Prologue

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:-Prologue;:

She shifted slightly in her bed, trying to find a comfortable position without disturbing the figure next to her. Her eyes were closed; mother had said that closing her eyes would help her fall asleep. The warmth of the blanket enveloped her, and, even though she couldn’t make herself fall asleep, it was pleasant to be lying there after a day of excitement.

                That was life. Every day was something new, every day something interesting that she could think about, whether it was the neighbor’s pet cat or a grasshopper they’d found in the garden. She held her stuffed bear a bit closer to her, resisting the urge to open her eyes and see what curiosities appeared at night.

                Maybe if she stood up and went around without opening her eyes, she wouldn’t erase all of the progress she made to falling asleep. In fact, then she might even be able to work on falling asleep while walking.

                No �" she might wake up her brother.

                Of course, she was no longer worried about that when a loud knocking sound came from outside their room. The boy next to her stirred slightly, and she listened closely to hear her mother’s footsteps as her mother went to answer the door.

                The muffled voices escalated slowly into commands and screams as someone stomped through the house. Seconds later, the wooden door to their room swung open, hitting the wall with a jolting thunk.

                Pretend to be asleep. Pretend I’m not here. Maybe if I lie really flat, they won’t notice I’m here. It was a game she often played whenever her parents had guests over �" try to hide from them when they were in the same room. She was quite a master at it, as no one noticed where she was. The most they said sometimes was, “Hmm. Where did your daughter go? She definitely can’t be under the dining table, right?” Then, she would have to prevent herself from laughing because she was, in fact, under the table.

                She felt herself being lifted up out of her bed. Slightly startled, she resisted the urge to struggle, deciding that she would probably be better off if she behaved. Maybe these people were the agents who came around to kidnap the bad children and send them away until they learned to be better!

                “I don’t think this is the one. Is it the other one?” The voice was deep and close. She supposed it came from the person who had picked her up. His arms were thick and built, and his hands were so big that he could probably hold her in one hand. She resisted the urge to open her eyes to see how big they actually were. 

                “Forget it, let’s just take both.” The voice was just as deep, but a bit sharper than the one from before. She heard a cry from her brother as �" she supposed �" he was picked up out of her bed as well.

                “No! No, please,” that was her mother. Was something bad going to happen? She could feel the person carrying her start to move away. There was a loud thud, and she could hear her mother’s sobs. Something was wrong.

                Now, she supposed, was the time to start misbehaving. After a couple of faint cries to warm up, she let out an earsplitting shriek, one that was sure to at least wake up all of her neighbors.

                “Shut her up, won’t you?” The man who was farther away grumbled. At her cue, her brother let out a shriek of his own.

                “D****t.” The pair picked up their pace. When she felt the cold air hit her face, she realized that she was now outside the safety of her home. At that moment, the tears started streaming uncontrollably down her face. She was placed somewhere hard an extremely uncomfortable. Her brother was placed next to her, and, moments later, whatever she was put on started bouncing uncontrollably. She supposed she was on some sort of carriage now.

                “Sis? Are you okay?” her brother’s voice broke the rackety rhythm. Finally, she opened her eyes, looking into her brother’s concerned glance.

                “Yeah, more or less. What just happened?”

                Her brother shook his head �" a movement that was barely visible due to the fact that they were shaking anyways. “I just thought �" since you screamed so suddenly…nevermind. I don’t know. I think we were just…kidnapped?”

                She shuddered. Or, at least, she tried to. “I hope not. Kidnapping is scary. At least, that’s what mother said. What if they cut off our arms?”

                “Shh! They’re coming!”

                A light switched on, and she covered her eyes to shield them from the sudden assault.

                “What the �" that’s disgusting,” the voice of her captor spoke, full of disdain.

                “Well, we’ve obviously got the right pair, at least. I’m assuming this one is the one we want, though.” She opened her eyes slowly to see what the men were discussing.

                “Holy �" What is that?”

                “There’s definitely something wrong with her.”

                “There’s no space in the castle for such a thing,” a third voice spoke, “She’s obviously mutated. They really do live in a poor village. Usually, there are ways of preventing those for the rich.” She felt herself being picked up by hands that did not seem nearly as strong as the pair from before. “Eyes and a claw. Rare, I suppose. Not particularly useful, though, other than minor experimentation. We don’t need such a thing defacing our castle. Throw her out immediately.”

