Auschwitz Poland: 1944
Alina wept to herself silently as heavy tears ran down her face. Her frail body ached, just lying on the hard wooden bunk. She had not gotten any sleep last night—not after being forced to watch them kill her three brothers and mother. The images repeated over and over in her mind. How much longer would she be there? She didn't know how much longer she could survive this. The paper-thin blanket did nothing to suppress the harsh winter weather. She shivered, trying not to let her teeth chatter. And then she felt herself go numb. Her eyelids began to shut and her body went limp. Her bony hand hung lifelessly over the side of the bunk. The ring that used to be too tight on her, slid off freely onto the dirt floor below. It was her engagement ring. But her fiancé was dead—and now, so was she.
And then everything began to change. Alina could see clearly again. She felt healthy and alive. Her strength was back and she felt a sense of energy she never felt before. It was almost like she was floating in an atmosphere of light. Suddenly, it grew dim again. She saw the starving victims, she had gotten so used to seeing, she heard the silent cries for help that only increased the pain and then she saw herself, lying lifeless on a bunk, between two other prisoners. That's when she realized she was dead and everything came rushing back to her…
Just three years ago, on her 14th birthday, she had been told the secret. She was a witch. She had powers that she would receive on her 18th birthday, January 2nd, 1945. Alina had never fully understood. All she knew was that she was going to help rid the world of evil, that she would have powers, she would be able to see things that other people couldn't. It was supposed to be a secret. No one was supposed to know. But the Nazi's found out… somehow.
That's when her home was invaded, her family was taken away and she was placed in Auschwitz, a Nazi Concentration Camp. She was no longer Alina, but she was Gypsy-No14670. She was no longer allowed to marry her love, Samuel. He was Jewish. But she wouldn't give up the ring that he had given her. It was beautiful. It was a sign of their love, their lives—together.
Now it was over, everything was over. Her life was finally over after suffering through two years of hard labor and torture. She could finally move on, to a better place. But for some reason, after seeing her body just laying there, she couldn't. She didn't want to move on. It wasn't her time to die—she knew it wasn't. That's when she knew she was never going to die. She would live on forever. And so would her love for Sam. Alina began to believe in magic, she felt it coarse through her blood, she could finally accept the fact that she was a witch. As her spirit hovered over the barrack, she dove, straight for the ring. The diamond began to glimmer. Someway, she would love him again, someday she would feel love and happiness once more. She swore it to herself. The ring slowly began to disappear and fate began to take its course.