A House In London: The First Case Of Sympathy [Closed]

By now, she had gotten used to the torture. Each day she was fed twice: at exactly 12am, and at exactly 12pm. There would be no changes in schedule--Master did not believe in Daylight Savings, so he did not allow it to change in this house. Because of this, she had gotten very good at telling the time, simply by how her stomach was feeling. He had made sure to feed her before she completely ate herself alive, but the pain she felt every day was completely real. Not only that, but the pain she had coming from her body was real as well. She could do nothing. She was weak. She was in pain. She was completely helpless, and merely watched as an observer to her own body. Master had used to do tests every so often, but he had been doing them less and less since the incident. Her entire body shivered as it recalled the sensations, the pain, the forced pleasure... every single moment of it... until Master spoke the words that signified her utter uselessness to him.

"She can't reproduce. I have a perfect subject, but she can't reproduce! This is a failure... a total loss. Lock the door. Keep feeding her. I'll work out what to do with her soon." That was a couple of months ago. She had been laying like this, unable to do anything in hunger, for the past two months--not sure what to do with herself. She wanted to die, but he wouldn't let her. The smell from the corner of the room lingered--but she had no choice, she was still human and had human functions. But it seemed that the world hated her. The world would, for lack of a better statement, defy her expectations. Master wanted her to remain alive for some godforsaken reason. Mother hated her. The servants were afraid of her. Her blonde hair was around her ankles now, having grown out over the past years. She wore a bloodstained gown, had it changed every week. She just wanted to be free... but freedom wouldn't ever come, would it? She had no tears left to cry.

Suddenly, a sound. Strange... there should be no servants for another half hour--yes, her body told her that there was an hour until dinner was supposed to occur. She looked up at the door, before recoiling in fright at the sound of the alarm. Nobody got this far in! There were armed guards around the house and everything, right? At that moment, Lucia felt scared--but... what if this could give her liberty? Eyes that had been listless and dead gained a very tiny glimmer of hope for the future, but she tried not to let it get to her.

And then the door opened.

She looked up, wondering if it was Master coming to take her away. That wasn't Master. It was a beautiful woman, one that didn't seem much older than she was. She had the image of a snake, coiled to eat away at its prey. Underneath the harsh lights of her cell, this woman seemed to be a dark angel. That image would be imprinted in her mind for years to come. "A..." Speaking was hard. "Are you here..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, "T-to k-kill me? O-or.." Seriously, speaking was not the easiest thing right now. "To bring me away from this place?"

This woman had a particularly dark aura about her. It wasn't evil like the aura that Master gave off, but it wasn't a clean and pure aura either--she was no Angel, this one. At the same time, however, this 20-year old Lucia saw something in that woman that quite possibly no other person would ever have the chance to see. Emotion. Feeling. Even if it wasn't showing on her face, Lucia saw it deep in her eyes--hidden away from the world for nobody to see. Breathing heavily as the woman told her to stay silent, Lucia watched her leave the room with quiet concentration. What was she going to do? Was she going to find Master and kill him? But... why did she get to do that? For that moment, Lucia felt something different--she felt jealousy. She felt like she should be the one to kill Master. She felt like she should be the one to claim victory. She wanted that monster gone, and after everything he'd done to her? She deserved the right to pull the trigger. Slowly, but surely, Lucia staggered to her feet. Her muscles had atrophied and she fell onto a knee, but still Lucia would continue to try and stand. Her breathing was ragged and painful, and her body was finally starting to give out--she would have to eat soon--but it was enough for her to be able to see hope for the future. She didn't quite understand why she knew, but she did. She knew this woman would bring her back from the brink. She knew that this woman would be her saving grace. She just did.

Gunshots gave her a fright, almost causing her to fall down once more. The sounds of weapons firing and screams of men gave her a rather clear image of what was going on. That woman was winning. She heard the Head Guard scream out about wanting her dead, and then she heard others scream in pain. And then, a familiar voice came into the fray. One that elicited another emotion from the weak youth. Hatred. Disgust. Murderous intent. Her breathing was raspy and her voice escaped her lips. "Michael... I.. I... will kill you." Finally, her back straightened and she stood up upon her own strength. The shaking of her form was obvious, and her body was still weaker than a young child; but she would stand up on her own two legs. She almost fell again, planting a hand on the wall beside her in order to keep herself stabilized. Her body continued to shake, but she stared at the door with newfound courage. The sounds, however... they weren't cruel sounds. They were pleas for mercy. They were asking for mercy! That man was asking... Lucia swallowed back bile as he was dragged into the room with a gunshot wound in his knee.

