this is a little drabble I was working on to distract myself from updating my other story, Two Weeks. Rated M for mature themes in the future of the fic, though not necessarily sexual activities. this story won't be updated extremely often, but I got tired of waiting to post the beginning of it, so here we are.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own Twilight or its characters. Unfortunately.

Black Plague: The Diary of Jane

Entry 1: Prologue.

"Janie, dear!" her mother called out.

"Yes?" Jane replied, brushing the hay off her skirts; she had been feeding the pigs when she heard her mother's summons.

"Your brother forgot to bring something to eat midday. Deliver this to him, please, darling." Her mother's brilliant smile made Jane smile in return, looking like an angel. Her mother patted her on the cheek in adoration before giving her a small parcel and sending her on her way.

Jane peeked inside and found a crust of bread and a shiny red apple that looked positively delectable, and she hoped her mother had another one waiting for her at home. Alec would share if she asked, but she would never do that. He deserved the treat for working as hard as he did all day long.

Their father had died many years beforehand of a sickness, leaving their mother to fend for herself and two young children. The family had gone hungry often, eating meager amounts of food until Alec was old enough to get a job working in Sir Robert's stables to supplement their mother's income of being a simple seamstress.

Jane wasn't fortunate enough to be able to help her mother and brother. Not only was she unable to complete several different apprenticeships due to her lack of skill, but she had begun to develop a cough that the townsfolk said was similar to that of her father's before he had passed. Her mother didn't want her working too hard in fear that the stress might make her become ill.

She usually was only allowed to leave her home for simple tasks such as this one, and that simple fact made a mundane trip turn into something exciting, an activity to look forward to. She was practically skipping down the short dusty road into the city, on her way to deliver her brother's lunch.

Soon she saw the vague outline of the stables, and she quickened her pace. Something didn't seem right. Her thoughts were confirmed when she heard her brother's soft voice utter the words "Gilbert, I think I need your help..."

To the outside observer, Alec's voice might have seemed calm, but Jane knew him better than that. She detected the slight tremble in his words and knew something was horribly wrong.

She finished rounding the building and entered cautiously, watching from afar as Gilbert, the head stable hand, approaching the corner stall where her brother was pressed tightly against the wall.

Jane recognized the horse in the same stall immediately. Storm. He was a new acquisition of Sir Robert's, and in desperate need of being broken of his wild ways. His temperamental attitude had already injured several of the hands, and things didn't seem to be improving in his case by the way he was huffing, kicking the ground, and staring at her beloved brother as if he would charge him if Alec dared move the slightest bit.

Jane approached as quietly as she could, deciphering more details the closer she got: Alec's casual yet white knuckled grip on the shovel in his hand, his neutral face, and his wide eyes, the only thing betraying his fear. He was quite good at suppressing everything, she knew from experience.

Gilbert stepped into her line of sight, blocking her brother from view, and speaking in soothing tones to Storm. Using the same voice, he spoke to Alec.

"Son, move as slowly as possible. No sudden noises or movements, right, boy?"

Alec nodded and slowly moved to blindly place his shovel on the wall behind him. Gilbert cursed when it knocked into a hook on the wall and Storm drew up onto his back legs, slamming back down on the ground with a terrible thud. Alec cried out when the horse's front hoof connected with his face on the way down.

Jane ran from her frozen position just as Gilbert jumped into the stall and hastily grabbed Storm's reigns as he reared up to try to attack again.

"Boy! Get outta here!" he called, struggling to hold the horse as Alec crawled out, one hand clutching his bloody face. He was surprised to see his sister waiting there to help him to his feet.

She gasped, seeing the large cut on his small cheek from the hoof and all the profusely flowing crimson that had gathered already. She hurriedly untied the parcel, letting the apple and bread drop to the floor as she pressed the cloth to his face. He winced, and she shuddered. She didn't like to see him in any pain.

In the background, Jane vaguely registered the noise of Storm still trying to assault Gilbert. The loud slamming of the stall door closing would have brought her relief if she weren't currently worried about her dear twin.

"Are you alright?" she asked him quietly, cupping the uninjured side of his face.

He nodded, but his eyes were out of focus, most likely from the blood loss. She looked around frantically and picked up the forgotten apple, rubbing the dust off on her dress and offering it to him; she hoped that perhaps the food would re-energize him. He took a few bites, and soon his cool and collected expression was back in place. She used to hate that look--knowing everything that was going on under the surface, and wishing that he'd confide, instead of leaving her essentially to herself. But now she was glad to see the look; it meant that he was feeling better, despite the gore on his face and neck, dripping down to stain his good shirt. Mother had told him not to wear it to work...

"What the hell did you do to that horse, boy?" Gilbert asked, settling beside the two. He was out of breath, holding his stomach tenderly as if he had been kicked.

"Nothing to my knowledge. I had him calmed down and holding still so I could muck the stall, and then he snapped, as if he realized I was trying to keep him steady and didn't like it."

Gilbert chuckled and winced. "That's what you get for manipulating horses, boy. Let someone else clean his cage from now on, yeah?"

Alec smiled his calm smile as if none of the horrid things of the day had really happened. "Sounds lovely, Gilbert. Simply lovely."

He turned his calm smile to his sister and she saw what was behind his smile. He knew something that he wasn't sharing with Gilbert, and he wouldn't tell her either. She wanted to ask, or even think to ask, but instead she held his gaze, not being able to think of anything.

He blinked, and her thought process went back on track. Slightly off balance, she turned her gaze away, trying not to see the visual of Alec's damaged face. She settled on Storm.

Never in her life had she wanted to hurt another living creature as much as she did in that moment, watching him continue to bang around in the stall, wanting to continue his attack. She saw red and didn't know if it was because of her anger, or just the visual remaining in her head of the blood covering her brother's face. Her eyes narrowed in on the beady little pupils of the evil horse who had dared to hurt her remaining family.

She glared, wishing that her looks would do anything to make the savage animal understand that its vicious behavior had hurt her mentally, and her brother physically.

The horse met her eye and collapsed into a sitting position, shuddering visibly and whinnying.

It understood, and it would never make the same mistake again.

What did you think, eh? I've never tried to write canon, especially historical canon. But this story has stolen my heart, while simultaneously frightening me. Care to tell me your thoughts so I know how to proceed, pretty please?

Much Love