They captured her on her walk home.

Valerie Marks was not usually one to break the rules. In fact, up until now, she had been an exemplary citizen; always going straight home after school, never speaking her mind. Unfortunately, the shock of seeing her beloved teacher disemboweled, his body parts clinging to the town statue, caused her to run her mouth. A mistake she would pay for with her life.

It was such a shame really, seeing as she was about to come of age. Instead her death would be used as a lesson, her mutilated body showcased in the town square with a very important message for the remaining Humans.

They surrounded her, four of them, one slipping his hand over her mouth before she could scream. She never really stood a chance. The attack was unexpected, the sun was still out; she should have been safe.

But then again, no one is ever really safe in Salvation.

By the time the sun set and darkness began to envelope the sky; her mother would wonder where she was. Although, the chances of her stepping out of her home to look for Valerie were slim to none. In a few hours, she would realize the fate that had befallen her daughter and she would weep, but she would also be powerless. Valerie may already be dead by then anyway.

To her credit, Valerie did try to struggle and fight her way free, but one swift blow on her head delivered with brute force, knocked her out cold and put an end to her attempts.

When she woke up, she found herself in a dark garden, the flowers long since dead; their shrivelled leaves rustling in the night air. She could feel the rough dirt beneath her cheek and she knew exactly where she was. A few meters in front of her lay a house of horrors. The Manor that she often had nightmares about, the place that was spoken about in hushed whispers all through town.

The place that no one had ever made it out of alive.

The walls were a grimy grey, vines crawling over the brickwork like snakes slithering along the stone, the only vegetation that seemed to have survived in this place. Her heart began to pound as silent tears fell down her cheeks. Her hands, bound behind her back by thick rope, unable to wipe them away. Her mouth, covered in duct tape, unable to release the scream that was building up inside her.

She didn't want to die like this. Cold and alone, with only the night sky to bear witness as she took her last breath.

A tall figure stepped into view, a mere silhouette in the near darkness. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the man that was about to murder her.

For a long time, he said nothing and Valerie began to wonder if he ever would. The wind whistled softly, filling the silence with a haunting lullaby, the last one Valerie would hear before she closed her eyes forever.

"Now Valerie, do you know what you did?" When he finally spoke, his voice was hard and emotionless, and Valerie wished he had remained silent.

She heard a rustle and flinched away as she felt a rough finger wipe a tear away from her cheek. His foul-smelling breath fanned her face, sending shivers up her spine.

"Let me be very clear here Valerie, you are going to die." He ignored the strangled sob that threatened to break through the tape covering her mouth and continued, "But you shouldn't worry too much about it, your death is going to serve a very important purpose. We are instating a new rule."

The shock of his statement finally caused her to open her eyes. There hadn't been a new rule introduced since before she was born.

"Yes Valerie, a new rule. I would tell you all about it, but what would be the point? You won't be alive to follow it. You won't be alive come morning."

Her crying started up again and the man sighed in frustration. Couldn't the people in this town accept their fates? Why did they always cry, or scream, or beg for forgiveness? Why did they always beg for their lives?

"Maybe now you will understand the significance of rule number four. Humans shall not speak ill of The Savages. If you had remembered that today at school, you wouldn't be here right now, would you Valerie?"

She hated the way he kept saying her name, almost as though he wanted to aggravate her as much as possible before he killed her.

"I am a fair man, Valerie. I do not kill for no reason. But when one of you breaks the rules, you need to be used as an example." He grabbed her long, thick hair in his hand and yanked her to her feet. A fresh set of tears filled her eyes, this time from pain as he dragged her backwards, her feet scrambling to keep up. Her scalp seared and stung as though it was on fire.

Finally, he let her go, placing her on top of what felt like a steel chair, the cold metal pressing painfully against her still bound hands.

"If the rules aren't followed, the town will descend into chaos, and we can't have that can we?" He crouched down in front of her and for the first time, she got a good look at his features. She gasped in recognition, unable to believe the man standing before her was the same man who had betrayed his only son, who had offered him up like a sacrificial lamb.

If he was willing to do that to his own family, then the chances of him showing her any mercy were non-existent. Pulling a small blade out of his pocket, he examined it, holding it up to the dim light.

"Now Valerie, I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to hurt. A lot. But within no time it will all be over." He moved closer to her and trailed the edge of the blade along her cheek, following the tracks made by her tears.

She shook her head frantically, and kicked out her feet, desperate to get away from the despicable man, but he gripped the back of the chair tightly, laughing at her attempts. Touching the edge of the tape over her mouth, he pulled on it slowly, the sticky underside clinging to her skin.

"Please," she whispered hoarsely as soon as she was able to. "Please-please don't kill me."

And those were the last words that Valerie Marks ever spoke.