The Queen of the Kings

∞ prologue ∞

amirah's eyes vigorously search her surroundings for yet another sign of danger. she knew that the dingy café wouldn't provide her with much protection, but she clung onto the hope that the staff were at least decent. at 5am, the streets of mullingar were guaranteed to be littered with drunks, eager to get tucked into bed but have some fun while on their journey home.

the nineteen year old's eyes widen as the bell above the door rings, her breath hitching in her throat as she sees the same men from before. she wraps her jacket around herself more securely, preparing herself to run as quickly and quietly as she could. when one of the men move towards the bathroom, with the other three becoming distracted from looking outside the window on the other side of the building, amirah pushes her fatigued body to its very limit.

she curses quietly to herself as the bell chimes above the door as she shoves it open. tumbling over her feet, she makes a sharp right onto yet another long road, head twisting left and right to find the nearest escape route as she hears the pounding footsteps of the men behind her. realising she doesn't have the time to contemplate her next move, she decides to run straight towards the large park to her left; maybe she could slip into the line of trees and hide away until they move on. her heart pounds simultaneously to her feet, both working their hardest to get the young girl out of harm's way. goodness knows what these men wanted to do, but in no way did she want to find out.

using the gate to make a sharp turn, amirah manages to tuck herself into a bush, putting her hand over her mouth to try and quieten her heaving breaths. she fought to keep her eyes open, the lack of sleep finally catching up on her and dragging her consciousness away. her mind whirrs back through the previous hour, how she was resting in the underground tunnel until a group of rowdy drunk men departed the train and spotted her under her blanket. her body was somehow awake enough for her to realise that she was in danger, and with haste, threw her jacket on, grabbed her backpack from beneath her head and dashed as quickly as she could out of that station.

looking back now, she probably should have run to the security for help. but they hadn't said anything about her spending the nights there, and with not wanting to draw attention to herself doing so, she decided against it. her eyes refocused when feet appeared in front of her, seemingly belonging to one of the smaller men of the group, but all amirah could do was hope that she had made herself small enough to stay out of sight.

a chuckle rippled through the air, bringing goosebumps to her skin as her eyes squeezed themselves shut after seeing the man's hand move towards her. she wrapped her arms around herself tighter, holding her bag against her back and willed herself to hold back tears. she could fight, and she knew this, but deep down she knew that her level of self-defence couldn't do much against four fully grown men twice her size.

time seemed to slow down for amirah, she suddenly felt as though she was the young girl that would cower in her bedroom after her parents got angry. the girl that would cry herself to sleep as she basked in one of the only sources of comfort she could get - that of a tv show that premiered three years prior . when she left home, she had only wished that she could have brought her laptop with her, if only it hadn't been found by her father and destroyed a week before.

a sob escaped the lips of the girl who was now fearing for her life. she wished even to be back at home; to be back under her blanket as she focused on the words of the fictional characters that graced her screen.

amirah odette o'connell, a nineteen year old girl, was about to die - about to be hurt in ways unimaginable, yet all-too-familiar. she felt the fear crash down, her blood rushing to her head and forcing her eyes shut; the dark abyss consuming her every sense, making her feel as though she was floating.

and so, she collapsed - onto a carpet.