Author's note: This is a story I co-wrote with Ellie a few years ago. It is my favourite story from those I've written. It is a tale of fantasy, mystery, love, and family. A big part of this story is quite sad, and it was hard for us to write it at times, but we enjoyed writing the different conflicts and the characters dealing with problems, which will eventually lead to a final solution. I think if you give this story a chance, you'll enjoy it and love the characters... well, not all of them... you might dislike a few. LOL
Prologue
Rock Creek, October 1863
"That's it! Get the hell out of my house this minute!" Lou shouted at the top of her voice, as she forcefully pushed the dark woman towards the door. However, the stranger's robust build and strong limbs, and a preternatural strength even considering her size, made the task an arduous and useless effort for Lou, especially weakened as she was from the lack of sleep. And the woman was enraged now in earnest and fought Lou like a wild animal. Tufts of her jet-black shiny hair, marred by a few streaks of gray, had escaped her very long braid and flapped in the air as she resisted and battled the smaller woman viciously, hissing and snarling.
"How dare you to try stealing in my house and under my very nose?" Louise stormed angrily … but when she lifted her eyes to meet the other woman's coal-black ones, she felt her blood freeze and her courage falter. Despite their inky blackness, there seemed to be a light emanating from them, as strange and terrifying as if fire... the fire of Hell itself was burning in them. They seemed to penetrate into Lou's very soul, hypnotizing her like a snake would transfix its small prey. That slight hesitation gave the strange woman the upper hand and she dug her long nails into Lou's white, tender skin. Louise let out an agonized cry, still somehow powerless to move otherwise, but the other woman wouldn't allow her a single second's respite. Instead, the madwoman delivered a powerful blow to the side of Lou's head, sending her flying to the hard floor, hitting her face against the fireplace.
Louise groaned weakly as her whole body complained of the heavy fall. She was hurting so much that she couldn't move. Her sore face could feel the proximity of the hearth and its warmth, as she clutched the stone with trembling fingers. The raging storm continued outside, but other than that the room was silent but for the clacking of the many bracelets on the woman's wrists as she went about her thieving in the room, opening drawers and rifling through them for spare cash and valuables. Lou's spirit told her that she had to do the impossible, she had to pull herself to a standing position. Above all else, she feared for her baby. She needed to get to her baby before that horrible woman could. Her darling baby... the light of her life. Tears almost came to her eyes, thinking of what might happen to the baby, but she fought them down. This wasn't the time for weakness and with an almost supernatural effort she managed to raise her body. But almost instantly a scream escaped her lips as she fell heavily against the floor once again when the hulk of a woman mercilessly kicked her square in her head.
The scream woke her baby, who started calling for her with plaintive newborn wails. "Please leave us alone, please," Louise begged in a pitiful voice. "You've taken everything we had in the house, please." All her self ached to take her beautiful child in her arms and provide safety and comfort. Despite the baby's loud cries, strangely the woman's steps approaching her reverberated in the room with a strange and mysterious quality that made her skin crawl. Louise's body started to shiver in fear as the woman's shadow fell over her pitiful figure and she wondered what she had in store for her. Would she kill her and take her baby away? The idea almost made her scream, a scream that she muffled by covering her mouth, but this time the tears came unleashed. "Please," she repeated, lifting her eyes to the imposing figure of the woman who kept staring at her.
The evil woman guffawed maniacally and then for the first time since their violent struggled began, she opened her mouth to speak. "You don't sound so cocky now, little woman!" her voice boomed in the room, competing fiercely with the storm clapping outside and the desperate cries of the baby. "A cockroach like you... a filthy lump of pus and vermin... accusing me! Me... a descendant of kings and emperors! My race is powerful in ways that a dirty rat like you can never understand and only for that insult you deserve your punishment... a cruel and terrible punishment."
Lou's heart was pounding strongly, and she tried to pull herself up once again, but the woman kicked her in the stomach once again and as Lou buckled over, nauseated and breathless from the impact, the woman knelt down and wrenched a handful of Lou's long, shiny hair from her head, before slipping it into the pocket of her filthy, but elaborately embroidered cloak. A scream of pain left Lou's lips and then all she was able to whisper in a weak voice was, "Please... don't hurt my baby. Please don't hurt my baby."
