I carefully squeezed through the rows of abandoned cars that served as a perimeter. Yet, with every step, rage surged from the soles of my feet until it rose to the top of my skull.

Calm down, Alyssa. Too much anger is dangerous for you, Camille warned.

A fire burned beneath my skin, flames that I could find no way to extinguish.

I felt-

I felt dirty.

I felt tainted by Ray's touch, by his future plans for me.

My chest rose and fell before my body twirled to view a world that appeared, once again, as if through a blood-stained filter.

And for once, the pollution that caused my mutation faded to the back of my mind.

Just breathe, Alyssa.

I wanted to bathe in his blood, to feast on his entrails.

Breathe, Alyssa.

All around me, roamed the condemned masses, an ocean of this world's manufactured slaves.

Impatient day workers viewed me curiously, but none budged from their spot in line along the main road that fed its way into the city. Dirt clung to skin and frayed clothing, its coating forever separating them from the privileged few they'd serve. While on the edges, stood a militia of parasites clutching firearms. Yet, I couldn't decide if the protectors' presence was there to pick off the dead that dared to stray too close, or to keep the unfortunate in line.

How could these people not see that these guards were no better than the devourers they feared? How could they not see that these demented knights yearned to feed off the defenseless too?

Yet like mindless drones, a variety of ages, races, and genders, they remained silent but anxious as they awaited their opportunity to reach the safety beyond the cement walls.

But... there was no safety.

Ray waved us forward.

And for a second, I dreamed of walking over and ripping his heart right from his chest. I glorified the idea of the panic his death would cause. Hell, I practically drooled at my brain's conjured image of chewing on his aorta.

Get a fucking grip, Alyssa! Camille chastised. Now isn't the time.

I snorted with amusement that I didn't feel before I internally scoffed, and now you preach peace?

They'd shoot you down before his heart ever touched your lips. Calm down.

But, I wanted him to feel an ounce of my helplessness. I wanted to taste his last heartbeat. And it was these thoughts that led me toward him, my fingers itching to rip away skin. The desire to make him pay for my pain was all-consuming; yet, Hailee chose that moment to place her palm inside of mine.

I stared down into such wide, brown eyes as she squeezed my hand gently.

"Stay with me?" she asked simply.

And for once, I knew that my little cousin wasn't just referring to proximity. God, just which one of us was doing the saving here?

My gaze traveled back to Ray, a wolf dressed in guard's clothing, yet Hailee's voice captured my attention once more, "Daddy's gone, Shawn's gone. And Mommy's-"

Hailee hesitated before she glanced at Carly who was already blindly following Ray's path. "Mom is mom. Promise me that you'll stay with me?"

I lowered myself to her level. And with my vision on a face full of such trust, the sight seemed to work as a stimulus that dampened my bloodlust until it was once again controllable. It took me a moment, but I managed, "Always, Hails. I will always be here for you."

"Hailee? Alyssa?" Carly beckoned from afar.

Swallow it, Alyssa. Bury it, that internal personality encouraged.

My eyes closed for a second before they reopened as I rose back to my full height. Throwing a smile down at my only reason for being me, I said, "Let's go."

The press of bodies was almost suffocating without Ray's presence. Desperation to reach the entrance motivated these citizens' obstruction of our passageway.

Yet another example of humanity's focus on its own survival, Camille stated.

"Back of the line, girl."

"No way in hell are you getting in front of me."

"The spot you're looking for is all the way back there," came the objections from all sides.

However, they parted quickly upon one guard's impatient order, "Move."

"Whoa, now. Why do they get to cut to the front?" complained one woman as she sheltered a young boy from a protector's rather eager jostle. The sleeve of her ratty sweater reached forward, her hand wrapping around my arm to halt my movements. Never had I seen such contempt in exhausted brown eyes as she questioned, "What makes you so special, huh? We've been waiting for nearly two hours!"

"Better let that one go," a man beside her advised. His grey irises lingered on me with undisguised distaste before he returned his sight to the endless queue ahead of him. "Ain't nothing new. She's one of the selected ones."

But I wasn't... not by choice.

Yet before my captor could release me, the handle of the guard's gun collided with her face. The impact caused her to take a rather nasty tumble to the ground while her child cried beside her.

The protector showed no remorse as he hissed, "Unlike you vermin, she's got connections."

"Connections?" the woman foolishly repeated, her fingers gently checking her injuries as she rested upon a mound of filth. Her matted strands of auburn hair parted as laughter that sounded more like a cackle entered the air. "Oh, I see."

Alyssa, just keep moving.

And I wanted to. I tried to listen to Camille, but I couldn't resist glancing back as red droplets and haunting insults ejected from this stranger's wounded lips.