"L-Lucia? Why are you standing? Sit down this instant!" His orders were not heard by the girl, who started to slowly walk out into the hall and past him. Her steps were staggered, and it took thirty seconds for her to even cover two steps each time. He could be heard behind her, and the fear was obvious in his voice. "A-are you afraid... f-father?" She didn't know what this newcomer was going to do to Michael, but she had to get there first. Bloody corpses lay near the room, and the shining of metal was the first thing that caught Lucia's eye. Picking up a shotgun from the ground, Lucia felt the weight in her arms and swallowed once more. She had to do this. "Lucia! Where are you going? Come back and help your father! I love you, child!" Yeah, right. Slowly limping back to the room, Lucia looked down at the man with eyes as cold as they are blue.

"You... love me?" She almost had to laugh at that, "Wasn't I... just an experiment to you? A s-subject? I was... never your daughter. You took my happiness... you took my innocence... you took my virginity. I shall take the only thing of yours that you haven't discarded yet." The fear in his eyes was palpable. He shat himself. This was a dream, he kept thinking to himself. He was having a nightmare, and at any moment he would wake up. The barrel of the weapon was pointed at his forehead, and Lucia's finger hovered over the trigger, and she spoke words that shook at his very core. "Goodnight, Michael. The next time you wake up, you will no longer be human. You will be a piece of meat, subject to my every whim. Goodnight, Michael. I'll see you in the morning." And then, she pulled the trigger.

Click. What? No ammo...? Sigh.

Lucia fell to her knees, and stared at the man who seemed to have suddenly claimed a glimmer of hope. No hope for him. Raising the weapon high into the air, Lucia swung it down with as much force as she could gather. The first hit broke his nose. After she felt it hit bone, she continued to methodically raise it into the air and drop it as hard as she could. Each hit continued to further break his face, causing blood to drip down as an indent created itself further.

Crunch. He was still alive, but he could no longer scream.

Crunch. His breathing patterns were ragged.

Crack. His skull broke in half, and finally he would die. But she would not stop. Tears rolled down her face, and Lucia screamed away the life that she had lived, but she would not stop. Death was too good for him. He would be tried by the Devil. He would have Demons feast upon his bones... and she would finally be free of him. With a shout of rage, Lucia let the last hit land. In layman's terms, his head exploded into pieces. Finally, she realized what she had done. Finally... Lucia let herself go. "I need... food. Please... get me something to eat..." Her consciousness fading, she fell to the ground in a faint. By tomorrow, this would just be a distant memory... right?

Movement and light broke through her closed eyes, threatening to wake her up if she didn't do so herself. She didn't want to, but she was starting to feel hungry again--and sleeping wasn't exactly her thing. Slowly opening her eyes, she realized that she was sitting in Michael's study. Had she been carried here? She groaned quietly as her eyes opened fully, looking around with a strange expression. Her stomach was killing her now, and if she didn't get something to eat it would be literally doing so as well. "Nngh... were you sent by mother?" No, that was impossible. There was no way that her mother would still be alive. Getting to her feet with shaky steps, Lucia slowly made an attempt to walk across the room. She looked quietly at the woman with frightened and starving eyes. She'd only seen the layout of the house once, but it was more than she needed to get around it. "I'll... just get my own food." The kitchen wasn't far from here, so she'd simply need to make the small trip. There would be something for her to eat in the kitchen, she was sure. Her bare feet felt the softness of the carpet below them, and she stumbled along the ground towards the room with determined eyes. Her sides would hit the walls in order to stop her from falling over, and every so often she came across a mirror and saw her blood-spattered self. "Heh... I did it."

