Act One: Issue #3-Chapter 8, Part 2

Once Dilara arrived at the sanctuary camp, her eyes began searching for her family. She wondered where they were.

Numerous chatter and cries only echoed into Dilara's ears alongside crickets; in fact, lots of women cried for their loved ones with the comfort of others around them near the tents, knowing that they'll never see them again. While some soldiers patrol around the camp, others comforted some of the panicked survivors that ever lived.

A lot of tents were lit and glowed inside. The cold wind hitted her skin and the smell of fresh air pleased her nose. She needed to find her family fast, reminding herself of what that soldier told her earlier. They had to be here somewhere. They had to be. She was sure of it.

Dilara searched the majority of the camp for her family, but couldn't find them anywhere. She frowned when she fought through the crowd. Wondering where her family was, she desperately searched for them as she didn't want to return to Castoria to look for them again.

Dilara looked up at the gloomy night sky and nervously breathed quicker. The silver moon felt bad for the people below her. She begged for her family to be here in this camp.

Then someone shouted Dilara's name, someone familiar to Dilara. "Huh?" Dilara asked. "Is that-?"

Hearing someone shouting her name again, Dilara when she turned to her left. She saw Ingrid waving at her.

"Over here, stupid head!" Ingrid shouted further.

Oh, here we go again with this bullshit after savin' her ass! I-

Mother and Shakila exited the tent and smiled when their relieved eyes caught Dilara, gasping. Dilara smiled and waved back at them.

"Oh, thank the gods, you're safe!" Mother declared as she rushed to hug Dilara. "I knew you'd come back! I thought I lost my servant girl!"

Ingrid stood there and crossed her arms. "Hmm…turns out sending those guards after her was useless after all."

"Right?" Shakila agreed as she walked towards her sister and also crossed her arms, watching Mother and Dilara hug one another. "We thought you could've been dead along with those guards."

After a while, Dilara and Mother broke up their hug and Mother placed her hands onto Dilara's arms, when she looked Dilara in the eyes. "Come now, Dilara. There's something I want to say to you."

"Oh, okay," Dilara said, following Mother's lead. Dilara and Mother also followed Shakila and Ingrid once they turned around and walked back to their tent. She wondered if it was a reward or not, and she curious to see what it was.

Once Dilara and her family returned to the tent, Mother turned back to her and swung her hand against her cheek hard, making her head turn to one side. Dilara confusedly looked at Mother's face when she touched her cheek and turned back to Mother's attention.

"Have you gone mad, servant girl?!" Mother roared while she glared at Dilara, "Do you have any idea what happens to us when you die?! You could have us all died and have someone take your place, which pulls money out of my pocket!

"Why the hell did you even leave the mansion anyway?! You could've stayed there and wait for our return!"

Still feeling unappreciative, Dilara glared back at Mother and stood up from the ground. "'Wait for your return?!' You and"-Dilara turned to her sisters, then back at Mother-"your stupid ass daughters couldn't even-"

While Shakila and Ingrid gasped at Dilara for cursing, Mother slapped Dilara so hard that she knocked her down to the ground. But that didn't bother Dilara to the slightest, as she just couldn't take Mother's abuse any longer.

"How dare you curse at me, child! I shall have you-" Mother continued to roar.

"What, Mother? Report me to the authorities?" Dilara looked up at Mother and stood up from the ground. "What about payin' your replacement servants? You hate paying servants so much that you got rid of them and used me as your free of charge slave, so you wouldn't pay me except to run errands for you when I was a little girl, remember?

"If I didn't arrive at the ball, you and your daughters wouldn't even escape from that burning ball with that monster inside, would you? So I was right to arrive there tonight. Yet this is how you repay me?! Seriously?! Maybe you're right, Mother. Maybe I should've remained at the mansion instead of saving your asses."

Even though Mother was more annoyed with Dilara cursing at her, she let it slide that time. People around Dilara and Mother watched them fought and gossipped one another while the guards arrived at the scene.

"Excuse me, ladies," one guard interrupted. "What seems to be a problem here?"

"Oh, I was just disciplining my servant girl over here," Mother responded, turning to Dilara and the guards back and forth.

"Do you want us to take her?" Another guard asked.

"Oh, no, sir. I got it under control. No need to arrest her for that," Mother responded, shaking her head sideways.

"Are you sure?" Another guard asked.

"I'm positive, sir. Everything's going to plan," Mother said.

"Well, if you say so," one guard said, turning to Dilara and Mother back and forth. "Let us know if she's still causing you trouble and we'll have her arrested."

"Oh, don't worry, sir. I will. Have a good night," Mother said as she waved at the guards and the guards waved back at Mother. Once those guards left, Mother turned back to Dilara with a hard glare while Shakila and Ingrid viciously grinned at Dilara and chuckled for a bit.

"And I shall punish you later," Mother whispered.

"Monsters incoming!" The soldier's voice shouted from afar.

The monsters' roars vibrated across the night sky. Alerting the guards, they headed for that voice's direction with their guns ready and fired them at the flying monsters up in the air.

Dilara and her family looked up at the sky and gasped out of shock, gazing at it for a moment. They couldn't believe the monsters were here at the camp.

Frightened, every civilian screamed and ran for their lives out of the camps to find a new sanctuary, anywhere to hide from those monsters as they crashed the tents and set them on fire. Dilara and her family never knew how those monsters managed to find the remaining survivors, yet they were determined to escape.