A loud bang had Willow Sheffield's eyes shooting wide open and she instantly lunged from her makeshift bed which was just an old blanket with some of her clothes beneath.
"What in the world was that?" She whispered as her heart pounded loudly against her chest.
She was still disoriented as she had been rudely woken up from sleep, but she managed to tiptoe out of her room, trying not to make any sound.
This was her home, but she felt like a prisoner here. She was not to be seen or heard when her presence was not requested and if she made any little mistake or overstepped her boundaries, she would receive the beating of a lifetime.
Her heart raced faster in her chest as she neared the parlour and once she pulled the curtain, her blood ran cold as her eyes went wide with horror.
Her father lay on the ground in the pool of his own blood and over his unmoving body stood Isadora and Savannah, her step-mother and step-sister.
"Father!" She bellowed at the top of her voice before running over to him, her heart almost leaping out of her chest in a panic.
She heard Isadora and Savannah cackle behind her, but she paid them no mind as she placed her ear over her father's chest, trying to listen for a heartbeat.
A loud gasp escaped her lips when she heard nothing. She tried to feel his pulse too, but there was none.
Willow screamed with all of her might and it felt like her heart was about to explode out of her chest, her entire body trembling violently.
"No! Father! Please wake up, Father! It can't be!" She screeched trying to shake her father awake, getting his blood on her hands in the process.
"Aw, look whose father is dead." She heard Isadora drawl, but she paid her no mind as she kept trying to feel for a pulse or a heartbeat. She just needed something. Anything.
Her step-mother and step-sister simply cackled loudly behind her and that was when she knew she had enough. Her hands trembled with rage by her sides as she slowly turned to them, shooting both women's death glares.
"What the hell did you do?! You two killed him, didn't you?!" Willow bellowed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gritted her teeth so hard to the point where it almost drew blood.
Savannah stalked dangerously towards Willow, all forms of laughter wiped completely from her face and it was now replaced by a menacing scowl.
"You better lower that voice of yours if you don't want to be next." Savannah growled.
"But why? Why the hell would you kill him? He did nothing to you." Willow's entire body trembled as she looked down at her father's pale and lifeless body, her heart tearing to pieces in her chest.
She could barely breathe. She loved her father so much and now, he had been taken away from her. Just like that.
He was all she had left. Her mother was taken away from her at a young age, and now, her father is gone too.
Willow's entire body trembled, her eyes wide with disbelief and the urge to throw up growing stronger and stronger by the minute.
A loud scoff escaped Isadora's lips as she stalked towards Willow, her eyes dark and predatory.
"That's right," She smirked, squatting till she was at eye level with Willow. "We killed your precious daddy and now, everything you own is ours."
Isadora's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Willow's neck, her lips which were red as blood curling up in an evil smile.
"Speak a word of this to anyone and you're dead. Do you understand me?"
Willow spluttered and choked as Isadora's hand tightened on her throat.
"I said, do you understand me?!" Isadora yelled with wild, crazy eyes, landing a resounding slap on Willow's face which sent her reeling. "Answer me when I'm speaking to you!"
"Y–Yes." Willow answered meekly, her eyes blurring with tears and that seemed to satisfy Isadora as her sick smile returned onto her face.
"Good," Isadora answered, slowly getting up to her feet, dusting imaginary dirt from her clothes while Savannah looked on with glee.
"Clean that up." She barked, about to exit the parlour when Savannah stopped her.
"Mother! You forgot the other thing you were supposed to tell her." Savannah said excitedly, practically bouncing on her heels, a malicious grin present on her face and at that moment, Willow could not help but feel a sense of dread wash over her.
Nothing good ever happened whenever Savannah got excited.
"Oh, that's right!" Isadora exclaimed, turning to Willow, an identical grin to Savannah's making its way onto her face.
"You're now a property of the palace. The Alpha King. The palace guards will come and fetch you tomorrow."
Willow froze as all the blood drained out of her face. "What? You sold me to the palace?"
Isadora simply shrugged while Savannah looked like she was having the time of her life.
"You'll leave at first light tomorrow." Isadora said with another shrug like she had not just cleaved Willow's entire world into two, she turned around to leave with her daughter, but Willow rushed towards her, grabbing her feet.
"Please! Please, Mother! Please don't do this to me! You cannot sell me off to the palace! I won't survive there! Please let me stay here with you!" She cried at the top of her voice, tears streaming down her eyes as her lips wobbled.
"Get the hell off me, you vermin!" Isadora yelled as she kicked her off, a look of disgust on her face as she stomped on her head.
Willow's body trembled as intense pain seared through her head from Isadora's slippers, but she kept pleading as more tears streamed down her face.
"How dare you touch me?!" Isadora bellowed, her eyes filled with hatred and intense malice.
"And I told you to stop calling me mother. I am not your mother. Are you deaf?! You leave at first light tomorrow and that is final!" Her step-mother yelled before storming away, her step-daughter in tow.