She continued to wander towards the kitchen, finally passing through the door and dropping onto her side with a quiet groan. She closed her eyes, feeling weakened beyond the point of no return. "C'mon, Lucia... you can do this." She clambered to her feet, gripping the edge of the table and leaning over onto it. She coughed a few times, and looked over at the refrigerator with wonton eyes. Staggering over to it, she opened it with a sigh and looked inside. What to eat, what to eat...? Grabbing a couple of apples, Lucia sat down and started getting into the eating. Although she was weak, she ate with gusto--and loved every second. Having eating little more than gruel for the past few years, to have the pure sweet taste of apple on her tongue made her feel amazing. Reinvigorated. She would need more, though--as the first two apples were polished off within thirty seconds of their reaching her mouth. Standing up (with a bit more energy) she would reach into the freezer this time, and pull out a container of something. On the front read 'Cookies and Cream Ice Cream'. She blinked, and opened it up. This thing... it was completely new to her. Grabbing for a spoon, she sat with her back against a cupboard and started eating.

It was like an orgasm. It really was. The first taste was the sweetest, and every spoonful tasted better and better. Before she knew it, it was gone. The entire container. Her head hurt, but she felt great! She felt the best she'd felt in years! Standing up, she decided to go back to the study and find the woman. She moved quicker this time, her body already processing the energy and bringing her back. What was it she needed? Right. Standing by the doorway, she found that this woman had not actually left the study yet. "S-sorry.... needed food. Changes to body... mean I need 4-hourly meals and don't sleep. Haven't eaten for twelve hours. Could've died if left longer." Her breathing was heavy--partly because she still had brainfreeze--but she at least looked a little better.

Lucia received a sharp look. Was the stranger annoyed with her? Was the stranger, who had so simply killed her father's guards without a care, ready to kill her as well? She didn't want to die--especially not after discovering the marvel that was Cookies and Cream. Backing towards the door slightly, Lucia quietly stared at the woman in front of her. "Wha--" Her voice was cut short by the hand of the woman, who wrapped her other arm around her waist and darted off at speeds that were definitely not human. "H-hey, what are y--" The sound of a window breaking drowned out her voice as the woman jumped from the window, leaping high into the air. Lucia could only look down at the ground for about a second before they landed, running into the trees at the edge of the estate. A soldier tried to stop them and was silenced with a single gunshot. A few more showed up, and they were gunned down just as easily. It would be a headline for weeks--The murders at Durand Estate--and Lucia knew that things would be hairy.

But she didn't care. Right now, she didn't care that this woman had leapt out of a window from a high floor and gunned down four men in cold blood. That much didn't bother her. Right now, her biggest thought was of what she had just done, of what she had just witnessed... and of the fresh air blowing across her face. She was just happy to be free, and all of the scary things in this world were nothing compared to that overwhelming sense of freedom that Lucia felt right now. Eventually, the pair moved out of the forest and into the light. Looking down behind the mysterious woman, Lucia noticed a trail behind them--the dark colored liquid seemed to be escaping from a wound on her body. "You're injured..." She said, not thinking before she spoke again. What if this was the last straw?!

"I need you to pull the bullet out." Lucia backed up slightly at this statement. The entire time that they'd been here, almost half an hour, and this was the first thing she said? If she didn't feel so damn weakened, she'd probably slap the woman silly--no, bad idea, she was a callous murderer with no regard for any life but her own. From what she could tell, her own life was only saved because this woman was ordered to. The files that she'd taken with 'Lucia' on them confirmed that further for the young woman, who wondered exactly who had wanted her father dead. Was it Mother? While she thought it was, Lucia was sure that her mother had been killed when she'd been taken away from the family home and forced to give her own daughter up. Then who? Was it the CEO? Was it the head of R&D? There were a lot of people who would be able to sell Lucia and the information on her genetic makeup for a lot of money, and the buyers would be endless. With a soft sigh, Lucia looked at Jin through cold blue eyes that were actually seeing the light for the first time. She bit her bottom lip, looking at the specific wound that Jin had pointed to. "You want me... to pull it out?"

