nightmare road

prologue

mid 1800s

It was dark and cold, his thin trousers were already soaked from the dew coming off the long grasses. Mum and Pop would kill him if they knew he was sneaking out this late in the night. Worse if they knew he was following Julie, for she wasn't supposed to leave either.

But she did, she had been every full moon for the past six months or so. Benjamin had to know where she was going, why she seemed so thin even though the hunting was plentiful and the crops had been good. Why her skin had become so pale, her eyes looking darker, almost black when normally they sparkled the blue of the rivers.

Julies hair had lost its gleam and shine, now it was a dull,almost tangled black. He had heard the whisperings at night coming from her room, and more than once he had seen the red, wet gleam from her lips as she drank from the goblet that usually sat on her dresser late at night. Then, the next morning, a chicken or a piglet would be missing,"likely carried off by coyotes", Mum would say.

Benjamin knew better though, and tonight, he was determined to find out what Julie was up to. He had followed her through the small town, out into the forest and mountains surrounding.

She moved faster than he did, and with a sureness and steady way he hadn't seen in months. Finally, she broke out into a thicket, and he stopped to stand on the edge looking in.

There were figures all in a circle, all wearing dark, long cloaks with hoods. He couldn't see any of their faces despite the fire burning bright at their center.

Julie Stood at the center as well, wearing a long hooded cloak, though this one was red. She was smiling and seemed to glow with an unnatural light.....

One of the other figures took a step forward, a cross in one hand, although he/she wasn't holding it properly,and a dagger in the other.

Benjamin gasped, and fell backwards in shock, breaking several branches in the process. Every head turned to stare in his direction, and suddenly two of the hooded figures were at his sides, grabbing him.

Fear and shock ripped through his small body, and silent tears had started running down his cheeks. Julie gasped as well, as she recognized the intruder as her brother.

Her eyes, blue once more, filled with tears. She glanced over, her eyes seeming to apologize to him as she hung her head in shame.

"Elders, I swear, I....I had no idea", she stuttered.

"SILENCE!!" one hissed, " You know the laws, and even on your final passage night you bring another."

"She should never have been trusted!"

"They will come for us all now!!"

"We knew she didn't belong!"

Shouts of protest came from the cloaked women.

"She must pay for her sin, she must be a gift for our Lord!" claimed one woman as she stepped forward.

Benjamin trembled, unsure of what to do, his arms aching where the fingers that held him dug into his skin like claws.

Julie was crying, begging his release and for her to be forgiven. The women would hear none of it and grabbed Julie as well. She screamed, attempting to fight them off as they dragged her towards the largest of the trees.

A rope was thrown over a limb, and Benjamin was forced to watch as the other end was fastened around her neck.

"For you Father, our lover, our darkest Lord." the women all chanted over and over while Julie was hoisted into the air, kicking her legs frantically and clawing futilely at the rope that had tightened around her neck.

Benjamin cried silently, the tears streaming down his face, chocking on silent screams of terror. He hardly noticed as one of the women plunged a long handled blade deep into his heart.

He lay silently on the ground, bleeding out, watching his beloved sister swinging from the Tree, her eyes finally blue again, but cold and empty for she was gone.