The Power within Innocence

Chapter 14 - A Ray of Hope

Juo pov:

>>Dream

"You demon child! What are you doing here?! Stay away from us! You will only bring us bad luck!" I flinched, taking a step back as a woman shielded her child from me.

I looked at my hands....they were smaller than I remember, like how it was when I was a child myself. I looked around at all the townspeople who were looking down at me whose eyes filled with hatred. It frightened me.

I took a step back before turning and running away from them. I ran through the forest. It was dark....just as dark as everything I had ever seen. I heard strange noises; the trees were reaching out as if to claw me, the stones and thorns hurt my feet.

I finally stepped out of the forest near a lake. It was a beautiful place like one I had always wanted to see. I walked closer to the water and kneeled on the ground in front of it. I bent over to look at my reflection only to see my face covered in bruises and cuts. It wasn't anything new but my heart ached at how I was always being thrown away by everyone.

I reached up to touch my face but screamed when I saw the reflection of my hands. They were black, scaly and had such long claws!

No! I wasn't a demon child! I wasn't a demon! I didn't want to hurt anyone! But why do my hands look like this?! I'm scared!

I scooted back from the water startled at my appearance. I looked at my hands but they looked normal now. Not wanting to stay here any longer and prove even more that I truly was a demon child, I got up and ran back to the only place I could live in....the mansion. The dreadful mansion where I had to feel more and more pain each and every day. Yet I couldn't leave, because that was the only place I got food and water and a roof over my head.

"You brat! How dare you leave from here without my permission?" I clasped my hands over my ears and trembled as Hitoshi sama's voice bellowed through the mansion.

The mansion was huge, making me feel so lost. The high ceilings, the endless space of the hallways, the big and unprotected space of the room I stayed in; I didn't like any of them. And it was even worse when Hitoshi sama was angry. I was so afraid of him!

"F-forgive me, Hitoshi sama! I didn't m-mean to...!" I couldn't complete my sentence as I felt a hard slap across my face. My head was turned to the side, my eyes wide and stinging, my left cheek throbbing and the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

"I will make you understand who is in charge here! Disobeying me is not an option!" I flinched as I heard a sound as loud as thunder and a blinding light envelope me.

The floor in front of me was a dreary gray. Whatever of my skin that was in contact with the floor was tingling. My vision was unfocused and all I could feel was a dull, numbing pain throughout my body. I was a prisoner here.....a tool. Nothing more than a puppet in the hands of Hitoshi sama. And every day it was the same thing....punishment for the smallest of mistakes.

This would never end, would it? This was my life. This was how I was meant to be for the rest of my life. Suffer, suffer and suffer.

I closed my eyes tightly as hot tears made their way down my cheeks, curling up into a ball to shield myself from reality. But it wouldn't go away because the pain was just too clear. This was my reality.....and it was never going to change.

>>Dream End

"Mmghh...." I moaned as I woke from my disturbed sleep. I don't know for how long I had slept but I had most definitely slept better than any of the nights I spent in the mansion. Even though I had a bad dream, it wasn't as horrible as all the other dreams I usually had.