I don't really remember much from when I was little, in fact, all I do remember is a fire, or what should've been a fire. My memory isn't what it used to be, I've been here for so long...
I use to have a name, Annabelle, I think it was, I don't really remember, I try to wiggle my hands and my feet, but I still feel nothing, nothing in this pitch darkness that is my prison. A low moan escapes my lips as I fall again to unconsciousness, the nightmares, always come.
A fire, it raged in my parents mansion, I don't remember much about it, except that I remember a woman standing over me before it began, I was three at the time, in my little white nightgown, she had a white face, and it looked like a mask, all I saw was two large black eyes, and then she was gone. I remember crying as the fire soon started, after that I blacked out, the men of the town had seen the large blaze start up and had rushed a fire brigade to try and stop the fire from spreading. It was too late by then, I was told that I had been found standing in the front door, watching the flames and crying because the smoke had gotten into my eyes.
I was only three, I didn't know what was going on, I only wanted to be held, and loved, and I felt so cold, as I rescued by the men in the fire brigade, I saw the lady with the white mask in one of the top story windows, she was staring at me, and I stared back, tears staining my cheeks as I was carried someplace safe. The lady in the white mask soon disappeared from the window where I had been staring, as I remember nothing else after that. I had awoken in a top bunk with a bunch of other kids in the large area, a scary looking old woman, was rousing us up gently, just because she looked scary doesn't mean she wasn't, in fact, for the few weeks that I was in the orphanage she was kind and very loving. All I remember is bits and pieces of my aunt and uncle coming and claiming me. I was never told what happened to my parents when I asked, I was always told, that they were in a better place.
As I grew up I found that many of the children in the school that I was attending didn't want to be my friend, I was seven, what did I care about some rotten girls that giggled and ran away when I approached them? Four years had passed since the death of my parents, of the burning of my home, my aunt and uncle were very kind to me, they didn't live in a mansion but were well off still the same. The woman in the mask is still here though, she just seems to stare at me from across the woods or on the other side of the playground where I would just sit and look at all of the kids play. No one else seemed to see here, and for some reason, this didn't really bother me, I was a seven year old girl that just wanted to be by herself, the dress she wore was blue, but for some reason, it was stained with red, the red on her dress was a dark color, closer to scarlet I think. Nothing about her seemed to be scary, well except one thing, her fingers, her fingers were really long, and well, they looked pointed. They looked like they hurt, but, I was young, I didn't know, I just didn't know...
I awoke from my nightmare as I opened both eyes, this forest was still the same, nothing changed, but the moon, and fog, they seem to get redder, I wonder if she has claimed my friend that I reached out to see if he could help me? The wind ripples my red hair out of my face, and I see her staring at me again. I feel nothing but pain and sadness as she stares at me, no anger, that has died long ago. I know it was her; she did those things, not me... But why? I always asked why.
Why was she allowing me to go through this? Wasn't she supposed to be my friend? I thought she was my friend. That was until later, when I saw her kill... No... I don't want to think about it as a scream echoes from the surrounding forest and then nothing. She won again, preventing me from escaping this Hell that I have been placed, is she enjoying the suffering that I go through? Or does she kill them because she wants to? Is it because she feeds from the fear that she produces and I am her bait? I don't want to know anymore...
Tears escape from my eyes again; memories of a happier time rise up, and along those happier times, remorse, sadness, grief… I sniffle as I fall asleep again, transported to a place of long ago, of things that I wish I could take back and redo.
It was a few years later, the woman was no longer seen, and I was somewhat grateful for that. The sky on that day was dark; rain clouds were gathering as I was walking home from school, a black cat was mewing softly as I passed by. Smiling I reached down and began to pet the cat, its fur was slightly wet to the touch, and it purred as I scratched behind its ears gently. What a cute cat it was, and after picking it up, decided to name him Hero, he purred as I whispered the new name in his ear and was dozing as I walked home.
When I walked through the door, my Uncle was the first person to see my new pet and was madder then I had ever seen him. “Get rid of the thing! It will bring evil upon this home!” He yelled as I backed up, my breath quickening, and I ran back out the door, my Uncle still yelling at me to not return with the cat. I cried as I ran into the nearby forest, dodging trees and roots in process. I ran until I could no longer move, by this time Hero was mewing softly, seemingly scared about what had just happened. By this time, it started to rain, fat drops of water hit me without mercy and I just stood there, my head down, trying to keep Hero from getting wet.
