-*| The Cursed World |*-

Prologue

She lifted her head from the comfort of her pillow. The sounds of footsteps echoed through her home's walls. Curiosity gently lifted her up as she pushed the covers off of herself.

  Her feet made a small thud as they landed on the cold stone. The footsteps suddenly stopped. She could tell this was late at night; why was anyone awake?

  She waited a couple heartbeats for the footsteps to continue onwards. She fixed her tousled black hair out of her face. Then she slowly snuck towards the source of the noise.

  She padded almost silently out of her bare bedroom. Loud scowls and yells sounded outside. She recognized her mother's voice.

  She peaked her little head out of the doorway. She immediately caught sight of her mom's silhouette. She let out a loud gasp, "Mommy?"

  The yelling ceased. What looked to be a man outside of their home began to laugh hysterically. He then stopped, and began to demand to her mother using weird, sharp words on how he wanted to see his daughter.

  Her mom muttered something to him. She wanted to see who this strange guy was. His hair was dark like hers, whereas both of her parents had paler hair.

  She quickly and swiftly darted down the stairs. Her small feet seemed to almost fly down the steps. Her mother held her arm in front of her to stop her from reaching the strange man.

  The man bent down to reach her size. He gave a bright, friendly smile. He held out his hand to her, and for a moment, she only focused on his hand.

  She then turned her head to her mother's side — She had made her decision. Her mom shakily pulled her closer; sobs flowed from her.

  "Leave," Her mom whispered. "I don't want to have to do this."

  He began to protest. "What's going on?" She mumbled, and turned her head back to the man and the outside world.

  Her mom turned her head away. "Don't look. Focus on Mommy's shiny rings."

  However, of course she turned to look. Her mom lifted up a long silver tool, her finger rested on a loop. The man began to shake his head, and back away.

  The moon reflected its gaze on the dangerous thing. She saw her round, intimidating yellow hues. Sharp like a wolf's harsh eyes.

  Her mother's finger pulled on the loop. A loud bang sounded, and she hissed from the sharp pain it caused to her. The man stumbled to the ground.

  He cried out his sorries, and again lifted his hand in a desperate attempt to reach for them. She felt pity for the man — He seemed so nice, why was her mom hurting him?

  Her mother let out a deep scowl. Her grip on her deepened, and she let out another shot. This time the man fell, and did not get up.

  She turned to her; jittery from the noise. "Why did you do that? He looked like a nice guy,"

"He's not a good man, Hebe. He's a dirty-coat. Dirty-coats will hurt us when given the chance."