"YOU MADE ME A MONSTER!"

"Anything?" the teen huffed in defeat, slumping to the nearest wall and dropping to the ground. It had been a long day, and they talked to people walking around in the morning. And nothing, the sun had soon left, leaving them in the pitch black, only just barely enough light from the full moon and the useless streetlights they had; Natalia was barely able to see her own hands. "nothing", Edmund mumbled, barely able to see him but Natalia was able to see how tired he is; he can scarcely keep his eyes open as he tried to hide a yawn. "When was the last time you slept?" words weren't even clear to him, making her sigh. "Go", ignoring his looks before she jumped up. "Go home. I can stay and look around to see if one of the gangs has a better idea." before he could argue, she cut him off. "No. You need rest. When was the last time you slept? Now go." her voice was firm, making no room for argument, making him huff, "And besides, we all know I'm better at getting information out of someone." smirking as Edmund chuckled at tired one at best. "And for a second there. You sound like you cared." he joked, smirking at the eyes rolling his receive, making him laugh even more.

"Shut up", she hissed, kicking him in the leg. She received an ouch before leaving him to heal his poor leg. Smirking as the injured boy let out a series of not-so-nice words.

"Love you too!"

Natalia ignored him, leaving him to make his way home. She didn't know if she would find anything, but this contract was worth enough to get out of the hole they both lived in, allowing both to be free.

"Come on, little girl. Don't be scared. we want to take you somewhere safe." "No little girl like you should be in the dark like this." A rough-sounding voice could be heard, followed by a roar of laughter, a child no older than five years old being blocked by five men in dark clothes. Only one man had his face showing, a sinister smirk revealing yellow-crocked teeth.

"Hay!" Natalia looked more annoyed until she saw the child with tears falling down her face, and a split-second of anger took over her. The dimly lit streetlights started to flicker, and the heat around the village turned colder, making the men shiver.

"Natalia," Tommy sneered, spitting the name out like poison as he stared at the brunette with hatred in his cold brown eyes. Tommy was an older man with barely any hair; he was balled, his clothes covered in old alcohol, and what looked like blood on his once-white shirt. It had holes that showed most of his pail skin and a bunch of dark tattoos; he had a dagger strapped to his hip just like the rest of his men who had swords or axes at their expose.

The five-year-old quickly tried to escape the scary men but was quickly blocked by them. They all had smirks pasted on their greasy faces, making the child cry even louder and making the men smirked. "Touch that child, and you wish death was your salvation." Natalia's voice was dark; anger and hatred dripped from her, making the men flinch again that night. Instead of being angry, they were frightened. They knew those blue eyes and had seen them in nightmares; they had lost men because of those fucking blue eyes. Those same blue eyes flashed to blood red before they returned to normal.

A smirk was placed on the teen's face seeing the apparent fear on the gang's face, but they tried hiding from their leader, Tommy, whose face looked even more pissed off with how things were going change of events; he just wanted some fun- "oh come on Natalia. You were even younger than that." Tommy smirked, "Fuck you, Tommy. I told you to stop harassing children and what will happen if you do..." Natalia threatened; the poor child, now without the dirty eyes of the men around her, ran as fast as she could, clutching onto her savour leg hiding behind her cloak. The poor five-year-old, shivering from the cold and fear, held on tighter to the older girl, making her bend down to her height, not bearing the men any attention, "Hay, it's okay, but I need you to run home as quickly as you can... okay and stay inside where it's safe..." she smoothed trying to calm her down. Still, her tears were falling, but she only shook her head and grasped tighter onto her if possible "Hay, it is okay." Natalia smiled softly, wiping her tears away, trying to calm her down. "I'll come and find you in the morning as soon as the sun rises; I'll be there," she promised, smiling, gently moving her away.

Turning back to the men, Natalia couldn't help but smirk as all four men were shaken in their boots. There was no point hiding their fear now because before they had even had a chance, their weapons turned against them.

"Oh, I'm soooo going to enjoy this."

Natalia smirked; each weapon swiftly turned onto the men, killing them in seconds; screams could be known for miles as the walls and floor were coated in a sea of blood. Nat had no shame in what she was doing; seeing that child be harmed like she was made her snap. After what felt like hours, it was only a minute. The only ones standing were Natalia and the gang leader, Tommy. Both had blood covering their clothes; he knew he stood no chance with her, not like before. Before she was a little girl, afraid, easily manipulated, he knew he should have taken her warning seriously the last time, but Tommy wanted some fun but couldn't help it. In this world, it was kill or be killed. He didn't regret what he did; he lost men before and didn't shed a tear for them.

