Prologue: Bloody Beginnings

She stood in her bedroom, gazing into the mirror. Voices swirled through the corridors of her wounded mind. Her father, berating her for spilling his beer. Her mother, telling her to pray each night. A girl asking, "What happened to you?" She felt it rising within her: the pure, unyielding rage. The need to hurt, to kill. With each life she extinguished, the countless voices would fall silent. She had to do it. Only then would she finally be at peace.

But she couldn't do it here. Not anymore. They were getting too close for her liking. She had to leave this place while she still could. And she knew exactly where to go.

xXx

Belle Andrews yawned softly. Another Saturday night, and she was spending it stuck here working as a cashier at Rob's Grocery. Her boss, Rob Harmon, was famous for being the textbook definition of "asshole"; in fact, most of the employees called him Robbie Rotten behind his back. "Christ, why can't my shift just end?" She thought.

She saw a woman a few years older than she was walk into the store. She was wearing a dark jacket and baggy jeans, but there wasn't really anything remarkable about her. "She's probably just as fucking bored as I am."

She called over to her friend and coworker Tiana. "Yo, Tia!"

The young African-American girl walked up. "Hey, Belle. You bored too?"

"Ugh, yes. Why Rob brought me in tonight, I'll never know. I mean, this is basically the fucking graveyard shift!"

"Preach." Tiana replied, rolling her eyes.

"You think he'll let me go early, since we haven't been busy for the past hour?"

Tiana shrugged. "I don't know, girl. Only way to find out is to ask."

Belle sighed. "I might as well. I don't have anything else to do." She headed to the back, where Rob's office was. "Excuse me, Rob?" she asked politely.

"Yeah, come in, Belle." he said from inside his office.

Belle opened the door and entered, folding her hands behind her back. Rob was a slightly overweight fellow in his late fifties, with copper brown hair that was just starting to go grey. He looked at her from behind his desk. "Well? What's up?" he asked in his usual gruff tone.

"Um, I was wondering, since we haven't been busy tonight…." She hesitated. "Is it okay if I go home early?"

Rob sighed. "You know what? You're a good kid, and I'm in a good mood. Go ahead and leave; I'll take over your register for you."

Belle smiled. "Thanks, boss!" She went to the break room, taking off her apron and hanging it up on the wall. She opened up her locker and took out her purse and cell phone. She had received a text from her boyfriend, Adam.

Adam: "Hey bby, where u ?"

Belle: "Just got off work. U free 2nite?"

Adam: "Yeah. Wanna come over 4 some netflix n chill? ;)"

Belle: "Fuck yes. I'll b there soon."

Belle put her phone in her pocket and headed out the back door of the store. As she walked out, she saw the woman who had entered the store earlier standing by the door, her hands in the pockets of her jacket. Belle glanced at her, confused. "Um…can I help you?"

The woman turned towards her, taking her hands out of her pockets. Clutched in one of them was a flick knife. The blade was out, and Belle could see that it was sharp. Her eyes went wide in fear. She dug around in her purse, searching for her pepper spray. She soon found it, pulling it out. "Back off, bitch!"

The woman stopped, regarding her with cold, emotionless eyes.

"Now, stay right the fuck there." Belle warned, "or I'll use this."

The woman suddenly rushed forward, shoving the knife into Belle's stomach.

"AAAGHH!" A jolt of pain shot through Belle. As the woman removed the knife, Belle staggered back a couple of steps, her pepper spray dropping from her hand to the ground with a clatter.

Belle held a hand on her stomach, feeling it quickly being coated with her blood. She didn't want to look down, didn't want to see how bad it was. Every fibre of her being screamed at her to run, to get the fuck out of there, but her legs wouldn't, or couldn't, listen. Her entire body felt numb.

The woman stepped forward, delivering a solid shove to Belle and making her fall flat on her back on the ground. Belle let out a pained "Oof!" as she landed, the wind being driven out of her. The woman straddled Belle's prone body, the knife still in her hand.

"P-please…." Belle begged. "Please don't kill me…I-I'll give you money…y-you can…you can fuck me if you want…j-just don't kill me…."

The woman looked at her with those same emotionless eyes. And in that moment, Belle came to a horrible realisation: whatever was living behind those eyes, it wasn't human.

The woman raised the knife and plunged it into Belle's chest, then pulled it out, only to shove it right back in in a different spot. She continued this for several minutes, stabbing Belle over and over and over until she finally stopped. Belle had long since died, her eyes staring blankly at the night sky, her mouth open in a silent scream. The woman closed Belle's mouth and eyes, then stood up, putting away her knife. She reached into the pocket of her coat and took out a white rose with a black ribbon tied around the stem, laying it on top of Belle's body.

The corner of her mouth turned up in a slight smile. "Ah, brave new world," she muttered. "It has such putzes in it."