The terrified girl finally made it to the door this time. And the door was not locked; she couldn't see the deadbolt. All she had to do was to turn the handle and run. She placed a trembling hand on the handle, but years of normalised fear and abuse stopped her from turning it.

It didn't take long for her to feel the warm and protective presence next to her.

"Go on, child," its voice boomed.

"I can't," her voice came just above a whisper, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, "I'm scared."

The figure crouched down but it was still quite taller than her. The girl turned to face it. The beast crooked its head and managed a kind smile.

To be precise, the beast was not meant to care and nurture. The girl had unknowingly created it to protect and defend her.

What she did not know was that it could even attack and kill, if need be.

"You don't have to be afraid, Lily. I will not let them get to you. I promise."

Her lips trembled as she tried to stop crying. She looked up at the beast's red eyes as it put its two protective arms around her. From upstairs, she could hear the yells of the matrons.

"B-but Max.." she stammered.

"Your brother is not coming back, little one-" the beast looked towards the staircase where the yells and the fast and heavy footsteps came from, "-and you don't have much time."

The voices grew louder and closer.

"Will come with me?" she asked.

"You know I can't Lily," said the beast, repeating what she already knew but hated to accept, "my life ends when my purpose is done. When you are out there, you will make other better friends. Now go."

With one last tearful look, she turned the door handle and ran.

The first to come down the stairs was a woman, with a belt in one bony hand, lifting her skirt using the other.

"Liliana, get back here you insolent little-" she stopped dead in her tracks as she almost ran into the beast. Its red eyes bore into hers. The nine-foot tall body, covered in black fur,  which blocked the entrance, towered over her. It's huge yellow fangs were bared and drooling.

Behind the woman came two more women and a man, all of them mean-faced as the first. But they all halted, petrified, faced with the beast.

Lily ran as fast as she could, her heart hammering in her chest. A high-pitched scream cut through the air, followed by a bellow of rage that shook the ground. For a moment, she slowed and turned back, just in time to see a severed head get thrown outside.

She gasped, turned around and began running again.

The afternoon sky gradually turned dark and with it brought the cold. The exhausted girl stopped when she thought she might die if she ran anymore. Her stomach growled in hunger. Every meal at the house had been obviously lessening everyday. The lunch had been half a bowl of porridge that tasted like water.

Lily stopped to rest next to an old building and she sat down, the shadow of it providing her cover. She shivered as the cold air brush past her.

She wished Max was there with her. The last time she saw him was at least three years ago when he was taken to the boys' "dormitories", which was rather a slaves' quarters. The matrons had roughly pulled her away when she had clung to her only living relative. The beast had kept watch over him too, until one day it came back to her to tell her that he was dead. The men had kicked and beaten him to death just because he had made a simple request; to see his little sister one more time.

Lily hugged her knees and cried. The tiny voice in her head called out to her dead brother.

"Max... come back... please..."

Sobs shook her thin, frail body. And as the darkness grew, so did her fear. She was in the middle of nowhere, without anyone to ask for help.

As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

And she looked up to meet a pair of red eyes.

The beast's eyes.

But their owner was a smiling boy. He was obviously older. But she could recognise that face anywhere.

"Max?"

His smile disappeared, "Lily..." he said, clearly unsure of how to go on, "I'm not Max. He's gone."

The girl buried her head in her hands.

The boy held her shoulders firmly. "But I'm here. You don't have to be afraid."

"I'm cold," she said, after a while .

"Then let me take you to some place warm," he said giving her his hand. She took it and got up. The boy was smiling again. She was tempted to believe that her brother has come back but as they walked, she realised that she left behind her past for good and that the family she lost is not going to come back. She grew hopeful. Her fear began to lessen. She remembered the beast and what he could do. I gave life to the beast, she said to herself. And she knew she was safe.