She had always been the black sheep of her family. Ever since she had been a kid, she had felt like that she didn't belong to that house where she had grown up at. Somehow, the rest of her family had felt so different. It was hard to describe; it was more like an unexplainable feeling than something based on experiences she had been going through. To make it even more confusing, she had been getting mixed messages from her parents. Apparently, she had been a wanted child and they probably loved her for some extent, but then they would tell her how she was ruining their life just by being herself. She was by no means a difficult child – she was a nice and shy girl and got bullied a lot because of being so meek. Sure, she had managed to make few friends, but her parents had disapproved them all, telling her that they didn't really like to be around her, they were just being with her because they couldn't find better company and they were just using her. Eventually all of this started to affect her mental health negatively. However, it took years before she realized that something was seriously wrong.

When she had reached adulthood and moved away from her family, she was finally free from their abusive ways. She made some new friends, had fun with them and went through new experiences. A distance grew between her and her family, however, their presence still loomed over the new chapter of her life. They still had a connection. She would feel anxious every time she talked with her family. In the end, it became so bad that she cut all ties to them. With the help of her new friends, she finally understood just how toxic they truly were. 

Because she didn't have to focus on surviving anymore, all the pain came crashing down and she inevitably suffered a breakdown. Depression and anxiety conquered her and she grew a bit distant with her friends as she didn't want to be a burden to them. She would rather endure all of that in silence.

And that was how she had ended up in this moment.

The evening was turning into the night. The sun had set a good while ago and moon was taking its place in the sky. It tried to shine its light to the world below, but black clouds were hindering it. But whatever was happening in the sky, it didn't really matter in a town blessed by street lights.

There she was, walking around the town aimlessly. So many bad things buzzing in her mind, she hoped that some cool air would help her to calm down a little. Maybe going out alone at this late hour wasn't the wisest thing to do, but she didn't mind that. This was a good neighborhood. And even if someone would end up attacking her… well, it didn't sound too bad to her. And for some reason, she had this unexplainable feeling that she had to be around this part of the town. It was almost like some force was pulling her toward something. But what that was, she had no idea.

Little did she know, she was going to have a fateful encounter soon.

She felt an odd urge to head to this one specific alley. That was a perfect spot for someone to hide in the shadows and wait for an easy prey to ambush. But that didn't matter to someone like her who didn't care about her own well-being. So, she arrived to that place.

And saw no one – or anything out of ordinary.

For a while she just stood there, staring at the narrow way and took few heavy breaths. She closed her eyes. She couldn't come up with any reason for why she had felt this place calling her. Maybe she should just leave. 

So, she opened her eyes again.

And then she saw it.

Standing in the alley, there was some strange bipedal creature. It wasn't very big; in fact, it was quite a lot shorter than she was. It had dark, scrawny body that was literally nothing but skin and bones, making her wonder that how anything could be that skinny and still be alive. But maybe it wasn't. Having hooves and curved horns, in her eyes the creature was partly a ram. But its white face resembled a vulture. It also had pale green feathers on its neck and hands, and its fingers had no skin and were just exposed bone.

She didn't know what this creature was, but she felt no fear while facing it. If anything, it felt like that she had just met an old friend. And while staring at the being's white, expressionless eyes, a sudden overflow of emotions came over her, causing her to tear up. She hid her face behind her hands and collapsed to the ground on her knees. And cried. Something in that creature's presence caused her to trust it completely and made her crush the walls she had built around her, showing just how vulnerable she was. She had been seeking some solace and now, she had found it.

Next, she heard the tapping of the hooves on the pavement as the creature started to move. Slowly it made its way to her and then stopped before her. She could feel its bony fingers on her shoulder. 

“I can understand your pain”, it spoke. “I am your friend. I will make it better.”

She had faith in these words, but it made her cry even more. However, it was okay.

Everything would be okay.

What she didn't realize was just how much this creature was connected to her life. It knew all her secrets and everything that had ever happened to her. The truth was, it had been responsible for everything. All the suffering she had went through was because this being had wanted things to end up that way. It could probably be called sadistic – and it was likely that she wasn't its only victim. Toying with the lives of others, that just was its nature.

This was the life it had given her. The creature had conjured up this meeting with the poor girl just because it could do whatever it wanted with her. It would pick her up and ease her pain.

Only to make her then fall too far to be saved.

Because it was the creator of her story.