Take Me Away

© 2014 Lena Cage Take Me Away All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without express permission by the author. All rights for the book cover image go to the rightful owner.

Prologue--

"Meli!" the figure over me snapped in my ear, barking loudly enough to wake me from my slumber. "Wake up!" The woman leaned over me, to my window, and pulled the fabric curtains away from the opening, letting the blinding sunlight stream in, directly into my eyes.

"Ahh!" I shrieked, feeling the heat burn my translucent skin. I felt like cursing at the woman, but she was my only friend. If you could call her that. She was more like the person allowing me to stay with her so that the Gods might take pity on her when she died. I knew that if the rest of the village, Meridia, had succeeded in tying me up and throwing me into fire, she would probably be the first to ask for a torch.

That was the thing about this village. It was beautiful, on a lush, green prarie, near a large lake and river. It had an abundance of farmland, and the weather was ideal for growing. Though the land and the village itself was beautiful, the people weren't. Not inside, anyway. But I didn't blame them anymore. I believed them. I was an abomination.

Terrin was the woman who raised me, after I was abandoned as an infant by my mother and father. She was appointed by the Elders to raise me, claiming that it was her sacred duty to the village to raise the child no one wanted.

When I finally manage to adjust ot the light, I opened my eyes, coming face to face with the older woman, who was close in age to the Elders of the village. And the Elders were very elderly. Quite frankly, I was surprised they still got around as well as they did. But they still managed to prance around town in elaborate, ceremonial robes, and managed to make daily stop at all of the houses in the village of Meridia.

"Ugh," she suddenly snarled in disgust, turning away from me. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, and it took a second for me to remember what had made her so appalled with me. Even after eighteen years, I sometimes forgot why people hated me so much. "Cover those things up," she said in a disgusted tone.

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry," I apologized, fixing my bangs. My bangs were long, covering my eyes so other people didn't have to look at me. I couldn't see well at all, but perhaps it was better that I didn't see their disgusted looks. Unfortunately, even that came at a price. I was also labeled the town klutz, becuase I couldn't exactly see with my hair in my face. I ended up tripping over my own feet.

Thankfully, I didn't need to see anymore to dance. My body had memorized the way it felt to dance and move, and that was all I needed. Dancing was what I did when I was alone in the field clearing, because no one could find me there. No one ever wanted to see me, and it was easier just to stay out of their way.

"Now hurry up and get ready," Terrin snarled at me, throwing some clothes on my cot of a bed carelessly. "I don't have time for your stupidity today. Today is the day of the festival."

"I know that, Terrin," I murmured, throwing the covers off of me to get out of bed. I muttered underneath my breath, out of fear of what Terrin would say if she heard me. The sheets of my bed were tattered and torn, sewn and stitched back together on numerous occasions, but somehow it still managed to keep me warm at night. "I've been practicing for months," I muttered underneath my breath, out of fear of what Terrin would say if she heard me.

Today was the day I had been both dreading and counting down the days until this date arrived.

The twenty-fifth of March. The day of the spring equinox. The day of the annual festival our village held each year. The day the bravest girls in the village would perform the dance they'd been working on for the past year. The day one of those girls would be offered and die as a sacrifice.

The sacrifice offering was always random. One of the twenty-five eighteen-year-old girls would be offered to the gods in turn for a good harvest in the fall. But today, the selection will not be random.

I overheard the Elders talking last week. Since I am the most hated girl in the village, good for nothing in their eyes, they have chosen me to be the sacrifice. That way, when I die, no one shall miss me.

Legend has it that we offer the girls to be a bride for the gods, and that when they deem a proper girl is offered, they will take her to their world to be a queen. But so far, ever since the time our tribe started so long ago, they have slaughtered every girl offered to be a bride.

And so, I have spent the past few days preparing for today. For today is the day I will die, and no one cares enough to stop it.

***

Hey, guys. This story will be a take on the Persephone myth, mixed in with some vampiric gods and old fashioned themes. I know it sounds weird, but I always wanted to write a version of the Persephone myth, a vampire story (since its so popular), and old fashioned, traditional background in a tribe. so yeah. that's what this is. I dunno. I have this image of Mayan villages and sacrifices when I think of the tribal village.

The chapters in this story will be shorter, and I don't know how long the book will be. Perhaps novella length? I hope to update more frequently on this story, even if the chapters are quite short.

The main character's name is Meli, which means Honey. she's a very sweet girl, and I thought it sort of fit.