Would this black cat really bring disaster and evil upon those that came across it? Were people still so superstitious about things they didn’t understand? I began to walk slowly further into the woods, thinking about such things when I noticed an old home. It was entirely wooden, and the windows were broken but the roof appeared whole. I ran to it and was soon inside, the whole cabin was a single room but it was nice and spacious and a relief from the thickening rain that decided to fall. I put Hero down and began to scavenge for anything that would dry me off, after a fruitless search for half an hour I pulled up some of the wooden boards and to my surprise found a flint and stone.
Overjoyed with what I had found I put the broken boards into the stone fireplace and began to strike the flint and stone at the dry wood. It caught a small blaze and I stared at the fire as it took hold and began to eat what it could find. Pulling up more boards from what I could find I soon had a nice blaze, my clothes were drying near the fire as I stroked Hero who was curled up for warmth.
Looking outside I could see that the rain clouds had grown darker, and I didn’t really know where I was, but I was warm, and safe for the time being. Putting my head down on my dry dress that I folded up to sleep on I had soon fallen asleep, feeling, and happy for the first time. The night passed quickly and I woke up with Hero nuzzling my cheek, getting up and getting dressed I looked around, even though I was dry, the chill morning air was refreshing as it was cold. Hero was chasing a bug around, and my stomach growled a little, blushing I realized that I was hungry. Turning around I looked at my cat and shook my finger at him. “You stay here now, okay? I’ll be back later.”
Hero, to my surprise shook his head at me as if he understood what I was telling him, curios but hungry I walked away from my shelter and wandered back to my Uncles home. It had taken me a few hours to get back, but when I did I was met with a grim look from my Uncle, and a saddened look from my Aunt. “Annabelle, where is your demon creature?” He asked me. “I, um, I let her go…” “You should have drowned the nasty thing in the river.” I didn’t respond as he took out a switch from behind his back that he had been hiding. I took a step back.
“Please…” I whispered as my Aunt looked away, Uncle grabbed my arm and dragged me outside to the shed. He threw me onto my stomach on a small wooden table and strapped my wrists with the rope. Opening my dress I heard him take a deep breathe. “Lord, forgive her for her sins.” A sharp pain raced through me as he began to beat me with the branch, I cried and pleaded for him to stop, when he did I was crying softly, my back felt sore and each breath hurt. I waited for him to unstrap me from the table, but he didn’t, instead I heard the sound of cloth moving around. “Annabelle…” He growled in my ear, and hit me hard in the back of the head, I blacked out, and remembered nothing after that.
When I awoke, I was lying on my stomach, my wounds were being attended to by a servant, and she was humming a soft tune that I could not place. What was curious as well was that my back was not the only thing that ached, but in-between my legs, but not as much. I closed my eyes again as I figured what Uncle had down to me, but I was too scared to say anything about it, fresh tears sprung up as I fell into a deep sleep once again, waking up now and then for food and the bathroom.
A couple of week had passed, and I could sit down gently, and even feed myself, a great plus as I was getting tired of being spoon feed. My Uncle only visited me once and I cringed as he inspected my wounds, nodded and left, leaving me feeling, oddly dirty. A couple of days later after he came to visit me I was looking out the window, combing my hair, when I noticed her again. The lady in the mask, I could see that she was staring at me with those soulless black eyes, and for the first time, in a long time I felt frightened, not just scared, but terrified, of this woman.
I closed my eyes, then opened them, she was still there, slightly closer, but it was just as I remembered it. She would just stare at me, and for hours on end, I soon grew tired of being stared at, and for a second, I imagined going out there and yelling at her to leave me alone. To go away, to stop making me question what I thought was real, that all I wanted was just a normal life…
Years passed by and the normal life I wanted didn’t appear, it only got worse, but for a season, things were, happier than I had been. When I was older I moved out of my Uncles house, bitterness was inside of me at him for what he had done, but I kept it inside of me. My Aunt wished me well, I wish I could of said something to her, I wish she would have been there for me instead of looking the other way. I had guessed long ago that Uncle had broken her, and that she could not help, even if she wanted to, she had my pity, but that was all that I could muster for her.
