1 Pain

"Ouch, ouch!" Lisa Thea Lovedart hissed in undesirable pain, feeling great discomfort throughout her whole body. The nurse ignored her and continued to apply antibiotic ointment forcefully on her open wounds, swollen cheeks, bruised neck, and body.

"Your wounds on your right leg won't stop bleeding. They'll need stitches, and you mustn't move around too much, as it can increase the risk of infection," the nurse said sternly.

"It's painful," Lisa cried in agony.

"I couldn't care less about your current situation. You just have to suck it up and endure the pain. I don't want to waste any valuable time with you," the nurse said coldly, clicking her tongue.

Feeling disheartened by the nurse's demeanor, Lisa clenched her fists and allowed her to continue. She felt like she was in great torment because the one who was aiding her was not gentle at all.

The nurse kept looking at her watch as if her life depended on it. "Okay, I'm done here," she said without another glance at Lisa, hurrying out and slamming the door behind her.

"Is she rushing to meet her date?" Lisa mumbled weakly.

"I'm just a worm under everyone's gaze. I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired! Everyone treats me like a bug beneath their shoes, easily to be stepped on and crushed like I'm nothing," she cried hysterically. "I always constantly get bullied by the popular queens at school. Just today, I mustered the courage to fight back because they tried to take something valuable from me, something worth more than my own life and precious to me. But they all got viciously angry and started to throw heavy punches and kick me with resentment in their eyes. When that wasn't enough for them, they each grabbed an iron rod and beat me up repeatedly. I curled up into a ball, my hands gripping tightly on my most treasured possession. I could have nearly died at the hands of those devils, but thankfully, someone stepped in and saved me. She quickly brought me to the hospital, paid for a private room, and left without saying anything or even looking at me.

"Am I that ugly?" she thought and sighed.

Lisa lay on her warm bed lifelessly, holding her treasured locket in her hands, her mind drifting to the person she missed the most, overwhelming her with sadness.

"I miss you every day, I miss you a lot... Mom," she wept aloud uncontrollably, feeling emotionally pained.

After some time, she could only daze and pray for a miracle that her bullies would meet an unfortunate, slow, miserable death. With them gone, she could live in peace without getting black and blue every day. Just the thought of that made her happy.

Then Lisa tried to sleep but still felt discomfort when she moved. She groaned and squinted at the large digital clock embedded in the wall. The blurry figures glowed in the dark, reading "2:00 AM midnight, July 4th, 15 degrees Celsius, 2035." The room was dimly lit by a fancy industrial lampshade.

She reached for a jug of water on the drawer and poured a glass, filling it up to the brim. After drinking six more glasses of water, Lisa sighed softly. "I can't sleep. I need painkillers to relieve the pain."

Suddenly, the whole room trembled, showing cracks on the ceiling and floor. Lisa's heart turned cold, frightened by the scary earthquake that lasted about three seconds or more, but she could feel the anxiety to her entire core.

"That was a bone-chilling earthquake I ever experienced," Lisa muttered in fear.

All of a sudden, she heard terrifying screams outside her room.