"It's not deep. I just can't do it myself. Stick your finger in and you should immediately feel it. Don't worry about hurting me, I'll be fine." Lucia swallowed her bile back, trying not to vomit up the food that she had just experienced. That would be a bad idea, for sure. Looking at the hole, Lucia's blue eyes stared at the liquid pouring out. "W-well, I can try..." She had just killed her father, but that was in the heat of the moment! What was she supposed to do here? Grimacing slightly, she reached forwards and slid her finger inside the hole. Oh god it was squishy... She dug deeper into the warm red mess, biting her bottom lip as she explored the hole and searched for the metal slug. As she dug deeper, she felt her fingernail tap something solid and almost jumped. There it was! Trying not to damage Jin's internals too much more, she reached up with the slender finger and put it over the edge of the slug, pulling backwards with care. "It's coming..." She pulled a bit more, until the metal slug simply fell out of the hole and dropped to the ground with a clatter. Wiping her finger off on her clothing, Lucia shook her head. "You look like you're losing blood quite badly. I would've clot by now, I forget that some people don't have as much blood as I do," she furrowed her brow slightly, "Oh! It's... one of the things that my metabolism helps with. I produce about two times as much blood as a regular human does..." She smiled weakly, before turning away and looking back in the direction they'd come from (it wasn't hard to discern, as there was a trail of blood behind them). "Finally, I have hope again..."

Finally, they were away from those men of her Father's. Finally, she was free to live her own life. Placing her hands onto her hips, Lucia watched the blackness closing up, almost thanking the fact that it was pitch black that night. Softly biting her bottom lip, she moved her hands from her hips to her face, rubbing away the sweat that had built up over their escape. "It's strange, finally being free." She almost had to laugh at the feeling, closing her eyes and imagining exactly what the world was like, but she really couldn't. "It's going to be fun, I just know it."

Lucia was turned around while Jin inspected her wound, but responded to the motion behind her with little delay. "Come." Come. Alright, it was a singular word--but it had enough meaning that Lucia would respect it. Having seen what this woman could do, she felt that she had little choice. She was actually scared, truth be told. Scared that this girl would kill her with the twitch of a finger. Lucia knew that she was above-human, but that thing was... non-human. She swallowed a little bit, and approached Jin with a cautious eye. If she recalled, rescuing her was her job. Therefore, it should be fine... right? She smiled, nodded and followed after Jin with a smile. Time to be the right person for this. Time to finally live.

Right now... nothing was right. She knew that she was free from the clutches of her father, but she had to wonder what kind of desperation her mother had to be in to hire someone this unusual. Lucia herself knew that she was strange, but she was nothing compared to the unusual-ness of this young-looking woman. She swallowed back her fear and stayed close to Jin, knowing that as the forest grew darker, her sight range would decrease. It wasn't as bad for Lucia, but she still didn't process light as well as someone who truly had darkvision. She followed the sounds of Jin's footsteps, wincing occasionally at the sound of a wolf's howl, or a nearby breaking twig. Eventually, however, they came to a source of light and noise--a highway. She didn't know where they were, so she couldn't exactly place the name or what towns they would come close to. Instead, she simply followed Jin and stood next to her as cars blasted past them.

In what was seemingly less than a second, Lucia was picked up--she didn't scream this time. Instead she simply held on as she was carried over the highway by the strange woman. The sound of crunching metal caused her to wince--poor guy--but no more was spoken as they soared across to the other side. After being put down, the single word "come" was uttered to her once more. Ignoring the noise behind them, Lucia continued to follow with a sheepish expression. She wanted to help--but the grip on her arm and knowledge of this woman's power silenced her tongue.

Eventually, of course, they would find themselves in a clearing. Stopping for a moment, Lucia placed her hands on her knees and breathed out. She didn't know how long they'd been going for, though her stomach was calling for something else. She groaned at the pain but ignored it largely--if she could simply make it back, she could eat her heart out. "We will be stopping at a rendezvous point in the city." She nodded, slightly hunched over to suppress the pain of hunger. "You can do this." She stood up straight once more and followed after Jin to their destination.

After a few minutes, they would arrive at the outskirts of the city. She recalled Jin's timeframe--two hours, no more, no less. She didn't remember any streets, just knowing that she had to follow Jin was enough. Her bare feet pattered along the cold asphalt, Lucia keeping the dark figure in sight for as long as she could. She was cold. She was fatigued. She was starving. Even if she didn't need sleep, she still occasionally needed to rest and recuperate--this was probably one of those times. She would stand strong. She wouldn't let herself die down. She simply had to keep going.

"M-must... keep... g-going..." She staggered momentarily, catching herself on a lamppost with a yelp. This was harder than she expected it to be. But she couldn't stop now.

