Anaya: A Dark Voyage [#1 LightBlood Series]

Chapter 1 - Red-letter day

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At the very outskirt of the town stood an abandoned old pig slaughterhouse. It stood alone in the middle of nowhere as if it had chosen solitude for itself. What was once a sole producer of the town's and neighbouring town's pig meat, now looked decrepit like it was falling apart. It actually was. The glass windows were covered in dust and many were shattered. The door hinges were all rusted. There were cobwebs in the corners, the drains were clogged with dirt and waste.

Strikes of sunlight lighted up the dark and musty reminiscence of what used to be a hanging room. Obsolete bits of rusted slaughterhouse equipment — hooks, pig splitting saws, bleed & dressing Rails, Hock cutters etc. — seemed perfectly at home within the shrub-covered walls of the room. There was water dripping from the roof, rhythmically, generating a morose melody. 

On a rusted table lay a body, a naked body of a woman, probably in her late twenties. Her ebony-dark skin looked pale under the sunlight that shone on her. She had a shapely figure and a sable-black hair that was so messy. 

She woke up suddenly and sat straight on the table. Her heart beat fast and her eyes went round as if she had awoken from a very bad dream. She tried to figure out where she was but couldn't. Not with the constant buzzing in her head. It was as if a thousand bees were housed in there or worse, she suffered from tinnitus. It hurt. She winced in pain as she lowered her head. She could feel her head spinning. It wasn't just her head that hurt. Her body also felt like she was being battered in every part.  

Without putting in any thoughts, she jumped down from the table. A streak of pain shot through her body like a spark. Face contorted and eyes clenched tightly, she landed barefoot on the cold, moisty floor. 

At first, she did not notice it. All she wanted to do was get out of there. But as she lowered her head in suspicion of what she had stepped in, she staggered back at the sight of the red liquid on the floor. It seemed to be flowing from somewhere. Her glistening eyes followed the line, then she walked slowly, curiosity written all over her face, towards the source. 

A repulsive smell hit her nose as she moved closer. It was like a lot of things had died in there. One couldn't ascribe the stench to a particular fount. Curiosity overtook her sense of fear as she followed the red liquid trail. 

Unexpectedly, a rat ran out of the room ahead giving her a great scare. She shouted as fear crossed her face. A mischief of rats raced out of the room in a frenzy. A sea of frightened animals. 

She entered the room and was met with the most horrifying scene she had ever seen.  Her sight was met with the lifeless body of a woman. The corpse was almost devoid of skin and ravaged by the rats and other insects. Where there had been smooth skin, was torn muscle. There was nothing left of her face. It was all gone — either rotten or eaten by the rats. 
About three to five dead rats lay beside her rotten almost the same as she was.

Anaya turned away and walked out of the room, the musky smell of the rotten body filling her nostrils. She tried to close her eyes and concentrate on something beautiful, pure, holy, a distraction from anything but that moment, she couldn't get herself to think of anything else. 

'What happened?' Was the next question her mind could come up with. Everything was hazy. She remembered bits of what had happened but not everything. Nothing made sense to her now that she thought of it. Where was she and what was she doing there? What day was it and how many days had she been there? Whatever the answers may be, she hoped to find before she lost her shit.

Her attention was brought back to the dead body in front of her. Beside the left leg of the corpse lay a sort of paper drenched in blood. It had the words "To Anaya" written at the back. She covered her nose with her hand and walked back to the room, her eyes set on the paper. 

It was still wet and covered in a slimy liquid when she picked it up. She opened it the second she dashed out of the room. The rotten body smell was more tolerable outside the room. With her eyes firmly fixed on the paper, she read its content. 

"Dear Anaya, 
The body you are wearing used to be mine. I'm writing this letter to you for your survival. 
You might be confused and shocked right now. I know. But you would have to do everything I say if you want to find out the truth of what happened to you. 
Also, I know you have a lot of questions. I promise to answer all but first things first. 
Just turn to your right. walk to the window and look through the mirror." 

As if on cue, she turned to her right and there was a window, just as the letter said. She knew how strange that was and she sure as hell wanted to know how that was possible but she had more pressing questions in her mind. And it wasn't like there was anyone there to answer her if she asked anyway. Ignoring the obvious question about the mirror, she walked slowly, naked and confused, to the window and did what the letter said. She wasn't ready for what she saw. 

She froze when she saw someone else but herself in the glassed window.  She stared at her reflection, or more specifically, her neck and face. A long jagged scar snaked down the right side of her neck. It was an unusual looking scar. The skin around the scar was also slightly discoloured even on the ebony-dark skin, suggesting that it had not healed properly. It was a recent wound. 

She moved her hand slowly to the face she wore and lightly brush down the scar, tracing the jagged line slowly with the tips of her fingers as if to wonder what could have happened to the owner of the body — but that wasn't the only question in her mind. She sighed and averted her gaze from the glass, her eyes tearing up. 

Her brain stuttered for a moment and her eyes didn't blink. Every part of her went on pause while her thoughts caught up. She stood as if paralysed from the neck up, unable to make any move.

How was any of these possible? Why would anyone do this to her? 
She hoped to find the answers she needed in the letter. 

She continued reading it. 

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Chapter edited by: RubaiaMQ