Sofia reeled back with shock in her eyes while she reached for the knife under her dress but found it missing. She remembered leaving it on the table as she cursed herself for her carelessness. She opened her mouth to scream, if only on instinct, even while knowing what little good it would do this deep within the forest, so far away from civilization, but a hand flashed through the door's slim opening before grasping her throat with its iron grip.

Her voice was left muffled into her throat as she even struggled to breathe. She thrashed, grasping the hand to dislodge herself, even sinking her nails into the man's skin, but her efforts were futile; the hand wouldn't budge.

The door slowly opened, revealing the man on the other side as the thin light of the stars illuminated his visage. The man's features came to her as a shock as a memory flashed in her mind; she had seen this man before. A little more than a year ago, this same man fell to her blow as she pressed her blade against his neck. Although the man himself was unmemorable, the events back then shaped who she was at this very moment.

Although she remembered him subconsciously, the man had changed substantially since then. She even wondered if her memory of that day was somewhat faulty. The once thin and weak young man, whom she easily overpowered back then, was now much taller and bulkier. The events obviously had a significant impact on him.

“I missed you so much,” the man said with an eerie grin. “Did you miss me?”

The look on his face at this moment sent a shiver down her spine. It seemed so far removed from rationality. At first, she thought he came to her for revenge, but that look said otherwise. Instead of anger or resentment, Sofia only saw madness and obsession as well as... lust?

Once she came to that realization, she began trembling as fear overpowered her psyche. She flailed around, punching and kicking at random. Although some blows would inevitably hit the young man, Sofia was much too thin and weak to deal any lasting damage to him.

The man scoffed at her futile resistance before squeezing her throat harder. Sofia gagged as she sought fresh air, to no avail. Her vision blurred from the lack of oxygen, and her head started spinning. She was on the verge of losing consciousness.

The man wouldn't let her pass out, however. Where was the fun in that? He released her ever so slightly, only allowing her to breathe the barest minimum of air as if to assert his dominance over her. Her beautiful face was now a blue mask of terror as she sought air desperately.

The man stepped inside her sanctuary, closing the door as if to isolate them from the rest of the world. He took each step deliberately while looking deep into Sofia's terrified violet eyes as if to imprint his image into her pupils.

She watched her assailant as dread overcame her heart, unable to muster the slightest of resistance despite all her strength. She knew what was to come but was powerless to defy her fate.

A dreadful chuckle escaped the man's lips as it distorted his face into a mask of madness while he pushed Sofia's body onto the kitchen's wooden table. She lay on her back while the man's free hand glided over her body, giving rise to an overwhelming sense of disgust.

The man's body lay over her, pinning her in place while the hand grasping her throat finally loosened. She wished to struggle, but the man's body was much too heavy for her frail arms to overcome.

Her silky green hair stood on end while her heart rate increased, threatening to leap out of her chest as she felt the man's rugged hand slip under her clothes. She watched, eyes wide open, as the man's other hand held her slender chin in place while his face slowly inched closer.

She opened her mouth to scream as this was the only option still left to her, the only hint of resistance still filling her mind, but this too was denied to her as she felt the man’s tongue entering her small mouth. She gagged as the slimy organ reached for the deepest part of her oral cavity, drowning her in spit and stench.

Fury mounted in her heart as the man's tongue violated her until it overpowered even the fear she felt. Her deep violet eyes shifted red, as if bloodshot, as madness washed over her. She wouldn't stand for this!

Her small arms stopped resisting the man's weight, opting to reach for his face. Sofia was barely conscious of her actions at this point, only driven by anger and vengeance. Her two hands held the side of the man's face as she plunged her thumbs into his ocular orbits, digging his eyes out.

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The man reeled back as he screamed his pain. He shook his head violently as he tugged on her arms to dislodge the foreign objects piercing his eyes, but Sofia held on tightly, plunging her thumbs even deeper as her nails sunk into the man’s face.

She could feel warm blood, among other liquids, dripping onto her face but ignored it as she gritted her teeth and vented her frustrations onto the man’s face.

The man's momentum as he stepped back lifted Sofia off the table, yet she refused to let go. The man's hand reached for her face in an attempt to push her back, but she bit the appendage as if a rabid dog, sinking her teeth into the soft flesh, digging into it with all the strength she could muster. She could feel the warm but disgusting blood flow in her mouth, washing away the lingering sensation of the man's tongue.

Much too preoccupied with inflicting as much damage as possible, venting her anger, Sofia missed the man’s other hand as it collided with her abdomen. The wind flew out of her as her lungs collapsed. She felt an intense pain rush through her spine, rattling her brain.

