7 year old Juliana sits across from her brother, Alton, in the shade of a tree- although it was very cloudy that day- in the yard playing a game they had made up using the sticks and stones found in the forest nearby. Weeks prior, their village had had yet another tragic death of a child- Ainsley, had been her name- the villagers mourned for the loss of a citizen and had given the young girl an extravagant ceremony. Not for the family, no, as a warning. You must understand that this English village was quite superstitious and believed the child had died from a curse. Although no one had actually spoken this aloud, many were suspicious of these twins. Of these men, only one had ever approached Juliana and Alton. It had been after the ceremony, Juliana remembers. She had been about to go back home with her brother when he stopped her. I travel the world, he had explained when she hadn't recognized him as one of the citizens of her village, I saw how that girl treated you earlier this week. She deserved to feel your pain. Juliana had never seen this man before, so how had he known what happened? She would have remembered his face, it was perfect, with flawless features and terrifying blood-red eyes. She had thought back to that day, when she had been trying to buy some fabrics from Ainsley's mother's shop. Ainsley had refused to let her mother sell her cloth, calling her a monster, just because she was a twin. It was uncommon in her world to be such a thing. Juliana had stood her ground, she needed this fabric for clothes. Finally, she had fled because Ainsley had accused her and her sibling of being witch twins. No one had been in the shop at the time, she could have sworn. But yet, this nomad knew exactly what had happened. Maybe he was the cause for Ainsley's death. Either way, the man had left after that without another word.

Now, as the twins played their fantasy game, a man in long, black robes approached them. He had hair as black as his cloak, and the same ruby tint in his eyes as the traveling nomad. The twins looked at his features, curious. He smiled.

"Hello, young ones. How are you feeling today?" His voice, Juliana thought, was like a fond but scolding grandfather. Alton looked to his sister to see how she would respond, for he never made a decision without his sister's approval. Juliana, taken a bit aback by his informality, lifted her chin and glared.

"We are having a fine day, thank you," she responds, if not a bit suspicious. Alton nods in agreement. The man smiles at them and extends his hand.

"May I ask for a name?" He asked very sweetly.

Alton scowls at his forwardness. He looks directly into his terrifying eyes and states, "no." The man seems surprised for a moment, but before Juliana could be sure, his face is blank of emotion. He drops his hand and sighs.

"Well, I suppose if you are not to show any hospitality, I will find another place to stay for the week," He lifts a hand in a parting wave and walks toward the home of one of the more unpopular women of the village. Juliana narrows her eyes. That man, she thought, is not human.

…

One week later, Alton is tending to the family's livestock when a boy about his age approaches him. Avery, he believes is his name. He was the heir to one of the more wealthy family fortunes and always seemed to get what he wanted. Alton had heard his father, a Frankish soldier, talking about how Avery's livestock had become weak over the winter months and weren't going to sell for very much. Avery flashed a charming smile to Alton.

"Your livestock seem to be doing quite well this year," he says following Alton's steps as he took care of the grazing animals, "Perhaps, you could lend me an animal or two, since you don't need them all." Alton is silent. Today was a nice day for the village, with the cloudless blue sky touching the dark green treetops. Of course looking below the trees anyone on Alton's property could have sworn that a man's silhouette flitted beneath the trees...

"Well?" Avery repeats. Alton looks up from his chore, forgetting that the boy was even there.

"Why on earth would you need my livestock?" Alton asks, knowing full well the answer already, "Your family is quite wealthy. You must have plenty of livestock far better off than mine." The corners around Avery's smile tighten.

"Please, don't flatter yourself! Your sheep and cows are the healthiest in the village!" Avery's voice begins to sound strained, and Alton begins to calculate the outcomes of his situation. His family's fortune could quite possibly depend on a bad livestock year. So if he gave him the livestock, Avery's family could escape near-poverty and Alton may get some of the credit. He was about to let Avery take one of his best sheep when he remembered what Juliana had said about the boy after they had found out about his livestock.

"He had threatened to have us thrown out of the village if I didn't agree to an arranged marriage! Thank God Almighty that the tailor happened to be walking by and got me out of the trouble! He deserves the shortage in his livestock!" Then, after thinking it through as thoroughly and quickly as possible, he told Avery, "My apologies, Avery, but I cannot. You see, my family needs the good livestock this year for it has been years since our family has had this successful livestock and we need the resources." Avery, to Alton's surprise, does not show any sign of anger or frustration, but says a quiet goodbye and goes on his way.

The next morning, Juliana woke up later than she normally does. It had always been her job to tend to the livestock in the mornings at the break of dawn. Now, the sun had already risen and she could hear her neighbors beginning their day. She sits up in her uncomfortable bed and quietly rises to her feet, as to not wake her family in the same room. Usually, the baying of the sheep rising from their sleep awoke her from her light slumber. But today, there was no sound coming from their pen. She slipped on her clothing and shoes and stepped outside and walked towards the livestock. Then she noticed why she had heard nothing this morning. She screamed, causing her neighbors to look up in shock. A few of the men grumble about how the entire family is crazy but soon they follow her line of vision to see a horrific- yet not uncommon- sight. The soil inside the pen, which at a distance only seemed muddy, Juliana could now see was swimming with blood. The livestock, all of them, beheaded or lying startlingly still. Tears filled her eyes. She knew that predators could not get in the pen. She had seen a wolf once, biting at the wood, until she had chased it away. Who would have done such a thing as sabotage another's resources? After letting out a choked sob, she ran into her home and woke her family.

