Death's Desire (Pilot)

Chapter I: Uninvited Guest.

It all began in 1769 in a little Polish village named Rößel, a lovely and pleasant community where every Tuesday, some random people accused of being witches were burned 'alive. Barbara Zdunk was born as a newborn girl and was adored by the entire community. She was a lovely young lady who was sweet yet naive. She frequently conducted the duties around the hamlet and assists everyone: lumberjacks, hunters, farmers, carpenters, and even passing through the town traders. As a result, everyone had an enjoyable time with her. However, on her 17th birthday, terrible things happened to her and her family. When Barbara was celebrating her birthday with her family, a silhouette that looked like a person but had a bare skull gripping a chain linked with a sickle raided her celebration. They were terrified!

Barbara feared she was in her dying moments after that mystery beast had killed all of her family members, looted her home, set it on fire, and fled.

Suddenly, a handsome man with a razor-sharp silver scythe that can even cut thin air in half, emerged out of nowhere in front of her. 

"Help me, stranger." she asked. 

He took his scythe, was ready to take her soul, and then abruptly halted. He grabbed her and seized her, but the murder of her family had barred the door; there was no escape, and the fires were growing and approaching closer. Her family's dead bodies were on fire, and it was so terrifying and traumatic for her that she could not stop screaming and crying, closing her eyes, and repeating, 

"This is all a dream."

She began to have breathing difficulties and was losing her sanity.

While taking her, the unknown man took his scythe and effortlessly chopped the door in half before fleeing the home. Barbara's eyes were closed, her face pale from blood loss, and she lay motionless in his arms. For some reason, the strange man seemed calm and appeared to know what was going to happen next. She was taken to local healers by the man, and they gave it their all. They tried purgatives, emetics, opium, cinchona bark, camphor, potassium nitrate and mercury but failed every time. As a result, the stranger intended to take her to a remote spot and heal her with dark magic while she was asleep before returning her to the house where she lived.

The next day, healers discovered her alive when it was impossible for her to be alive, due to the amount of blood she had lost, so they spread rumours that she was a witch. Barbara eventually heard this, making her uneasy and causing her to wonder, 

"Am I the next who is going to burn?" 

She was mourning the loss of her mother, father, and even her bothersome young brother in the fire. 

Following that night, a lady falsely accused of witchcraft was burned together with her family, as was typical at the time, and no one has believed that lady or her family since. As a result, no one dared to stand up for them because they were scared that if they did, they would be executed as well because everyone would assume, they were from the witch community and were attempting to save their witch friends. While the lady burned and screamed in anguish alongside her family, Barbara gazed upon the flames, unfazed since she had become used to such things, and mumbled to herself, questioning if she was the next.

"I'll get all of your revenge, father." and wondered if the man who had saved her was a figment of her imagination. Perhaps even a dream?

She was alone in her thoughts, while the mysterious man with the scythe stood in a dark corner, disappearing into the nighttime shadows.