• Entering, Aurelia found herself in an office decorated tastefully with deep red, and lots of it. A mahogany desk sat in the middle of the rich extravagance of the room and behind it, sat the boss, in a big arm chair. The dark leather glimmered in the cold light and Aurelia felt the slight headache she had ever since arriving there start to grow.
    The pain that pounded in her temples increased significantly faster than the other times and she bit back a groan of pain. Perhaps some of her agony showed on her cold face as she was shown an armchair and told to make herself comfortable. Blinking away the pain to the best of her abilities, Aurelia forced herself to focus as the guy in the leather chair swung around to face her.
    He looked disappointingly sophisticated. Not like the other gangster type bosses who dealt heavily with force and waded in betrayal and death everyday. Dressed in a suit and tie set which literally screamed more sophistication, his dulling crimson hair gleamed under the cold light, slick with gel, reminding her uncomfortably of the rich, tangy colour of newly spilled blood.
    His face, although hardly lined with wrinkles spoke of experience and age told tales about the numerous battles he had witnessed and probably entered in himself; it spun marvellous tales about the acts of evil he had committed when he was younger and the blood he spilled, the lives he took and those he would continue to take until the day of his own death.
    “Hello Aurelia.” His voice was low and clipped; it also had a rather pleasant accent to it that she couldn’t identify, what with the fog of pain clouding her brain and all. Concentrating fiercely on forming words, she managed to push out an inquiry as to how did he know her name before she gasped at the effort. As if even thinking would kill her. And it did, only in a not so literal way. As she would no doubt collapse from all the pain sooner or later.
    “I suppose you’re wondering about the reason as to why I would request for your presence here? Let alone know your insignificant name?” Picking up the goblet of wine that rested on his polished table, he took a slow sip from it before returning it to its original position on his table.
    Aurelia managed a slow nod, even though she averted her eyes away from the wine in disgust, it looked too much like a crimson patch of life.
    “I’ll leave you to guess. Instead, how about a more interesting question? Like, how did your mother die?” The question sent chills zipping down Aurelia’s spine. Even though pain still fogged up her mind, she felt the goose bumps humping along her arm. She barely managed to push her answer out, but the boss seemed to be able to read her mind.
    “We killed her.” He said it so matter-of-factly that her headache suddenly worsened and her crystalline necklace started to shine. Without sign or warning, the lackey who had remained, swiped a hand at her necklace and in one swift motion, pulled the jewel off her slender neck.
    As soon as it was gone, the headache increased by a hundred fold and Aurelia gasped as pain transported her to a whole new level. A feral scream ripped from her throat as she dug her nails into the leather of the chair. Pain engulfed her, like nothing she had ever experienced and trapped her in the terrifying world of half consciousness. Tears traced numerous lines down her cheeks as a harsher scream erupted. When her eyes flew open, they could see no colour inside the pain filled windows.
    With smug eyes, the man watched as the girl before him fought against the searing devastation that he’d inflicted with a little help from his new treasure and against the beast inside of her trying to break free.
    He knew his plan was succeeding when he saw her colour devoided eyes, he knew he was on the right track after her skin started flaking off, revealing angry blue bits, the colour of which reminded him of the sea during a storm.
    As another howl burned her throat, Aurelia writhed, trying but failing, to control the rumbling mass of hurt and fear that was present inside of her. Searing heat flamed through her whole body and she threw back her head as another howl escaped. The fog was worsening and the stinging pain it brought forced a ripped snarl from her.
    Her spinning head worsen now and she snarled again, feeling her teeth lengthen into deadly fangs that she could easily use to rip out a chunk of anyone’s neck. She felt her nails become lethal weapons and she felt like she was on fire. An internal flame that burned her lungs and threatened to roast her from inside out sprang up inside her and invoked another scream from her sore throat and chilled listening witnesses with actual hearts to their cores.