Prologue - Part 2

Bethany’s life spiraled before her on the night they had planned to go to Toxia. She was in the attic searching for supplies when she came across a black chest. Someone had taken the effort to hide it in a worn out cardboard box that was buried under a stack of old newspapers.
As she sifted through the contents, her pulse quickened and she felt all the terrors of her nightmares flood into her, drowning her. There were newspaper clippings of the port city of Toxia. An article with the headline “Little Girl Found Alive in Toxian Waste!” shouted at her. She read it with frantic urgency. She fell back and she couldn’t breath as realization hit her. Pieces of her puzzled past were falling into place. The reason she had no baby pictures. The reason she did not look at all like her parents. And perhaps the reason as to why she had these visions of death and gore.

She ran downstairs and confronted her parents, the two people she had trusted the most, waving the evidence in their faces. Voices were raised and things were said that could never be taken back. Her parents watched helplessly as she stormed out of the house.

With her emotions wracked, she could only think to get away and to find her friends. She arrived at the pier to find it deserted. Her heart sank.
Her mobile buzzed in her jacket and she checked it. A message glowed in the black night.
“cant w8 cul8r”
Shoulders slumped, she wondered if anything else could go wrong tonight. She dialed her friend but only got his voicemail, she left a message.
“Wait for me. I’m coming.”

“Hey there sweetheart. What’s a pretty girl like you doing out here all alone?”
Bethany snapped around to see a scraggly squat man with a toothless grin standing close to her. Behind him she saw a barge loaded with crates, some of them stamped “Toxia”.
“Are you sailing to Toxia?” she asked nonchalantly, not wanting to raise suspicion.
The scruff rubbed his stubbly chin and looked at her with hungry eyes.
“What business is it of yours sweetheart?”
“I need to get to Toxia.” She stated simply without flinching.
The man broke out laughing. His rank breath nearly made her gag. “Toxia isn’t a place for sweethearts like you.” His eyes roamed the curves of her body.
Without looking away, she said in the most serious tone she could muster. “How much?” She fingered her money in her pocket.
He started to reach for her, his dirty hand about to touch her when a booming voice from the barge shouted out. He quickly turned and ran back to the ramp, leaving Bethany to stare after him. She shook herself out of her stupor and followed him onto the barge. She hid behind the crates and prayed they wouldn’t find her.

The air was putrid as the barge cut through the thick green mist, it slowed and rocked to a stop. Bethany waited anxiously as the crew started to unload the freight, biding her time to jump onto the dock.

The fog swallowed her whole as she landed on the rotting wooden dock. She made her way into the dank receiving warehouse. Bethany’s head began to ache and she was feeling the tentacles of anxiety start to creep into her. Her hand shot to her jacket pocket and she realized she had forgotten to bring her medication. Panic filled her as her eyes darted through the darkness. She willed herself to stay focused so she could find her friends and also in hopes of finding some answers to herself. She stepped out onto the streets of Toxia...alone.