Prologue: Once Upon A December

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"Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember"


THE SHOUTING OUTSIDE OF HER ROOM CLASHED HORRIBLY WITH THE MUSIC THAT PLAYED THROUGH THE SPEAKERS IN THE CEILING

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THE SHOUTING OUTSIDE OF HER ROOM CLASHED HORRIBLY WITH THE MUSIC THAT PLAYED THROUGH THE SPEAKERS IN THE CEILING.

Anya looked up from her book and frowned. It was normally so quiet in the facility. The most she usually heard was people talking as they walked by her locked room or when the guards that stood outside her door were changed. But this...

This was yelling, panicking. She heard gunshots echo. Something was wrong.

Anya set down her book and got up from the uncomfortable bed she has spent the last 10-odd years sleeping on. She stood on her tiptoes to peek through the small window near the top. Anya squinted and craned her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of what was causing such chaos.

But there was no one there. Not even one of the usual guards that were posted outside her door. That was probably the strangest part. For as long as she could remember, there had been someone standing outside her door to make sure she didn't try to escape as she had done many times before.

The yelling was coming from somewhere further down the hallway where she couldn't see. The guard must have gone to help.

Which meant that no one was stopping her from escaping.

She jerkily turned the knob on the door but of course, it was locked. A lock that was designed to withstand her powers. Things were never that easy. If she just had a key card...

The screaming was growing louder, getting closer. Anya looked through the small window again and as if on cue, a body was thrown against the door. The window cracked with the force and Anya jumped back with a startled cry.

That had been one of her guards. She could hear him groaning weakly in pain from the other side of the door.

"We need all hands on deck in the east hallway!" Someone was shouting into a walkie as they ran by, not even bothering to check on the injured guard.

Anya stayed low to the ground, just in case whoever just threw the guard happened to peek into her room.

She wished the music would stop playing from the speakers. But she knew it wouldn't. It never did.

Anya pressed her face to the floor and looked under the door. She couldn't see much, just the shape of the guard's ass as he sat against the door. Blood was pooling around him, slowly creeping under the door towards her. An earplug, something mandatory for people guarding her room, was floating in it.

Anya wrinkled her nose in disgust when something else caught her eye. Sticking out of the guard's pocket was a key card.

Instantly, Anya's hand reached out, sticking her fingers under the door. She grabbed it between her pinky and ring finger, sliding it under the door towards her. Her hands were shaking as she stood up and stared at the key card in her hands.

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