Ah, they would eat? Almost relishing in the confirmation that this was going to happen, Lucia steadied herself somewhat as she was told to wait for Jin's return. She nodded and tried to keep herself from falling over, watching the dark woman vanish deep into the even darker streets. With no idea what was going on, all Lucia could do was watch the lamp-lights and wonder what was going to happen to her. She wasn't sure how long it had been before Jin came back, but when she did she appeared to be holding a bag of sandwiches. Lucia questioned the sale of such foods at this time of night--but then realized that she had spent most of her life in isolation, so had no idea as to how the world worked. She laughed quietly to herself and followed Jin's lead, wandering weakly into the alleyway and sitting with her back against a cold stone wall. She took the bag and happily started to chow down on the food as if she hadn't had a proper meal in yea--oh, wait, she hadn't. The food went from the bag, to her mouth and down into her stomach in a manner of moments--if she had been paying attention, maybe she would've noticed the men. If she had been paying attention, she would have actually cared about the source of the gunshots killing two of them. If she had been paying attention, maybe she would've seen Jin feeding from one of the bodies of the men with little care for his life.

But, of course, she was too worried about her food. In the time it had taken Jin to dispatch the three men, Lucia had already completely obliterated all five sandwiches. It was a skill, y'know? Rubbing her belly at the feeling of being filled up with food, Lucia let out a long breath and looked up, scanning the alleyway for any signs of Jin. Oh, there she was. Already feeling the effects of the food in her systems, Lucia got to her feet (with a bit less shaking this time) and nodded in her direction. She hadn't even noticed the small amount of blood on the other's face. She was told to follow, so follow she did. Her feet pitter-pattered on the hard, cold pavement as they continued to walk, Lucia looking around for any other potential threats. Hunger was now the least of her issues--she should be good for a few more hours. Now, she simply needed to find her mother--and maybe not freeze to death out here. Yeah, that was a good idea.

This place... honestly didn't look like a home. No, it wasn't--suffice to say, it was a bar or something of the like. She wasn't sure if she liked this place, walking down the seedy alleyway and entering in through the door. The place was dismally-lit at best; and most of the people that Lucia noticed out of the corner of her eye were rough. Some scrawny (thought not as scrawny as Lucia) man walked up to the pair, asking Jin questions about a woman who was supposedly upstairs. Lucia really didn't pay too much attention to this, as she was more worried about the looks that she was getting. She was dressed in the effective equivalent of rags--her feet were bare--and she was getting unwanted attention from a few of the people in the place. She didn't know if this attention she was getting was because she looked so threadbare, or because she was a young girl. Right now, she didn't really care, either. She just wanted to be out of the prying eyes.

More people came and talked to Jin, but again Lucia didn't pay them much heed. There were a lot of voices, and Lucia was having trouble picking out the good from the bad. Almost instinctively, she latched onto Jin's arm and pulled herself in closer, trying to protect herself from these strange people. She followed Jin up a flight of stairs and giggled quietly as someone had their chair kicked out from them--before immediately feeling sorry for them, simply because she worried for their pain. She wanted to apologize for Jin, but she kept her mouth shut. The man produced some keys, opening a door for the pair to go into. This room was dark, and as the door shut behind them, Lucia felt her heart stop. A couple of voices spoke, and then Lucia felt herself being pushed forwards. She tried to keep a hold on Jin's arm, looking back up at where she thought the girl's eyes were in an attempt to plead with her... and then the embrace came.

The body felt warm and familiar to Lucia, but at the same time frightening. Father had been cruel to her and told her of her mother's negligence. Even if he was wrong, what was to say she wouldn't be? But then again... this warm feeling... Lucia's arm left Jin's, holding onto the cold hand for a moment more, trying to remain... before letting go as well. "You should leave here now. They'll be coming after her and myself. If you're not here, they cannot tie you to anything." Lucia hesitated for a second... before pulling herself out of her mother's grip. She stepped forwards and wrapped Jin in a hug, letting herself just rest on the woman's body for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Even... if it were just for the money... you saved my life. For that, you have my gratitude. Thank... you." She smiled softly and then turned around, walking back to her mother with a weak smile. "M-mother... he's gone. I killed him. We're free..." And the rest, they say... is history.

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