Clara the girl on the hill.

Chapter 1

The year is 1887 and the Devonshires, a well-known group of monster hunters, have been chasing me for years. As I play the harp and listen to my pigeon's chirp I can hear yelling and chanting outside my house which is an abandoned two-story house on a hill. I stop playing my harp and walk over to the window. I look outside and I see the Devonshires outside going over their plan to kill me. 

"That must be the recruits," I say to my pigeon Ophelia. I walk over to my harp and continue to play. I'm not worried about them because they have tried to kill me in the past and they were never successful and they never will be but they don't know that. I hear the door squeak open and footsteps coming in.

"Go find her follow the music." I hear from the distance. I continue to play as I wait for them to find me, and I hear someone walk in. "I know why you are here," I say out loud. "I'm here to kill you once and for all." Says a mysterious male voice.

I stand up and face him he's a bit taller than me with tan skin. I face him and say "I accept my fate." I look down laugh a little and look back up. I see the enjoyment on his face as he pulls out a wooden stake. He walks over to me and plunges the wooden stake into my heart. I look down at the stake and laugh. I pull the stake out of my chest with ease while the man looks horrified.

"I will spare you but you and the rest of the Devonshires must leave." He nods in agreement as he and the rest of the Devonshires run out. They never leave me alone. They get recruits every month hoping to kill me. It hasn't always been like this I used to be a normal girl before the orphanage burned down and I was rescued.

If no one heard me yelling for help I would have died but that was 20 years ago. I was born without a heart; instead of a heart, it's the soul of a siren. I look outside the window and see the carriages on the dirt roads and the people walking along the sidewalk with their top hats and nice dresses. I wish I could be like them, feel the warmth of the sunlight on my skin, and socialize without being considered a freak just to feel like a normal girl again.

I walk over to my harp and start playing again. When I first arrived at this house I found the harp in a corner all alone. I couldn't help but relate to this harp which seems odd since it's an inanimate object but, it's been left alone just like me.

A couple of days later it's quiet. I wake up to Ophelia chirping and footsteps downstairs. "The Devonshires have never arrived this early before," I say to Ophelia as it is 6:00 in the morning and they usually arrive at 10:00 in the morning. I quietly go down the stairs to see what the noise is and I see a man. "What is your purpose here?" I ask the mysterious man. He was tall and was dressed a little too nicely to be a part of the devonshires. He also had nicely styled black hair with a dapper chevron mustache.

He looks at me surprised and replies "I'm sorry miss I thought this house was abandoned." "Everyone has known for years that I live here." He looks down disappointingly "You are right I do know I have come to meet you." "To meet me is this some kind of game?" I ask annoyed no one has ever wanted to meet me everyone is too scared of me.

"It's no game I have come from very far just to speak with you." The mysterious man says. I am completely shocked no one has ever gone through so much trouble just to meet me people have only wanted to kill me. "I wasn't expecting any visitors. Why would you go through all this trouble to meet me?" I ask him. " I know this is all of a sudden but I find you interesting and would like to get to know you." He answers. I feel like I shouldn't trust him but I do.

I think carefully about what I should do. Should I let him stay or should I send him away? If I send him away I will be lonely again and it would be nice to have company. On the other hand, he could be a spy for the Devonshires. I think for a few seconds and make my decision. "You can stay but you must not tell anyone I don't want more people to come here," I say. He looks at me with an odd expression."How come, don't you get lonely being here all alone?" He asks. Of course, I get lonely but society has rejected me but I don't want him to know that. I don't want any more surprise visits from strangers.

The only visitors I've gotten were the murder attempts from the Devonshires no one from the outside world would want to visit me let alone be seen with me. "No, I've been fine being alone for twenty years." I lie. I don't want him to know the truth because I don't want him to visit unannounced, even though he is very handsome and I wouldn't mind him revisiting me, he could probably be a spy for the Devonshires. "Don't you have a family you must be with other than being with me?" I ask hoping he will say no then happy when I receive the answer I hoped for. "No, unfortunately, I don't I've never had time for that." I started to think if I should let him stay longer he could be lying and trying to kidnap me and take me to the Devonshires but he also came all this way to see me which seemed like a sweet gesture.

Some time passes and I realize that it's almost 9:30 the devonshires should be here soon and I don't want him to be scared away by them. "You should be going," I say in a frantic. "Can I come back tomorrow?" He asks. "I'm afraid not," I say sadly. I would like him to visit again but I don't want to risk him being a devonshire. He looks at me and laughs and says he will be back tomorrow. "I never got your name," I call out as he walks away. "It's William. What's your name?" He calls back. "Clara."