In a completely different place, the heavy morning air was thick with a choking black smoke and the sharp, nauseating smell of something burning.
SLAP!
A brutal, heavy strike shattered the quiet, followed immediately by a woman's shrill, enraged voice.
"What did I tell you, you half-ass, red bastard?! Stay still!"
In front of her, a young girl with vibrant, bright red hair cowered against the floor. Her face was a horrific map of abuse—both of her eyes were heavily bruised and blackened, her cheeks were severely swollen, and a steady stream of dark blood dripped from her nose. She was trembling violently, her voice breaking into a desperate, agonizing sob.
"Please... please, not my hair..." she wept, clutching at her head.
