Within The Trees

Prologue

Darkness...my first memories of life were filled with an empty void of darkness. The musty air that filled my nose paired perfectly with the chains that rubbed against my irritated skin. I looked about the room and it was quite sad. A worn out bed stained with my blood, tears, and various amounts of different..."specimens". If anyone sane was to come into this room they would see a broken girl with torn clothing and shallow skin. A hull of what I once was.

I suppose to explain how I got here, I should take you back to a happier time, albeit a small window of happiness, but still... When I first entered this world I was a beautiful baby girl with caramel skin, emerald green eyes and beautiful black hair. My mother and, the man I thought to be my father, were overjoyed, but that soon passed. I grew up fast, and as I did my father taught me whatever he could. He taught me how to go through a painless wolf change, how to hunt, how to survive...but not how to grieve. A day soon came where my home was invaded by the beings who HATED our kind, or at least hated my mother.

On that day, destruction ensued upon the homes of the people of my home. All to get back at my mother, but what they took that day paled to the comparison of those homes. They killed my father, held his head above them like a trophy for my mother and I to see. I'll never forget my mother's wails of sorrow, nor can I forget the tears that stained my cheeks.

Rage. I was fueled with a mixture of rage and grief, and with it came a strength. My wolf was rearing its mighty head, clawing its way out. My skin quivered, my back convulsed. I threw myself against the ground, and gave in to the waves of change. My muscles bulged, the sinew that held my tissue, stretching. I felt the twitch of my hands change, my claws replacing my nails. The slack from my jaw jutted forward to create my maw. As my body changed, my vision blurred then heigtened. The details etching there way into my skull. It felt like minutes, but it really took a matter of moments. My mighty black paws hit the ground with a quake. The emerald hue of my eyes glistened with my bubbling anger. What happened next was a blur, but when I came to I was kneeling in the center of the crossroads that went through my home; and around me lay bodies. So many bodies. I was covered in the blood of those around me, of those who were responsible for my father. I looked at myself in horror and scattered to find my mother. I didn't know what to do, but what was worse was when I did find my mother, she looked at me with disgust. What happened that day had changed her, and not for the better.

So, that day began my own personal hell. The days that followed were filled with the sounds of rebuilding, but none of them came from me. Instead I had been locked away in a pit, with only a bed, a chair, and my chains. Barely any light seeped through the cracks in the door that led into my new abode.

I was filled with so much confusion at my mother's actions. Little did I know that this was only the beginning. My once happy life, became filled with daily beatings. My ears were filled with torrents of hate from my mother. She blamed me for that day. I didn't know why, and I wouldn't know until years later.

Believe me when I say, I preferred the beatings over what got thrown at me next. I became a toy for her. A toy that she could sell to whoever had what she desired. I had always heard that the day I fully became a woman, would be the happiest moment in my life. It wasn't. The man who deflowered me stunk as if he hadn't bathed in weeks. His touch was rough and cold against my skin, and no matter how much I screamed or bucked, my chains held me in place for them. It became a routine that, overtime, I became numb to.

Years passed, but for me it felt like an eternity. I had completely given in. I didn't see the point in fighting her. I laid on the floor, sleeping after my last encounter. I awoke to the sound of my chains hitting the floor. I looked at my wrists and the metal was melting off of them. It burned white hot, but I just couldn't react. What was happening? As I sat there and watched what was left of the chains melt away, a voice filled my ears and told me, "Run."

I wasted no time doing just as the voice had said. My wolf was awake for the first time in ages, and with it came a burst of adrenaline. I changed and busted through the door of my personal hell. I didn't look around, I didn't care. This didn't feel like home anymore. So I ran; with only the sound of my racing heart filling my ears and the feel of the dirt under my paws. I ran as if the devil himself were on my tail.

The scenery changed to dense foliage. Trees shrouded me in a darkness that calmed me, and with that euphoria I became tired. I didn't know how far I had ran, but I no longer smelled the scent of my old home. So, I stopped when I came upon a stream. I collapsed next to the water, hidden by bushes, and slept. I was so exhausted that I didn't have the strength to even get a drink.

I awoke hours later. Night had come and with it the chirping sounds of the scenery around me. At that point I did get a drink and sniffed around for a meal. The lessons my father had taught me, filling my mind. Oh how I missed him... I pushed him to the back of my mind and went hunting. I caught a deer and dug in. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was until I had finished and only  bones were left. I fell asleep soon after that meal, and when I awoke again; I knew I had to keep going.

So this was how I began...this was the moment Levinta Black became Shakira Xavier Black...this was the day I started my journey to escape all the bad in my life.