I broke into a run as I ran into the forest, to my new home that I had secretly kept from the knowledge of my relatives, or anyone, I really didn’t trust people anymore. Hero was waiting for me on the porch that I had built, he was bigger now, instead of the cute kitty that he had been, but just as wise as when I first met him. Since I was older now, I looked for a modest job where I could earn some money, I found the local Apothecary needing someone to go out and find plants for medicine. I volunteered my services and was told to come in once a week to see what was needed. The job wasn’t as hard as I thought as I dried the necessary plants and weeds that were used for curing the sick and diseased.
This was when I caught the fancy of a soldier; he stank and always hung around the town when I came around to deliver my plants and collect my pay. “Hey there lovely lady, why don’t you come with me, I can show you many things.” He ran his fingers through my hair as I was paid, my employer, an elderly man that had to squint to see to give me my pay and handed me a list of what he wanted. He didn’t seem to notice the soldier, or see him very well with what he was doing. “Have a nice day Anna.” He smiled and waved as I left as fast as I could to get away from this diseased man and his filthy hands. “Hold on their love, you haven’t even told me your name.” I turned around and held a pointed tool at him, glaring into his eyes I smirked at his cowardice. “My name is none of your concern, and you will leave me alone or else I will plunge this into your black heart!” I hissed as I spun around and ran off.
I could hear him yelling obscenities at my back but I was free from him for another week, I even took several detours to make sure that anyone that was following would get lost. Arriving late at night I was greeted by Hero who was mewing at me impatiently to give him something to eat. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the dead rabbit out of my bag that I had found in my snare on the way home. He jumped at it and I laughed as I cut it the carcass in half, plucked off the coarse fur and prepared my meal for the night.
After cooking for a couple of hours I sat back and grabbed a bowl to eat, looking around my cabin as I did, I noticed the lady in the mask again. I was no longer afraid; I knew later that this was my mistake, but for now I felt that she was somehow, a guardian, but she only appeared when I was angry and mad, especially when my thoughts were, darker then they should be. I went to bed that night, angry at my Uncle and my Aunt, the filthy soldier, and those people that I had met during my growing up…
Groaning I woke up, my arms paining me, the red color that was there before, was gone and the somewhat serene scene of fog and a full moon was back to normal. Or, as normal as it could get in this world, I had figured out that I was neither in Heaven or Hell, but, what could be described as a prison. A prison of my own fears, hates, and a dying hope whenever I managed to reach out to someone to see if they could help me; sobs racked my thin frame as I heard her come again, staring at me, watching me, my own… Wait… I should probably tell the rest of my story before I lose myself for the last time…
It had been a few weeks since that diseased soldier had tried to touch me; I had seen him around, usually drunk and with other soldiers that could be his friends. The townspeople seemed more suspicious than usual when I came to deliver the plants to the Apothecary. They avoided me when I came in, hearing random whispers of me being a Witch… But I only attributed this to me having red hair, and green eyes when theirs was brown or black, and sometimes a yellow color. If only I had seen this in time, perhaps, things could have been different…
After getting paid, I looked around for the drunken soldier and his friends, and strangely, could not find him. I shrugged my shoulders and finally thought that he had learned his lesson about running after strange women. How wrong I was, it was only after nightfall when I came home and was cooking my meal of rabbit stew that I heard yelling. Now out here, basically in the middle of the forest I never saw too many people, usually just a trader or a hunter.
But, more than one person was, strange, I got up from my chair and looked down to see Hero, hissing and yowling at the torch lights that were getting closer. Concerned, I had misheard them yelling Witch, since they were still a distance away and thought that they were looking for someone who had gone missing. The irony, I had only wanted to help, to see what I could do, but those same soldiers were coming. The one on the lead horse was the same soldier that I had promised that I would stab in the heart. “There she is! Grab the heretic Witch!” Me!? A Witch!? Since when!? Anger flared through me as I was tired of getting the short end of the stick, of being accused of a harlot, and a prostitute, damn them and their hatred!
