"Are you sure you're alright?"

You nodded, waving a hand at Marguerite and giving her a tired smile. "Yes, I just didn't sleep well-"

The carriage jerked and bounced, causing you to almost fall forward to the floor. Your attendant didn't even look the least bit ruffled, merely helped you back into the seat.

"We can go back to the castle..."

Your skin crawled and the hairs on the back of your neck rose at the mention of your home. You quickly looked out the vehicle's window to watch the snowy landscape pass by, you also saw your reflection in the glass; a tired face stared back at you, the girl's eyes fatigued and dark against her sickly pale skin. You frowned and resisted the urge to reach up to touch your cheek, wondering if it was really you in the window.

"No, I think I've grown a bit stir crazy." You heard Marguerite shift next to you, but she didn't speak, the air in the carriage feeling a little tense and awkward. It stayed like this for a long while, just you staring out the carriage while your maid would look at you every few minutes with an unreadable expression.

Despite this silence, you started to feel a bit more relaxed and after a while your shoulders grew less tense and your hands finally unclenched themselves from your lap. It was like the further away you got from the castle, the less it's affects had on you. The air wasn't thick with cold air that whispered in your ears or chilled your bones until they felt like fragile glass, ready to shatter at the slightest tap. There was no possibility of a roof crumbling on top of you and burying you into alive until all the oxygen was ripped from you. No goosebumps to crawl up your arms whenever you entered a one of the eerie chambers. There were no strange rooms that would change in temperature and make you feel ready to pass out, or monstrous screams to chase you down halls. No men to fall and die.

There was no jar.

Yes, it was just you and the mountain landscape. It was quite beautiful and it distracted you from your dream last night. The land spread around you was covered in pure white, the hills sparse with trees, but held just enough to be home to deer and other mountain creatures. Everything looked so bright and beautiful compared to the dream's dark and cold atmosphere, stars sparkling the night sky a thousand times the amount of trees that covered this mountain. The mirror had been glinting with moonlight and looked ominous while the room hummed with silence. You were alone, yet being watched...

You tried to push the images from your head, but your mind wandered further...Further and further until you remembered the gentle stroke over your hair, much like a large hand tugging it's spindly fingers through your soft locks. Then it was you staring around and feeling a creeping fear grow and grow and grow. Your chest grew tight, eyes blinking as you stared at the passing snow. But you weren't really looking, now you were thinking about an arm snaking around your middle and pulling you into a hard chest while a stranger gripped your chest with sharp, knife-like fingers. He whispered cold words into your ear, called you a liar, demanded his heart...

Something black caught your eye, jerking you from your thoughts. You moved closer to the window and looked back, trying to find what had pulled you from your nightmare. But you saw nothing, just pure white snow and dead trees that had grown impossibly tall on this horrible mountain.

You took a deep breath as you leaned your forehead against the window, eyes closing as you willed yourself to relax and erase all thoughts of last night.

No images of the dream came to mind and you were thankful; you were in total darkness, much like your eyelids had been shutters that blocked out the world. They blocked out all thoughts, ideas, images, everything. You were left with peaceful nothingness while you heard only the carriage wheels and the horse's hooves step over the rocky road.

And then in the darkness, two objects glittered, somehow shining without light as they beckoned you closer. You felt your body being gently pulled towards the orbs, your feet dragging across the ground until you were suddenly pulled tight into a cold body. You looked up and saw nothing but the shining objects that appeared to be eyes. They looked down at you, the face unseeable in the darkness while it looked like a million stars twinkled in the stranger's pupils. They were mesmerizing, like gazing into the very sky itself and seeing the heavens. They held you in place, made you want to look into them forever and ever. But the stars slowly started to blink out of existence, one by one until there was nothing left but black in his eyes. Then they slowly turned into the color of steel as the stranger stared down at you.

