heavy door. “Mom?” She looked up at the figure silhouetted. The figure whipped around to stare at the child. This was not the girl’s mother. She felt herself pull back from the stranger that was covered in red…

    That was when she saw her mother on the floor, matching red stains along her clothes. The child rushed past the unmoving man. Her mother didn’t look right… It looked like her mom was in pain, her mouth agape. But no sound came. No movement other than the raging flames at the edges of the room. And her body… The girl glanced around the room. Her mother looked as though a once beautiful doll in the hands of a young child. Joints and parts scattered across the floor. The girl shook her head and closed her eyes. Mama wasn’t a doll… But she suddenly felt afraid to touch her mother, and pulled away harshly. 

    Only for her to back right into the only other person in the room. She opened wide, wet eyes and shifted to look up at the strange, grinning man. “Help. Please? She- I don’t know what happened? Please help!” Her tiny voice grew more and more desperate as she begged the man for help. 

The man offered her a warm smile that only made her feel cold. He slowly reached down and cupped her cheek in his hand, wiping away the tears from one eye with a gentle brush of his thumb. However he only left a different, darker, redder residue along her cheek. “Of course, you poor thing. You had no say in any of this did you? You shouldn’t be punished for a crime your mother committed. No, I’ll personally make sure you stay alive. Alive and far, far away.” His voice was smooth and rich. Almost hypnotic. The girl felt a chill run through her as his words, despite it being a promise, it felt more like a threat. She had started to say something, as she looked back up at him. But she paused. And then he leaned forward and carefully picked her up with a gentle pat on the back.

She found she suddenly couldn’t move. So she simply stared off into the flickering flames as her mother got more and more distant. And then everything went black.

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