Chapter 3: The Shadows are only as Scary as You are

And what horrors it was, what Alyssa went through everyday in the mere two to three hours that her brother had total control over her was enough to mold her into obedience, Andre had tied Alyssa's entirety in his web of deceit, fear and control, moving, controlling Alyssa as he deems fit, she was completely at his mercy, yet Helga found herself powerless to save the little girl as the harsh regime Andre put Alyssa in exhibited results, and that's the only thing that mattered to their father. During her horseback training, Andre picked the most hostile horse for Alyssa, and not only did she manage to ride the beast, she became an excellent equestrian. Andre not only taught Alyssa how to work her way with various types of gun, but he also made sure that she knew when she would use it as he made her hunt game while he pressed a revolver at her temple, playing a game of russian roulette if she ever missed her target. And he made sure to teach Alyssa how to fight by demonstrating each move...on her.

Yet as he continued to get more severe and even more frequent, the more evident Alyssa's strength shone, the child never lost her kindness and compassion, she didn't tame the horse she rode, she loved the anger out of it, giving it the love it was deprived of as it was sold from its mother at a very young age, Windbreaker was the name she had given the horse. The animals she shot, she made sure to miss anything vital so she can come back and heal them, hiding them away behind Windbreaker's stall, a place even Andre is afraid to approach, and the blows she withstood from her brother, made her stronger, with each passing day, and it's beginning to dawn to Andre, that he wasn't close to breaking her just yet.

The eve before Andre was about to be sent to enroll at the Cadet Corp, he orchestrated the entire day off for Helga so he can take Alyssa on a field trip, around the market.

"Hey Alyssa, do you want to see something cool" not waiting for an answer Andre dragged Alyssa through the market and to a staircase, but the journey did not stop there, this was probably the longest stairs she had taken that headed beneath the ground, yet even in her innate apprehension against her brother by now, she couldn't help but wonder what is at the bottom of the staircase.

And what's on the end was nothing short of wonderment, this was the Underground City, the so called cesspool of bandits and do no gooders as her mother often ranted about, it was one thing to hear and read about it in books, nothing beats the real thing, not even its bad reputation.

"Well it's time to see how far you've gotten with your training" Andre stopped their in their trail and turned to hand Alyssa a fully loaded revolver and a tactical knife, dumbfounded, confused yet still afraid to question her brother's authority over her, Alyssa accepted the items without a single word.

"I'll be back for you, whatever you do don't leave this spot" Andre instructed, holding in his laughter until he was far enough for Alyssa to hear nor see. He made sure his mother dressed Alyssa in her best for this very purpose, baiting her dead center in the heart of the most malicious place within the walls, she practically looked like a gift wrapped lottery price down there, standing vulnerable in the crowd, looking nothing more than a doll with a toy gun.

"Let's see you try to withstand that, my I'm almost sad that I won't be able to see how this ends" Andre muttered to himself as he walked up the stairs towards the surface simultaneously lighting a cigarette.

Alyssa hid the items beneath the layers of her dress, the stares of the people around her making her mind reel in back to the past to the last time she felt this scared of what can happen to her. Her mind took her two years ago, back to the first time Andre had carried her in their father's cellar in the dead of the night and locked her in, alone in the dark. The longer Alyssa stood there, the more she realized that Andre was never going back for her, and the longer she stayed there, the more she succumbed to her fears, and the more people noticed that something was wrong. Willing herself to move, she took calculated, slow but sure steps, putting equal effort into moving forward just as it was hard for her to run in a fast and erratic pace

'Calm down, think and calm down' Alyssa chanted, trying to keep her breathing in control, looking for a corner she can hide in, recount her steps and formulate a way to get back to the surface and home. Finally founding her small space of solace, hugging her knees to her chest. She didn't know the area, so finding her way back was out of the question, it would be stupid of her to run around and unknown place known for making children disappear in its grasp, her best bet is to wait patiently for a military police to pass by and ask to be escorted to the surface to her home, surely her mother would have noticed she was gone. Little did she know, as she was thinking it, Andre had approached his parents and asked to celebrate his last night home and that he has tucked Alyssa in her bed, tired from their day of field trip specifically ordering the maids to not enter her room and disturb her rest, it would take the entire night and more so after for Helga to arrive back in the following day to notice that the little Novak doll is missing.

