Nine

Seven Winters Later

Clearly the gods of this world had decided to throw anything and everything in her path in order to spite her. "You idiot! You filthy slut! The fucking food is over cooked! Do you expect me to eat this? You bitch! Are you trying to poison me?" Loud yelling reverberated from downstairs and echoed throughout the house as Silla casually laid unbothered on her bed upstairs.

Funny how he was complaining about perfectly fine food when the both of them hadn't eaten in days.

Silla wasn't a naturally strong person despite behaving the way she did. She had always been sensitive, even if she tried not to show it. Tried, being the key word. It was a secret flaw of hers that she could never get rid of. She was an overly emotional person and she took most things to heart.

Silla blocked out the sounds as she blankly stared at a small frame, it's glowing pixels shining on her face. It was an old photo on her bedside table or more specifically a picture of her biological mother. As of right now her father was likely having one of his bitch fits again. Probably aimed at her step mother Selena. After years of never ending fights she was now numb to such things.

Reminiscing the strange girl suddenly frowned. In all honesty her mother was nonexistent in her life, and she should've gotten rid of the picture by now, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Perhaps she was a bit sentimental. The woman was her biological mother; whether she liked it or not. Truth be told her mother probably would sell her for a bag of shoes given the opportunity but that didn't change the fact that it still hurt.

"Tch- Fucking old hag..." She tsked muttering spiteful curses under her breath. It was a good thing that she was alone in her room. If other members of her family had heard this, they would have frothed from the mouth at her unlady-ike language.

The girls mother had been a model that traveled the world before she had Silla. With her long silky raven hair and blue eyes that were like crystals, she was unique. Her bright eyes rimmed by long feather like eyelashes casted a shadow on her slender cheeks. She was slim and fragile like glass. Yet she had curves in all the right places.

She was beautiful.

Beautiful in the way that a forest on fire was.

Yet it was a betrayal the young girl would never forget. How could she abandon her? How could she leave her to pick up the pieces? How could she leave her to clean up the mess she created? How could she?

They say parents mistakes and misdeeds fall onto their children. Truer words have never been spoken. After abandoning her at the ripe age of five to live the high life as a concubine, she left behind massive debts. She left them penniless practically laughing as she ran away with their life savings. Then exactly two days later angry loan sharks were knocking at their doors. That wasn't even the worst of it. Perhaps the greatest slap in the face her mother ever gave her was the fact that she left Silla with her father. Nineteen years of pure hell.

Though in the beginning it wasn't Silla that look the brunt of her fathers hatred. A few years after her biological mother left Selena showed up. She quickly became a mother figure to the rather impressionable young girl. Well- really the only parental figure. Regardless in the end neither of them were dealt a good hand. Seeing, as Silla's father drank all their money and often beat both of them blue in a fit of rage.

Humans truly are disgusting. If you're going to have offspring, you might as well use them as if they were tools, rather than some useless punching bag. At least then they would serve a purpose. Still the object of her fathers rage gradually shifted as the girl grew. Every year that passed by it was slowly revealed that she was practically a carbon copy of her mother even if she was malnourished. It was probably one of the main reasons her father despised her so much.

Silla's father was the source of all their problems. He was even the reason why she ran away for two years. Despite not remembering what happened the two years she was away she desperately wished to be anywhere else. It seemed as if all her memories of the time were hazed or simply not there. She passed off the forgotten memories as of no importance. Whatever may have happened probably wasn't of any great significance anyway.

Though the cause of her amnesia was probably due to the night of her return when her father beat her so badly that her skull fractured. The same night Selena had taken her to the local healer to get treated when she passed out. Thankfully he worked out of his own home and didn't charge much for his services. The wound ended up healing on its own. Blankly staring at the ceiling she noticed the loud noises and screaming seemed to die down. Descended the broken and splintering stairs they creaked at the added pressure.

