𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔲𝔰

Prologue

A small, frail girl sat at the steps of an old building in London. Her dark, short hair was matted against her head and hung down in strands as she crouched down and played with her toes. The world she lived in looked black and white to her, boring and plain. The busy citizens of the town walked past her without sparing her a glance, and she didn't notice any of them either, too engrossed in her own thoughts.

The door to the building she sat in front of opened and an old, bald head poked out. The man looked around before laying his eyes on the little girl on the steps. "Hey," he called to her gruffly, "get inside." The girl hesitated before standing, smoothing out her dirty ripped dress before stepping into the dark house.

To any stranger, the inside of the house would be breath-taking. Caged magical creatures of all kinds took up all the rooms in the house. They roared and cawed and hooted and screeched in their confines miserably. The girl simply walked past all of them, all too used to the horrid surroundings. The man led the girl to the only empty room in the building and closed the door behind her. He walked behind a desk and seated himself on a chair while the girl stood akwardly. 

"We have a buyer." He said calmly. Her eyes widened at the statement. "He is coming tomorrow. Get your things." She lowered her head again and clenched her fists, holding her tears back. 

She looks up at him. "But, papa---" "Get. Your. Things." The man said, his eyebrows scrunched together viciously. She closed her mouth and slowly walked out. She walked past the many abused animals that the house held and into her room, which contained nothing more than a small bed, a tiny closet, and a brown leather suitcase. She sat down in front of the suitcase, tucking her feet, before opening it. Inside was a ladder that led into the depths of the case. She stepped inside and climbed down, entering a little room that looked like a storage shed. 

The girl didn't know how anything like this could exist, she was used to it since she's had it for years, but it defied everything that everyone had taught her to believe, how could the case be bigger on the inside? Still, it was special to her. 

She dragged a stool up beside a little desk, where she started to cry. The pain of the past 4 years of her life finally got to her and she let it all out. 

She remembers her old life, before she was thrusted into this inhumane world of torture. She was lucky enough not to bought for years, but now that someone finally did, she would have to leave. Immediately.

She wiped her tears from her cheeks quickly and climbed out of the case. She needed to act fast.

She shut the suitcase and rushed out of her room, checking to see if the man was there. She needed to save those animals, no one deserved to be abused the way they have, and she needed to free them.

Seeing no one in the hallway, she scuttled down the stairs, clutching the case high so it wouldn't touch the ground as she ran. Back in the room with the all the creatures, she set the case on the ground and opened it. She ran over to one of the cages. It contained a green and blue butterfly-like creature that crouched at the corner of the cage. As soon as she approached it, it squeaked hoarsly at her, and all of the other creatures in the room started to call out to her, begging her to free them. Her breath quickened as she struggled to open the cage.

"Eve!" A loud, angry voice called out behind her. She jumped in fright, and all the other creatures whimpered at the sight of their cruel owner. He stomped his way over to the girl and circled his thick hands around her frail neck. 

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIN'?!" He began to squeeze the life out of her. She choked and gasped for air, clawing uselessly at his hands. She began to see spots dance in front of her vision when the sound of metal scraping against metal distracted the man. 

Suddenly, his hands left her neck and he fell backwards. The girl fell and caught her breath. Her vision cleared and she saw that somehow, the cage to the small green and blue creature had opened and it had flown to the man, attaching itself onto his face and knocking him backward. 

He was screaming in pain and trying to scratch the animal off his face but it had seemed to have latched on tight. The girl heard more screechy noises around her and had seen that all of the cages had magically been opened. The animals stepped out cautiously and took in the scene before them, their owner being killed by one of their own. 

The girl squealed in fright as all of them grouped together and joined their friend, each mauling their torturer bit by bit. 

She whimpered quietly at the sight. "Papa..." Now the girl absolutely hated the man, but he had been the only father she knew. 

Snapping back to reality, the girl stood and ran over to the open case and whistled to the creatures. "You lot! Get in the case everyone, NOW!" They all stared at her for a little, and for a second she thought they'd attack her.

But the butterfly-like creature slowly emerged from the mass of animals and climbed into the case. The rest followed it down into the case too. The girl was shocked that they would listen to her, and followed them all down to make sure they'd be comfortable. 

The inside of the case wasn't that large, but luckily, none of the creatures were either. 

They quickly settled down in there, resting on stools and on the desks and shelves and on the ground. She looked around at all of them, there was a beautiful purple bird that hooted at her, a cockroach that was about 3 feet tall, a mole that had the beak of a duck (that was wandering around the room collecting shiny objects), a group of skinny plants that were moving around animatedly and chatting to each other, a blue winged snake with a fairly sharp beak, and a bald, small animal with lots of tentacles around its body.

She screamed and jumped when she felt something brush against her body. She whipped around and saw nothing, till a white haired creature appeared from thin air. It had long, white silky hair and drooping shoulders, and it smiled up at her. She calmed down a little and smiled back.

"Alright, everyone settled? We need to get as far away as possible."