Life with Pride

[Bantyr]

She could hear the pacing footsteps of her sire just outside the cupboard where she hid, she knew hiding would do her nothing but harm though her fight or flight instinct overrode that logic. She could feel blood trickle down her arm from where her own fear caused her powers to spike, the tips of her fingers creating five small incisions on either arm where she currently had her hands clenched. Giving a soft hiss of pain, she quickly switched to healing, the wounds sewing back together almost instantly. Just as her powers had receded the door of her hiding place was opened and Pride was there, glaring at her as if she had done him wrong.

She felt as she was lifted and thrown from her hiding place, her head launching against the wall upon her landing. This caused her to give a muffled groan of pain, the stitches preventing her mouth from opening. She felt his presence move closer to her without even opening her eyes, he was there, leering over her threateningly.

“You know your duty is to help the maids at this hour, it is high time you get to where you belong,” the figure spoke before turning and leaving, the threat left in the air, unspoken but obvious.

Nadia sat up slowly, one hand moving to lightly press along her back, already feeling where the bruises were forming. Sadly she could not touch those with her powers because they were below the skin. She took only a moment to recuperate before she was once again on her feet, stumbling against the wall when a wave of dizziness washed over her. That probably had to do with the knock to the head, a concussion, her mind supplied.

She made her way upstairs where she knew her current job awaited her. The maids there glared as she approached, each of them having a handful of clothing that they were washing. Upon her entrance, they had paused in scrubbing the cloth against the washboards just to stare at her with their malice filled gazes. Nadia bowed her head before moving to the corner where she knew her share, a share much larger than the others, waited for her.

Immediately Nadia began to scrub the first piece of cloth against the ribbed board. The clothing she washed was specified for the hotter temperatures, ones that the human maids could not withstand. The water was at a degree where even she could barely withstand the heat. It was every five or so pieces of cloth that she would have to renew the heat within her basin, once again introducing her hands to the unforgiving temperatures.

This process of her renewing the water every five pieces of cloth went on for hours. She was almost done, despite the fact that parts of her hand were bleeding and raw. She paused for a moment to stare at the broken skin of her hands, debating for a moment about stitching the skin back together with her powers but a quick look around at the other people told her it was wise not to, Pride had already taken her voice, she couldn’t let him take her only other power as well.

Most of the maids had left to continue working, but a few remained who had just finished their own work. One of the maids was currently carrying her clothing to hang when she landed a solid kick to Nadia’s basin, causing two things to happen. First the edge of the basin forcefully struck Nadia in the midsection, causing her breath to be pushed from her lungs. The second thing to happen was with the sudden movement of the basin, at least half of the recently renewed water spilled onto Nadia, covering her head to toe in the scalding liquid.

Nadia fell back, her head hitting with a harsh thwack off the hardwood, renewing the intense pain she had felt earlier when thrown against the wall. She clenched her fist tightly at the double pain in her head as well as the scalding water across her body, each nerve seeming to fire beneath her skin in response to the burning sensation.

The maid grimaced, completely hating herself for what she had done but quickly moved along, leaving Nadia to pick herself up and finish her work. The maid would make sure to report to Pride later and report what had taken place.

Nadia stared at her hands which were bright red and raw, a similar though less severe red forming on her fore and upper arms. She felt tears prickle in her eyes though she shook her head rapidly, forcing herself to calm down. Immediately, she was back at work, tirelessly working to finish the clothing despite how her body screamed in protest. Once the washing had been finished she took her time in hanging the clothing from various low lying clothes lines. She was sure in hanging them as perfectly as she could if it were not she knew from experience what would happen.

She inspected her work once more, making sure that each piece of cloth was hung perfectly center and secured in a way that caused the least amount of wrinkles possible. Once she was sure that things were as perfect as she could achieve she emptied her basin and finished cleaning up the room from where it had been left a mess by the other maids, at least eight of them had left basins of filthy water to fester after they had left.

She cleaned each basin out, scrubbing its entirety until every bit of the grime was removed and it shone under the dim lighting. Once they had been dried with a fresh towel, she was quick to stack them together in the corner so that they were ready for tomorrow’s use right away. The last thing she cleaned was she did an overall mopping of the floor in order to rid the polished wood of the water stains it had gained throughout the day’s work on its partially reflective surface.

Finally, the work was done, she gave a sigh of relief before she left the room, seeming to teeter slightly at the top of the staircase, clutching the railing tightly. As she made her way down the flight slowly, a group of maids rushed by, one of which rammed into Nadia, sending the child rolling down the stairs.

Nadia closed her eyes tightly as she felt herself falling, attempting to curl in on herself just a moment before she impacted the first stair, feeling as the edge dug into her arm and hip relentlessly. She continued to roll down the stairs, a nail which had been sticking out just far enough ripped open the skin beneath her elbow. With each second came a new pain striking through her nerves, each time she hit the stairs worse than the last.

It was with a sharp cry that Nadia landed at the bottom, the stitches which held her mouth close tore open and a glass shattering shriek was ripped from her small body. Her hands flew up to cradle the back of her head, the area which she had hit repeatedly the past few hours and it was like complete agony for her now. The reaction of those around her was instantaneous, maids and servants ducking to the ground as the compound began to shake forcefully with the ferocity of her powers.

Like something had been clicked in place, the others began to scream in pain, each of them clutching onto the back of their head as though they were the ones to have fallen. Pride was in the room within moments, his form moving quickly to kneel beside Nadia. Reaching down, he scooped the small child into his arms. He stared at her intently for a moment before shushing her softly and placing a finger to her lips. Immediately Nadia went slack, her entire body shutting down all at once, as if she had fainted. The maids and servants hesitantly stood, each of them looking uneasily at their employer.

Pride stood, still holding Nadia to his chest, “remember why we are doing this," he spoke simply to his staff before he walked away, taking Nadia to the infirmary of the compound.

There in the infirmary her stitches were replaced, once again locking her back into her forced silence.


It was near two hours later that Nadia woke once again, though now she lay curled up by her twin. Everything was sore and she wasn’t sure if she could move, but somehow she was able to sit up. On the bedside table sat a tray, the items on top were a sandwich, a bowl of soup, a bottle of water, and a straw.

She reached over to grab the tray, sitting it on the bed in front of her before turning to her twin, tapping on his shoulder twice as a means of telling him to sit up. When he had sat up she handed him half of the sandwich, taking her time as she ripped off the smallest of pieces and slipped them through the stitches, the slack barely enough to allow her to part her lips.

Between her small bites of sandwich she helped feed her twin bites of soup and drink water, taking some of the water for herself when she needed it, though she did not partake in the soup herself. This lasted until their food had been devoured, the tray being set to the side to be collected while they settled back into bed, the two of them curling up together.

She buried her head into the pillow and allowed slumber to take over, listening to the voices which sang through her head, a glorious song of battle and freedom. Her dreams leading her away from the compound where she was able to talk freely and had no pain to endure at the hands of her sire and his workers.