Bella

I, like many, feared The Beast. No one that had ever laid eyes on him had lived. I grew up hearing tales of the plagues that he had unleashed when his thirst wasn't satisfied. The last time was in 1470 BC. Those plagues mostly affected the Middle East, but all humans feared it could spread so they started selecting tributes to serve as sacrifices. 

All of my 28 years of life, I have been cursed with visions. They are snippets of the past intertwined with the present. I had been placed in institutions until one day I pretended to be cured. Because these visions only occur when I sleep it makes it easy to say that I was cured. Since my release, I have started sleeping less and less. Now my days are filled with paperwork and fetching coffee for Mr. Daniels. He is a crude and horrid man, but as long as his coffee is fresh and hot, I can avoid his wrath. I often daydream of a beautiful land teeming with wildlife and filled with joy. I long to be free, but that is a reality that will never be.

However, one day my monotonous life took a bizarre turn. I brought in Mr. Daniels' coffee as I had done for years but instead of him sitting behind his desk an eerily handsome man's gaze met mine. I dropped the coffee as the man stood and said, "Seize her!" I tried to fight, but I was no match for the two strong men who grabbed me. The eerie man got up into my face. The putrid stench of his breath burned my nostrils and made my stomach churn. He ran his finger along my jaw before his hand wrapped around my throat and began to squeeze, "This one will do quite nicely." Then everything went black as I was shrouded in the shadows of goodbye to all that I had ever known.