The man from your dream glared, face now recognizable as if the darkness melted away from his beauty. His eyes, starless and cold like a frozen tundra held no mercy and radiated anger. His grip on you tightened painfully and you felt too close to him to be possible, his fingers digging into your arms to the point of bruising. He then opened his mouth, his rows of teeth sharp and dripping in bright red blood as he leaned down to latch onto your throat-

"Ah! There it is!"

Your eyes opened at the sound of Marguerite's voice, finding yourself leaning against the carriage door in a slumped position and your face pressed against the glass. You had fallen asleep and very quickly. Another nightmare...Something you were growing a little too used to now.

Sitting up, you rubbed your cheek where the cold glass had stuck to it and looked outside, seeing the village in the distance. 

It was actually quite big, not at all one would picture being at the base of a mountain that held a castle. Instead of being greeted with a tiny township that held just a handful of people; the place was actually populated with many families with homes built made of brick and stone, lined up nicely like one large middle-class neighborhood. The ones with shops either sold items out of their homes or had a small stall out front on the winding roads too small for automobiles and that split off into tiny alleyways (with hanging gardens and burning incense), twisting this way and that as they went into more streets with more villagers and more unique shops.

The people had a clear and strong culture, meeting up with neighbors and inquiring about their day while carrying baskets of food or laundry. They wore brightly colored robes and headscarves that had coins clinking together on the hems. The village had been isolated just enough from the outside world to become something completely different, but still very much familiar around other places of Europe.

When you had first arrived at the village, a rest stop before going further up the mountain to the castle, the people had greeted you warmly and with open arms. They were polite and boastful, giving you warm pastries and flowers as they spoke in broken english. Everything they did had made you feel a bit more at ease about seeing your new home, but as soon as they found out that you were going up to the castle they had grown silent. Cold, tense, and fearful.

They had all stared, the light and warmth in their eyes long gone as something indescribable appeared in it's place. You didn't know what to make from this sudden behavior and were treated like someone with the plague the rest of your stop and when you finally left.

But it seemed very clear they disliked the castle. They had been fearful and did no wish to be near it's next tenant - lest they be asked over for dinner.

"What's that noise?"

"Oh, that's just the screams of the dead rising from the pits of hell. Do you want more tea?"

The thought actually made you snort, which made you a bit happier that you hadn't turned into a loon; humor did wonders to oneself. Marguerite even looked happier at your amusement, even if she didn't know why you were less gloomy. 

The carriage shuttered a bit as it made it's way down the rough path and onto the cobblestone road, the ride becoming just a bit smoother then it had been the past hour down the mountain. You waited patiently until your door was opened and you were helped out, holding up your dress a bit so you didn't step on it. Your boots lightly clacked on the road and you looked around, watching a few people walk around and buy their groceries. They didn't seem to notice you all that much, which was better then petrified stares, so you took this as a good sign.

Marguerite came to your side and smiled, holding out her arm and pointing down one of the streets, having visited earlier that week for supplies. "The clothing shops are that way. They make their own outfits here since they're so far from civilization."

That made sense, most likely there were sheep farmers just on the other side of the town raising stock to make the wool.

"Their bread is delicious, especially if you put cinnamon on it." The blonde grinned widely as she pointed at a bakery, "Actually, they have a lot of specialties made with bread."

She started to drag you down the street, naming off many strange sounding dishes and how they had an eclair in this, a bagel on that, or a loaf in what stew. You let her words distract you from any thoughts on the castle, on the dreams, on the jar. Just everything, like you were shutting down and sleep walking. 

It was nice.

You were measured and poked at with hands and sometimes needles, a small woman running around her tiny shop located in her tiny home. Fabrics of many different colors and styles hung from where they could, doors, racks, ceiling beams while also piling on tables and surfaces that were free with space. You were sure if you took out all the textile the shop would actually be quite big.

"Three day." The puny woman said, holding up three long fingers after she finished your measurements. "I finish."

