Part One : Empty Promises

Dozens of blurred feet scurried by in a rush. Without a pin size of energy she sat within the cramped alleyway. Her face felt sticky and dry from the tears she had cried. Lifeless as a broken doll, she survived the day over and over again, somehow she had always done so. But today was different… she was going to die. Her last bit of hope had been lost ever since she saw her mother. She no longer had any will to live on. For 8 yeas she lived on telling herself that her mother would come to take her away as she had promised. But this morning she had seen a women with her son walking down the plaza. Her face full of happiness as she was joined by her husband. This women was her mother... reality struck hard. She realized that her mother never intended to come back for her. The words she had spoken were only just empty promises. Staggering back to that alleyway, she slumped down looking up into the gray sky. Her mouth falling open trying to force out a laugh, but all that mange to escape her lips was the smallest chuckle. How naive she was to think her mother would come back for her! Laughable! Outrageous! Hilarious! She was fooling no one but herself.

The clouds above rumbled as if in agreement.

Squeezing tears as if they could feel her sadness. Fate was cruel, life was wicked, and miracles did not exist... her lip softly mumbled the words “all my life... I’ve been living by empty promises... empty... promises.”

Part Two : Past

The little girl grew up under the abuse of her father. Her mother had ran away with another man when she was three and ever since that day her father always came back home drunk. It was obvious that the father was unable to cope well that the incident, and so he began to drink and gamble. Her existence reminded him of the women who betrayed him and every time he saw her, he grabbed by forcibly by her long locks and beat her. After a while the father would leaved the brused body trembling of pain on the floor. Tears streaming from her eyes questioning the reason why? With no relatives around to take her in she had no other choice but to stay with the awful man.

One day a strange man appeared, he grabbed her by her wrist and dragged her into the yard pushing her into the dirt. She look up at the man, who looked down at her with a scowling face.

“ Listen here you little bug! Your father has sold you to the land lord and now you belong to him! Do not talk back and do as you are told without hesitation and you won’t get a beating ”

The land lord... She had heared about a local land lord who was rumored to find pleasure in the torture of young females. Dozens of dismembered bodies of young girls have been found near this man’s mansion. Although face with these accusations, the old man denied that it is his doing. No matter if she listen to the man, she would still share the same fate as those children. What was she to do? The man’s hand still grip onto her wrist, the feeling of her wrist crushing slowly but firmly creeped in. Celine squirmed and wiggles trying to break free. But it was no use. The man quickly became irritated at her struggles. Without another thought he delivered a heavy kick to the Celine’s stomach. Her bruised body flew across the ground finally stopping as her back crashed against the wooden planks. The impact sent trembles through her body. At first she felt her body burning up but seconds later it felt as if millions of needles constantly stabbed at her body. The burning pain roared like fire, it became too much to handle and then... she fainted without another word.

* woooo, wooo, wooo*

The cries circled her as her eyes finally burst open. A black cloud covered her vision, slowly fading away as her eyes adjusted to the room. Seconds later she could see the cement floor and in the distance a large wooden pole frame. The ground was scattered in thin piece of rotting straw and the air carried a rotten scent. Looking around were young girls who seemed to be a bit older then herself. Some were crying while other had just completly lost hope and sat slump against the cellar. Upon closer look some of the girls looked foreign, others dress in a strange fashion but it was still obvious they were still Han. Despicable! They even kidnap merchants’ daughters and girls for nearby villages? The land lord and every soul involved had to pay dearly for their sins! But... what could she do? She was but a little girl, the daughter of a gambling father and a mother who ran away with another man.

But there was hope, the smallest bit of hope. Yes! There was hope! Mother! Mother!... she promised her she would come back to take her away... away from this village away from her father... and.... and they would be happy. With hope at heart she needed to live on, survive to the day when her mother would come and take her away. The room was dark, after all the only source of light was from the small window a few feet above. Celine’s eyes followed the light across from this cellar was another, it too was filled with young girls. Just how many were incapacity? she thought.

“One, two, three, four, there are four guards guarding this area” she mumbled.

There was no chance of escaping or at most the chances were slim. It would be better to save her energy and so she fell asleep. The next morning Celine awoke to the rattling of chains. Two men dressed in black threw yet another young girl into the cellar. Her golden hair made her stand out the most as most of the foreign girls had brown hair. Her hair was pale color similar to golden soybeans. The little girl seemed a few years younger than her. After having their looks at the new captive all the other girls scooted away and back to their usual spot. The girl looked around hesitantly moving from each group hoping to join in. But she was refused as her hair would make them stand out too much. Feeling pity for the golden haired girl, Celine gestured her over to her side. The young girl’s face lit up and happily joined Celine in the far corner. Some of the girls who saw Celine’s actions stared at her for a moment, some opened their mouths to say something but then closed them and turned away. Celine asked for the girl’s name.

“Lilith, Lilith is my name” the young girl replied.

Her accent was a bit heavy but she was understandable. Then Lilith asked for Celine’s name.

“ My name is Celine ” Celine answered.

The two girls looked at each other awkwardly for a few moment. At least breaking the dreadful pause, Celine opened her mouth.

“ So how did you get here?” Celine asked softly.

Lilith looked the the side as if gathering her thought. The pause made Celine feel a bit guilty, should she have restrained from asking these kind of questions?

“ I...I was traveling to Gren with my father, a merchant. We had been traveling nonstop for 3 days in fear of ruining into a storm. Once we reached the border we knew we were safe and so we had stopped to rest...”

Another pause followed, Lilith’s face stiffen but with a low voice she continued talking.

“ After the group finished setting up the camp, they went straight to bed as they were far too worn out. That night it began to rain heavily but it was only for a short period of time. A few hours after the rain stopped, we heard heavy galloping. A group of nasty bandits began attacking us, caught off guard we had a slim chance of winning. My father told me to run and possibly get help. As I was nearing the foot of the mountain, I lost control and slipped on the mud tumbling down. Crashing against something, I lost consciousness. By the time I woke up I was chained inside a cage with many other girls. The cage was covered in blanket so that neither end could see what was outside or inside. Then I ended up here.” “ Nothing that interesting… I was sold by my father ” Celine answered sarcastically.

Once again the two girls found themselves stuck in awkward silence. Both staring into the other’s eye, looking away for a moment then back into contact. Breaking the silence Lilith asked

“ Ummmm….. are you hungry by any chance? I know it’s a idiotic question to ask but, you know what I mean right?”

“ I mean now that you mention it I do feel a bit hungry, after all I’ve only had a few Mantous for my latest meal ” Celine answered chuckling.

Lilith reached into an opening hidden in her skirt and pulled out a pale pink handkerchief. Carefuling unraveling the contents, a rich aroma tickled her nose. Within the palms of Lilthe hand were little disks with a pale yellow color. The disks were thick and hard, micro crystals were sprinkle on top making the disk sparkle the slightest. Lilith lifted her hand toward her encouraging Celine to take one. Looking around no one seemed to have taken notice to the scented emitting from the far corner. Celine picked one and looked up at Lilith, who had a slight sparkle in her expecting eyes. Slowly yet hesitantly Celine lifted to her lips and took a small bite. The object was hard the bite was crispy. A rich and creamy taste filled her mouth as she continued to chew. The little crumbs became a paste when she finally swallowed. The after taste left a sweet buttery delight at the tip of her tongue. Celine looked up at Lilith who faced her with eager eyes.

“ How was the taste? ” Lilith asked.

“ It’s quite good, I have never tasted anything like this before... what is this? ” she replied.