Hiding in the shadows between two buildings, Alyssa waited again for an extended period of time, waiting for an officer, yet none in the hours that she had been tucked away had passed, then it hit her, maybe she had hidden herself too well, what if they were looking for her and could not find her because she was so well hidden, should she present herself more openly? What did the cook make for dinner? Surprised by her own thoughts, it was only then that Alyssa realized that the last she had eaten was during breakfast with her family, and with no way to tell time, she probably already missed a meal or two, growing dizzy and weak, she was both hungry and thirsty.

Her father is both a merchant and a nobleman and if there was something that she learned from their livelihood is that everything comes with a price, whether it be money or something of value, it is the trade of life, the way of life, and since she has no money, she needed something she can trade for food, and she was riddled with fine items her mother hand picked, removing her choker, Alyssa held them in her hand slowly emerging from her hiding to look for something to eat and drink.

Standing before the food stall, there wasn't much to pick from, but there are some food she recognized several that nanny Mildred had taught her whenever she would be taken to the servant's kitchen.

"If you're going to buy something buy it, otherwise scram" the snarky shopkeeper sneered at her, without a doubt ready to scare her away if she had no good business to give her.

"Um, I don't have money, but can I buy have that bread and water for this instead" Alyssa muttered, and held out her elaborately stitched lace choker with a sapphire pendant encrusted within an ornately designed solid gold. The shopkeeper's eyes glinted, it was worth more than her entire stall, probably even enough to buy her a citizenship to the surface, the child didn't know it but it was something she would take advantage of, giving the child the biggest bread and water bag, she sent little Alyssa off her merry way and closed up shop, she's got some packing to do.

Alyssa then slipped back into her very small alleyway and began to plow into her bread.

"Don't just inhale that shit" a foreign voice made Alyssa jump out of her skin realizing that then and there her hiding place wasn't just hers anymore. A little boy no bigger than her sat slumped on the wall not far from her. Looking at his physique, he looked to be her age, yet his voice, the manner in which he spoke, even the scrunched up expression of him seem to tell Alyssa that he was older than her.

"Your food, eat it slowly or else you're going to end up regretting it, trust me I've been there" Levi advised her, a little less rough this time, still a couple miles to go from being gentle. Alyssa kept staring at him before looking back to her bread. He was so small, yet he was older than her, he was the smallest boy Alyssa had seen in her life, boys close her age back in Mitras were pretty chubby cheeks protruding from their faces, yet the boy before her, his cheeks were shallow, making his face look old and tired. Thinking about every meal she had before, every meal she didn't finish, Alyssa lost her appetite and offered her bread to the boy with her.

"Tsk, I don't need your food nor your pity" Levi frowned.

"I don't want it, I, - I ate this morning" Alyssa blushed, her stomach growling, body betraying her. Blushing hard, she shoved the bread onto Levi's lap and turned the opposite way, hoping that this will negate a possible inquiry of her embarrassment. Levi looked at the girl, obviously not from the underground, one because of how she is dressed and two because no one would give anything in there without a price, yet even in her own hunger, she had given him her entire bread.

"I'm not a fatso, I won't be able to finish all of it" Levi threw half of the bread at her, Alyssa stared at Levi, waiting for him to look at her, but when he finished the last of his bread and didn't look at her, Alyssa decided to begin eating and not let the bread go to waste.

"How'd you get lost here?" Levi finally asked his obvious question after Alyssa had her fill of food.

"How'd you know I'm not from around here?" Alyssa asked in between gulps of water then offering it to Levi.

"You stick out like a sore thumb" Levi deadpanned, but Alyssa's wide pale green eyes simply stared back at him, the expression completely lost on her.

"No one down there could afford anything you're wearing, but more obviously is your skin, it's not pale nor do you look sickly" Levi pinched her cheek a little before turning his attention back on the streets.

"My brother, he-he brought me here, and he left, I think he was trying to teach me a lesson" Levi turned back to Alyssa, and instead of hurt or fear, the girl simply just smiled, a creepy smile that didn't reach her eyes, she looked like a doll.

"Seems a little far fetched for a lesson"

"I think he's doing it so I get better, they say I was a sickly child and Andre says that he's doing it because it's what's best for me, and if I get better then maybe everybody would stop calling me a doll" Alyssa said, Levi quickly patted her head before hitting her.

"Stupid," was all Levi said before looking back to the streets. There were already men roaming around the streets probably looking for her, and the chances of bumping into a military police in the area are slim to none. If this girl has any chance of survival, they were going to have to do it the hard way.

