Stare If You Dare (ON HOLD)

Prologue

Prologue:

                It was a Friday night and little eleven-year old Annelise was playing in their attic when she saw a beat-up ragdoll. At first it looked creepy to her, but when she realized what it really was and what she could do with it, she snatched it from the tin box and clutched it like a very precious stone. She felt happy with what she found so she immediately went to her room to sleep while hugging the doll, too eager for the next day to come.

                As soon as she woke up, she giddily ran straight towards the Central Library. She had a lot of research to do. Annelise had a lot of books to borrow.

                Voodoo… Ancient spells…  Magic enchantments... Incantations… Dolls and the dark arts…

                Pile after pile, book after book. Annelise browsed through all books that fell under those categories with a large amount of interest. She wanted to do what she saw on the television the other day; it was something about getting the man of your dreams and something along the lines.

                Annelise was still a child, hungry for fascination and outwardly phenomenon. She deeply believed in fairy tales and magic and that there was such a thing as a spell. There were always consequences, there was always a price for everything, but the child was too naïve to even stop the ideas from forming in her mind.

                Finally coming across a book she thought was perfect, she ran to the librarian’s desk and placed it on top of the table.

                “I would like to borrow this please.” She smiled and tiptoed in order for the lady to see her giggly face. Surely, no one would resist a cutie’s charms.

                “Oh sure little one, go ahead. Make sure to bring it back after exactly one week.” The librarian opened the book and copied the necessary details in her special logbook and stamped something inside. Then she handed the item to the overjoyed child, unaware of the misfortune that was about to befall on her.

                “I want to see, I want to have;

                A prince to hold, a prince to touch;

                He’ll be with me forevermore;

                He’ll hold my hand till I snore.

                He will fall in love with me,

                Never let anyone have me,

                For I will belong to only him.

                I will own his heart and soul.”

                The words flew out of her mouth like a sweet lullaby, without the awareness of what she just asked for. To a child’s innocent mind, it was just about wishing for a prince charming and true love, but the witch who wrote the spell never intended it to be a petty little wishing spell, it was taboo, cloaked in the most childlike way possible.

                Days passed and little Annelise forgot about her little experiment. The ragdoll was discarded after she got tired of it and the book was returned to the shelf where it rightfully belongs. The night of the chant was forgotten, along with her other toys and other symbols of childhood.

                Annelise grew up to be a fine young woman. She had a few close friends here and there, had a perfectly normal life. Normal was her style until that day she turned sixteen. It was the first day of August, in the year 2008.