4. The Little Fighter

Denise Ashford, twenty years old, born to Mr and Mrs Gresham Ashford. The Ashfords were among the most influential families in Xela. If it was during the medieval times, then it would have been a family of dukes or viceroys or something like that. That's how much power they held especially in the political arena of Xela.

Denise was the second child, the first born being the twins George and Georgina Ashford. They were older than her by two years. From the moment Denise learnt how to crawl when she was a toddler, she could tell that she wasn't loved by her family. Her upbringing was left to the servants and she can't ever remember her mother holding her. Her father never talked to her and he would always treat her like an invisible thing. He never acknowledged her. Her two siblings were something else. They never gave her the time of the day. What they did best was beat and bully her whenever they got the chance.

The three went to the sames schools but they made Denise know that she was never to disclose that they were related otherwise there would be hell to

pay. It worked well for her because she didn't want to be involved with them and so, she made sure to keep her distance from her two siblings who behaved like they owned the world. They were so pampered that it made Denise sad to think that they were from the same parents but their parents treatment of them was like heaven and earth.

Denise remembers one day when she was ten. Her mother came to the kitchen where she was helping in cooking and threw a package at her.

"Tomorrow we have visitors coming. You better behave and don't say a word even when you are spoken to." She threw the words and walked out. Denise opened the package and in it was a new dress. The first she had ever received from her mother. The first new thing she had ever been given in fact. She looked at it and smiled. Did this mean that her mother was finally warming up to her? She wondered. From when she could remember, she never received any new clothes. The best she had were passed down to her from her older sister when they ran out of fashion. She didn't mind though. It wasn't like she went anywhere. Her place in the house was with the servants cooking and cleaning up the house.

The following day, she was asked to be ready by six and she was. The visitors who arrived was their paternal grandfather and a few people she didn't know. She now realised why she was asked to be here. It was because of her grandfather. Among the visitors, there was a young boy around sixteen who was staring at her from the moment they entered the door. Denise didn't think anything about it because what would a ten year old think anyway?

At the dinner table, Denise was all awkward because she wasn't allowed to eat with the family. She always ate in the kitchen with the maids and she didn't know the intricacies of such a sophisticated dinner. For example, she didn't know what dish to start with from the ones on the table. She sensed a glare and when she looked towards where that hot glare was coming from, she saw her mother looking at her with a warning in her eyes. Denise understood that look and as a result, she didn't eat much because she was afraid of the beating she will receive if she ever embarrasses this high class family before important visitors.

After dinner, the adults excused themselves and went to her father's study to discuss whatever it was adults discussed indoors. She was left at the table with her siblings and that boy whose name turned out to be Caleb. Since she didn't have anything in common with these people, she left and went to the kitchen. By good luck, the maids had left food for her and after eating, she decided to retire to her roomn. Unlike George and Georgina whose rooms were in the second floor of the mansion, hers was small and was at the back of the house. It looked like the room was built as an afterthought and wasn't meant to be inhabited by anyone but she loved it here because it was away from her siblings and nearer the maids quarters. She knew that if anything was to happen to her, the maids would help her faster than her family would. She walked towards her room and what she didn't realise was that Caleb had been following her every step and when he saw her walk towards a place that had fewer and fewer people, he smiled lewdly and followed her.

When she was about to enter her small room, she felt someone touch her shoulder and she turned. Good thing was she wasn't an easy going person. since her siblings would bully her left right and centre, and her mother would beat her at the slightest provocation, she had grown a thick skin. She had taught herself how to deal with bullies and even if she couldn't beat them physically, she had a sharp tongue that usually left her sister in tears. Even though she would be beaten after that, she would always smile remembering how that ugly face cried.

"What do you want?" She asked Caleb and he was taken aback for a moment because he saw a determination in her face that looked like it came from a grown woman.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see where you sleep. Can I come in?" He asked with a smile that made her suspicious.

"Why would I let you in my room and I don't even know you. No. You can't come in." She said and decided to return to the kitchen.

When she took a step wanting to leave, he grabbed her by the hand and opened her door and then locked it from the inside after dragging her in.

"I wanted to be nice but it seems like you want it the hard way. You are so beautiful. Do you know that? And your brother dared me that if I sleep with you he will help me convince grandfather to buy me the latest Bugatti for my seventeenth birthday. So, this isn't personal," he said with a grin as he held her hand and dragged her towards her small bed.

"My parents will punish you if they know what you are about to do," she tried scaring him using her parents name but instead of showing fear, he laughed.

"Ha! You are funny! You think that I don't know that they don't care about you? They would even be happy if someone killed you," he said this time towering over her on the bed.

She decided to try begging, "please don't hurt me. I'm only ten years old."

"Don't worry. You are a big girl and it won't hurt. I will be very very gentle. I promise," he said with a smile as he started touching her everywhere. She felt disgusted and she knew that even if she screamed, no one would hear her as even the servants were in the main house cleaning up after the dinner. She had to act fast or she would lose her virginity at ten to a rapist.

The little fighter in her couldn't and wouldn't allow that to happen. He would have to kill her first before he could defile her.