Behind closed doors

As she arrived at the front gate of her house, she stilled at the realisation of what was about to happen. She walked slowly to the door and just like clockwork, heard the voice she had been waiting for.

"HOW DARE YOU TAYLOR!", a stout, round man towering down at her. Taylor had expected some repercussions for her staying out late but somehow this anger felt different. he was angry about something else and she was a brilliant way to vent it. 'a free punching bag', she mumbled as she walked up to him. 'Maybe a business deal went bad' she thought to herself as the man in front of her slapped her face, the bottom of her lip dripping with blood.

"Not in front of Soren darling "called her mother who was sitting in the lounge sipping tea while her brother sat cross legged on the floor reading a book. Her mother glanced at her with disinterest and a bit of disgust as her hair was being pulled and her body dragged to another room.

There was a separate room in their house, the basement. It was detached from the main house so no sound escaped from it and it was the perfect place for torture. Her torture.

'Three, two, one...' she counted in her mind waiting for the lock on the door to be bolted. 'CLIKKKKKK...' that was the sound she was waiting for the long grating sound of the door being closed accompanied by the heavy footsteps that filled the gap between him and her. She been used to this process for time now, so she'd already prepared herself by warning a thin rag over her back. She didn't have many clothes and the ones she did were essential to her so she settled for this.

'Look at you! you dirty ingrate', he called lifting her chin towards him. 'You ungrateful child, I feed you and keep you alive just for you to stay out late and abandon your duties in this house' he shouted.

'Sorry father, I didn't think of the time' Taylor managed through gritted teeth

"Sorry? You're not sorry yet but you will be". Smiling evilly the baron brought the whip cracking down. His legs parted and waist twisted ensuring the end would curl down on Taylors back. The tip of the whip moved extremely fast and tore her skin. The next few minutes was filled with the sound of ripping flesh, as another after another barrage of strikes was brought upon Taylor. Her face was twisted in agony, her eyes glowing green and mind set ablaze from the pain.

For Taylor it was important to keep her sanity even if she was a toy who was used and beat, she had to keep her true powers secret as it was her only way out. 'My only way out 'she repeated to herself as she felt the slicing pain searing through her body. Taylor possessed a variant of water magic which was hard to control especially in these situations, however if she were to use this against her parents there would be two possible outcomes. One, she was reported to the royal capital for violation of magic use code 54 and executed or two, she was sent to emperor and kept alive as she could be used as a great weapon although those were risks, she wasn't willing to take. At least not yet

"How many was that" came a cold voice pulling her out of her thoughts, it was always a knew punishment with the man standing above her but the whip was a favourite, as it was the best way to implement torture. He would whip her numerous times and then ask her how many he did it was amusing to him when she answered wrong. unfortunately for him, that was a very rare occurrence as she was always alert. despite her being immensely aware of her surroundings, today she had one name on her mind that distracted her … Caelus.

"56 times sir" she responded her voice unwavering as she looked up at him her eyes alight with clear resentment. Throwing the whip at her face he grunted in disappointment as he left the room. 'CLIKKKKKK', she laughed as she realised that was a sound, she now felt comfort with; she had heard it enough times that now it correlated with the start and end of her punishment. Laying on the floor her blood splattered everywhere she stayed there thinking back to when it began. The beginning of her misery.

you see ten years ago Taylors father inherited the title of Baron, and he decided that he wanted to forget his past of being poor and mocked by other nobles. However, that was hard when you had a wife and a five-year-old daughter, so he decided to keep the wife and drag the daughter along. soon after they moved to Eshton (the outskirts of the empire) mother gave birth to a baby boy and Taylor was no longer needed. She became a toy that could be used, thrown away and recycled. She was humiliated and beat till she was numb inside and out. But instead of breaking she decided to put up a façade. Taylor decided that she would decide who she was, what she was how she was. she became sunshine Incarnate. if you asked the townspeople to describe what she was like, based on the few years they knew her, they'll tell you She's 'happy' , cheerful' and 'always smiling', they'll tell you she's 'never sad 'and that when she around always there's always smiles on people's faces