Marguerite nodded and haggled over price until both were satisfied. You were then hustled about the town, your attendant showing you unique shops that held vases, furniture, trinkets, and many varieties of goods. It was all quite interesting, most of the designs and woodwork of each item looking intricate with animals and flowers much like the castle at the top of the mountain. 

You were outside a small stall that had wooden bowls and plates with sheep carved into them when an old woman grabbed your wrist and looked at your palm.

"Little doe, little doe."

You looked at her warily, her headscarf unable to cover her wild, curly grey hair. She wore colorful clothes that were tattered with rips, holes, and dirt. The hem of her scarf showed signs of missing coins, possibly used to buy food or just lost from running around on the streets. She was very old and looked a bit crazed, her body giving off a smell of flowery perfume and ash.

You tried to tug your hand away but her grip was strong, her long finger tracing the lines on your palm as if she were reading them. You looked around and tried to signal for Marguerite but the blonde was no where in sight, the crowd having grown a bit the later in the day it was.

"Wakeful, finding, and losing, losing, losing," she tugged your hand closer to her face. You noticed her eyes were glazed over and milky, clearly blind yet still 'reading'. She had been beautiful once, but years of of hard, mountain weather toughened her skin and plant wrinkles of age around her eyes and cracked lips. She looked up at you, mouth open and showing nothing but a handful of teeth in dry, pink gums. Her tongue twitched as she stared shakily at you, like she was going to collapse when her bones finally turned to dust.

"Leave." Her voice brought you back to attention, confusion and curiosity keeping you in place as she continued. "Three have fallen before you and delirium invites itself in." 

Her eyes were wide and haunting, her hands moved as she spoke, looking like she was snatching something and pulling it close to her chest with her yellow, broken nails. "A ship lost at sea, a copy, souls that forever wander."

She kept looking over your shoulder at something, but each time you turned to see, nothing was there.

"Leave. Leave. LEAVE. LEAVE!!"

Then she was pushing you away, shooing you into the crowd until a large group of people pushed between the two of you and force you to stumble back a few paces. It was then that you lost sight of her, having gone as quickly as she had arrived.

You shifted, looking around in confusion as your chest clenched with anxiety. You felt a bit of water hit your cheek and you looked up to see storm clouds approaching and rain start to fall. Sadness and fear seemed to overwhelm you as the sky rumbled high above, signaling there was going to be thunder and lightning.

You wished you had the jar.

And as soon as the thought crossed your mind, you loathed yourself even more.

~

"There's a lot of interesting things in here," Marguerite grinned, pulling a yellow dress out from one of the dresser drawers and airing it out. 

You both were in the room where the mirror had originally been, going through the rest of the furniture and deciding what would stay and what would go. You had remembered there were clothes from the previous owners of the castle in the dresser and had decided to look at the outfits. Most of it was full of old dresses that were probably in style when your grandmother was a girl, low necklines that would stop at just the swell of the breast and fabric that laid gently against the skin with no other layers underneath. They were all in good condition and you even thought of keeping a few of them.

When you were searching around in the bottom drawer, you found something hidden under some of the older clothes. You pushed aside the fabric and found that it was an old journal, it's cover an emerald green with gold lines on the edges.

You pulled it out and opened it, finding handwritten words printed on the yellow paper in ink.

"What's that?"

You flipped through a few pages and saw they had dates at the top. "I believe it's a journal..."

Marguerite ooohed and pulled out another dress, glad you found another interesting thing to occupy your time here. "This place has many treasures~!!"

You bit your lower lip and closed the journal, not sure you wished to find any other treasures this place may or may not have.

You decided to retire to your room for the rest of the day, feeling you had used up enough energy to last a lifetime. Marguerite didn't say anything, despite there being more hours of daylight left (though it was hard to tell with the stormy sky thundering above), but she did give you a worried look as you left; wishing she knew what wrong with you lately. 