                “We’ll drop her at the next camp.”

                “Wait �" but �" she’s just three! What if she dies?” It was the man who carried her again.

                “Does it matter?” Her brother’s captor spoke, “At least she won’t be around to deafen anyone.

                “We don’t have time to worry about the lives of insignificant children,” that was the third guy again. “I want her gone. Got it? There’s no point in keeping her here. She’s a waste of time. It’s enough that I’m not just making you throw her out of the carriage at this moment. She’s an eyesore. I want her out at the next stop.” His words had a certain feeling of finality in it. Somehow, she couldn’t imagine that it was good.

xxx

                When she gained her consciousness again, she felt herself being picked up once again, this time by the same pair of arms as the ones that had taken her from the home. The shaking and racketing had stopped.

                What’s happening? She felt herself being placed gently in the grass. As the hands left her, she pulled her blankets around her in attempt to shield herself from the cold breeze. She heard the rhythmic beat of the carriage starting up again, but, for some reason, she couldn’t feel the shaking.

                “Sis! Sis! No!” Her brother’s screams were fading slowly into the distance. She opened her eyes in alarm, looking cautiously around her. She was in a forest and could hear the rushing sound of water nearby somewhere.

                Confused, she did what children only knew to do. She screamed and yelled desperate cries for help, doing her best to keep herself warm and moving and ignoring any threat of a wolf or predator prowling in the forest.

                It’s cold. Where am I? Where’s home? She pulled her blanket up to cover half of her face, curling up to make herself warmer, even though that involved moving away from the spots that she’d already warmed up.

                How long is it going to be until someone finds me? She looked around. She should get up �" maybe if she followed the road, she could get somewhere.

                But…it was so cold.

                When she heard the breathing of some sort of animal nearby, though, she shot up to a standing position. What had mother said again? Get some stick. Make yourself look big. She looked around, picking up the biggest stick she could find and carry.

                Moments later, a wolf jumped at her out of the underbrush. With the limited time to react, she swung at it blindly �" with the hand that wasn’t holding a stick.

                The sound of skin tearing echoed through the skies. The wolf fell limply to the ground.

                She stared at her hand, watching the blood drip to the ground. Did she just…? No. There was no way. She was just…what, three years old? There was no way she could have just injured that wolf so badly. She stepped backwards slowly, turning to face the bridge that the carriage had travelled over.

                I have to get somewhere. She picked up her blanket and ran towards the bridge, slowing down to a walk as she looked down at the river. She looked at her hand again �" no one would be too happy if she came in with a claw covered in blood, would they? Slowly, she lowered herself down the edge of the river, dipping her hand in slowly.

                After the blood had been washed off, she looked up to see that it was surprisingly bright out. Either the sun was about to rise, or her eyes were getting used to the dark. Either way, though, she was grateful for the newly discovered brightness. She climbed up the bank again, watching for slippery or loose stones, and continued down the pathway.

                One day, she’d find her brother. She’d find him, they’d go back and visit their mother and father, and they’d be happy. Hopefully, he’d be searching for her, too. That could help or hinder, but mother said twins had magic that would draw them together and make them think alike.

                And then they’d live happily ever after.

                What about the kidnappers? Well, mother had always said that revenge was bad, that violence wasn’t worth it, and that whoever did bad things would always regret it in the end, so she supposed she would just leave them alone. All that mattered in the end was that her family was back together. As long as they were together again.

                She turned towards the road, spotting a faint light, and walked.

Author's Note

Criticism appreciated!

Reviews

[Wendy Seames Garner]

Well written, you have my curiosity spiked.

[Shep]

A great beginning to a story I would love to read. I thought you should know that and continue on. Plus I looking for signs of life.please email me within one week or I will delete you from my list.

[Jack Isaac]

[first impression] Nice writing --somewhat flawless, but text should be in a better font for computer viewing. The opening line is good but feels like it jumps into the middle of a story --if that is the intent, it does seem to work okay, but may not be as inviting to read as it most definetly could be according to your skills. The storyline and plot work well and keeps the readers attention. Very good!