The sight of the three statues which stood in-front of them was both mesmerizing and terrifying at the same time. Mesmerizing, because of the intricate craftsmanship carved into every line, as if they were sculpted so carefully and intricately meanwhile terrifying, because they were once the thugs who had been about to do God knows what—things so vile that even God would have forbidden them.
"I'm glad they were just ordinary men". Taya whispered under her breath. "If they were awakened…then things would have gone south fast."
But as much as she thought it was fitting for the scum like these, she felt a macabre sadness instead. She had spent her entire life hiding her Gorgon curse from others, living in isolation with her blind grandmother. She had sworn never to show her terrifying appearance and the petrifying gaze on anyone— after that one tragic, fateful day, when her parents died by just gazing at her. That scar had branded itself into her soul, never to heal. Every victim she turned to stone lingered within her mind, shadows that haunted her. At her weakest, they consumed her—reminders that she was edging closer to becoming the very monster she feared.
Taya wondered how she would explain all of this to the seven rescued girls.
But before she could explain, they rushed forward, wrapping their trembling arms around her. Some cried softly, others clung to one another, as if that fragile embrace was the only proof that the nightmare was finally over, thanking her for whatever she had done.
Yet after everything was over the question hung heavy in the air: what next?
After escaping the torture facility, the girls could finally breathe peacefully. They had no words for what they endured, so silence became their shield—burying the memories deep, lest they resurface. Moving there battered and tired bodies, they rummaged the spoils of the thugs, and they found a van.
None of them knew how to drive it, but rifling through the compartments revealed unexpected fortune: a stash of cash, enough to last a few days, and, most importantly, a phone. After scavenging for something to eat they found ssome bread and water from the facility to get enough strength back to escape, and though exhaustion clung to their bodies, hope sparked in their eyes.
Following the map using the GPS, they made their way to a nearby town. Their arrival drew stares, but ignoring them, they pressed on until they found a small roadside inn. With the cash, they secured a shelter finally achieving a temporary peace.
Some of the girls had been kidnapped from their homes, lured or dragged away by cruel means. Their parents must have searched desperately, or perhaps they had resigned themselves to believing their daughters lost to monsters.
In this fractured land, such disappearances had become almost ordinary.
Thirty years ago, the world had changed it courese competely. Horrors began to rise from the very bones of the earth—beasts beyond comprehension, tore cities apart, bringing chaos and darkness with them. Humanity had no chance against them. Nations collapsed, democracy crumbled, and powers shifted into the hands of new rulers of the world who promised survival. The old world was gone. What remained was fragile and trembling, sustained only by those strong enough to hold the horrors at bay.
So, in these times, the vanishing of a few innocents was just another tragedy in an endless tide of them. Easy prey for those willing to exploit despair.
Yet as the girls contacted their parents and guardians, tears of relief flowed through voices on the other end of the line. Families were reunited. Smiles bloomed. Promises of peace whispered. One by one, the girls departed, leaving behind words of gratitude—until only Taya and one more girl remained.
Her name was Lucy. Blonde, with short messy hair, piercing blue eyes, and a modest outfit—a simple blue top and a wornout black jeans. She lingered in silence, after giving her goodbyes to the departing girls, she came back to the inn and stood there unmoving, until Taya finally asked:
"Aren't you going?"
Lucy's voice was steady, though tinged with sorrow. "I don't have anyone. I grew up in an orphanage. Life there isn't kind, but I'm nearly of age to leave. Still… there are many children who are in more need than me and in these hard times they are all struggling. I have to find a way to help them. That's my mission as a thin smie laced her face.
So, no—I have no one to return to, but I also don't know what to do now."
Taya stayed quiet for a while, her gaze heavy with unspoken memories. "I don't have a place to call home either. I'll have to take some quests at the city hall—easy ones, just enough to survive the day."
There was hesitation in Lucy's eyes, but then she spoke softly:
"Do you mind if I join you? For now, at least. It would be… good not to walk this road alone. And back at the facility you defeated those vultures didn't you, so you had a breakthrough right.
But I do like to ask, why didnt you help us out earlier, the way you turned those guys to a stone you could have done that at the first day itself.
Taya didn't give an answer immediately, this was not a simple thing for her.
"It's complicated", Taya spoke after a pause but before she could continue.
Oh... I see, I think I understand, Lucy spoke excitedly, trying to make her own assumption, you must have had a breakthrough at that moment when he was attacking you.
Indeed she was right in a way, in this reckoning world when it came down to the survival, when all hope was supposed to be lost, at the last brink humans started having awakenings and breakthroughs; showing abilities unheard to man.
This had helped significantly in stopping the growing expanse of these dark monstrosities, bringing an interruption in there ever growing hunger for life
But this was not true at all for Taya, she had never experienced an awakening or a breakthrough, rather it was something else. She had considered it to be curse rather than a blessing. A curse that had took her parents away, a curse that had stolen her normal childhood away forcing herself to a total isolation.