Chapter 1: Finally..?

Eina could hear the shouting and screaming emanating from outside the room she had taken refuge in.

After being ordered to kill a high ranking politician from a foreign country, she felt a pang of dread. She'd felt this many times in her life, usually when death was right in front of her.

Now bleeding out in this storage cupboard, she seemed to have an answer for the dread she felt when given the mission. Looking back on it, the way the handler spoke to her was more indifferent than usual. As if he knew she wasn't going to be returning.

She couldn't muster any anger towards the organisation. She knew they were nothing in the eyes of the management, just disposable assassins. She had been completing missions since she was a child and after so many years, Eina was tired.

Footsteps could be heard down the hallway, doors being kicked open. Eina felt as if the small cupboard was spinning, knowing that this was the prelude to fainting, she fumbled for a small remote in her belt.

Pulling it out, her hands were trembling. The chill as her body's temperature dropped sharply from blood loss, causing her to shiver, teeth chattering as she squinted her eyes to look at the small device.

The detonator was no bigger than a battery, perfect for hiding in some more discreet places. She had been given this for a prior mission destroying a militias settlement , but hadn't been required to use it. Now it seems she'll have the chance.

Flicking open the lid, her arms no longer had the strength to maintain their raised position, flailing limply to the ground. Eina moved her thumb along the device, her eyes blurred as she lay flat on the ground, searching for the inconspicuous button.

Feeling the raised protrusion, a pathetic smile appeared on her face. As the footsteps drew closer, she thought as she pressed the button.

'Finally, I'm free'.

A bright light shone in front of her face for but an instant, before a darkness far more terrifying than what she had just been in appeared. As her consciousness sank with the darkness, she felt a tinge of joy.

The explosion that radiated out from Eina's position was so devastating, it left the mansion where the banquet was being held, half destroyed. The flames left from the initial blast, rushed through the remaining intact part, causing the already panicked guests to flee in every direction.

Eina had always been successful in completing the missions assigned to her. And even death itself couldn't change that fact.

"She has completed the task" A hoarse voice said from a disposable phone, as he watched the torrent of flames, and the rushing emergency workers in the distance.

The man on the other side only replied "Received" before hanging up. He sat back on his chair, looking down at the file on his desk. A photo of the unsmiling Eina appeared before him. He sighed as he picked up the stamp, pressing it over the status section.

'Just like that' he thought, 'Another one gone'.

Opening up the bottom drawer, he placed the folder that now read 'Deceased' on top of the already bulging pile.

_

At first Eina thought she would simply cease to exist, but she felt that although the darkness remained, she had begun to feel... pain.

'Pain?' she thought.

Seemingly knowing something was amiss, Eina who had just closed her eyes, managed to open them again. Only this time she felt strange. She didn't understand how her body could survive that explosion. After slowly getting used to the darkness, she noticed that her eyes were not as keen as before.

The suspicion she had aroused, was now almost yelling that something was wrong. She tried to move her body, only feeling dense pain throughout. Gritting her teeth, Eina sat up against the mottled wall. Her head ached, and her throat was burning, but she could finally make out the layout of the room she was in.

A bare room, only a bucket in the corner and a bed under her. Well, less a bed and more just planks with a layer of hay on top. A sharp pain ran through her stomach, obviously she hadn't eaten in a long time.

With the moonlight shining in through the cracks of the door, she saw a cracked clay plate with a mess of slop in it. She couldn't gather the energy to do anything else, so she slowly shuffled from the bed to the plate.

She got down on her knees, sniffing the slop. Although it didn't smell appetising, she couldn't smell any poisonous materials in it, so she scooped it up with her hand, eating it without hesitation.

The cold, and congealed slop was truly a shock to the senses. Thankfully Eina was starving, otherwise she doesn't think she could keep this unpalatable concoction down.

Fortunately a cup of water was left beside it, although there wasn't much, it was enough to help guide the food down.

After she finished eating, Eina finally had the chance to notice what was wrong. Before when she was starving, she'd been focused on resolving the hunger pains, but now sitting down on the ground, legs in front of her, she saw that her legs were a lot shorter.

Not only her legs. Her arms, her body. Everything seemed to have shrunk. Her common sense was ruthlessly impacted by the sight in front of her. She paced up to the door, looking through the cracks. A dark and dilapidated courtyard appeared in front of her eyes, but the sound of cheers and music could be heard in the distance.

She put her ear to the open crack, although her hearing was much worse than before, she could vaguely make out the sounds of men's grunting and women's moaning.

Her eye twitched with impatience.

'Where the fuck am I?' she wondered.

Eina tried to push the door, but it didn't budge. Seeing no lock on the inside and the state of the room, as well as the food given. It wasn't hard for her to guess that this was a room used to punish others.

A little girl thrown in a room as punishment. Many people having sex. Music playing and men's cheering. Plus the ancient style of the courtyard. Where else could this be? Obviously a brothel.

Suffice to say, she must be one of the girls sold to this brothel. Eina had read in a history book, that girls as young as four could be sold into the brothel. Of course they wouldn't be sent out to pick up guests at that age. Instead they'd be trained from a young age by the madam, as well as other teachers how to please men, until they were fifteen when there first night would be sold off to the highest bidder.

A dark light appeared in Eina's eyes. She wondered why no matter where she was, why was she forced to suffer? The last life she was a killer, this time she would have to be a prostitute?

She was unwilling. She thought she was finally free, but now it seems she just got out of the frying pan and sent herself directly into the fire.

'Since no one is willing to give me peace. Then don't blame me for being cruel' she thought dangerously.