"Sale your beauty, Sweetie?" she taunted. "You know, youth doesn't last forever."

Her insinuation filled me with such disgust that I paused, wishing that I didn't have to remain this fragile little girl.

Alyssa, don't.

But oh, how I dreamed of tossing aside my façade to feast, to show them what I truly thought of being selected. And had it not been for the suffering I knew my family would've endured because of my actions, I would have.

But, like the good little girl I was forced to be, I rotated forward only to come face to face with my own personal demon.

"Now do you see where you could be without my help, little Alyssa?" Ray mocked. With a grin, he dismissed my silence, my sickened expression. Then to his men, he instructed, "Remove her."

"What?" this mother questioned. Her head swung from left to right as if flustered at the sudden formation of the encircling guards.

"Wait-" she screamed, "we stood in line like we were supposed to. We followed the rules!"

"Alyssa?" Hailee whispered, but I merely guided her onward. For these protectors held too much power, and short of killing every one of them and most likely dying in the process, there was nothing I could do to stop their command.

Had Ray not just made that clear in the alleyway?

My revulsion felt limitless when it came to him, and yet he seemed to bask in my hatred. And as depraved as it sounded, he appeared to find delight in the spectacle of this woman's bruised legs kicking out as she was forcibly dragged across the pavement.

Her only source of vengeance came in the form of a slur that traveled over the hushed throng, further staining my character. "See that you don't hurt your knees while thanking your connections!"

"Where are they taking her?" Hailee finally asked as Ray's repellent touch forced us toward the entrance, the crowd parting for him as if the Pope walked among them.

"I- I don't know."

But the truth was, I didn't want to know.

Breathe, Alyssa.

Because inwardly, beyond the bravado festered hatred had generated, there was mounting panic.

I didn't want to notice how easily the crowd turned a blind eye to this woman's removal. Nor did I want to detect her convictions shared within the expressions of the few who dared to glance in our direction. I didn't want to see heads hung as if afraid that even a hint of discord would result in the same punishment.

But mostly, I didn't want to notice the other girls who were escorted to the front of the line. This archaic system of sexual bartering was nothing new, but like other residents of Cincinnati, I found the exchange easier to disregard when it didn't affect me.

Pretty and penniless seemed to be a common attribute among those selected. And while God only knew what their sold beauty had awarded their families, it was the emotion that they failed to hide that captured my attention. Lips trembled, skin paled; and inside enlarged eyes appeared to be this sense of being trapped by their circumstances.

I didn't want to be one of them.

A strained smile was projected to reassure Hailee, but I couldn't help thinking that I didn't know if I could sacrifice that final piece of myself for her.

Just breathe, Alyssa.

"Let's make this quick and painless," one shielded guard announced from just within the entrance, unsympathetic green eyes lingering over the crowd from behind the clear barrier of his mask. "Safety inside these walls is our main priority. If you comply to the rules and do your job, we can peacefully do ours."

His monotonous speech was a part of our morning ritual, a warning promoting obedience. Several veiled men stood by his side. Heavily armed, these band of leeches peered out over the restless swarm, assessing individuals for possible threats.

Ray's touch remained on my back, his presence hovering just behind me. And while he did nothing more than rub in a circular motion, I knew his real goal was to remind me of his looming promise.

Alyssa, chill. Don't let him see how much he gets to you.

But that was easier said than done.

Holding my breath, I found comfort in distractions. The thick, steel gates that seemed to go up for miles were still open. Its fortification was a relief for its walled-citizens for it separated them from devourers and allowed their existence within this bubble. Inside these walls, lied a city that thrived as if the end never happened. The road leading from the entrance into the city was always strangely empty, like they were sneaking the help in through the back door. It was only once you turned the corner did the streets stir with the sounds of open markets, chauffeured cars, and the hustle and bustle of people walking the streets without fear.

I exhaled, smoke drifting before my face as Ray's stroke finally disappeared. And I would have hurried toward Carly's anxious figure had it not been for those fingers that causally brushed my hair behind one ear.

"It's killing you, isn't it? Complying?" Ray whispered, his breath prickling my skin. "Unlike the other guards, I know what anger feels like for one of us. I know how much effort it takes to not feed on everyone around you, how much energy it takes to not ease some of that rage."

Stay calm, Alyssa. There will come a time when you will make him pay, but right now isn't it. Distract yourself.

With extreme effort, I took in the lack of trash in the streets, the tall buildings free of graffiti. But most importantly, one couldn't help but notice how this space held no starving, deceased shells of those we once loved.

"Such restraint," Ray baited as his calloused hand swept away long dark tendrils to reveal my exposed neck. "How do you do it?"