Taylor considered her mask perfect at least until she met Caelus... . When she asked Caelus about herself, he responded in an unusual way. 'Your weird, I'm still trying to get to the real you but as of now I guess you're annoying 'is what he said when they were lying on the cliff side. It flustered her so much she ran away. For the first time in 8 years someone saw through her. She didn't know if she should be happy or afraid that a boy, she only met weeks ago knew her better than her own family.

~~~

The following week

"Wake up Tay", a pair of hands shaking her awake. Taylor had grown used to her brother waking her up in the mornings, she had also grown used to him cleaning her up after beatings. Although they were 5 years apart, he was more emotionally mature then most 11-year-olds, maybe it was because he'd seen his sister covered in blood at a young age or because no matter how much pain Taylor was in, she had always made time for him.

Taylor looked up groggily and patted his head "go play with your boat or something" before turning around and pulling the covers over her head again. She knew that he hated the toys mother and father got him. but never the less he always played with them in front of their parents, even if it annoyed him. Her brother, Soren was unique in both his appearance and mind. His eyes were like crystal beads inherited from mother and hair, a brown that brings thoughts to comfort, yet has bright flecks of rosy hope simmering in the background. he had a heavenly presence that made you feel at peace but one wrong move and it would turn intimidating which was always amusing to her. She knew that he had been the one to carry her out of the basement and bandage her back. Her father had been in particularly bad mood yesterday. However, she wasn't going to address it as then she would have to address everything. Good thing was Taylor and Soren didn't need to speak to express their emotions all they had to do was make eye contact because there something bond ran deeper then surface Connections.

"I'm getting up don't worry I remember, I'm taking into town today", she smiled at the boy sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Well, I'm not really sure if you're awake yet so...", he laughed slyly jumping up and diving elbow first into her "ah argh "he laughed as she kicked him of her bed. Then she jumped of and wrestled him on the floor tickling him until he tapped out.

"Ha ha ha ok... I...I get I'm sorry "he said gasping for air.

"Hey look," she said releasing him, "um... I have some stuff to do, so cover for me kay". Grabbing a coat of the ground she opened the window and climbed out not giving Soren enough time to respond. "SORRY! I'll make it up to you", she yelled as she climbed over the walls separating the garden from the outside.

"-_-"

The cool, crisp air blew a gentle breeze across her face scattering pieces of her hair about as she walked on the dirt path towards the woods. She was looking for a rabbit, any animal would do but she preferred rabbits they were the small and light. The forest was a desolate place few came through this path, which was one of the many reasons she came every morning.

'creaaaak!', out of the corner of her eye Taylor spotted the tuff of a furry creature creeping behind a bush its black eyes staring out at her.

"It's okay come over here little guy", she cooed bringing out a carrot she had found on her way. The rabbit peered out curiously its greedy nature emerging. Eyeing the carrot one last time it hurriedly jumped into Taylors arm where it was quickly given the carrot as a reward. Stroking the rabbit, she made her way to the cliffside at the edge of the forest climbing the steep steps to the top, unaware of the person watching her amusedly from the trees above.

When she finally reached the top, she looked around to make sure the coast was clear before gently placing down the rabbit; who was contently chewing on a carrot.

'Sorry little guy', she whispered as she picked up a nearby rock and walking towards it. The mood had become bleak her eyes devoid of emotion. Sensing this the rabbit looked up confused and afraid. It began to run but was stilled in its tracks by an unknown force. Taylors eyes were now shining a bright green with a blue aura emanating from her body.

"Undine, I call upon you, give me power" the moment the words left her mouth the rabbit began to twist its bones breaking and blood streaming from its snout. Taylors hands were now in the air moving the creature around commanding it through the blood in its body. Then she stops, her mind stilled as she felt her power weaken and the rabbit go limp. As she neared it, she saw it whimpering on the ground from her presence. Her eyes had now cleared and she saw the rabbit was now of no use to her. She brought the rock she had found and lifted it up in the air before muttering an apology as she brought it down.

'Cccrackkk...' was all that filled the distance as Taylor stood over the dead animal blood splattered across her face.

Then a clap came from the trees and another and another, but before she could look up the shadow of a smirking boy fell in front of her.

"Caelus...".