The Vanishing Galway Girls: Chapter 1, The Mute Man in Black

   It was a cold dark night in September as a shadowy figure crept down the road leading out of the village. Arrayed in a dark cloak and with midnight-black curls cascading down the back and around the face, it was barely visible as it tiptoed carefully over the cobblestone streets towards the woods surrounding the clearing where the village lay sleeping. Even the dogs were silent, as if they could sense a foreboding in the air...

   Cecilia shivered and wished she had worn her warmer cloak. However, she had wanted to be inconspicuous so she had opted to wear her old black one. Besides, it would not do to have the old maid notice that she had been in the woods recently, and since Bertha did the washing she would surely notice if Cecilia's new blue cloak had bits of twigs and leaves on it! It was risky, sneaking out like this. If her father discovered it, he would be furious!! But Vance had arrived home today, so she was going to meet him like they had arranged a few months ago before he left for the logging camps. Besides, this wasn't the first time they had snuck out to meet under cover of darkness. They both loved the sense of danger and adventure, and the thrill of perhaps being discovered that it gave them. Speaking of danger, Cecillia shuddered as she turned the corner. Even while giving a sigh of relief to be out of sight of the village, her heart stuttered as she glimpsed the huge ruins of Blackgard's Castle to her left. The stories of it being haunted frightened even the bravest soul! And with all the rumors of it being the place where all the girls disappeared, who knows what might be lurking - she scolded herself for being so silly as to even consider such a tale to be true! She hurried as fast as she could until finally she ran past the gates and beyond. She slowed down and tried to catch her breath as she veered to the right edge of the road and just into the woods. There she crouched down by the large tree with huge spreading roots that provided a shelter they had officially claimed as their own, and tried to ignore the creepy feeling that she was being followed. She tried to laugh at herself - of course she was being followed! Vance was supposed to be here any minute now. He was probably just trying to creep her out, and she was letting him! A smirk appeared as she thought of how surprised he would be to arrive and find that SHE was the one sneaking behind HIM when he found the shelter empty! Softly she crept back the way she came - there! She spied a familiar black figure stealthily advancing towards her. Filled with relief she discarded her idea to scare him as she was overcome by the desire to feel safe in his arms. Throwing herself towards him, too late she realized the figure was too large to be her best friend! Her eyes went wide with terror as she caught sight of the face covered in a black mask like he was playing dress-up as a highwayman. She turned to run but she stumbled on a loose stone as she was yanked back by a tight grip on her arm. Her shriek of horror pierced the stillness of the night for a moment before a large gloved hand muffled any sounds she tried to make as she was dragged to the opposite side of the road and towards the distant looming shape of the gate to the Blackgard estate. She struggled frantically but her captor's hold never loosened. She kicked but it was futile as it seemed he was made of stone! Desperate, she bit into the palm over her lips. The man strangely still did not make a sound even as he momentarily let go enough that she was able to let out one more cry before he cut her voice off once more. This time his hold was excruciatingly tight as he also put pressure on her neck. Her last thoughts before drifting into the darkness were, "Am I going to die? Will Vance ever know what happened to me?? Will I ever see him again?"    

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Author's note: Hey everybody, so ... did you like it? Let me know what you think!! I have never tried writing before so I won't be offended if you think it's really bad! :P 

   And of course, the first chapter is dedicated to my pal @lar119 because of all the help he gave me :) I wouldn't have ever tried doing this without him!! :/ So go check out his books, he's an osme author!! :)