Sin Wrapped In Silk - Queen x Staine

[Queen of Disaster]

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The city was not what she had expected. Or maybe she had been naive. Maybe it's both her naivetee and having too high expectation but it was not what she had imagined in her mind. She could barely believe that she made it on her own so far anyway. The first weeks had been alright, it got worse when she ran out of food and money. Her shoes were now broken in, so much so that they had holes in them. When it rained the rain filled the insides of her shoes and the annoying squeak of wet shoes and socks was the least of her worries. It was also kind of a miracle that she had been able to stay hidden so far. She knew from looking at magazines and at TVs in windows that her family was looking for her. Seeing them crying and weeping for her filled her with a kind of rage she had never felt before.

Liar!, she had wanted to scream at them, yell it loudly into the TV wishing they could heard it through the technology - but she didn't scream, she didn't pray. And kept quiet. As quiet as a mouse. As quiet as she had always been. Or... not always. But for the last few years. It had been pure luck that she had been able to pull this off anyway or maybe God had finally listened to her prayers. If he existed that is. She was not so sure anymore about that and yet she hadn't been able to take off the only thing that had always been hers and hers alone. A small cross as a necklace she had received from her grandmother. She remembered that woman fondly but she had been dead for a long time now. The only thing her parents hadn't taken away from her.

Preparing for her escape had taken months of careful and deliberate planning. She didn't share her plans with anyone either and had kept quiet. She had learned her lesson as a teenager. There was no one she could trust and she had paid for this lesson dearly. At times her fingers had twitched with the urge of simply grabbing the bag she had been able to steal from her father and just run, the urge so overwhelming she had nearly fumbled her own plans. But once a year her parents and their community went out and spend the weekend in the woods celebrating their leader. She hated that man and just thinking about him made shivers run down her spine with discomfort. She was left alone with a bowl of left over food when they had left. She had gained her parents trust so much that they had left the door open so sure of her subservience that she wouldn't run away. And then she had done it. She had grabbed as many things as possible, pushed food into the bag, her fathers and mothers money - cash only of course. From the few movies and books she had been allowed to watch and read she knew credit cards could be tracked. Not that she knew how to use one anyway. She was absolutely clueless about the world. Her life had compromised of her small bedroom and the mattress on the floor. The few toys she owned. The medication she was forced to take. But slowly she had been able to hide that she wasn't swallowing the foul medicine hiding it in her underwear until she went to the toilet to relieve herself and to get rid of the colourful pills.

Getting off the medication had been... rough. She had cried more often, had tried to hide the many attacks of hyperventilation from her family and somehow she had made it. Her parents hated her so much they ignored her most of the time - unless they wanted to hurt her. Which had gotten less and less of an issue thankfully. Probably because her father was suffering from some illness right now and wasn't the fittest. Not that she cared about him. Was it cancer? A tumor? She wasn't sure and she didn't care. Her violent vengeful thoughts and fantasies such a stark contrast to the way she walked and held herself.

And somehow, despite her lack of skills, she had been able to reach the city. It had been a difficult journey but her need to be as far away from her family as possible gave her strength she hadn't known she possessed.

The city was-

It was different from anything she could've imagined. Sure, she had seen movies but seeing it through a screen and being witness to it in real life were two completely different experiences. She had never seen so many people at one spot and at first she had been in awe at how tall the buildings were and seeing all these different ethnicities it was simply astonishing for her. Then the reality of her situation turned into something she didn't know how to deal with. She didn't know anyone, she didn't know the laws, she was way in over her head. She had tried to talk to people but she lacked the social skills and no one wanted to talk to a dirty woman like her who seemed like one of the many homeless people. And strictly speaking she was homeless. She didn't think of the house she grew up in as her home after all. But by watching the other homeless people she learned one or two things and she also learned how sometimes they would break in into homes of families that went to travel leaving a home empty. Her feet carried her to a neighbourhood and she carefully watched the families and people. One house stood out. It was a big house of someone who had a lot of money. And he lived alone. She only had to watch him and didn't have to look out for other adults. So when he packed bags and filled his car with luggage while she hid away in the gardens behind bushes anticipation filled her body. Her nerves were on fire and every muscle in her body was aching with tension. And finally he drove away.

It was late and already dark outside. Autum was slowly taking over and taking away the warmth of summer. She needed a place to stay as the nights grew colder and this empty home seemed to be perfect to hide away. She only had to be on the lookout for his return. Otherwise she would be fine but he had packed quite a lot so she was sure he would be away for a while.

Days prior she had carefully put a stone on a windowsill making sure it wouldn't close all the way leaving a gap so miniscule he wouldn't realize it - she hoped. And he hadn't. Thankfully. Now she kept quiet as a mouse crouching and sneaking smiling happily to herself when she successfully reached the window. Not one of this mans neighbours had looked out for his home the neighbourhood one of those were no one would dare break in. She had heard a homeless woman tell another girl how they avoided neighbourhoods like this one but why she didn't know. It didn't make sense to her.

With a quiet thud she pushed the window open and with the bit of strength she possessed she was able to climb inside. Immediately she closed the window her heart thundering in her chest. Her breath was loud and her chest was heaving and her palms covered in cold sweat. It was dark and she barely recognized what room this was so blindly she began to reach for a wall, walking, step by step, until finally she found a light switch. It was blinding at first and she blinked at first her eyes needing to get accustumed to the light. And then she finally saw what room she had chosen. It was a small bathroom with a toilet. A guest bathroom.

Suddenly she felt how dry her lips were and with energy she didn't know she possessed she nearly ran to the sink. The moment she saw and heard the water she leaned forward and began to greedily drink it. The pain in her throat began to ease as the delicious water was devoured by her. She didn't know how much she drank when she finally stopped wiping at her wet lips and feeling the water heavy in the pit of her stomach. It was painfully empty and she needed to eat soon. Hopefully he had something she could eat in his kitchen. If he truly left for a while he probably didn't leave anything fresh but maybe he had cookies or something in the freezer.

With new found energy she left the bathroom leaving the light on without realizing it. She looked around and it took way too long before she finally found the kitchen. Like a starved animal she rushed to the cupboards and began opening them, one by one, loudly and with desperation. She didn't close them and when she found crackers she ripped it open and began to eat. She didn't care about her dirty shoes or the mismatched dirty clothing she had picked out from various dumpsters. She didn't care about her dirty fingers and she didn't care about anything at all. All she was focusing on was the crackers that slowly began to fill up her belly. She didn't even taste it as her sole goal was to fill her body with sustenance.

All Aniela focused on at the moment was the box of crackers in her hand.

Aniela

@Staine​