Shutters Wheel

Prelude

Prelude

She just couldn't get her hands to stop shaking. The images of that night would never leave her. She would never forget the silver dagger flying through the air and into his chest. Her long bouncy dark chocolate curls were sticking to the tears and rain water that stained her face. The shadow of the stone mansion loomed over top of her as she ran through the rain towards the dark walnut double doors. Her heart was racing at an unfamiliar pace, one she'd never experienced before. Lightning that lit up the ground was the only light source that she had since she had bolted from the dark forest.

It was taking her too long to get out her house key and unlock the steel lock shaped as a jack rabbit's head. She couldn't keep herself from wailing loudly into the dark clouds that cover the gloomy sky. Tears ran down her face faster than the rain drops could fall from the sky. All she wanted was to get into the mansion and run up to her bedroom and crash into the neatly folded sheets. But she knew she couldn't just let this go. She had to do something about it even if it meant losing everything she had left. Finally the key clicked within the lock and she fell in onto the polished wooden floor as the doors had been violently shoved open by the harsh storms winds. Picking herself up she tried to contain her feeling's pulling her tears back into her glimmering blue eyes. Cursing herself for wearing shoes with such loud heels she tried to sneak past the family room where her mother and father were sitting drinking some of her mother's homemade gooseberry tea.

"Violet honey is that you?" She heard her mother call softly as she pasted the arch way into the room where her parents sat. She didn't want to think about her sister at the moment. But her mother's reminder of the name brought back the thought of how she had just abandon her younger sister in the thicket of the corpse.

"No ma," She answered just as she managed to push her sibling to the back of her mind again. "It's just me." she than quickly took the lit oil lamp off the desk where it had been sitting knowing she had to go into the darkness alone.

"Oh sorry dear." Her mother called back but she was already opening the door to the basement. As the thick stone walls closed around her and she couldn't see light of the doorway behind her anymore she began to cry again. It seemed to be taking hours for her to run down the spiral stairs. The dungeon had never seemed so far away before. It almost surprised her when her next step was on the same level as the last. Her hands were still shaking when she went to light the hanging candles on the walls with the flame from the lamp.

"Ok, I need matches, candles, lavender water and...." She paused while she was quickly scampered all the ingredients together. "And Iris'." She paused as she pronounced the name of the beautiful purple blue colored flower. Shaking off the strange feeling that came with holding the flower that lay in her hand she placed each of the items in a once empty woven basket. For a long moment after filling the basket she didn't move. She had to consider how that even if she did what she intended to do he would still be dead. It wouldn't fill the massive black hole she felt forming in her heart. But this would change everyone else's lives that were to come. It would save so many love stories that started out like hers. No matter how much she hurt she knew she had to go back out in the rain.

With a deep breath and sudden rush of minor courage she blew out the candles and started to run back up the stairs. The leaves and flower petals flew from the basket with the speed she was going at even with the blanket she had laid above the dried plants. This time when she passed the family room she didn't even slow down so her parents wouldn't hear her footsteps. She heard her mother call out something but she wasn't listening and didn't catch a word she said. The front doors were still wide open being she hadn't bothered to close them after she had stumbled into the house.

It was still pouring and lightning was still exploding in the sky like flash photography but that wasn't going to stop her. Her hair and dress was already soaked in rain water even before she stepped back into the storm. She tried her hardest not to start running being she was going to need all her energy. She had never even dreamed she would do what she was about to. But she knew what she was doing and even if it killed her at least she'd have died doing something worth being remembered for. The greying streets had been turned black by the amount of rain falling from the sky. Putting the basket handle in the joint of her elbow, she placed her elegant slender arms across her chest trying to preserve heat into her body. The rain was beating down on her as if she was being stone. The drops all diagonally pluming directly at her. It was as if even nature was begging her to stop and turn around.

It was just minutes before the carnival grounds closed its doors, when she passed through the gate. Ducking behind the soaking wet tents she tried her hardest to hide, so the staff wouldn't notice her. If they did happen to spot her it would ruin everything. Finally she was behind the Farris wheel. Not a soul had been behind the massive wheel since the morning. But she didn't know that. All she knew was no one was there anymore. Carefully as she wiped the tears off her check she laid the candles down in a circle at the base of the ride. They were newer; meaning none of wax had dripped down the side yet. It took her longer to light the candles then to place them. Being her hands were still rapidly shaking.

The rain continued to fall to the ground. But the candles kept flickering as if they were protected by magic. When she had finished setting up her little ritual circle, she lifted the lavender water out of the basket. Spiralling into the circle she let the water spill out of its vase. The water trailed after her lying in a completely straight line. Not any of the water splashing out of line. Once she was at the middle of the circle, she slowly fell to her knees. The vase dropping out of her hand and spilling the rest of the water onto the ground. She couldn't help but start tearing up again. Sadness covered her like a blanket and her heart cracked into a million pieces. She was going to lose everything at the hands of a curse. But she had to stop this curse and the only way was to let go of her life. Straightening her back and lift her head to the sky, she calmed her senses. It didn't take any words for the spell to revel itself, but it never did. All that Latin ritual mumbo jumbo was just an urban legend. Spell work was truly a magic from the soul.

The rain had come to a complete stop. The droplets freezing in midair. All of them then exploded into tiny diamonds and shattered, falling to the ground. None of the shiny little stones landed in the circle though. She took in a deep breath as the world around her lit up. Sunlight just slightly peeked through the heavy cloud cover. The light brightened only the area around the circle of candles. Then the spell started to take its toll. Vines came up from the ground like snakes wrapping their tails around the Farris wheel. Slowly the bright blue and yellow paint on the wheel peeled away. Rust bleed through the metal structure and the bolts ached like an old man's bones.

Watching as the once beautiful circus around her became a forgotten waste land. Her breathe slowed to a shocked stop. The staff was all still standing in their vibrant uniforms. But they all had frozen in time as if they were just cardboard cut outs. Then almost by will she closed her eyes and all of the personal shattered into diamonds. The world was littered with the little sparkling stones. Every inch covered apart from inside the circle of candles. Taking in a deep breath she let the spell pause. Finally she realized what she had done. But the girl was too far along to stop there and then. Letting go of the panicked breath she watched as the sparkling stone melted into the ground. The once hard dirt had become quicksand swallowing every last gem.

Just as the last diamond vanished into the earth a furious wind picked up. It whipped around the Farris wheel, just edging to braking into the ritual circle. Iris petal fluttered out of the basket. They came towards the candles in an orderly fashion, barely effected by the angry dust devil. Petals surrounded the girl in the middle of the burning candles. All frozen in the still air inside the circle. She sat in the flower petals slow cyclone silently for two whole seconds. Then as if she was letting her last finger slip from the edge of the cliff she was hanging onto, she let go. All but one of the flames burnt out from the candles and the tornado was let lose upon the girl and her flower petals. It flew through the circle swiping away the girl and the flower away into the distance.

With time the last of the candles burnt out and all that was left was the rusty carnival wheel and melted wax.