November 27th, 1999 - 4 AM

Disgusting, repulsive, despicable, rotten… I lay on the floor of our bedroom as he shouted at me. It wasn't over anything serious. It never was. I cried, clutching my legs trying to make myself as small as possible.

If I had told him before Karen had set him off, maybe then this wouldn't have happened. He had been angry before I'd brought it up, but the news had been the tipping point. I deserved this… I should've waited his temper had cooled before talking to him about anything.

"You SLUT!" He roared at me, grabbing me by my hair lifting me off the ground. I screeched, struggling for what would come next.

"You want me to believe that THING inside you is really mine?" He hissed, he hadn't reacted this way when Karen had been conceived.

"G-Go-" I choked out. "-tz, please, I would never be-tra-a-ay you that wa-" My words were lost in sobs his hand swung down full force on the location of the new live that had begun within me.

I coughed-up blood, pain flooding through my body but the physical pain could not compare to the devastation of losing… the hope… the chance… the life… that could've been. I sobbed choking on my own blood.

The blows kept coming; I could feel my face fracturing under his fist as it swung down on my face. He tossed me across the room like a dirty fucking sock after a hard day of work. The back of my head slammed against the wall.

Every part of my body shook as I watched his monstrous form lumber towards me.

"You did this to yourself. I've seen you in town, handing yourself out like a TROLP! YOU FUCKING SKANK!" Another he grabbed a lamp of the stand and came towards me again.

I screamed as it came down on me. Things became blurring, I could hardly see.

Heavy thumping on the door.

The whining of metal hinges breaking free.

"Don't you lay another hand on her!" The lamp clattered to the floor, shattering.

I could hear fighting, the thump of fists colliding on flesh and bone. I tried to see who it was who had come in. Who could have known what was happening? Was it Karen? Certainly not, she'd never had the strength to stop her father before. Perhaps our new worker Kai who'd moved down into our basement?

I couldn't think… everything was growing faint and I drifted away… away to a time long ago.

"Jeff! Jeff! I made it in!" I giggled like an excited little girl, perhaps I really had been at that point.

"That's wonderful Sasha! You made it! I knew you could!" He swept me up into his arms and into a gentle kiss.

"So when do you leave?" He asked.

"In a week, I'm already set to leave." I answered, then noting his forlorn expression "Don't worry, I promise I'll write to you."

My heart pounded frantically, aching, burning. I gasped for breathe as I tried to cling on to consciousness. I could feel myself growing colder and colder, I tried open my eyes to make-out what was happening in the darkness.

I could hear scrambling and muttering but it was no use. I was hazing in and out, terrified of where I would find myself if I just let myself succumb to my weakness, to sweet sleep. The agony of real world weighed heavily on me.

Whirling, writhing, the darkness swept me away again.

I had many suitors in the city, I hadn't really expected that but I did my best to remain loyal to my dearest love. The only man I kept close to me was a hired bodyguard that my mother, Eve, had insisted I have. His name was Gotz. He was a dark haired carpenter who lived at the base of Mount Moon, he had pitchy brown eyes. They were so dark you could hardly distinguish the pupil from the iris. I had been so afraid of him at first but my mother reassured me, "Hee-hee, you're so silly Sasha. Gotz is great man, he'll make sure nothing bad happens to you over-seas. You just need to be positive."

He did keep the other men at bay, but when I'd get home to my dorm… I could see him looming over me, I was pinned with nowhere to go. I tried to push him away; I tried to force away these memories…

I was the lead ballerina in The Sleeping Beauty, a stunningly choreographed dance by Marius Petipa. I was enthralled with the music of Tchaikovsky, swaying and bouncing along with the music. The applause rang clear through the halls. But as the music ended reality came rushing back, the empty chasm that my life had become.

Pain rushed back. "Take it easy Miss Sasha." The soft voice of Kai greeted me as I awoke.

"Mom, please, don't move." Karen said, I could hear murmuring in the background.

"If only we'd known…"

"How was I supposed to know this wasn't normal?"

"We need to get a real doctor into town; I don't have herbal remedies strong enough to attend to these injuries… Someone will need to make a trip into the city"

"How long has this sort of thing been happening?"

"As long as I can remember…"

Darkness. Lost to a realm of sleep.

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in so long. Been feeling pretty depressed recently, stressed out with work, been working 40-50 hours a week. Car blew-up, had to buy another one, moved, new place was really shitty, moved again, finally settled down and getting back into the swing of things. Things are kind of got a bit dark here but this is a huge turning point for Karen and her family! And of course Kai had to save the day.