I went out of the Lodging House as fast as I can. I don't want to get caught up in this whole stupid thing. Well, I already am, aren't I? All I can do now is lessen the effect. I took a walk around this place. It's the Lower East Side. This is New York. As if our New York is any different. The only difference is the time and the technological advancement. And who the hell cares about that?

I kept on walking around. I have no direction on where I am going. New York is a large city and I have all the time I need to be alone. I passed by a group of drunken men. They were laughing obnoxiously and really drunk to their asses. Annoying. I better scram before they get on my nerves.

A few moments later, I ended up on a dark alleyway. I was feeling tired at the moment, so I decided to take a little rest. I sat on a wooden barrel and closed my eyes. I am not sleeping. I'm just resting my eyes.

"Father…"

Fragments and shards of random images flashed before me. I can barely make out whose face was it lying on the ground. His face was covered in blood, but the peculiar thing is, he has a peaceful smile on his face. I looked even further. He has a deep wound in his torso. I looked at it carefully. No, it is impossible for him to live. He has lost a lot of blood and the wound is really deep; I can almost see his insides. His torso is severed with, I think, a long sword. The blurry fragments became clearer to me. I looked on his face. It's…no, it can't be! Who did this?

Another fragment appeared. It was a man with a cold and cruel grin on his face, his slit-like eyes flickered demonically.

"Hello, Anika."

"Aaahhhh!"

I woke up with my face covered with cold sweat. It seems that I have fallen asleep here. My hands are numb with coldness and I am shaking from head to toe. What was that nightmare? I jumped off the wooden barrel. Barely thinking, I walked away from the alleyway. I thought of the Lodging House and decided to go back. Just then, I felt a hard grip on my shoulder.

"Hey, little goil? Where're ya goin'?"

A man's voice spoke from behind. I turned around and saw that it was a drunk bastard, fat, unshaven, and strongly smells of old and moldy socks. Am I supposed to be intimidated?

"What the fuck do you want?" I retorted.

"Oooh, feisty! I like dat!"

He tried to grope my chest. But lethargic as he was, he was slow. I had an ample amount of time to stop him from reaching towards me.

"AAARRRGGHHH!"

I grabbed his arm and snapped his wrist. I could hear the cracking of his bones in his wrist. Then, I grabbed him by the shirt collar, kicked off the ground to catapult myself in the air, my hands not letting go of his shirt collar, then, with great strength, I slammed him into the ground nearly headfirst. Lovely, if you have the liberty of seeing it with your own eyes.

"I should have warned you. But I didn't feel like it."

He was down. I turned around and walked away. Then, I looked back at him. I can see him squirm in pain, clutching his broken wrist. He turned his bloodshot eyes at me and lunged forward.

"WHORE! YER GONNA PAY FER DAT!"

I sprang away from him jump-turned in mid-air. I landed behind him, and before he could have the chance to turn around, I delivered a flurry of punches and kicks, hitting him in the nape, his massive back and his head. I launched a final spinning kick and he fell hard on his face.

"Drunkard fool."

I spat on his pathetic image on the ground, ruthless, cold-blooded and feeling no guilt on what I just did. He deserved the punishment. I walked away, a wicked sneer appeared on my lips. Gratifying and pleasurable, this feeling is, being able to beat up a foolish drunkard freak. Biggest mistake he ever did in my life, attempting a stupid thing like rape. Well, no one will be ever to do that to me. Before they can ever lay their filthy hands on me, they'll soon realize that their bones are dislocated. Sometimes, I think to myself…how did I become like this? Why am so I cold and heartless? Why can't I feel compassion for other people? Well, I do not care about it. I'll never find the answers anyway. After all, the people around me always forget about my own existence.

"Oh my God! Please, someone help!"

I can hear someone's screams for help. Whoever it is, he must have found the bloody asshole lying unconsciously on the ground. I better get out of here before I get caught…