Damaged

Prologue

Kage

She was so tiny.

Holding her in my arms I couldn't decide if she has always been that small or if she somehow shrunk after her body became lifeless. I hugged her tighter in my arms trying to ignore that she was becoming colder by the second. It was hard enough looking at her face. Her beautiful face that was once flushed with the prettiest shade of pink, was now pale and drained of life.

The alley where she lay was dark, only illuminated by a single lightbulb. Trash was scattered messily on the ground and broken bricks lied everywhere. The dirty walls had cracks in them and I could hear unidentified insects inside. Never in my life had I imagined that I'd see her in a place like this. She was delicate and innocent and she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. things like this weren't supposed to happen to her.

But look at her now.

Her clothes were torn forcefully and her make-up smudged from the tears. Everything inside me shattered at the sight of her. She didn't deserve this, she was too young, too naive, and just a few hours ago she was right in front of me smiling so sweetly you would think nobody would ever have the heart to hurt her.

Her delicate body was lying in an awkward position against the wall when I first found her, her eyes open in horror and blood smeared across her cheek. I cleaned her up as much as I could and tried to make her clothes look decent. The sight of her was still unbearable.

I buried my face in her the crook of her neck and ran my hands through her hair, letting the tears fall hot and hard over her. I lost her, forever.

Images flashed against my eyelids like a camera roll. The happiest memories of us together, The promises we made, all the times we got in trouble for doing something stupid and me always taking the blame because I didn't want anyone scolding her. I thought of all the years she had ahead of her and how they're all gone now, all the dreams she spoke so passionately to me about that will never come true now, all the things she ever wanted to do but now she'll never get to accomplish.

My stomach clenched in a terrible way and a shudder went through me, I hugged her body tighter to mine, I hugged her tighter wishing I could squeeze her back to life, wishing I could take away the pain. "It's okay baby girl," I cooed, "You were too good for this world anyway."

There was a trail of dried blood running all the way down from between her thighs to her knees. A proof of her innocence and purity.

"I promise I won't let it go," I whispered to her caressing her face in my hands, I had closed her eyelids first thing because I couldn't bear to see her blue eyes who were once bright and alive stare emptily at nothing.

I could feel the raging anger inside me increasing by the second, "I'll get that son of a bitch for you, He'll never get away with it" My voice never sounded so determined nor it was ever so full with venom. I fully intended to snap the neck of whoever did that to her, And I will not die in peace until I accomplish that.

It was shocking how this morning everything was okay, She was just a teenage girl of only sixteen buzzing over the party she's going to tonight. It was perfectly normal, she went to parties before, of course, But nothing this wild. She was mixing with the wrong crowd and from the way she dressed it was obvious that she was trying too hard to fit in. And look where she is now.

More than anything I wanted to rewind back time and force her to stay at home, Keep her as far away from this hell hole as I could, But I couldn't do that. And I felt helpless, So shamefully helpless that it hurt almost as much as losing one of my favourite people in the whole world. I hated myself for it.

But I didn't intend to stay like that for long, like someone tied me up and forced me to watch something terrible unfold before me, so beside the never ending grief, I had one thing on my mind.

Revenge.

I pressed my lips to her temple and whispered one last I love you before I called the police.