Rose, Wilted: Book 1

Chapter 1 - Midnight Bells

The bells tolled frantically, clanging with a sound spun from thunder and charged with fear that spiked like lightning. Demonic shadows swept the walls, born from the frothing, orange, firelight of torches. On the other side of the window were screams and shouts not too far distant. I pressed my face to the glass, trying to get a glimpse. A mob of men were surging into the street, some armed with swords, others with butcher knives and scythes.

"Can you see it?" A girl's voice asked. I pressed myself closer and strained my blue eyes. All I could see were the men, there was no sign of-

"Oh move over, Annalise!" said another girl's voice. A girl dressed in a white nightgown with red hair shoved me aside, away from the window. I stumbled and fell to the floor.

"Blair!"

"It's your own fault. I wanted to see," my red headed sister said. She shoved her own face up against the glass.

"Blair, Anna, come on, I don't want to watch anymore," The first girl said. She hugged her arms around her shoulders. Her figure was slender and her nose had a graceful curve. Her quivering lips were a soft, rosy hue and her wavy, blonde hair - pretty even when she was frightened - swung around her nervous brown eyes, which darted back toward Blair. My oldest sister opened her mouth to say something, but Blair cut her off with a shriek of,

"I think I see it!"

Suddenly both Blair and I were crowded around the window, jostling for a spot. All I could see were vague glimpses of fire and silhouettes of village men. I tried to shift to a better position, but Blair was two inches taller than I, and there was only so much room at the window.

"Where-," Ilsa began, but whatever she was going to say was crushed under a thunderous roar. Ilsa screamed and tensed, screwing her eyes shut. Blair shouted and leapt back from the window, wide eyed. I rushed forward but when I finally got a decent view there was nothing to see but men shouting and screaming. The blood-lustful roar ripped the air again, chilling my bones and freezing me where I stood. Outside someone cried out in agony. The alarm bells were cut short.

The words were closely followed by screams as a blur burst through the crowd of men.

"Don't let it get away!" a man bellowed.

"It's heading for the woods!"

A hulking, brown shape bolted past the window and I leapt back in alarm. Suddenly the fight was directly outside the window as men cut the monster off from its escape route. Both sides roared for blood and I caught a flash of brown fur and a splash of red and-

A hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me away from the window. I shrieked in surprise and reflexively lashed out, but stopped when I saw who it was.

The man was short and portly with heavily salted blonde hair and brown eyes that were lined by prominent crows feet. His nose was straight and his forehead creased in worry. All his features were bathed in boiling firelight and dancing shadow.

"You shouldn't be watching this Anna, none of you should," he said quietly. "Let them deal with it. It'll be gone by morning."

"Father-," Blair started.

"No. I know you're old enough to decide things for yourselves, but I have to insist on this."

Outside the monster bellowed. Ilsa flinched. Blair's jaw clenched. I shuddered.

Only four flimsy walls to protect us. That was all.

"Go back to bed," Father said, brown eyes flickering to the window. "It won't get in."

For a second I wondered how he could be so certain. Then I realized he wasn't. I took a deep breath. Outside someone let out a scream of agony.

"Come on, let's go," I said. I grabbed Blair by the hand and pulled her away. Ilsa was shaking on the stairs, petrified. I touched her shoulder gently and she came out of her trance, giving me a frightened look. Another roar shook the house. I gave her an encouraging smile that quavered a little on my lips. I wrapped my left arm around her shoulders and guided my sisters up the stairs. Blair kept shooting glances back behind us, trying to get a look through the window. She probably would have watched the entire attack in horrified fascination if I had let her. It had been her idea to watch through the window in the first place.

By the time we reached the top of the stairs I realized there were tears slipping from Ilsa's eyes.

"Why did this have to happen to us Anna?" she whispered hoarsely. "I just want to go home."

"This is home, Ilsa" I said. "You know we can't go back to the city."

Ilsa broke away from my hold and gave me an expression that was so full of pain, fear and denial that I could barely decipher it.

"You're just saying that because no one there ever liked you," she snapped. Tears still ran down her face. "If you were prettier- if someone had loved you there, you wouldn't want to stay here."

Then she turned and fled down the hall, wrenching the door to her room open and slamming it behind her. Had the horrible noises outside been quieter I might have heard her muffled sobs.

I just stood in shock. It wasn't the first time someone had said something about my looks, but it was the first time anyone had said it so directly. Normally their words were little needles, uncomfortably worming their way around inside my brain, but this was like a stab to the chest, stealing my breath and my calm. I turned to Blair, who had released my hand. Her face had turned to a cold mask, her brown eyes chips of bottle glass. My own expression was pleading or pitiful or both, and I whispered,

"Blair? Do you- is she- you don't agree with her, do you?"

There was no sympathy in her eyes. She just shrugged and left, stalking away into her own bedroom, leaving me alone at the top of the stairs, with only distant screams to keep me company.

I don't remember the walk back to my own bedroom, or laying down on my straw mattress, or even falling asleep. I just remember the dead hollow feeling and running my fingers through my plain brown hair, letting my blue eyes blur the darkness. Soundless, unmoving on the bed, I listened as an anguished roar rolled like thunder through the night, echoing alone a thousand times until it faded into the forgotten abyss of darkness.