[Annabelle's Pov]
"Am I home?"
She pushed herself up, scanning around. And she was in a skinny, tight place between two big, ugly walls. Her white dress had little smears of dirt on the hem, which made her pout.
"Bad, dirty marks."
Her head didn't hurt anymore.
"Did they finally want to be my friends?"
She stood up. The smile was back, stretching across her face.
"Hello?" she called out. "Where did my new friends go? I need a team! Three is a good number like Papa always said!"
She stepped out of the narrow space, onto the wide, dark alleyway.
A sound nearby made her stop. A man was crouched by a heap of trash barrels, his beard thick and dusty, rummaging through a ripped bag.
She clapped her hands, delighted. "Oh, hello! Are you playing hide and seek?"
The man jumped, startled. He looked up. "Wha...whoa, kid. You shouldn't be here. Go home."
"I don't have a home!" she giggled. "But I need a friend! I need two friends so we can have be a team. Will you be my friend?" She bounced on the balls of her feet, her hands folded neatly in front of her.
The man squinted at her, his suspicion turning to confusion. "Look, little girl... I don't want no trouble. Just walk away."
"Why not?" she asked, her voice still perfectly sweet. "Everyone has to have friends! If you don't have friends, you're a bad person! Are you a bad person?"
"I said I don't want trouble!" the man yelled, finally standing up and taking a frightened step back.
"If you won't be my friend, you have to go away." she explained, lifting her hands.
A spear of light materialized in the air beside her. It shot forward faster than the man could blink, piercing through his chest.
He gasped, a terrible bubbling sound and then slid down into a limp. Blood pooling beneath him.
The girl walked over and frowned at the body. "You were a bad person." she whispered, touching his cheek. "Bad people don't get to stay."
Then, she saw the man's long, tangled hair.
"Wait!" she cheered. "You look like a big brother! I always wanted a big brother to play with!"
She grabbed the man's arm and began dragging him toward the center of the alley. It was hard work but she didn't mind.
She found a broken piece of plank nearby and propped the man up against a stack of crates, adjusting his head so he seemed to be looking forward. She wiped a smudge of blood from his collar.
"There! Big Brother is sitting down. Now I need a little sister!"
She looked around and no one else was there. She then saw a teddy bear near a trash can.
She took it and placed it next to the Man-Brother.
"We're a team now." she announced to the silent air. "Three friends! Just like it's supposed to be."
She sat on the ground in front of them, smiling.
Then, she noticed the man's hands. They were large and rough, scarred and dirty. The sight triggered a distant memory, a smell of cheap perfume and cigarettes.
[Mother's hands.]
[Mother's hands were always grabbing. Grabbing money. Grabbing men. Grabbing my arms and saying, 'Smile, pretty or you won't get to eat tonight.']
The pleasant smile on her face began to contort. The corners of her mouth stretched too wide, her cheeks twitching.
[Mother, laughing loudly, pushing her into the dark, hot car with the strange fat man. "You're doing this for us, baby. We need the money."]
The girl stared at the man's hands, seeing them morph into the grasping, painted claws of her mother.
A deep, tearing sound erupted from her throat that was pure madness.
"BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD!" she shrieked, scrambling backward on the ground, kicking and clawing at the dirt.
Her mana exploded outward. And hundreds of light-spears erupted from everywhere, tearing everything in that alley. The man-brother's body was shredded into an unrecognizable smear of gore.
When the storm of light finally receded, the girl was clutching her stomach and sobbing soundlessly. Her perfect white dress was now stained with dirt and blood.
She cried until the anguish was spent and the smiling madness returned to seal the cracks.
"I need a new team. I need three friends who won't whisper and won't be bad." She said, slowly standing up and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
She turned and stepped out of the alley.