"Let's go" Levi stood walking towards the other end of their alleyway and when Levi felt like Alyssa wasn't following he glared at her making her chill, yet the softness of his intentions wasn't lost on Alyssa, skipping towards him.

Levi lead her through the alleyways and stairs and roads, all the while avoiding the eyes of the men already looking for her, no military police were rounding the streets yet, so at best whoever her family is, was not yet notified of her disappearance. Levi gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, he was going to slam his hand against the wall, but Alyssa had held on to him, looking at her, he realized she did not do this on purpose, she held onto him as she watched people crowd on the streets, bustling around, shoulder rubbing against each other.

"I've never seen so many people" Alyssa gasped, even the busiest market in Mitras was a pale comparison to what's in front of her. Levi took her hands in his and began to drag her in the crowd using people to disguise them, safely passing through the crowded market, in the crowd the air felt thinner, and Alyssa could feel her lungs beginning to struggle for air, but she held onto Levi tighter and pushed through.

"We'll stay here for the night" Levi declared, sitting near the window, in case something happened, they would not be stuck. Alyssa, sat next to him, hugging her knees to herself.

"You're not afraid of the dark now are you?"

"No, I used to be, but Andre taught me not to be scared of it anymore" Levi turned to look at Alyssa as she continued her story.

"He would lock me in our father's cellar at night until I stop screaming" Alyssa revealed, Levi clicked his tongue.

"Your, brother did he teach you a lot?" Levi asked.

"Yeah, he taught me all kinds of things," Alyssa paused not sure how to continue further, if she should continue, but Levi made her feel like no one ever did, he made her feel like she was there, living beside her an equal being, not a toy, not a pawn and definitely not a doll, she was human in his eyes.

"Keep a secret for me okay? My brother's lessons hurt, a lot, not just me but also the animals he makes me shoot, I don't want the lessons anymore, but ever since my father started looking at me"

"Looking at you?"

"Before he wouldn't even look at me," Alyssa nodded, Levi faced her studying her small frame.

"I don't want to take the lessons anymore, but I don't really know how to tell mommy" Alyssa began to sigh, falling asleep on her own.

Levi wasn't a heavy sleeper, yet nothing could have prepared him from being awakened by the sight of Alyssa's small frame lying on the floor, struggling to catch her breath clutching her chest, her dress already wide open.

"Hey, brat!" Levi was quick and careful to put her to sit, her hands held on to her, it was very cold, just like how her mother felt back in their little room.

"Damn it, what do you need"

"Ho-t- t-ea-too-co-cold" Alyssa gasped each syllable with difficulty, it was all Levi needed to hear and he bolted out the window, it didn't take him long to return with a canteen of hot tea, stolen from the nearest place he could find, urging himself faster, afraid to not make it in time to save the girl. Afraid, it was funny how afraid he was of losing a girl he'd only known for less than a day, a girl he didn't even know the name of.

By the time he returned, instead of a dead limp body, he returned to a smiling face, she was still struggling to breathe, but her pants were now manageable and even in her pain she mustered a thank you. Alyssa drank it the tea, and although it wasn't like any tea that she was used to, she was thankful for, but she needed to conserve tea and take only what she needs, she didn't want to impose more than she already has

"Alyssa, my name is Alyssa" she smiled offering a hand towards Levi, who glared at her and standing up to do a little curtsey, and for a moment Alyssa doubted her common decency, and thought she had been neglecting her lessons from her governess. On the other hand, Levi was internally asking himself why this obviously rich girl was treating an underground vermin like him with respect and kindness, one that befits a nobleman.

"Levi" Levi reached for her hands and held her in her own, maneuvering from his seated position to kneel on one to Alyssa's small soft and dainty hands, Levi enveloped hers, his hands were rough and hard, weathered by the harshness of life underground, the contrast continued her skin was warm and lively, seemingly out of place in his cold and pale ones, yet still his cold hands were the warmest Alyssa had ever touched.

"Your hands!" Alyssa gasped, his knuckles were dirty and bleeding, sitting down, Alyssa lifts her skirt to take out her knife and destroyed her dress, tearing the ends of her skirt to for a makeshift bandage. Taking Levi's hands, she poured the tea very gently on his wounds and wrapped them around with her bandages.

"You shouldn't have done that, your dress is ruined now" Levi berated, but Alyssa only smiled taking her knife to level her skirts.

