Beneath the Surface [ON HOLD]

Prologue

Prologue - Twisted Appetite

Once upon a time, as so many stories begin, there was a girl, who lived with her father on the outskirts of a village - a village covered in snow and surrounded by mountains and, what seemed like, a never-ending forest.

The young girl dreamed of a life full of adventure and longed for the day she would leave the too-quiet village behind her. Her father, however, made it almost impossible for her to even think about leaving. You see, the young girl's father was the town drunk - an outcast, shunned by everyone who lived in the village. But behind her father's drunken exterior, lurked a quietly brilliant mind, filled with wild inventions and extraordinary ideas.

It was because of her father, that the young girl forced herself to forget about her ridiculous fantasy and instead busied herself with looking after him and selling his strange and sometimes crazy gizmos and gadgets to the sceptical towns-people.

But soon that time in the year came, that everyone dreaded - the time when people boarded up their houses while still inside - fixing a dozen locks on their door and taking care to lock every single one of them when night fell.

Because when night fell, in the middle of winter, a hideous creature lumbered down from the snow-covered mountains, from the hidden castle that lay nestled in the Dark Forest.

This mindless creature didn't hesitate on killing anything in its path, especially anyone caught out in the village after dark. But the town's people quickly realised that if the beast didn't get a taste of human flesh, then it would keeping coming back. This alone was enough to drive the village people insane with the fear of what the night would bring.

So at the same time every year, the villagers would gather in the town hall and vote on who would be sacrificed to keep the beast at bay. This made people resort to drastic measures to try and prevent anyone they cared about from being given up to the beast's twisted appetite.

The young girl knew it was only a matter of time before the town's drunk was put to good use, so when the inevitable finally happened, she offered herself in his place. Needless to say the villagers were stunned, for no-one had ever offered themself willingly. The people were at a loss - refuse the beast a willing meal, or offer up the one man they saw as a burden to the village? However, in the early hours of the morning, they had decided to let the girl take her Father's place.

Such a shame, many of them muttered, incredibly sad as to lose such a young and beautiful girl to the claws of such a creature.

But still no-one tried to help her. No-one offered advice or counsel, and no-one gave her any means in which to defend herself. The young girl, the villagers thought, had no way to beat the beast - laughing at the idea that any woman could beat the merciless monster. For who could succeed where an army of soldiers had failed?

Certainly not the daughter of a drunkard, they jeered. But the girl ignored them, grim in her determination to rid the town of the animal's tyranny.

Thus, when night fell over the sleepy village of Arcanum, the young girl was ready to face the beast.

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A/N: okay, so this prologue was a little jumbled up in my head, buuuuuuuuuuttttt I think it turned out okay... right? right? *bambi eyes* so y'all know the drill! Questions, comments etc etc all welcome *huggles* (btw: if you spot any mistakes, pwease tell me - I'm not exacktly the best person when it comes to proof-reading... oh woe is me *dramatic sigh*)