Meeting the end of the stairs, she came face to face with her father but before she could react, he shot forward, hand clamping around her fragile neck, not enough to cut off her air, but enough that her already sore neck was screaming in pain. She thrashed, throwing whatever she could at his body. She managed to claw at his face, drawing blood, before she was lifted even higher and held aloft in the air, being strangled without mercy.

She fought back every single time, unlike her stepmother who simply laid back and took it not knowing what else to do. Perhaps Silla felt some lingering resentment that she continued to stay behind and allow it. But she didn't like this man. So naturally she would try to make things difficult for him. It was called being petty and she liked it. Strangely though he didn't speak. She had been expecting verbal abuse on his end, but he failed to deliver. Disappointing, really.

Feeling as though her throat was about to collapse painful knots formed in her chest. It was almost impossible to take a proper breath. Her entire throat felt so clogged up and scratchy that it was practically sandpaper. Every time she tried to inhale it felt like acid would travel up from her lungs and when Silla released rough coughs a warm metallic liquid shot up her esophagus and filed her mouth. From this she had a sudden thought.

This time she let out another rough cough but on purpose. Blood once again ran up her throat and into her mouth as she spat. Her bloody saliva spraying straight into her fathers face causing him to cringe backwards and close his eyes from shock and disgust. He stood in disbelief as the blood dripped down his face, sprinkling the floor, his clothes, skin, and carpet with the dirty red liquid.

She wasn't the least bit sorry.

Shortly after her brief victory it wasn't long until pure rage made its way back onto his face. She stared directly into his furious eyes and slowly lifted her bloody lips into a mocking smile her eyes darkening as she stared back at him. In anger he only squeezed more. Trying to inflict more pain.

He quickly grew frustrated from the lack of a reaction or general fear and he yelled in anger flinging her onto the floor causing the wooden boards to crack at the force. Her already bruised neck aching as she gritted her teeth and lifted her head watching him walk out the door. New bruises forming over the old ones.

She hated being powerless and wanted nothing but to start screaming and never stop. However, self-pity was for another time. Right now she had things to do and places to be.

Once outside her home the city lights were florid as everything gleamed, displaying advertisement for narcotics, prostitution and harlotry of all kinds. There was no one to stop it from happening. It wasn't unusual that people were being savagely slaughtered, raped, and mugged. No one seemed to care as if it was normal everyday life. Some even paid to see such regular acts.

Though she was never really like the other people here, she hated seeing such unnecessary cruelty.

Across the street a man was being picked apart by street beggars like they were vultures. Of course Silla had her own thoughts and beliefs, and she wouldn't force them on anyone else even if these reckless plebs deserved it. As long as they didn't bother her she would just ignore them. She didn't like it but, she knew she couldn't change it. It was clear who held the power in situations like these, and what would happen if one chose to disobey. So she just let it happen. It was as simple as that. She wasn't stupid. People who chose to rise up against powers like this were already in their graves.

These things meant nothing to most, but this was it. This was home.

This was hell.

This... Was the City Of Bones.

She knew the city waited for no one, so Silla continued her journey. Even with the hustle and bustle of the city, she still managed to find piece and quiet. The bar she tended was on the eastern edge of what used to be home to the wealthiest of citizens in the lower ring. It was a known fact that the closer you got to the inner wall the wealthier the land became and while most of the lower ring was made of slums and dirt poor commoners, there were a few wealthy merchants on the outskirts.

Blinded by flashing lights and smoke she walked into her workplace and was quickly greeted by the manager of the establishment. Charlize gave the bruised and disheveled girl a once over as she walked through the back door. Her leathery skin and yellow teeth from years of chain smoking didn't look anymore appealing than the day before. "Gods- What took you so fucking long? You're late again. Just be glad I'm only the manager and can't fire you." She complained at Silla's lack of attendance.

The retched woman knew fully well why she was late every morning but simply didn't care. Personally Silla thought the haggard middle aged woman got some sort of sick enjoyment out of making her suffer. She wondered what made the insufferable woman like this today.

