Prologue

The young Witch sat shaking uncontrollably. She tried to keep her eyes closed. Maybe if she could keep them closed long enough, when she opened them again she would be somewhere else.

Her eyes were still closed but she knew that nothing had changed. She could still smell the stench of death and decay, and no amount of imagining, wishing, hoping, or praying would help her now. She knew that she was trapped in the cellar. The room was divided into two cells. The young witch had been thrown into this one, separated only by the bars to the other.

There was one small, barred window high up in each cell. The sun was almost gone; even through her tightly closed eyes she could tell and she knew what would happen next. She had seen what the monster had done. She had seen the dead staring eyes of its last victim. It had been hours before they had taken the dead woman's torn body away.

"Please don't cry, it will be over soon," a man's soothing voice said, but she still wouldn't open her eyes. "It will be ok. Please tell me your name?" His voice seemed so gentle and kind. The werewolf was a curse, what had this kind man done to be so cursed? Did he even know?

She heard the key in the door to the cold cellar. Finally the witch opened her eyes. If only she'd fought harder, if only she hadn't allowed her self to be disarmed. She would be safe and warm at home. If only she hadn't let them get her wand. But she was trapped and helpless.

She saw the hem of the woman's robes first as she descended the stairs. More and more revealed as she walked carefully down the stairs. If only she would fall and break her neck, better to starve than to face what was to come.

Her jailor approached; her once attractive face, cruel and inhuman. This was the true monster!

"No please-have pity, please...please," the young woman begged.

Her jailor said nothing, just cranked a leaver that released the door between the two cells.

The young Witch saw the kindly man's face change as the moon rose in the barred window behind him.

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