Twisted [Lady Lesso x OC] {S L O W B U R N}

Prologue

"It's getting late, we should head back home".

The sun was setting, making the shadows grow in size. It was no mystery that being outside at night, especially in the forest, wasn't a particularly good idea. To me though, the forest felt more like home than my actual house. I often wondered if anyone would've noticed if I didn't come back one day. Not that I had much of a choice, really.

People talk and I guess the longer you listen to them, the more you believe those are not just bedtime stories for kids to make them behave.
Most of the stories told around Gavaldon weren't all that terrifying. Just your regular day out in nature, bears, wolves, deer. In case you ever ran into a wild animal, you always had a slight chance of surviving. Assuming you could run fast and weren't far from the village.
Then, you had the scary ones. Tales told by hunters who ventured too deep into the forest - lots of them barely made it back alive and had many physical and mental scars to show for the damage it'd caused them. It's been so long since it last happened that their adventures were then assumed to be legends.

Who in their right mind would ever believe in shadowy figures with red eyes kidnapping children? There might be a doubt when it comes to me not being at least a little bit insane but I'm not stupid. And I'm definitely too old to believe in things you read about in fantasy books. I've always found it surprising that most people never questioned the probability of such thing appearing out of nowhere, making the sky turn red as if the heavens were bleeding. No, that's definitely made up to make the kids respect the rules. One of those rules being not sneaking out to the forest. The rule I'd just broken. For like the hundredth time this week. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a troublemaker. I've been doing this for years now and got caught only a couple of times. Each of those made me earn a week's worth of being grounded and, if my father was in a rather unpleasant mood, I'd get my ass whooped so hard I wouldn't be able to sit for a few days afterward. Yeah, I know, sounds like fun to me, too.

My dog's cold nose made me snap out of my own thoughts.

"You're right, the sun's almost gone. Let's go." I grabbed the leash and we made our way back home. We got to the village just as they were closing the gates. One of the villagers glared at me and I quickened the pace.

"Where have you been, Cassandra?" My father asked once I closed the door behind me and took off the coat.

"Just-" I shrugged. "Out."

"Took you long enough to get back. What have I told you about leaving the house?"

Oh, you wanna go there. Okay. I might've said a mean word - or two - to one of my teachers a week earlier. Coming from an average family, I didn't have the privilege of being treated fairly when it came to being called names. The bully always got away. Once my father found out, he forced me to stay at home and called me a disgrace. He, too, believed I was a witch. We weren't exactly friends if you ask me.

"Were you followed?" He then added suspiciously.

"No, father, I wasn't."

"I don't want you to leave the house." He eventually reminded me.

"I'm sorry, father. It won't happen again."

"I don't want your apologies. Get out of my sight" he turned around. "Filthy brat" is what I heard him mumble under his breath as he walked away.

He's been acting strange for a couple of weeks now, his paranoia getting the best of him. He'd randomly wake me up in the middle of the night and drag me outside, then lock the door leaving me on the porch. Fortunately, I'd had my climbing skills mastered at that point and I had no trouble getting back in through the balcony. I once forgot to leave the window open which resulted in me spending the entire night sitting on the stairs trying not to freeze to death. That's when I learned my lesson and from then on I always checked twice if there was at least one window open for me to get back in unnoticed.