Chapter 3

"No!" Elara cried, a sound of pure anguish. "Those are sacred! They are for healing!"

Vicky picked up a shard from a shattered ceremonial bowl, its painted symbols now fractured.

"Sacred?" Vicky mocked, her voice laced with contempt. "They look like cheap trinkets to me. Just like you."

Elara saw Lena stir, trying to push herself up, blood matting her dark hair.

Lena saw Big Tony pick up a heavy, jagged piece of a stone artifact. He advanced on Elara, a cruel grin on his face. He was aiming for Elara's face.

"No!" Lena screamed again, weaker this time.

With a final surge of strength, Lena threw herself in front of Elara, trying to shield her.

The stone shard, meant to disfigure Elara, struck Lena on the temple with sickening force.

Lena went limp, collapsing at Elara' s feet. A dark pool began to spread on the polished floor.

Elara knelt, her hands trembling as she reached for Lena.

No pulse.

The girl' s eyes were open, staring, empty.

A primal scream tore from Elara' s throat, a sound of unbearable grief and rage.

She looked up at Vicky, her eyes blazing with a light that made even Vicky recoil for a moment.

"You have spilled innocent blood," Elara said, her voice low, vibrating with power. "You have defiled the sacred. For this, your line will wither, your spirit will find no peace, and ruin will be your only companion."

It was not a curse spoken in anger, but a tribal condemnation, an invocation of ancient justice.

Vicky' s momentary fear vanished, replaced by a new, more vicious rage.

"A curse? You dare curse me, you filthy squaw?" Vicky shrieked, her face purple. "You think you're so special with your magic tricks?"

She grabbed a letter opener from a desecrated desk.

"We'll see how special you are when you can't see anymore!"

She lunged. Elara tried to turn, but Ace held her fast.

Agony, sharp and absolute, exploded in Elara' s head as the steel point pierced her eyes, first one, then the other.

Darkness. Complete and terrifying.

She heard Vicky' s panting breaths close to her.

"There," Vicky said, a strange satisfaction in her voice. "Now you're not so pretty, are you?"

Elara sagged, blind, bleeding, the world a vortex of pain and Lena' s lifeless form somewhere near her feet.

But Vicky wasn't finished. Her voice, now unhinged, cut through Elara' s agony.

"That' s not enough," Vicky snarled. "Tony! Ace! Hold her down. I want to make sure she can never tempt any man again. Not my husband, not anyone."

Elara felt rough hands on her again, tearing at the remnants of her clothes, pulling her limbs.

The stench of their sweat, their foul breath.

She was blind, helpless, the ultimate violation imminent.

This was it. The end of everything.