Charlize was a woman with a rather harsh temper, but that was just her. Perhaps her husband cheated on her again, dare she say that she should've just broken up with him. Thankfully the owner of the establishment took all of Charlize's words with a grain of salt. The woman wasn't exactly exemplary when it came to working long hours. Though Silla would never speak back to the woman unless she was in the mood to get slapped or end up scrubbing toilets for a week. She could deal with the woman's constant verbal abuse but scrubbing public toilets was another thing.

Shortly after her encounter with the woman Silla was speedily dragged back to where all the other employees were gathered and they discussed up coming events and shifts for the week; rather boring if you asked her. Just the simple mundane things of life that couldn't help her want something spontaneous to happen. Literally anything bad or good.

After the sun had set the girl left to meet up with an old friend. Tonight all she was going to need were her two best friends: a sexy hostess and a drink. The Red Light district surprisingly didn't make her feel nervous as she walked down it. The place was like any adults best time, but, it was sketchy as hell. Shady people stood in alleyways, open prostitution, and drug dealings. Mostly just sex stuff; half of the district was brothels.

From a shady corner she noticed a suspicious man stare at her. His eyes didn't leave hers for a second. She slowly, without taking her gaze from his, raise her hand and strangled her neck making a face all the while. A threat. His eyes widened and he looked away quickly. The only reason Silla was here now was to find Julith. She worked at a sort of hostess club, one of the nicer buildings here.

When she finally made it to her club and entered through the doors Silla was immediately relieved. Julith was one of the first people to meet her eye, and upon seeing Silla's tired look, immediately left the customer she was with and motioned to the bar. The girl stepped quietly among the groups and joined her, the bartender already mixing up her tasty, needed drink. Julith placed her hands affectionately on the tired girls shoulders as she sat down, lovingly rubbing Silla's tight muscles as she laid her head on Julith's bouncy breasts.

After looking at her, she realized just how underdressed she was. The woman wore a tight fitting, red dress that stopped right above her nipple, not leaving much to the imagination. It sparkled in the dim red lights, which both hurt and captivated her eyes. Silla on the other hand wore plain torn pants, open shoes, and a large stained shirt. Which was obviously too big and too old.

Sometimes she was a little subconscious about how skinny and malnourished she was. And although her mother was considered a great beautiful just like herself she found that the face of her mother brought her nothing but disgust. Unlike Julith she had chosen not to use her looks as a means of financial support. After all it was a known fact that a woman's worth in this world was based solely upon her physical appearance. Many women have been pushed by their own desires or their family to seduce a rich man with their feminine wiles in order to obtain money through marriage.

However, Silla gave that idea a brief second of consideration before discarding it. Marriage, children? Would they guarantee that she wouldn't die on the streets? Obviously a mans devotion could waver. Children needed to be fed and clothed for years before they could contribute financially to a household. No, she would pass on the love and marriage; not that there was love in marriages these days.

Who needs the support of some fickle idiot?

After all you can't eat love.

Placing the drink in front of her Julith held the straw to the underaged girls lips, "Here, have some relief and tell your girlfriend all about it." Silla practically sculled the drink in one go, her friend immediately telling the bartender to fill it back up. With the alcohol she was able to shed a bit of pain from an empty stomach and the more she drank the more she was starting to feel the effect in her body. The addictive warm fuzzy feeling spreading through her. She was a lightweight but anything was better than going home.

Besides it wasn't like she could confide in any of her friends about the situation. She didn't want to bother them with her problems, even Julith. Silla was a grown woman after all and could handle her own problems.

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The next morning Silla sighed and propped her arms atop the bar counter. Last night Julith had taken her to her apartment and let Silla stay the night. But now that she was awake and at work her morning hangover made her head throb. Even worse her eyes felt as if they were throbbing out of her skull and the flashing lights from the bar seemed to come together like blurred watercolors rather than lights. It was as though, despite the roaringly loud conversations of nearby customers and the music playing from the speakers, the usual boring atmosphere remained the same. Perhaps she'd gotten used to the chaos of this place? Or maybe she was just in a haze from the hangover?

