City of Blood

ch 2 - a cornered doe

After the school day—which wasn't even that terrible, finally came to an end, Elise began her long walk home through the run-down streets. She thought about her day and the people that she had met. Not all of them were very pleasant but some were sort of welcoming. She had even managed to make somewhat of a friend.

Elise looked at the setting sun behind the cityscape. You could barely see it through the grey clouds but it slightly peeked through. By now, the fog had subsided a bit but the sky was still overcast and grey. Hopefully at least one of the three moons would be visible tonight through the clouds.

She glanced at some of the students walking around her. Some were talking to friends and some were alone like Elise. They almost seemed like normal teenagers to her.

Shaking her head at the thought, she continued her way home, keeping to herself.

——————

She opened the door to find her father sitting at the shabby kitchen table with a half-full beer bottle in his hand. Her father stood up enveloped her in a hug, glad to see his daughter was not dead. He kissed her head, asking her how school was.

You see, this whole ordeal was a big step for her father as before today, she was not even allowed to go outside. That was until Elise cracked, frantically explaining to him she needs to get out of the house. At first he was furious upon hearing this but after about a week of straight up yelling and physical altercations, she got him to agree. It was either that, or she just leaves entirely.

The only time Elise ever went outside in her life was when her family still resided in the forest. She's been inside ever since they were forced to the city. It was suffocating to say the least, and built up a feeling of anger in Elise towards her father.

Some might say she's lucky for having such a protective father in a world like this but that's just what it looks like on the outside. He's controlled every aspect of her life since her mother's death, out of fear of losing her as well. That fear grew far too extreme over the years, however, as clearly being locked in a house for over a decade is way too far. For a while, Elise was able to cope with it out of love for her father until he began to drink.

Like his fear and paranoia, his drinking also grew out of control so the ten years she was locked in that house, she was stuck with her alcoholic father. Not surprisingly, as all alcoholics tend to get angry or just plain crazy when they're drunk, her father was no exception. She was the frequent victim of beatings by her father, since he only ever let out his emotions while drunk. All of the years of hurt, fear, trauma, and grief was evident in his drunk anger.

As Elise told her father about her school day, she was forced to leave out quite a few parts. After talking with her father for a bit, Elise then went up to her room in order to escape his presence.

Today was honestly a lot for the girl so after cleaning herself up, she collapsed into bed, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

—————-

It was now completely dark out, with most of the street lights being broken or just barely flickering. The city streets were mainly being illuminated by the bluish light of the three large moons, which were all out tonight.

There weren't many people still out besides the handful of vampires who preferred to reside in the shadows of the alleys. Crime is very evident throughout the city and at night, it is very risky for both humans and vampires to walk the streets. Murder, vampires cannibalizing each other, odd drugs, rape, and public displays of mutilation are all common in the city. But of course, for such crimes there are no repercussions. It doesn't matter anymore with the current state of everything.