Veiled Vengeance

"Are you going to hate me, little girl?" the man asked with a flat, emotionless voice that made Annica's mouth taste bitter with fear and hatred. Annica remained silent. She just stared at the frozen face without blinking, ignoring his increasingly blurred gaze. The man laughed. "What are you going to do? This is your fate. Accept it." The monster turned his body around and walked away, leaving Annica alone in her cold room. The gust of wind rushing in through the door extinguished the light from the remaining short candles in the room. But Annica could still gaze at the man's back. Tonight, the moon seemed brighter than usual. Tonight, Annica's world split in two. Tonight, the 14-year-old girl lost everything.