Prologue:

There was blood in her eyes, its syrupy-thick liquid causing her eyes to sting as if it were saltwater. The blood continued until it had filled her eyes and blinded her. The air was alive with screams. People were crying out for her to save them but she couldn't see where they were in order to do so. She had her hands out in front of her, a blind woman searching for the cages that were within twenty feet of her reach. Her hands skirted over a fine linen shirt. She threw herself back but she wasn't quick enough and the man grabbed her by the shoulders. He pushed her against a wall, his hot breath in her ear, his pulsing body pressed against her delicate frame. She felt his hands on her neck. Slowly he traced the taught muscles of her neck as she tilted her head away in disgust. His fingers traced her taught muscles downwards to her breast bone. The screams were louder, begging to be free, pleading for the woman to save them, some just crying.

"I guess this should be our final goodbye," The man whispered, his hands traveling the deep v-cut that dipped between her breasts to below her bellybutton. Between her breasts, a mother-of-pearl pendant of a mermaid kept the deep v-cut together so that it didn't slip and reveal too much of her lily-white skin. She didn't need her eyesight to know that his eyes were locked on this pendant, or perhaps they were locked onto what lay on either side. "I'm leaving Europe tomorrow. I would advise you not to follow but I don't think I'll have to worry about that."

His fingers traced the pendant's curves, coming dangerously close to her trembling skin. "It's a pity, a true pity." He pushed his rigid body against hers, pressing a kiss to her bloody lips. She tried to turn her head but he held her in place. He pulled away and snapped his fingers. "Kill her."

She heard his footsteps against the metal grating of the floor as he walked away. She heard the screams of the trapped people grow louder as he walked past them. No doubt, their filthy little fingers would be reaching out from in between the bars of the cages. They would reach out and grab onto his pant legs and he would kick their desperate fingers, cursing them like the king he believed himself to be and they as the lowly louse-ridden peasants. She heard the sound of more footsteps; these were slower and were coming towards her, not away. The blood was still oozing from the gash on her forehead and brow, her sight still absent. Her ears tingled at the effort of hearing their hushed whispers above the racket of the screams.

She assessed from their voices and footsteps that there were five men, five heavy men. The cogs in her head began to turn furiously as she tried to think of a way to get the people out of the cages. The cogs abruptly stopped when she felt a searing hot pain in her stomach.

Her back arched against the wall in pain, head thrown back, mouth open. Her mouth was open but no tortured scream came from within. Seconds passed and finally, her scream came. This was a scream that was beyond any normal human's range. The sound rumbled first deep in her ribcage, the sound of tumbling boulders before an avalanche. Slowly the sound climbed up her throat. By the time it had reached her tonsils at the back of her throat, it had evolved into a high-pitched screech. The rafters shook. Heavy metal sheets loosened and fell from the ceiling. Her mouth closed and she tried to walk forward but the pain grew like fire and she realized she was stuck.

The people in the cages were screaming in a foreign tongue.

Energy flowed out from her body as though someone had pulled her cork and the nectar of life was flowing out onto the floor in puddles at her feet. Indeed, when her hands went to feel for the thing that was causing her so much pain she felt blood flowing freely from around a long shaft that had impaled her and kept her stuck to the wall.

The blood stopped flowing from the gash at her forehead and soon after her vision cleared. The five men were in the cages, guns in hand. Gunshots rang out and the screams became more panicked. She watched, a black mist slowly obscuring her vision again. The people crammed in the cages ran around like chickens before the butcher. Some people were pushed against the bars, crushed by the weight of the mob that tried desperately to hide from the bullets. Her hands pulled at the shaft that went through her but there was no doubt, it was safely secured to the wall as though it had been cemented. It wouldn't be long. Her energy was failing her. She screamed out in frustration. She looked up again. The gunshots were still ringing. A little boy's big brown eyes were looking at her, tears causing them to glass over. He was pressed against the cage, one arm thrust in between the bars, reaching for her.

"Ayudame." He formed with his lips, the tears falling from his eyes and into his mouth. "Ayudame, senorita."

She pulled at the shaft with all of her strength. The numbness began at her shoulders, slowly moving down to her elbows. She screamed as the shaft shifted, sending tremors of heat through her body. With as much strength she could muster, she pulled the shaft from her stomach and immediately collapsed onto the floor. She looked up at the cage, only able to move her neck. The little boy was watching her, hand still outstretched.

The black veil was falling.

The black curtain was falling on her life, the final curtain call.

This was the end.

She only wished she could have saved them. She wished she could have watched the life slipping from that man as it was from her.

The curtain fell and it was over.