"Come quick, Come very quick! The livestock, they're all dead!" Juliana cried as she ran into the room.

"Dead?" Alton asked. He had just been tending to them yesterday, they were perfectly healthy. Juliana nodded.

"Oh, it's just terrible! They're all slaughtered! Someone murdered them! Why would you even think of hurting another living creature? I can't even kill an insect in the garden!" She looks at the opposite wall of the room, horrified. Alton looks over to their parents, who are sitting quietly and listening to the conversation. Juliana looked to Alton, terrified and in need of advice. Worst case scenarios swam through her head, ranging from fantasy theories of a wolf-man attacking the herd to someone sending them a warning that their family was next. Alton walks over to his twin, trying to console her.

"They were killed by a person, you say?" He asked softly. Juliana nodded.

"No carnivorous animal can get through those gates. It has to have been a neighbor," she shook her head, "who would do such a thing? Thou shalt not covet." That's when the pieces click in place. Alton knows exactly who was behind this chaos. He was speechless. Yesterday, he had declined to give Avery livestock so he killed their animals! Alton jumped up, causing Juliana took look up in concern.

"I will be right back. Stay with mother and father," he said quickly and walks out the door. Juliana watched him go, wondering if there really was an animal murderer in their village. Finally, she turns to see her parents still in a quiet discussion. It sounded like they were debating something, but Juliana couldn't figure out what.

"I'm sorry we lost this year's livestock," she murmured. Her parents jump, as if they had forgotten she was there. Her mother smiles a very fake smile.

"There is nothing to apologize about. You wouldn't kill our family's only resource, would you?" It was sounded very strange the way her mother said it, as if she had killed the livestock and was trying to cover up her footsteps. But Juliana only nodded. It was best to satisfy her parents and be wanted, she'd decided a few years ago. Her mother just kept that fake smile on her face, telling her a few reassuring words now and again. Her father never once looked at her, but instead stared blankly at the wall behind her. Her father had never been very good at lying. So the fact that he was not speaking consoling words to her too made her realize that maybe things were going to be far worse from now on.

…

Alton walked briskly across the lawn to Avery's home. He knew he couldn't accuse him right away, Avery must have known what he was doing and expects that to happen. Instead, Alton walks up to where Avery's mother is tending to their small garden. She smiles as he approaches her.

"Hello there, young man. Is there a problem?" Alton nodded slightly.

"I was speaking with your son the other day about my family's livestock and I was wondering if he could talk to me about an offer." The woman looked confused. Apparently, she hadn't known about the visit her son had made to meet him. Eventually, she nods.

"I will see him to you," she mumbles and walked inside. Alton had no idea what he is going to say to this boy. Avery has obviously done it, but he will never admit it to anyone. After a few moments of pondering, the woman comes back outside followed by Avery. He smiles knowingly.

"Please, come with me. I need to get some firewood to cook our meal tonight from the woods," Avery says, gesturing for Alton to go ahead of him.

When they reach the edge of the woods, Avery speaks up.

"Took you long enough to get over here. Did it really take that long for you to come here complaining about your precious livestock?" Avery scowled at Alton, "but now we're both going to have no money this year." Alton turned around to look at Avery, shocked that he had just admitted to killing his family's only source of income. Avery barks out a laugh at Alton's expression and out of the corner of his eye, Alton swore that he saw something move...

"You're so shocked! Did you suspect someone else?" Avery's voice is sharp and sarcastic. Alton scowled.

"No, of course not. The fact that you just admitted to committing a crime and going against God's good will is shocking!" He snapped, "I can't believe you would do this to another family." Avery snorted.

"And why not? Your family was soon going to be wealthier than mine. We cannot have that, now can we?" Avery stared coldly at Alton.

"Now, how about a bargain?" he said. Alton narrows his eyes suspiciously.

"With what? You killed off all of my animals, so what else can I give?" Avery shrugged.

"Well, you do know that I was the one to kill your animals, and I have an influential family so let me propose this; If you leave the forest today and tell the entire village that I was the one to kill your livestock, I will tell the village my side of the story," Avery smirked. Alton tilted his head to the side.

"And your side is...?"

"That you cursed me after I had asked you for some of your sheep, and you had made me kill those poor animals," he paused for effect, "so that I would take the blame and not you and your evil twin." He took a small bow, as if he had told the greatest proposal in history. Alton looked over Avery's shoulder, towards his home. He had to agree to this blackmail. There was no other way to keep the family status in his village. He stared at Avery, who was smiling smugly.

"I'll accept the offer," Alton said, defeated. Avery turns around and starts walking back to the center of the village.

"Wonderful! Until fate brings us together again, goodbye." Avery speaks to Alton without turning around once and continues on his way.

Once Avery is almost out of sight and Alton is standing immobilized in his spot near the brush, the man who had been lurking in the shadows nearby, smiled. He had heard the entire conversation, of course, and did not like to see a poor, poor child being cheated like this. Why not just change him now? The man thought, he can have his revenge after the transformation. he shook his head, clearing himself of the tempting thoughts. He remembers the laws he had passed and what children are like after transforming, and with the boy and his sister having such promising gifts, it would be much too dangerous. He knew he had to wait, and he knew he could not be hasty. I suppose I'll take the matters of the animal killer into my own hands... He thinks as he wipes some of the drying blood from his most recent meal from his jacket as he begins to formulate a second murder in the village...