Deep down Silla knew all she really wanted was a safe place to lay her head and for a split second even wished that someone would just swoop her off her feet and whisk her away to a better life. Maybe even... a family. The very thought made her laugh as the chances of that were slim to none but she had always been a dreamer.

Endlessly she had thought to just end it all and the faint healing marks along her forearms were proof of such thoughts. She never went too deep to cause permanent issues or scars yet just enough that she wouldn't go insane trying to take it out on something else. Her morality wouldn't let her- she wouldn't take the pain and anger out on anyone or anything but herself. Silla knew she could never act on such things, not because of fear of death but responsibility. She had her step mother Selena to take up after.

Sometimes she wished to be just like every other selfish piece of shit in this God forsaken city. Most would've said fuck it all at this point but she didn't have that luxury, thanks to her rather annoying conscience. With dark circles and bruises under her eyes, she grunted and got up when her name was called, snapping out of her endless daydreams.

"Sil give these drinks to table five," Another waiter named Kael shouted at her. Swiftly, she grabbed the tray with the brightly glowing alcoholic drinks and made her way to the table carefully gliding across the floor as the blinding lights flashed.

"Here's your drinks sir," She spoke faking politeness as the rather hairy man in his early twenty's eyed her; the man happily taking his alcoholic beverages. Going back to her tasks, she quickly made a few drinks and handed them out to their respective owners with elegance. As time passed the bar slowed down a bit and her shift was starting to come to an end. Finishing inventory she grabbed a mop and old bucket then headed to the kitchen so she could start cleaning the grimy tile floors. Closing hours were upon them and it was her job to make sure the kitchen was ready for tomorrow.

In the kitchen her coworkers seemed to be chattering about something and Silla had nothing better to do so she decided to listen in on the gossip. "Did you hear about Black Sun taking over another part of the lower ring last night?" She heard faint whispers of the conversation.

If Silla remembered correctly Black Sun was a group of radical extremists and anarchists in the upper ring. They were mainly known for their hatred towards the aristocrats that controlled the city. Supposedly ran by the heir of one of the five head aristocratic families. The problem being that no one knew who it was. Out of all aristocrats the five families they were the most powerful, making the betrayal a hot topic.

But why were they all the way down here? Near the edge of the lower ring where nothing valuable is ever found or made. She didn't often keep up with gossip, but this was the first time she heard of this. Interesting...

"Yeah, I did it's crazy and it was near us too. What if they come here next?" Her friend shivered replying nervously.

"The news reports said that during the attack the leader gathered all the female captives with blue eyes and one... By... One... After his inspection he would... Pluck out their eyes," she spoke with a sinister tone only making the story all the more mysterious but it was a bit far fetched if you asked her. Most of the rumors were probably bullshit, but such things definitely came from somewhere. Such news didn't surprise the young girl at all seeing as she had also heard rumors that Black Sun's psycho leader liked to kill people and hang their mutilated corpses over the upper rings walls for decoration.

How creative of him.

Though the most ridiculous rumors were of Black Sun's leader. Mostly how they described him. The man was said to be absolutely hideous. Despite having eyes as black as night and auburn hair like burning flames he was apparently deformed.

"I'd also heard that Black Sun summoned a bunch of women in the upper ring last month and the one that orchestrated it was the head of an unknown aristocratic faction. It was said that he went around in person and examined those women one by one like he did previously. No one knows why he does this. It almost seems like he's searching for something... Or someone," Kael the main waiter added into the mystery.

From what the public knew Black Sun was a new organization that appeared out of nowhere seven winters ago. No one knew their purpose or their members, but they destroyed branches of major underworld crime groups and aristocratic families one after another, as if telling people to watch and learn. Black Sun became a serious threat in no time.

The aristocracy was sent into a frenzy trying to find out who the leader among them was and soon started to suspect each other; slowly turning on one another. They long suspected it was one of the five major families betraying them to reap the benefits. Even though many people put up huge rewards, not a single clue came to the surface. At least other than the testimony of a soul surviving witness. Who stated that they wore white masks and black robes during the attack.

