A Shadow of Light |girlxgirl|

Chapter 1

|CHAPTER 1|

The packed dirt beneath her feet rumbled in reflection of the chaos surrounding her.

Illiana had never been fond of crowds, but the temptation to escape Hell had been irresistible.

Loud colours and flashing lights cut through the swirling mist to leave her almost sightless.

But the visual assault was nothing compared to the noise.

Bystanders applauded and shrieked in time to the haunting music, focused on the act in the Ring.

Currently, it was an aerial tightrope performance of dizzying proportions.

Liana should be amongst the unassuming audience, an anonymous, slip of a girl to suck money out of in the name of entertainment.

How she wished she was.

But Father’s grip was unrelenting, his hand clutching her wrist as if she alone held the key to a million dollars.

He dragged her unceremoniously from the dominatingly tall Main Tent, until the erratic motion faded into a memory of blood-red candy apples and plastic smiles.

Shadows masked the murderous intent on his face, evident in the slope of his dark eyebrows, and the twist of his thin, chapped lips.

Liana had long grown tolerant to the fear that spiked her blood upon seeing such an expression on Father’s face.

But this time felt different.

He had been pushed too far – by what, she was uncertain.

But the consequences would be the same, in spite of their trigger.

The relief felt when he released her wrist was fleeting, as he wrapped an unyielding hand around her throat.

His low growl cut through the unmoving darkness, like a high beam spotlight, illuminating its target.

“Why the fuck were you flirting with that pig?”

The question, unspecific as it was, should not have startled her as much as it did.

“Father, I do not know what-“

A resounding backhand sent her tumbling onto the damp grass, her body boneless.

 “Don’t think you can lie to me, you little slut. I saw the way you smirked at him earlier.” The words were punctuated with a sharp kicks to her unprotected stomach.

Pushing the stemming throb of agony away for a moment, Liana tried to think of what had caused Father’s latest ‘discipline’.