A strong wind blew through the leafless tree and muddy marshland filled with thick fog. As the fog began to fade, a house emerges, a mansion to be exact. It looks rundown and almost like a haunted castle. Through the glass window in the top floor Isabella is looking out.
"It's morning, or is it. I wish I could see sunshine for just a moment" Sighed the girl. Isabella dressed herself in a rather old frilly pink dress. She tied her dark brown hair and braided into pig tales. She wore her black rubber boots and quickly ran downstairs. As she was about to go out, she was called out by her grandmother.
"Come here for a second little one" Said granny Hilda in a sweet voice. Granny Hilda is Isabella's maternal grandmother. Unlike her own mother, granny Hilda is sweet and caring.
"Your mother, where is she??" Asked granny Hilda.
"She has gone out to see Aunt Jane and Uncle Roger on the farmhouse next to the Tooders Shop", said the girl.
"Don't hate your mother. She means well. She loves you with all her heart. She is worried about you", Said granny.
Isabella smiles and kisses granny on her cheeks. She says nothing and walks out of the room. She goes to the front door and stares at the door handle. She hesitates first, then opens it. The thick fog starts slowly clearing, making the marshland visible.
She walks through the muddy road and sits on the swing tied to the leafless tree. She stares ahead silently and starts singing. "Come let's play, come let's sing, we are destined to play the play. Come let's play, come let's go hide in the cave so he can't take us away".
Hours passed, Isabella hasn't moved from the spot where she was sitting. Suddenly she hears a voice from behind.
"Isabell, what are you doing outside alone" It was her mother who has just come back from visiting the farmhouse.
"You never learn, you never listen, I wish you would just listen to me for once. You are killing me Isabell", said the mother. She dragged Isabella from the swings and took her into the house.
"What were you doing out there?? " Asked her mother.
"What is all this commotion" asked the bedridden granny Hilda.
"Nothing mother, it's nothing", said Isabella's mother.
"What is a sacrifice mother??", Isabella asked her mother.
The woman turned with a terrifying look on her face. It was as if she has seen a ghost or heard some bad news.
"Am I a sacrifice???" Asked the girl.
"Who told you that???", asked the woman.
"It was Jasabell" said the girl. "She was in my room last night. There was Margaret, Catherine, the twins from Tooders and some other girls as well".
"What?? You saw Jasabell?? Nonsense. I don't believe you. Don't go talking nonsense to others just like you did to me" Said the mother and sends her to her room upstairs.
Isabella's mother started trembling. She ran to her room and reached near the cupboard side. She opened the cupboard and between the piles of clothes she took an old picture. It was a painting of a young girl who looked exactly like Isabella. She had blond hair with hazel eyes unlike Isabell who had brown hair and blue eyes. She turned the picture and a name is visible...…Jasabella.
End of Chapter 2