She let go of the man’s face as she held her stomach while gasping for air. A burning sensation engulfed her core as she became unable to inhale. While she squatted on the ground in pain, the man clutched at his now empty orbits while a mass rose in his throat. Moments later, a flurry of undigested food and blood was ejected from his mouth as it stained the cottage floor in its stench.

Now unable to see, the man relied on sound to locate Sofia. He could hear small whimpers resonating in his ears as she gasped for breath, giving away her position. The man shambled forward in the darkness, flailing his arms around, hoping to catch her again while the expression on his face was one of insanity, shifting between pleasure and pain.

Sofia was horrified by the sight while a shiver ran along her back, but the feeling was short-lived, as fury overwrote everything she felt. Her mind was blank, and all that remained was an urge to kill.

She felt the man's hand brush against her hair as she dove beneath his outstretched arms, seeking her weapon. She quickly rushed toward the knife lying on the floor, tightly grasping the handle within her hand, but the sound of her hurried steps echoed within the small cabin. The young man deftly turned around despite the darkness plaguing him and pounced on her.

Sofia only had enough time to unsheathe the blade before she felt the man’s entire weight on her body. She stared, eyes wide open, into the man’s empty orbits while a filet of drool dripped on her face. No sense of sanity remained on the man’s face, only the look of a beast desperately seeking his prey.

She felt a warm sensation slowly stain her hand. During the struggle, she managed to plunge her knife into the man’s side, probably puncturing a lung, yet no trace of pain could be seen, only insanity. A storm brewed in Sofia’s mind as life slowly escaped the man. Who was he? Why would he do this? What was this abnormal state?

Although she had many questions and so few answers, a hypothesis formed in her mind, but she buried it in a corner of her psyche as this was not the time; she could figure it out later. The man's breathing became ragged as a mass of blood and organs flew from his mouth, landing square on Sofia's face. She wiped the blood as best as she could while still keeping watch on the man's movement, ensuring that her blow would be lethal.

The man made no effort to remove the blade, only gently caressing Sofia's face with his fingers, smearing even more blood on her white skin. The man stood over her as if entranced, ignoring the blade digging further into his side. Blood gushed from the man's mouth once again, which Sofia was ready for. She deftly avoided the scarlet torrent by tilting her head slightly.

Time passed while both stood in silence. The man's movements became sluggish as blood and warmth slowly left him, yet his fingers still traced the contours of Sofia's facial features as if feeling her beauty through his fingertips.

As time passed, the hot rage plaguing Sofia's mind turned to cold fury. She made sure her hand firmly grasped the deadly edge stuck deep into the man's body. She even twisted the knife from time to time, venting her hatred, but the man offered no reaction, as if pain was a foreign concept.

Soon enough, all the man's heat soaked the cottage's wooden floor, while all that remained pressed against Sofia's chest was a cold mass of flesh devoid of life. Her fury subsided, but her dread returned once she realized what she had done.

Although her mind tried to rationalize her actions, telling her it was either him or her, her heart knew otherwise. She had now crossed a line and could never go back. This would plague her mind for the rest of her life. She knew that such a day would come eventually, yet she drew a blank when faced with the events themselves. She stood rooted in place, lying on her back with a corpse pressing against her small chest.

The light of the stars slipping through the window illuminated this macabre scene. Sofia, a young girl, practically still a child, was drenched in blood and guts while her mind was catatonic, unable to process what had happened. Her clear eyes that once shone with light were now vacant and dull.

She felt the limp body threatening to crush her as it lost all rigour, which prevented her chest from rising for breath. Her survival instincts kicked in, which drew her out of her stupor. She gagged as the stench of iron and death assaulted her senses while pushing the cadaver away from her.

The dead man rolled on his side, finally freeing her while Sofia stared at her cottage’s roof amidst a pool of red liquid, wondering what steps to take next. How does one dispose of a dead body?

The thought shook her to her core. She never expected herself to be so callous with the loss of life. She thought she would be more reluctant after suffering such an assault, but after calming down, she found her mind working surprisingly efficiently and rationally. Obviously, something inside her broke this day.

She shook her head, clearing her idle thoughts. While her predicament remained in the corner of her mind, her thoughts were better utilized to seek a way out. She couldn't imagine what her family would do if they learned about this mess.

She rose and scanned her tiny room, looking for anything useful. Minutes passed while she was deep in thought. She could feel the blood under her feet solidify as it cooled, yet she wasn't bothered by it.

She thought of many ways to deal with this, but none were good; none would grant her the desired result. She could only choose the best of the bad ones. It was something she theorized after her run-in with those thugs last year.

Although I have a plan, I really wished it wouldn’t have come to this, she thought as she sighed.