It was then that Hailee's tiny fingers, once again, squeezed mine. She never looked up, and I was sure that she couldn't hear what was being whispered, but it was as if my little cousin could sense my discomfort.

Stay with her, Camille urged.

Swallowing my fury, I turned to him. "Because unlike you, I don't need to lessen uncontrollable urges by making others suffer. Unlike you, I still have something to live for."

Fury transformed his smirk to a grimace, those blue contact lenses revealing his unspoken resentment. "Oh really? So, then anger can't break the sanctimonious Alyssa. I believe your aunt is waiting."

Never in my life had I been so happy to be shoved towards the line Carly stood in. Yet, from a distance as Ray joined his colleagues, I couldn't help but feel bothered by those calculating eyes that remained fixated on me.

"Why didn't you stay with me?" Carly asked as she held Hailee close. "I told you to stay under the radar, but the first thing you did was make him go back for you."

How was this my fault?

"You make deals with pedophiles, and yet you blame me?" I snapped, my patience all but gone. Instead of responding, Carly simply turned her attention to the lecture, choosing to ignore the truth as usual.

"Once searched," the guard continued to instruct. "You will hand over your weapons without struggle. Security is a luxury you don't have to worry about within this city."

I've never heard such drivel, Camille uttered, the unexpected reemergence of that inner voice actually made me inspect the mob for her location. The sacrifice of weapons is a surrender of your control, and they know it. As long as the guards and the city officials possess the power, there can be no revolt.

The city's regulatory search caused those before us to be pulled from the line. Some men were held against the wall a bit too roughly, whereas, some women were checked a little too thoroughly. And while I wasn't jaded enough to discount the guards who simply did their jobs, I couldn't overlook the fact that the ones who took advantage seemed to outnumber them. Especially, when one of these corrupt guards was attempting to burn a hole into my skull.

"You will complete the job assigned to you without question, and any conflict with a protector, a supervisor, or a resident will result in instant removal."

Are we going to ignore the possibility of the poor being innocent? Camille ridiculed.

"Bag please?" a woman dressed in protective garb said from behind one of the four long, metal tables that lined the sides of the street. Like the antiquated process of security at airports, instead of a conveyer belt that led to an x-ray machine, these tables contained scanners. Once activated, scanners coated the table in a red glow when contraband was detected, and green when it wasn't.

Behind these tabletops were rows of lockers, like those you'd see at amusement parks, only these held possessions such as weapons that the city deemed too dangerous for citizens to openly wield.

Placing my messenger bag onto the counter, I was just glad that these tables couldn't detect brains hidden within spaghetti sauce. The light turned green just as a strong force pushed me up against the counter's surface.

"You know the routine, Alyssa," Steve barked from behind me. "Hand over the machete. You'll have it returned to you when you leave."

My weapon clanged against metal as I slammed it down before him.

Keep calm, Alyssa.

"Palms flat on the table, legs apart. Any other weapons I should know about?"

"No," I replied through clenched teeth. My sight wandered until I located Hailee being searched gently by a woman with a handheld metal detector.

Once my cousin was free, I found happiness in witnessing her greet classmates. I found contentment in her ability to remain relatively unsullied by the world around her.

Hands checked the expanse of my ankles before they moved upward.

And on huge billboard sized monitors positioned above these children, played the city's propaganda on a loop, "Safety, unity, and expansion of scientific exploration is how we will continue to help Cincinnati thrive."

Steve's palms molded my legs in a manner that indicated intimacy rather than protocol.

"From the protectors who guard our streets to the custodians who clean our homes and businesses, we all serve a common purpose," that sickeningly sweet voice continued to sell lies. "That goal is to preserve life, and with the help of Lumara Pharmaceuticals, we can sustain the lifestyle that we are accustomed to."

Just breathe.

I concentrated on Hailee's animated face rather than on how Steve's hands went from regulatory patting of my legs to fondling the seat of my jeans. Unable to remain silent anymore, I stated, "I'm fairly certain that you won't find anything back there."

"I wouldn't say all that, gorgeous." I winced as I felt a firm spank against my ass. And while his chuckle grated on my nerves, I still attempted to keep my cool. "Besides, Ray did tell me to be thorough."

I stilled.

Ignore him.

My hands balled into fists atop the shiny surface while my flushed reflection stared back up at me. Ray sent him?

Ray is just trying to get back at you for what you said.

He ordered him to-

Alyssa, no!

But it was too late to heed Camille's warning. Moving swiftly, self-control was lost the instant that my elbow rose aiming for this prick's face.

Hope you liked it!

I know this section surrounds Alyssa with unpleasant people, and I semi-push the limit of how much one will take, but I promise you, not every chapter will contain dislikable characters... hopefully.

This chapter took forever to write, and I like it... for now lol.

Thanks for reading!