"Here, it'll probably be more useful to you than it is to me" Alyssa handed her the knife. There little moment was destroyed when a bunch of men broke down the door and began rushing inside their hideout in the fits of disarray and discord. Levi quick on his feet, taking hold of the knife on one hand and Alyssa on the other, out the window and onto the foot traffic of the ever busy market, taking Alyssa through every crevice and corner of the underground only he knew, he didn't know why he kept going for her, even though every bit of his being screamed to leave the dead weight behind, he went against his primary survival instinct to get her through, actively avoiding falls and jumps that would be impossible for her.

Making a sharp turn, Levi's was pushed back, a punch on his face throwing him a few steps back,

"Levi!" Alyssa exclaimed, doing what she can to soften Levi's landing, and that was to put herself under him and receive the brunt of the fall.

"You stinking bastard" Levi wiped the blood of his mouth and lunged at his attacker, wielding the knife in his hands, he was quick to finish the man off but then another one appeared and another and another, and in the haze of his fury, only one noise, one sound broke through.

"No Levi! Get away from me" a man was already dragging Alyssa, taking advantage of his distraction, probably to take Alyssa where they take all abducted rich kids of the surface. He knew what those men did to the children, they would torture them to torture their parents, dragging on for long until ransom has been paid, but still proceed to kill the child, making additional profit by selling their valuable parts for medical and deviant purposes.

Kicking, screaming punching and biting, Alyssa did everything she could to break free from her captor and help Levi, who was getting huddled by men, who had no shame in ganging up on a sole child. Fed up with her resistance, the man pulled back his arm and striked Alyssa with a force a grown up burly man that he is. Alyssa's face became numb in an instant a striking throb beginning to settle on her face, her ears were ringing, her vision spinning, just what the man needed to drag Alyssa away with him, this time successfully.

Something inside Levi snapped, like an electricity splitting the sky, he pressed forward, disregarding his own well being, taking punches left and right just so he can gain on the man running away with Alyssa. He was a man on a mission and nothing and no one can stop him.

However the ruckus they created had called attention, one of which is the attention of the barely used Military Police, who were taking their time in rushing towards the commotion, giving enough time for others to scatter, leaving only Levi, Alyssa and her captor. Injured, and beaten, Levi looked a lot worse for wear, one of his eyes were already swollen shut, he was bleeding and bruising everywhere, half of his body already limp, yet still he pushed through walking menacingly towards the man, between worrying about his eventual capture, the money he will make out of the girl and fighting this kid, he didn't have the luxury of anticipating Levi's next move, tackling him with a knife in his hand, injuring slicing his knife across the man's face, effectively pushing him and their fight away from Alyssa's barely conscious form.

"Why you fucking bastard" the man fought back, taking advantage of Levi's already weak state, using his size to his advantage punching Levi as if he wasn't a child less than half of his own age, straddling his small already beaten and bloodied body, taking punches at his face. Unbeknownst to him, Alyssa was already gaining control of her senses, and the first thing she sees, a man hunched over Levi's body, beating him to death and the approaching cluster of stumps approaching them.

"No, no… Levi" suddenly everything just made sense, her mind was clear, and her senses sharp, she recalled back to those times her brother held her at gunpoint, except she wasn't scared, it was like she was reliving these moments a lot differently, she was hyper focused, every bit of her being alive. Finger on the trigger, she gripped her gun with purpose and fired.

And didn't stop until the barrel was empty.

By the time the Military Police had arrived, the man slumped over on top of Levi, bleeding in all six places, with a little girl pointing the gun fresh and still smoking; just as the man lay dead, so did the vision of her brother her mind, the memory, the image; the very representation of the shackles and binds that kept her docile, that made her the little Novak doll.

The man wasn't the only victim of their thrysts, further into the alley, dead men line up the floor, and they knew the little girl could not have done it alone, however, just when they were about to look into things, just when they were about to inspect the man who died by having a revolver emptied on his body, just when they were about to discover the person, the boy responsible for several dead man…

"My name is Alyssa Novak, daughter of Anton of the Novak household and I want to go home" Alyssa announced relinquishing hold of the gun. Way faster than they arrived, they had left, cradling Alyssa in their arms as they walked away, clearly the life of one councilman's daughter outweighed the lives of the men who lay dead there, in an instant they were maneuvering away from the scene.

Looking over the female officer's shoulder, Alyssa watched as Levi crawled his way out from under the man Alyssa killed, even in the growing distance, their eyes locked and Alyssa gave him a small smile.

"Thank you" she whispered softly and leaned in on the woman's shoulder eyes falling asleep.