Marked for Death

    There was a strange feeling in the air as Adrienne walked back from the town square with a heavy sack of groceries in her arm, balanced on her hip. She could feel the sweat dripping down her spine and pooling at the small of her back. She used her free hand to wipe the sweat from her eyes and push her hair off her damp forehead. Finally, she could see her house and her pace quickened as she realized how close she was. Her small feet clapped on the stone streets and she breathed a sigh of relief as she entered the side door of their small home.      "Papa, I am home! Miguel, come help me with the goods!" She yelled as she entered the kitchen. She gasped and the sack full of food dropped from her arms as her whole body went limp with the sight that she walked into.      Her father was standing in the kitchen with a sword put to his chest. His hands were up in surrender, but it didn't look like the man wielding the sword was satisfied. The man had dirty brown hair with straw and dried vomit in it. He smelled something awful and he looked as if he had not bathed in months. She  stepped back an inch to the counter behind her and her hand tried to find what she was looking for behind her back. The man turned to look at her and Adrienne's blood went cold when his eyes found purchase on her face. One eye was blue and the other a dark brown.     "Ah, who do we have here, Antonio?" the man snarled as  he addressed my father.     "That is my daughter, please do not harm her. She is just a child." he begged, but the man put the sword to his throat as he spoke     "Girl, what is your name?" he asked addressing Adrienne this time, just as her hand grabbed a large serving knife. Her hand squeezed the handle as she tucked it closely to her back.     "Adrienne, sir. How can I help you? I will give you whatever you please if you promise not to harm us and to leave." She said in a shaky voice     "Come closer," he ordered and she took the smallest of steps towards the awful man. he waved his hand telling her to move faster. She was within arms reach when he grabbed her arm. Her other hand squeezed the knife tighter in her fist. He brought her neck to his face and took a deep breath. "You smell delightful. I bet you are still pure, are you not?"     When Adrienne grimaced and pulled away from him, he pushed the sword into her father's neck slightly making him bleed. She screamed and shouted "I am! Please stop, you'll kill him!"     "You'll give me whatever I want in exchange for your father? And your little disabled trash in the other room?" He made reference to Adrienne's brother Miguel "What if I want you?"     "No!" Her father bellowed and that's when all hell broke loose. Her father's outburst startled the evil man so much that my father escaped his sword and Adrienne saw her chance to strike. Taking the knife from behind her back, she slashed at the man's face. She felt something being cut but didn't stay around to find out what it was. She twisted her arm out of this man's hand and slashed at his hand that held the sword and heard it clatter to the ground. The man was screaming and clutching his face, his hand was covered in blood.     She ducked around the man and went to the other room, still clutching her weapon, which was now covered in blood. Miguel and the servant, Francia, were cowering behind a chair in the spare room. Adrienne approached them.     "You both need to get out now, it's not safe. The man is wounded but will not stay down for long. Please-" Adrienne was cut off by a loud gunshot. She heart sank into her stomach. She turned from her family and crouched down and snuck around the corner to the kitchen again. Standing above her father's body was the awful man holding a smoking gun. Adrienne covered her mouth and held back a scream. The man turned to the other room and she ducked behind the door frame so he would not see her.     "You little b***h, you've scarred my face. I will not forget this. The guards will be here soon and I will tell them that you murdered your own father. You will be cursed for the rest of your life. You are marked for death from this day forward." He screamed in her direction.     Adrienne's tears flowed over her hand as she sobbed silently. She would either run or the punishment would be death. She looked at Miguel and Francia and when she heard the retreat of the man's boots. She crawled over to them. Francia was crying as well. Adrienne took her hand and kissed her forehead.     "Go," Francia whispered "Stay safe, stay alive. I will care for Miguel. We will get this taken care of. You do not deserve to die. Take a ship out of town."     Adrienne nodded and whispered her goodbyes to Miguel and squeezed Francia's hand one more time before she escaped out the back door. She saw the guards in their bright red uniforms running to her home followed by the ugly man. He pointed at the house and they ran even faster. She ducked down and ran out of their line of sight. Running through her neighbors yard, she ripped pants and a shirt from their line and kept running. She hid in the woods and changed her clothes quickly. Throwing her favorite blue dress in the river. She used a piece of fabric from the dress to tie back her long red hair. The sun was beginning to set so now was her chance to make it to port before the guards came out for the night watch. She ran again faster this time without the dress slowing her down.      The first ship she saw was a large cargo ship with a flag that she didn't recognize on it's mast. She figured that was her best bet. Jumping into the ocean, she swam to the ship.using the fishing net that draped down the side she climbed aboard the ship silently. There was no one on the deck to see her, she immediately made her way to the cargo hold. Making a plan to get off at the next port she hid between large cargo boxes and pulled her knees to her chest. She couldn't shake the feeling that the man's words gave her. Even though she had escaped, she was still marked for death.