That was when I saw her, she screamed as she appeared before the soldiers and the horses, spooked by the sudden appearance of her, kicked off the riders and fled in terror. My so called executioners were scared as well, but I can only guess that drink had given them liquid courage. Pulling their swords, two of them branded their swords, keeping her busy. While the other three ran towards me, I was suddenly afraid of what they might do so I ran towards my home. The darkness swirled around me and I cried out when my leg was hooked by an upturned root and I hit the ground with a hard crash and pain shooting up and down my ankle.
I looked up as I tried to unhook my ankle, and saw that filthy man, grinning at me like when he tried to touch me before. Tears fell down into the dirt as I was hurt, but my pride would not let me bow before such a creature. He grabbed my hair, forcing a thin scream of pain from me as he looked down at me with such hard eyes that I am sure that a lesser person would of flinched. It was then that I heard hissing and yowling come toward us. “Hero!” I yelled at my cat. “Run!” He didn’t listen and instead jumped at one of man with I’m sure with all the rage he could muster.
“Damn demon!” The man growled and with a downward stroke from his sword, cut Hero in half. I cried out as my companion, my friend, was killed, tears blinded my vision as the cruel men laughed at me. The lady in the mask disappeared and soon all five had surrounded me, grinning at having bested a Witch. Pulling me up by my hair I tried to claw at his eyes, when my arms were then grabbed and my dress was ripped off, their armor began to come off and I didn’t care what happened to me anymore. I just couldn’t, after seeing Hero killed, all fight left me. After they had their fun, using me for several hours and seeding me, I was soon cleansed with cold water, put roughly in a white dress, and bound to a tree.
I closed my eyes as their smell was still on me, my red hair soiled with their seed and spit, I don’t know how long I was bound, but it was the darkest part of the night when I regained some of my anger back. It was then that I was unbound from the tree and put on the horse with the lead soldier, I had heard his name when he was using me, one of the other soldiers wanting his turn had called out. “Hey Abraham, come on already, some of us haven’t felt a woman in a few months!” Laughter followed after that, but now, he was grim faced, not even looking at me as he held me in front of him. Abraham, what a disgusting name for this pig of a man, I would never forgive him.
We rode for what seemed like another hour, and came to a large clearing; in the middle of it was a large tree, with lit torches all around it. I was amazed that such a large tree still stood, and for a second I could only imagine what it would be like to sleep in its shade. I was then taken off the horse and forced onto my knees in front of a man that had been staying in the shadows. His robes were that of the local church and in his hands he held what I could only think was a Bible. The elderly priest looked down at me with such malice and hatred that I felt fear… “You, Annabelle Margaret Blackwood, have been declared a Witch! For your sins against God and his Holy Soldiers you shall be crucified as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was! Will you repent for your godless acts before we, the righteous and holy carry out the punishment you so deserve?”
I spat at his feet, if their god was like this, I would rather die than repent for anything that I had ever done wrong. “Never!” I hissed, causing this priest to take a step back. “Wench… Crucify her!” He commanded his solders and they laughed at my struggling, I was lunged up a ladder and it took all three men to hold me as the first nail was driven through my wrist. Pain, bright and blinding went through and I gasped, then began to scream, soon begging for this to all stop. After the second nail was driven though, I threw back and head and howled for my guardian to help me.
But nothing, she didn’t appear, not at first anyways, it was only after my legs were crucified together and the men down below were mocking me was that I heard her. She screamed, and they looked around, nervously, looking to see where the sound had came from. I smirked, and didn’t care any longer what had happened to me, I had called, and She had answered. “Pain… You will all feel pain!” I yelled at them, and at that instant, the air felt thick, and warm almost as if it was alive. Thick fog began to surround the forest and the full moon that was out turned into a blood red, laughing at their screams of terror I could see her come close.
And that was then that I knew, she was part of me now, I had given her permission to somehow come into this world. The soldiers and the priest were torn to shreds as She chased after them, one by one I could see and feel what ran through them as She killed each one, slowly, and hungrily. After this display of her power I saw her disappear, but I could feel her still, nearby.
Years passed since this and I remained on the tree, my pain, anger, hatred, turned into sorrow, despair, regret. This is why I have called you here, to have you help me be freed from this prison, please, I need you to collect my tears, my regrets in life, but be careful, she is always looking for her next victim, and you only get three chances before I can no longer protect you…