Silla sighed brushing back her midnight hair. She shouldn't have been ease dropping. Nonetheless, many have speculated on what Black Sun's leader looks like, but no one has actually seen him. Some say he has eyes and hair the color of the night sky and others say it's a dull brown. It gives him a sort of mysterious allure. Silla personally didn't keep up with the gossip and news surrounding the aristocratic mob rulers. Most of it was probably false anyway. She was too busy to watch for the classic capitalist bullshitery that the aristocrats pulled.

Deciding to get some fresh air she left out the back door. Not that the smell of trash or pollution was anymore enticing. Silla laid her head against the brick wall and let out a very long sigh closing her weary eyes. "You have anything of value?" A voice from the alley behind the bar sounded causing her heart to rise in panic. Reaching in her boot she felt for her pocket knife.

"No, but I have this." Silla grabbed it and flicked the gleaming blade open holding it to his throat.

"Woah! Woah! Hey! Calm down, lady. I was just joking." He said as she glared daggers at him then recognized who he was. Kael. The main server. The annoying man who was usually busy flirting it up with the ladies rather than doing his job.

Disgusting filthy men.

"Geez why are you so uptight? It's just a dark alley. What are you so scared of?" He asked with the kind of ignorance only a man would have.

"You're a guy you could never understand. You don't have to worry if someones gonna try to fuck you in the ass when you're walking home from the grocery store late at night." She rolled her eyes as he went back inside after throwing away some trash with a wink. Real classy. Looking back up to the night sky, Silla blew a few deep breathes and watched as the air dissipated into the night sky. She should've been home by now, but she wanted to delay the inevitable. Purposely, she slowed her pace as she took the path home.

Eventually arriving Silla opened the squeaking door of her house and was met with dead silence. Though she was shocked when she heard a sudden scream. The scream tore through Silla like a great shard of glass. She felt her eyes widen, and pulse quicken, her heart thudding like a rock rattling in box.

The scream came again, desperate, terrified- human. The blood drained from her face and before she was even aware of making a conscious decision her legs were pounding furiously on the uneven floorboards, her ears straining for more sounds, more clues as to where it had come from in the house. She had no clue as to what she'd do when she got there, just that she had to get there fast. The scream was female and she recognized who it was.

Stumbling into the living room her hands shook when she saw her stepmother held up by a fist full of her long blonde hair. Above Selena her bastard father held a look akin to one of a demon and pulled her mom up to her knees by hair as she clenched her teeth in helpless pain. At the mere sight Silla felt a dull pain in her jaw at how hard she had clenched her teeth together.

"Stop."

Seeing Silla standing in the doorway, he dropped her mother with a loud thud and went after her. Instead of fear she felt nothing but fury. Fury at his control over them. His control completely suffocating their free will. Granted, her lack of a response seemed to infuriate him to the point that he clamped his hand around her throat. "I could kill you this second," he spoke getting closer in her face. His grip on her throat tightened and- she met his gaze with equal defiance.

The spiteful man looked at her with pure hatred and spat on her face, his disgusting thick saliva running down her cheek as he dropped her to the floor. When he finally stepped away Selena quickly came to her. She looked at her daughter softly as the corner of her eyes already formed tears as Silla gently wiped the excess fluid away putting her forehead on top of hers. Breathing slowly she closed her eyes and felt Selena trembling. She could feel her mothers shaky hands cling onto her shirt while they held each other. Slowly, she felt something wet on her shoulder. A drop of water. Tears.

She was crying.

Silla watched helplessly as tears started to flow from her eyes, falling to her cheeks. As Selena sobbed into her neck, all she could do was hold her tight and stroke her hair as gently as possible. "It's okay now... It's over," Silla spoke softly. Out of all the pain, she had been through this moment was one of the most painful.

"I'll get us out of here... I promise," Silla whispered to her.

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To be continued...