Tommy didn't hesitate to unsheathe his dagger even though it was useless. "You know I could hand you in! The queen will kill you for your use of magic. We could walk away, forget this all happened like old times. Remember that? How I let you be free. I was the one who saved you. Remember that Natalia, you were younger; God knows what would have happened if I didn't, right? So, let's forget about this, and we go our merry way... how does that sound? You get away scot-free, and I get to go and run a business..." Tommy cowardly tried barging his way out. He knew his time was running out, and with no guards protecting the area, he couldn't bribe his way out.

Natalia couldn't hold in her laughter anymore. Seeing the man she once feared cower away from her gave her some pleasure; he turned her life into hell, and she had been waiting for so long to end his sorry excuse of life; she didn't waste a second before her eyes turned red a second time that night Tommy felt the air knock out of his lungs making gasped and words were slurred at he tried to get some air, his heart beat fast his already pale skin turned ghostly pail before a scream tried to escape his throat, and he felt his organs inside of him was going to pop any second, squashing the life out of him; making blood pour out of his mouth.

“I t-tell-I-I-I-tell-you-children--”

Natalia could barely make out the words from the man's mouth, but hearing the children made her snap out of the process of killing him.

"What?"

Tommy burst into gasps as he was allowed just one chance of surviving. "They---the---children—I have them---and I'm the only one who can tell you where they are...." Tommy's voice strained, feeling lightheaded before huffing and being slammed to the wall behind him. "What do you mean?" she demanded through gritted teeth, making Tommy reveal a blooded smirk at the girl as he couldn't hold in his laughter any longer, seeing the apparent desperate in the girl's eyes even though she tried hiding how she felt he knew he had the upper hand now. And he is enjoying it in his sick, twisted mind. "And why would I tell you?" Tommy gasped out. He was feeling the pressure from the now hands around his throat. "Because I could kill you with a snap of my fingers and end your sorry excuse of a life." she threatened, making his smirk widen even more. "And what? You will never be able to find those missing children. Please, I know you, Talia. You hide behind this wall of hard exterior. But behind all that, you're just a scared little girl with no family. I was there when you were nobody and made you better..."

"YOU MADE ME A MONSTER!"

Natalia yelled, furious. All the lights around them smashed into pieces. No one dared see what was happening, if anything. They locked their doors more securely; they knew better than to see what was happening, especially when Tommy was involved.

"You are the reason I'm like this—this killer. You used a child for your greed. If anything," a smirk was placed on Natalia's bloodied face, "I should be thankful. You showed me how to separate two different people from the same person: the good and the bad. I try to be a good person to do better for all the bad I did then, but it's so much fun just letting the darkness control and seeing fear dripping from their eyes. Just like yours.” Azure’s voice was dripping with silk with a dangerous edge as her eyes showed flame red. Smirking, shocked, Tommy felt the lighting flash of pain go through him; it took him a second to see what was happening until the heat surrounded him, making it almost too hot for him to handle; the pain felt like nothing he'd ever handled. Yes, he had been close to death before, but this was unexpected. The leader believed he would have survived after mentioning the children, but Tommy was wrong.

The shock of looking at the once innocent eyes he knew was now dark with no emotions in the blue eyes that he had a hand in corrupting. The smirk on her face was even more frightening. He knew this was the end. And he has himself to blame; he should have followed orders. Instead, he got too cocky. He believed he had the upper hand with Natalia and that she would always be too afraid of him.

Natalia watched as the life drained from the man's eyes, the same eyes that made her childhood hell on earth. She didn't show any emotions, but she finally stopped this man from her nightmares. Maybe now she can sleep without having to see this man again. "I don't need you to tell me. I'm sure some of your loyal followers will happily give me the information I need for their own life after they find out you are dead; well, it was me who killed you; it is only a matter of time before they all do," she spoke. Tommy couldn't stop feeling the air leaving his lungs, making him want to try, but nothing. She watched him fall to the ground, grunting, removing the blade attached to her arm; (she made it herself, allowing a dagger to stay hidden. It looks like a regular arm brace but will enable her to kill stealthily) both Edmund and herself owned one special made, and with the effect of adding poison to the blade and a little bit of her magic well, that is what allowed their targets to feel like they are burning from the inside out, slowly killing you as the seconds tick by.

"I will find them children. Why you sit here and suffer like every other child had to go through, waiting for your end to come and not knowing. and your power is over, no child will have to suffer by your hands again." Natalia promised, leaving the man to suffer surrounded by his men in a pool of red.

"YOU'RE A BITCH NATALIA!"