~ Prologue ~
"Every time you come here, you come to the cemetery. Why?"
He stared at the girl as she continued to walk slowly and gracefully in front of him. His patience faded and he grew irritable.
"Why don't you speak to me?"
She abruptly stopped in the middle of the path and turned to a headstone by her right knee. Her voice was low and soft.
"… Cordelia Fiona Addams…"
"Yes, she was burned in Salem in 1606… Do not spare me your time, mademoiselle."
"Do not demand me to fulfill your time of day, your time belongs to my sister. You are promised to her. You…"
"Do not tell me what I already know!"
She turned to him, intrigued by his anger. Her eyes were hidden behind the shadow of the hood of her cloak… He ached to see them. The mystery that she was, kept him up at night. He stepped forward.
"You are driving me insane. Ever since you started visiting, we've had a drought. The sky is sunny, the moon is never out and the nights are dry… You're the only one who seems to not notice!"
"It isn't the matter of noticing what is happening, it's the matter of knowing why it's happening. The time, sir."
He raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked at his pocket watch, then his wrist watch.
"…12 AM."
She lowered her head and turned back to the headstone. She outstretched her arm and ran her fingers along the surface of the ancient stone.
"One hour you have stolen from the time belonging to you and your beloved. Selfish man."
"I am not…"
"Go now. You are disturbing us."
"Us?"
She motioned her hand to the hundreds of graves that surrounded them.
"Us. The ones who desire peace. Leave us."
He had never felt more desire for someone. He wanted to know, and he wanted to understand. He felt like screaming. He felt like ripping off her hood, but was afraid what lied behind it.
"I'm not done. I will figure you out…I cannot rest until I do."
She stepped back and wrapped her arms around herself and looked up, staring directly into the sun. A crack of thunder caused the man to jump. Dark clouds raced across the sky, hid the sun. Hid the bright blue. Lightning branched and slithered across the sky, and rain began to fall. She slowly turned to the man, whose eyes were wide with absolute confusion and excitement.
"Mama! Mama!" He looked around and laughed, and quickly turned and ran back towards the towering mansion. "Mama! Fester! Brother, it's raining! It's finally raining again!" As he disappeared into the abode, she turned and knelt down in front Cordelia's grave.
"Don't worry! He…He can't!"
She began frantically running her hands over the dirt that soaked up the moisture from the rain. The muddier the dirt became, the faster her hands worked.
"He will never know! A bastard like him…he'd turn me in, but I won't let him! Clueless fools, they are everywhere! But there are more of us…Did you know that, sweetheart? There are more of us!"
She grew hysterical and began to cry. Her hands worked faster than the lightning overhead.
"I will protect you. I will protect all of us, and they. Will. Pay. Believe in me, darling, never again will a son-of-a-bitch white man steal your last breath with a single flame. Selfish bastards, every one of them!"
She worked so fast, her hood dropped from her head. The thunder roared overhead and the rain already began to flood the stone path.
"I will protect you! In learning I will teach, and in teaching I will learn! Please don't doubt me, sister, never again!"
The thunder stopped. The rain stopped falling. The lightning stopped striking. She stopped crying. She stopped working. She carefully stood. She wiped her eyes and put her hood back over her head. The large patch of mud where the body lay underneath for centuries immediately began to harden. The pentagram drawn over it shimmered with dampness.
