She was smiling.

I couldn’t help but wonder if she knew I was there, hiding behind the scarce vegetation, watching in horror as my creation bled before my eyes. Bled and smiled.

She was once pure. She was once a woman with pulling eyes and a will as tough as a mountain. She’s the one that grabs you and won’t let go. That’s what drew us to her. We broke her, and bent her. She struggled more than anyone we’d encountered, but eventually succumbed to our iron grip. Or so we’d thought.

A black drip rolls down her cheek.

She broke me. I had been so determined to make this all work until we found her. She changed me though. I wished she hadn’t stood out, that she’d kept a little bit inside so that she would not become this. It was pointless to think this, but I thought it anyway.

And now she stood before me, half the woman she was when we found her, half monster. Her scarred and battered arm gently curved to bring a finger to her lips. Smile cracking, she breathed gently on it.

And there was fire.