Disclaimer: I own no one from the Patriot.
Karrington Ashford's breath caught in her throat, and she bit back a scream as she looked out her window and saw the telltale silhouettes of the British Green Dragoons, England's finest and most dangerous branch in the British army, riding towards her home, their lit torches casting an eerie glow on the foggy path before them. Quickly, Karrington spotted a chair, and with some difficulty, managed to put it in front of the main door to the house.
It won't stop them forever, but at least it will buy us some time.. she thought. Why did it have to come to this? Doesn't William remember me?
"Karrington, quick, over here! We haven't much time!" came the harsh whispered voice of her father, Jacob.
Nodding quickly, Karrington walked over to the entrance of the house cellar and opened it, but startled suddenly when the front door shook violently on its hinges, and the muffled sound of yelling came from the other side.
"Quickly, Karrington! That chair won't hold them back very long.." Karrington's father's voice came from down in the cellar.
"Open up! Now!" a sharp, icy voice shouted behind the door.
William!
There was another violent rattling of the door hinges and the chair moved. Karrington slipped silently into the dark cellar just as the sound of booted and spurred footsteps sounded across the wooden floorboards.
"Search the house." a voice ordered coldly.
More footsteps sounded across the floorboards and Karringrton could see the light of their torches through the crack of the cellar hatch...
Oh, no! I didn't close the hatch all the way!
"Karri, over here, get away from the hatch!" her mother whispered.
"The hatch! I didn't close it all the way!" Karrington whispered frantically.
"There's no time to think about that, just get away from there!"
Karrington backed further into the darkness to join her parents.
"Father, will he really cause us harm? Doesn't William remember us?"
"Karri, I'm afraid William has changed. He's not the man he used to be.." Jacob Ashford whispered softly to his daughter, holding her closely.
"There's no one in the house, sir."
"You're sure?"
"I think we searched everything, sir."
"Search around outside on the property."
Karrington breathed a soft sigh of relief as the sound of footsteps retreated outside, but her relief was short lived, for a single pair of spurred steps lingered inside the house, moving swiftly, purposefully towards the cellar.
Karrington watched in horror as the cellar hatch was roughly opened and Col. William Tavington descended in an eerie silence down the steps. Though he carried no torch, it took him almost no time to spot Karrington and her parents and a cold cruel smile crossed his lips, his icy blue eyes as cold as the devil's as the moonlight played across his face, giving it a nearly white hue.
"Karri.." he purred, a malicious undertone in his voice as he stalked towards Karrington with the sure steps of a predator. "I wondered if you might be down here. The hatch looked a bit... suspicious."
"Leave her alone, Colonel.." said her father calmly, stepping in front of his daughter, though Karrington could tell that inwardly, he was panicking.
"Ah, Jacob Ashford.."
"Please Colonel, leave her alone!" Jacob pleaded.
Col. Tavington smirked, and with effortless speed, pulled out his pistol and fired, hitting Jacob in the chest; he crumpled to the ground; then, without losing any time, he turned to Karrington's mother and shot her as well. Karrington screamed and tried to run, but was quickly caught by the colonel, who twisted her arm into a vice grip, pulling her closer to him until their faces were but an inch apart.
"William, let me go!" she yelled, trying to free herself from his grip.
"Poor Karri, so sorry it had to come to this.." said Col. Tavington in mock pity, running a gloved hand through her dark brown hair and caressing the side of her face.
Karrington's royal-blue eyes shown brightly in the light of the moon as she began to cry.
"William, what's happened to you? Who have you become? How could you do this? William, we grew up together! For the first sixteen years of my life, we were neighbors in Liverpool! You were my best friend, and protector when we were young! I knew that when Mother and Father left on outings, I would always be safe with you watching me. Why, William? Why?" she cried.
"Things change, Karri." the colonel replied coldly. "Things, like your parents' loyalty, change."
"So, you'll sacrifice our friendship for it?"
"This is war, Karrington. Sacrifices are only part of it."
"You monster..." Karrington choked, beginning to cry harder.
"Oh, come now Karri, don't cry..." said the colonel, his voice becoming strangely gentle, as he carefully wiped her tears away and kissed her lips with gentle but mocking reassurance.
"Sir?" one of Tavington's men had entered the cellar.
"Fire the house." Col. Tavington ordered, pulling Karrington swiftly with him out of the cellar and out of the house.
Karrington watched in horror as her beloved home went up in flames. When she could stand it no more, she instinctively buried her face in Col. Tavington's chest, and was surprised when he wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair. Col. Tavignton stood holding Karrington for fifteen minutes and then suddenly pulled away from her, once again becoming stiff and foreboding; in a sharp voice laced with a threatening hate he ordered his men to mount up.
"The girl sir, what do we do with her?" one of his men asked.
"Leave her here." Col. Tavington replied casually, his breath showing white in the cold winter air.
"Sir, it's the middle of winter..."
"I DON'T CARE! LEAVE HER HERE!"
Karrington watched with fear and disbelief as Col. Tavington mounted his horse, turned to her and smiled evilly.
"I hate you!" she yelled at him, tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks.
Col. Tavington's cold expression changed and he got down off of his horse and walked back over to Karrington, wrapping his arms around her.
"Darling, did you really think that I would leave you like this, all alone in the cold? Now please, don't cry.." he whispered, again wiping Karrington's tears away and kissing her gently.
"You'll... you'll take me with you then?"
"No." Col. Tavington smirked, pulling away from Karrington for the second time and mounted his horse.
Then, giving his men orders to move out, he galloped away without a backward glance, his tall, proud, aristocratic figure glowing in the light of the torches his men held as he disappeared into the night, never to see Karrington Ashford again.