• Warning: Explicit Language

    - - - - -

    1955 - Little Sisters Orphanage, Rapture

    "She's a bit too old, ma'am."

    "What do you mean, a bit too old? She's thirteen! I know girls in there that went in years ago, they're sixteen now, for crying out loud!"

    "They have been here for a few years now. They were of the allowed age at that time when they were taken in. However, I'm afraid your daughter is too old for us to take in."

    "That's just ridiculous! She looks as if she's ten, come on, you can take her."

    "I'm sorry, ma'am. There's nothing I can do."

    "Hmph! Well, are you running some kind of ***** central here, where they can only take little girls? Maybe a brainwashing station? I don't see why my little girl can't go in… Her sister has been in there for three years, since this place opened! She's fifteen now, and she'll be sixteen soon! Wouldn't it be so kind to let my dear daughter here live with her-"

    "There's nothing I can do, ma'am."

    Sigh. "Well, alright." A dark glance. "Come on. Dad said he was able to purchase some good food from the vending machines today. I guess you'll just have to settle on that for the rest of your life. Maybe when you're eighteen, you can work here, and show them how it's done."

    My mother grabbed my hand, dragging me away.


    * * * *


    New Year's Eve, 1958 – Kashmir Restaurant

    "Hey, hey, baby girl! Drink up!"

    The dashing man put his arm around my shoulder, gulping down the glass of champagne. This hand smoothly placed the empty glass on the tray and swept up another full one, moving it in front of my mouth. Smiling, I took the glass and sipped.

    "So, honey." He slipped in front of me, clapping his hands in front of his torso. "Whatcha doin' after the big countdown? Got any plans? Maybe a bed?"

    "Ooh, hehe," I chuckled, grinning slightly at my boyfriend. "Well, babycakes, I think I'm free all night, right into the morning, and on through the day…" We both laughed, and I drank down the glass.

    Our eyes met. For some reason, now, his became nervous.

    "Honey," I sighed, my smile dropping. "Is there something wrong?"

    "Nothing wrong at all." He nervously smiled. "I… I just want this new year to start right."

    "Oh, no no no." I kissed his cheek. "As long as we're together, it doesn't have to be a new year for things to be right. I know, we started a bit rocky…"

    "Yeah, yeah…"

    "…But everything will be alright in the end." I smiled at him, receiving the smile I wanted in response.

    With a sigh, he reached in his pocket. "And I know it'll be alright, with the two of us together. I'll make sure of it."

    I took in a deep breath as I watched my dear boyfriend get down on one knee. My eyes were wide, and I was about to cry. Could he be…

    "I want you to be with me not just for the new year…" He pulled out a small box, holding it up to me and opening it. "…but forever."

    My tears blurred out the diamond ring, which sparkled in the glitzy lights of the restaurant. A few people nearby gasped, and a loud "aw" rang from the banquet attendees around us.

    "I…" I shook my head, smiling, speechless, before hugging him. "Of course I do!"

    We both hugged in the small applause that started around us.

    After that, we kissed. He carried me romantically to the corner of the room, where we kissed more. Passionately, like nothing we'd ever done before, like nobody had ever loved before.

    As if it were the last night of our lives…

    "Aw, how sweet." A sharp, crackling voice broke us out of our world.

    The last thing I saw before fainting was blood on his face.


    * * * *


    1960 – Fontaine Amusements, lobby

    I woke up in a panic, tears soaking my face.

    "Why… WHY!?" I turned onto my stomach, almost burying my face into the dirty concrete floor. My hands covered my face, but that didn't stop my cries nor my tears from escaping. A small puddle formed below me, but I ignored it – it was all my salty tears, and here I was, drowning in them.

    "WHY THE ******** DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM!? YOU BASTARDS!!"

    A figure loomed over me a minute later, casually standing, knowing that I would never stop unless he did something.

    "C'mon, you c**t. Don't get started with this again." He kicked me lightly and dropped something next to me.

    I could barely look to my side not just because my tears blurred my vision, but because I had no desire to look at the dirty black cat mask that this man had dropped. With a sob, I reached out my arm and dragged the mask next to my face.

    "Put it on and get up. We're leaving. There's a Big Daddy ahead, and he just adopted a little girl."

