Something about the house seemed odd and out of place. The air for one was eerily cold and the dust had accumulated to a point where I had to cover my nose with my hand.

Lia’s room was no different; the door needed to have its hinges lubricated, the floor needed sweeping, as do the rest of the house, and cobwebs needed to be dusted off the ceiling. However, what caught my attention when I first entered the room was not the poorly kept space, it was the girl strewn unconscious on the floor that did.

“Lia?” My voice broke into a panicked whisper. I hesitated, moving slowly towards her as I feared for the worst. Bile rose to my mouth as I touched her skin, Cold.

“Hey, wake up,” I whispered, feeling the blood drain from my face when she didn’t react.

“Water…” She finally croaked. My heart skipped a beat and I arched my neck to look at her. Her eyes were closed shut but I felt her shallow breaths when I placed a finger under her nose.

“Thank god,” I exhaled, not even realising that I had held my breath in the first place.

Giving her a brief hug, I went to sweep the dust off her bed before placing her on it.

“I’ll go get water, okay?” She nodded

Without glancing back, I immediately ran up the stairs and into the pantry, realising that there was nothing but potatoes stacked on its shelves.

 Has that been the only thing she’s eaten?

 Anger coursed through my body as I searched the kitchen for water.

Where is her father? Wasn’t he supposed to be taking care of her?

Frowning, I continued to scurry around the house looking for water but couldn’t find any, only an empty drum which had nothing but a few measly drops left. I ran to their backyard, immediately racing to the well as soon as I spotted it.

“Here,” I whispered as I slowly pulled her up to a sitting position.

Her eyes were still closed but she managed to curl her fingers around the cup as she drank all of its contents in mere seconds.

“Do you want more?” She nodded and I grabbed the jug, pouring more water into her cup.

“Slowly” I instructed, but she didn’t listen and ended up chugging it all down, coughing.

I patted her back and she stopped coughing only to start vomiting, egesting nothing but water from . When was the last time she ate?

I wiped her lips with the sheet of her pillow which was still, thankfully, dry. “I’m sorry” She wept, disgusted with herself.

How did it come to this? She had definitely lost a lot of weight, her dress seemed to be loose, especially around the shoulders, the lights in her eyes haddimmed, and her sunken cheeks had lost their pale pink flush. I kissed her forehead before lifting her up in my arms, bringing her to the living room.

“What happened to you?- slowly,” I rubbed her back as she took small sips of water. When she was done, I took my drenched jacket off me and went to Lia’s room to fetch a clean night gown for her to wear.

Lia was asleep when I went back upstairs, lying on the couch with the vomit-soaked shirt on. Looking everywhere but her, I slowly ed her spoiled shirt and put her into the night gown I took while holding my breath the entire time.

“Yeol…” She whispered, grabbing my hand and pulled me down to sit on the sofa, her head resting on my lap.

“What happened to you?” My heart started to beat rapidly when she touched my fingers. “My dad… My dad’s been taken.”

“I told him not to… I told him not to publish that poem, but he did anyway. He never listens to me.”

“What do you mean…taken?” I asked and she sat up, her face dark.

“A few weeks ago my father published his new book of poems. In it was a new on he wrote to criticize the king. My father…called the king a monster and-and the next day he was taken away. I don’t know where he is-and I don’t know how to cook or get water, he’s never let me… so…so.” It seemed like she had been petrified, showing no signs of movement at all. She was devastated, that’s for sure.

A pang of guilt seemed to have dispersed itself throughout my body as I stood rigid. Her father was gone after foul mouthing the king-My father. It couldn’t be…Monster? That poet whom father gutted had called him a monster too. Could it have been Lia’s father? That would certainly explain why he was screaming her name moments before his death.

I started to unconsciously tap my feet against the floor while rubbing my mouth with my hand repeatedly.

“What’s wrong?” Lia seemed to have taken notice of me being uncomfortable.  

“Lia…I’m sorry, but your father he’s…” I took her hands in mine and stared at my lap as I couldn’t bear tell her about what had happened to him. But she seemed to understand my silent speech as drops of water started to land on my fingers.

“Father…” She whispered. It was scary. Her eyes were wide open as her gaze was set on nothing. She didn’t blink, not even once, and a dark aura seemed to have draped over her. Suddenly, it was as if Lia had turned into a different, much darker person. It was definitely scary.

“Lia… we need to go now. I can’t leave you here by yourself. Come with me, okay?” I pleaded, scared that she would reject me like she had before. But this time was different.

She nodded and pulled me up from the couch, “Get me out of here.”

I was shocked beyond belief, not even hesitating as I lead her towards blue and made sure that she was seated securely onto the war horse.

I couldn’t leave her alone in that house. She has been dependant all her life and will not be able to fend for herself. She will die if I leave her there, and I just couldn’t.

I know that my father is going to look for me and that I will probably be on the run for the rest of my life, but I'll deal with that later.

***