Opening her eyes seemed like an impossible feat, but somehow she managed. Looking aorund the sanctuary known as the Crimson Requiem, Astrid recalled the first time she had come here. She had been running away from her past... leaning back, her mind wandered to the things that had happened leading to the current moment.

~~~~~

Astrid had always been alone, its all she could remember. Her mother abandoned her with the prostitutes at Slag Row almost immedietly after she was born from what she had been told. It might not have been the best decision in hindsight, but it wasnt like that monster of a woman cared. With black hair that shined in an almost blue tint when the sun hit it and soft grey eyes, the women at Slag Row pretended to love her only to prepare her for the coming years after puberty, they hoped to make a profit off of her. At the age of sixteen and standing at five foot eight, Astrid had her first client, a man they called "The Cutter". He wasnt kind in the least, his name was given for a reason. When he was younger, his father had taught him that only the strong survived and that people will always listen to someone they are afraid of... He took this to an extreme when he began torturing women. Cutting his initials into them every time he saw them for a little... Adulterous fun. He would cut into them until he was bored of them, then he would eat their flesh.

Astrid had only seen him once before he became her client, it was when she was 6 years old. Wandering down the halls of Slag house where she saw him in the bathroom cleaning his pale skin off. Looking over to her, Astrid felt fear flood through her, his pale blue eyes that glowed in contrast to the blood, making ice run through her veins. He was beautiful in a demonic way... Walking past her, he went to the woman who owned the house and whispered something Astrid would hear for the rest of her life every time she closed her eyes; "She's mine when the time comes." When that time came, the other women threw her in the room with him like a piece of meat. Her screams only made the man smile, his teeth looking like pearly white razor blades, his breath smelling of blood... His touch as cold as marble in the winter snow. His dark hair was slicked back and even though she saw no blood on him yet, she knew it was only a matter of time. He took her as his own. Every touch precise and cold. Though she had been told about 'first times' causing a small amount of discomfort, she was not prepared for this. But this was far from an ordinary first encounter with sex.

When he was done mutilating her flesh and ripping her innocence away forever, he let her go. She ran back to the prostitutes demanding to know an explanation, demanding to know why they would do something so cruel, She had thought they loved her. They cackling that ensued rang in her ears as they told her she wasnt any better than the rest of them and she had better get used to him, this went on for a year... Meeting The Cutter every friday, the nights when he used her body, rubbing knives down her legs and torso... Until one night when she got tired of the abuse.

He had told Astrid that she would always be his and that he would find a way to her if she tried to run. This set the next course of action into play. In the dead of night, while everyone was sleeping, she set fire to Slag Row and watched it burn to the ground, tears in her eyes for the death of her old self, but not for those women. Never again would she bother herself with what they may think or how they might be. Soot on her face, she smiled causing her tears to over flow and leave clean streaks down her cheeks. She wasnt even thinking about the pain in her legs and torso as she walked away to start a new life. Years went by, as did many mistakes. She couldnt get The Cutter out of her mind, his face in everyone of her dreams. While alone on the street at the age of twenty-four, a stranger with pale, clammy skin approached her and told her about something to ease the pain of her past... He told her it would help her forget all those years of lying and torment. The man told her about heroin and how it would make her feel numb... It seemed like a proper reason to try it if it only meant to get those hands off of her body, even if those hands were only in her dreams.

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Looking into the dealers eyes, she couldnt see that there were some things he had not told her about the drug.

He never told her about withdrawls, having only ever smoked pot, she didnt think about the reprucussions.

He never told her there would be nights where she was aching, hungry and shivering... The nightmares would get stronger, her emotions would be horrible and she lashed out at those around her if she didnt return to him and pay him for just a little bit more. The only way to get rid of the vivid nightmares was to buy more of it. Everytime she went back to him, her arms sore from the injection site, he raised his prices... Of coure he would, this drug was the kind you would kill your own family for.

But the only way to get money was to do the one thing she turned away from... Astrid did everything she could to get a job that didnt involve selling her body... Tried everything, but all her money was going to her addiction... she was desperate, losing sleep and weight. After looking everywhere and trying to get money to score another bit of heroin, she leaned against a wall and fell to the ground, her hair covering her face and her body in pain, her track marks throbbing for a little more poison in her veins. The Cutter appeared to be everywhere now while she was going through withdrawls. He was breathing in her ear, telling her the things he would do to her once he found her. Raking his knives across her skin all over again. Taking what he wanted from her and giving nothing in return... Astrid could barely move to get up and had wondered whether or not she would make it through the night with how much her body was aching for another dose of her drug... A woman with animalistic eyes shook her awake from her hallucinations and Astrid weakly looked up at her, tears had formed in her eyes and she was scared. The woman had blonde hair that was worn up in a neat ponytail and barely wore a stitch of clothing which, at first reminded her of Slag Row women... But this woman looked kind but more worried than anything else. Astrid watched her move, the street lights illuminating her face. She took her off the street and took her home with her. She made her fight through the withdrawls, made her eat and held her when her body was having spasms. Once the process was over, Astrid decided to never touch a drug again...

It wasnt worth the pain even if that was the one thing to get that barbaric man out of her memory... It turns out the womans name was Vivica, though she had secrets, she was the closest thing to family that Astrid ever had. She protected her and gave her what she had always wanted, a home. Vivica brought her to The Crimson Requiem.