Silence followed her plea and then she heard the woman's echoing footsteps moving away. "No please!" Lou cried desperately, fearing for her baby, and as she lifted her head with an almost supernatural effort, to her utter surprise she saw the woman dashing out of the house and slamming the front door closed behind her.
Without wasting a single second, Louise scrambled to her feet and ran for the basket where her baby lay, still crying. She held the red-faced, squalling child against her bosom desperately. On feeling the tiny body against her skin, a surge of anguish and relief washed over her and the sobs started racking her frame while she rocked her child in her arms. "Shh, baby. Mama's here and nobody's gonna hurt you. Nobody. I'm not gonna allow it. They'd have to kill me first."
The baby's cries subsided little by little and Lou's body complained of the blows that woman had rained down on her. Her back came to lean against the wall and her body slid down it, finally collapsing on the floor. Her baby had fallen asleep, but she still clasped the little one close, needing to reassure herself they were safe now. The crazed woman had stolen only a few dollars, thank Heaven; the money for this month's mortgage was hidden upstairs, where the woman had thankfully not gone looking for it and it was safe.
Her eyes stared at the window opposite her, which was being washed by the water falling outside. The sound of the rain pelting against the glass panes and the walls made her feel a bit more relaxed. She had been so scared. Never before had she been this frightened. Louise chastised herself in silence because she had been a fool for letting that woman in her house out of pity.
Louise was still shaky and her breathing came out in quick puffs as she brought back to mind the terrible encounter she had had with the stranger. She told herself that she needed to pull herself together. The danger was gone and nothing had happened but for her receiving a couple of painful blows. A clap of thunder resounded deafeningly in the house at the same time the window she had been watching suddenly shattered when the force of the wind blew a branch against it. A strong draft blew into the house and Lou quickly rose to her feet. She lovingly laid the baby back in the bassinet with a kiss, laying the soft blanket over carefully. Distractedly she went to shutter the window, glancing back at her baby as she leaned out and reached for the shutter's handle.
A crack of lightning split the sky and suddenly a wet hand seized her by the neck strongly. Even though her mouth automatically opened to shout in fright, no sound came out of it. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the mysterious woman appear before her, squeezing her neck more and more tightly. The woman was soaked to the bone, water dripping down her dark face and hair, her clothes clinging to her, making her appear more scary and diabolical to Lou's gaze. Her black eyes radiated such powerful hatred and scorn that Louise could even feel it on her own skin.
"Do you really think you could get away so easily, little woman?" she hissed completely calm.
"Please..." Lou croaked weakly, feeling unable to breathe or even think.
"Fleas, toads and snakes!" the woman exclaimed as if she was conjuring the dark forces of the earth. "Your punishment will be waiting for you... yes... patiently, quietly, dangerously..."
"Please..." Lou repeated as her hands struggled to reach for the woman. She couldn't understand the woman's curses as she desperately tried to fight for her life and defend herself from her attack. The lack of air was weakening her by the second and Louise thought that she would faint at any moment.
"Parcae are already waiting... the spirit of Death will clutch and steal your soul while the world keeps living happily!" the woman continued with a dark and ominous voice, reinforcing her hold on Lou's neck with each word she uttered.
Louise continued stretching her arms towards her and thrashing to get free without any success, and suddenly the woman let go. The air filling her lungs caused her to be shaken by a terrible fit of coughing and feeling very weak, she fell heavily onto the floor. "And two golden-haired gazelles... one friend and one stranger will plot to steal your men... both your men. And the stranger will... very skillfully she'll manage to filch one's body and the other's soul. And then you'll know what stealing really means, little woman! Mark my words because they're as true as gospel!"
A malicious guffaw followed her words and then there was nothing but silence. Lou lifted her eyes to the window and nobody was there, but darkness and the rain pouring outside in a thick layer. She slowly rose to her feet and with more strength than she thought she had closed the shutters forcefully. Lou set about to lock all her windows and doors, and even dragged her big table before her front door. She had never been afraid of anything but now that she was a mother, fear for her little baby blinded her senses and she got the gun down from over the door and crouched by the cradle, trembling in terror.