They stabbed me
Then pretended they
Were the ones bleeding.
~
1770.
It all started on a land Vhinlox. One of the lands to be generally ruled by the kingdom of Whitegyaeth. Inris on the east, Lumina on the north and Vhinlox on the south.
A kingdom ruled and administered by nobility and wealth and those of the middle classes like the peasants were used as slaves, and labourers and were trampled upon. No one heard their voices, no one cared and no one talked.
Taxes must have been said to be increased and hunger and impoverishment were in haste to escalate.
The streets were scanty at sunrise and sometimes filled by nightfall. Men, women and even children had directed their feet to the market, to earn for their upkeep and survival. There was not even a squirrel or robins among the trees, all and sundry were busy in their workplaces.
The lands cohabited the vampires and humans and were controlled by certain rules and laws which had kept them at something barely called 'at peace'. Do forget about the 'witches', for such identification was an abomination and would lead to nothing but being burnt at the stakes.
For they were referred to and acknowledged as a great felony. They were generally seen as evil creatures, not that the humans had never considered the vampires as such.
A young red-haired girl moved along the empty streets. Her hair glistened in the sun as she made haste to take a shade. She had the colour of hair that only nobles and the wealthy could transition to because of the abundance of their wealth.
People had teased her of being destined to marry into a wealthy family and some had said, in her past life, she was once from the bloodline of seers and it had raised brows. It was undeniable. Her parents and her little brother were brown-haired, which made her stand out in the family, in a bad way.
It was the lengthy gown that she had worn that was impeding her from moving faster and no matter how much she tried to hold it still, it freely flowed out of her hands.
Her hands were filled with two roughly wrapped hard boxes. The sun was scorching, it blazed like a titan's fiery wheel in the sky. She tried to peek through her fingers at the sky but her beautiful brown eyes were quick to be cast down because of the harsh rays.
She had caught a glimpse of the sky. It was bright blue and the weather was all fine. She sighed. She finally found a tree to take a shade from, as she waited patiently for the head sheriff's men, who were going to pick up the goods, according to her mother, had paid handsomely for them.
She was starting to have the second thought about unwrapping the boxes. She wondered if the men would be displeased with how rough, their goods had appeared but her mother's constantly irritating voice, in her head had her quickly sent away from such thought.
She could tell from the bright sky that it was beginning to go late, she had almost spent two hours waiting for them. What was withholding them from coming?. She stared up at the sky and saw it gloomy, gloomy that it might soon start to rain.
Leaning out of the tree as she straightened, she gave one more hour to wait for the men and would not think twice to walk away, if such time elapses. She was already irritated.
And then she gasped, "Not again". She murmured. She saw him walk down the street heading in her direction and she dreaded this. She dreaded crossing paths with this man. Seeing this man had always sent a shiver, a cold shiver down her spine.
He was stout and short and he had on tattered clothes. He always wobbled and Gwendolyn wondered if he had rocks as legs. He was humming something under his breath as he raised his hands to the sky.
Everybody knew him in the village. They said he was a bringer of ill luck. She took a step back and another and another away from the road, he was passing through and then she maintained a stance as though she was not scared of him.
She saw him not look at her, at first but was suddenly covering the distance between them. He then turned to give an eerie grin. His first two teeth were broken and rotten, she cringed.
"Move away from here. It isn't safe for you. There is... There is a foreboding danger after you. Run away, girl... While you can". His last words turned out as whispers and she shuddered.
Gwendolyn wondered if he was a demented man. He began to sing joyfully as though he had not said something strange, and then he walked past her.
When he turned to stare at her again, she saw two deep scars on his right cheek and she gasped again which made him smile. "Don't say I didn't warn you". He said in a sing-song manner and then he resumed his humming and wobbling.
Gwendolyn was beginning to get uneasy. She wanted to leave right away but the fear of her mother's raging voice had her glued back on the spot.
Some moments must have passed, she saw two men approaching her view, two more joined, four more joined and so many joined. She wondered if the head sheriff would send such an amount of men to get their goods.
She realized they were armed with forks, knives and some ropes. What was happening and before she could think further, she saw one of them point in her direction and scream. " There is the witch!!!". Her eyes widened in realization.
Where was the witch? Where?. She quickly turned behind her to see nothing but the cluster of trees. The warning bells rang in her head and she sensed imminent danger.