    That was instant motivation. Suppressing my sobs, I stood up and slipped the mask on, then adjusted it for comfort.

    "Guys!" A distant voice followed by footsteps came from down the hallway. Another slim man donning a masquerade mask ran towards us, obviously tired. "Those bastards, the Rabiat gang just took our kill."

    Rabiat… My eyes widened, and I let out a harsh yell.

    The man who kicked me peered at me through his wolf mask. "Oh, don't tell me you're going to try this bullshit again."

    "Of course, you idiot." I hissed. "They're…" I took in a deep breath, slouching over a bit. "The son of a b***h that took him…"

    "Jeez," the wolf mask man sighed. "Just give it up. Look at you. You've already done this a million times, and it's only been… what, eight months?"

    "Shut the ******** up." I reached into my satchel and pulled out a can of beer, opening it and gulping it down. The other two just stared at me as I chugged. With a breath out, I wiped my mouth with my patched-up arm. "I'm doing this again, whether you scared ******** like it or not."

    Tossing the can aside, I marched past the masquerade man and made my way through the hallway, into the long-abandoned amusement park. It took a second before the footsteps followed me. The machine asking for entry passes was broken (for now, since some loser had the guts, time and boredom to keep fixing it every once in a while) so we just sped right past the door.

    I heard their laughter before I saw them. And when I did see them, they heard me, turning around and chuckling.

    "Oh, it's that little b***h again," one snickered. They all sneered.

    "Wow, you really think that killing me will bring your prissy little husband back, no?" He stepped forward. I narrowed my eyes at the all-too-familiar rat mask, rage building up inside at just the sight of it. "All the ADAM in the world can't do s**t. The ********' revitalizers did nothing for him. Nothing." He laughed weakly. "Because I killed that rich little ******** quite thoroughly. And, I regret not killing you, because I hate having you on my a** every time we're within a quarter-mile of each other."

    "And you'll regret it even more when you're dead in a few minutes…" I hissed.

    The men ahead gave little "ooh-hoos."

    The smile under the rat mask grew wide as this man spread his arms towards me.

    "Try me." His voice mocked me in every possible way.

    That pissed me off the most.

    "ARGH!" I threw fire at him. Something I wish I could've done that night.

    He side-stepped, curling up his hands as he shot some electricity at me. I barely dodged it, and my short hair stood up on my head a bit. Once again, I threw fire, then threw more, and then more. One skimmed, but the rest missed.

    "Is that all you've got?" he chuckled loudly. "WELL? IS IT!?"

    "SHUT THE ******** UP, YOU DIRTY LITTLE a**!" I pulled out a gun and started firing, firing as fast as I could
    towards the little ********. I grinned in satisfaction when I heard a groan.

    "You c**t…" he panted. "HOW DARE YOU!" He shot more energy, and my arm was hit. I couldn't move as I stood in pain. He limped quickly towards me, but no, it wasn't fast enough. I took a deep breath as I recovered, then shot another ball of fire at him. It was almost impossible to miss the b*****d – he was right there, limping towards me.

    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" His yell filled the dirty, destroyed room.

    I couldn't do anything but laugh as this man burned, falling to the floor, screaming in pain. His clothes caught fire, and soon, it was almost like the dirt that covered his skin caught on fire as well.

    "YOU DESERVE WHAT YOU GOT, YOU DICKWAD!" I kept laughing, almost unable to breathe, and he just screamed, screamed with what little life he had left.

    The others could only watch, because we all knew, whether we were deformed little rejects or not, only an idiot would interrupt a fight like this.


    . . . . .


    Soon, he was dead. The other two casually left, uncaring of the almost-charred corpse that was once their partner.

    Even past an hour past my victory, I was on my knees, smiling wide, proud of this beautiful moment that could compare to no other. My two acquaintances stood behind me and fixed themselves up, letting me soak in my happiness, which was expressed in tears, yells, and laughter.

    In the distance, loud footsteps pounded. A youthful voice laughed.

    "Daddy, daddy! There's an angel ahead! Come on!"

    I smiled even wider, if it was even possible to do so.

    This sad little life of mine couldn't be any better than it was right now.