Prologue

            Snap! The shaky branch that she had been balancing on came to a crashing fall, taking her along with it. She went tumbling down the hill, until she came to a roaring halt against another tree. Aurania stood up in a daze the world spinning around her. She outstretched her arms in order to reach out for balance on what she hoped would be a steady tree, or the like. After a few moments her vision stopped spinning and she decided to look at her surroundings.

            Aurania had come some distance, while they were still trees around they were sparse and few in between. She could still make out the edge of the forest farther up the hill although it was only a blur.

            “I couldn’t have possibly fallen that far…” she muttered to herself as she started to make her way back up the hill. It was dark, but Aurania could have sworn it was still only mid day. She had only left the house about an hour ago. The wind picked up then, pushing against her. She was positive she heard a voice whisper to her “Don’t go back…” it seemed to say. She stopped walking, the forest had gone silent. She turned her head then, peering out behind her. Just beyond the tree she landed on there was a giant stone altar that many plants had grown around and cracked through. Curious she made her way over to it.

            As soon as Aurania stepped onto the stones surrounding her she felt a chill run down her spine. It had gotten strangely cold. Ariania’s breath had become visible and she was trembling. At that moment she decided it wasn’t worth it, and turned back around to make her way home. Wind whipped around her and once more and again she heard that whisper “Don’t go back…” Aurania hesitated and decided to peer back at the altar.

“It must be part of the old graveyard, maybe part of the ones that were lost in the forest. Maybe Daddy will want to hear about it.” Aurania muttered to herself as she made her way over to it. On top of the altar was a dark green book that seemed to beckon to her. She observed the book it was very old, and it had much weather damage. The closer she got to the book the more she heard whispering. Coming from all around her were incoherent mumblings. Aurania stepped forward a bit and grabbed the book. All at once everything became silent and still. For the few seconds she stood peering at the book in her hands time seemed to have stopped.  It was eerie and Aurania wanted nothing more than to put the book back and run home. But instead of doing so, she tucked the book under her arm and slowly made her way back home.

“Aurania, dear what happened?” her mother called to her when she entered the house. “You’re filthy! Did you fall down somewhere?” She asked while gently wiping away some of the mud that had caked onto her skin. Aurania nodded slowly. “Here, let’s go get you cleaned up.” She told her and began to lead her into the wash room. “Your father is making his rounds, and will be back in a moment. Then we can get dinner started, what would you like dear?” She asked as she cleaned her face with a damp cloth.

“Not hungry…” Aurania declared after a moment, “I just want to go read my book. Please don’t disturb me.” With that Aurania swiftly left the room. She was soon followed by her mother.

“Are you sure? We’ll set a place for you just in case you change your mind, alright?” Her mother informed her. “Hey, where’d you get that book anyway? Aurania?” With no reply her mother shook her head. She’ll try and ask later, for now she decided she’d give Aurania some peace and leave her alone.

When Aurania got to her room she immediately sat on her cot. She called it a room but it was really only an attic with a small cot shoved over to one end with a few drawings sloppily plastered to the walls, a small music box carefully paced out of the way on the floor, and a full length mirror by the cot. She curled up as comfortable as the cot would allow and set the book down in front of her with a large thump. She carefully undid the clasp that was holding the book shut. As soon as she did, Aurania felt a cold breeze brush around her and move around her room before it quickly died. Her hand hesitated for a brief moment before she grabbed the cover and flipped it open. There was nothing on the page or any other page for that matter she soon found out by flipping through the book.

Aurania slammed the book shut and released an aggravated sigh. She lightly jumped off the cot and began to make her way to the door, only to here a sound behind her. It sounded like pages of a book had been turned, Aurania stopped dead in her tracks. When she slowly faced the book again she found it open to some page in the middle. Curious Aurania walked over to the book. There was still no writing on the pages, but there were large splotches of red spewed across it. Again a breeze filled the room, slightly stronger than before. Aurania stared at the book with wide eyes before the world around her went black.

 Down the stairs Aurania’s mother was in the kitchen slicing vegetables. Occasionally she would glance up to the ceiling concerned for Aurania. She sighed after a moment and put the knife down. Aurania’s mother made her way to the stairs to the attic.

“Aurania!” She called up them. There was no reply. Aurania’s mother made her way up the stairs irritably.

Later that day Aurania’s father entered the house. “I’m home!” he called. After no one replied he shrugged and headed towards the kitchen. He shivered as a chill ran up his spin. Before entering the kitchen, the man glanced around the room looking for an open window. When her father found none he turned to the opening of the stairs and called, “Aurania?” after a moment. When no answer came he headed over to where the stairs began. As he stepped closer he noticed that there was mist on the ground. It was faint, but it was defiantly there. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he stopped. “Aurania? A-are you there?” he stuttered.

The next thing Aurania’s father heard were slow, thumping steps making their way down the stairs. They sound heavy as if someone was putting all of their weight down with each step. The closer the steps came, the more the mist was visible. Aurania’s father stepped back slowly staring wide-eyed at the foot of the stairs. After a bit Aurania came into view. Held underneath her arm was the book she found earlier, only this time it was faintly glowing. Once Aurania reached the end of the stairs, she lifted her bowed head. The movements were stiff almost like she was a marionette being played with by an amateur.

“Aurania?! Are you okay?” her father called. He took a step forward but immediately stopped when he saw the look on his daughter’s face. Aurania was smiling a big face-splitting smile. Her eyes were dripping with blood, staining her once-blue eyes with a sickening red. Aurania’s father immediately covered his mouth with his hand and tried to leave in a panic. The last thing he ever saw was his daughter’s smiling face.