You paid no mind though, feeling it would be too much to explain. How this place was driving you crazy, how you wished you could just give up and go back to your old home. How you wanted your father to just be here, to tell you there was no such things as ghosts, monsters, devils. 

But it was probably all in your head and you were just losing touch with reality. That seemed likely at this point.

You had thought about reading a novel but found yourself taking the journal with you to bed, opening it up to the first entry and lean against your headboard. The writing took a bit of time to get used to, you had to adjust your light a bit until you could finally read some of the text. You found yourself staring down at the page, glad the text was in english and making it easier for you without worrying over translations.

July 6th, 1805

Success! What wonderful luck we have! Because of the families new fortune, we can buy a summer home! Our very own summer home! Oh, I do hope it is somewhere exotic. I would love a mansion, one that would make all my friends green with envy. I voiced my wish for a large home and then Abigail called me childish. We fought about it until Lettie finally told us to be quiet. She was trying to write her letter to Davy and we were distracting her.

Older sisters are a pain.

July 7th, 1805

Father says he found a place for us in the far north. He was really happy but refused to tell us what it was like. I wish he wasn't so keen on keeping it a surprise...

July 9th, 1805

We're going to Anna's coming out party tomorrow-

You stopped reading and frowned, wondering just how old this girl was before skipping ahead a few entries and skimming a few of them. Most of the journal seemed to be about the girl and her daily life at home, her friends, her drama. It seemed like a regular journal until you reached the page where they spend their first trip in their new vacation home...

October 18th, 1805

A castle! A real castle!!! Father has done it! He has made us all princesses and I can't believe it! A true castle!! It's so beautiful and big and truly amazing. 

Everything has been scrubbed and cleaned just for our arrival, the staff greeted us so greatly and I felt like I was really, truly royal. It's just so wondrous here that I don't even miss the idea of being close to civilization!

October 19th, 1805

Lettie is talking about Davy again, her precious sailor boy who's sailing the seas and just the usual lovesickness she spews at us. 

 It makes me want to gag.

She even went out and commissioned a painting of Davy's assigned ship. Abigail and I managed to change the order to a picture of his ship fighting off a wave at sea. Lettie wasn't happy when she got the commission and ended up getting the painting for free. It's funny how much she hates it but keeps it hung in her room as she moons over Davy again.

Abigail says the next time she talks about her 'Lovely Sailor Boy' she'll burn the damn thing.

October 21st, 1805

Abigail found an old mirror in the basement. It was just sitting in the middle of the room in the dark, collecting dust.

I told her it was creepy but she still took it to her room. It cleaned up pretty good, but now all she does is stare at herself all the time. She can't pass it without turning her face to look at her cheeks or hair, and then she gets this dumb little smirk that made her look superior to us plebeians.

The stupid thing is stupid and she isn't even that pretty!!

October 25th, 1805

I heard the door to my closet slam open this morning. It freaked me out and woke me up. It just stood open and when I checked it out, I found nothing.Lettie called me a baby and said it was just the wind.

Coming from a closet. My sisters are idiots.

October 26th, 1805

Father is leaving for a business trip. He's going to sell some rugs to some big client back in London. He promised to be back for the rest of the vacation in a week or so.It seems kind of sad he's leaving for business. Now it's just me, Abigail, Lettie, and the staff...

October 30th, 1805

Lettie's getting anxious. She hasn't received her weekly letter from Davy and is starting to act like a spoilt brat.

"Move out of the way, Charlotte!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

"Our love is too strong to be broken so easily!"

Sometimes I dream of being an only child...

November 3rd, 1805

Abigail got mad at me when I was in her room and trying on her clothes. It's not like they won't be mine soon, I get all the hand-me-downs so I might as well try them on.It was kind of strange, she was more mad that I was using her mirror then me wearing her dresses...She's so weird.

November 5th, 1805

My closet door slammed open again. But this time it's the middle of the night and I really don't want to get out of bed to close it. Everything looks further away and I feel like something will snatch at my ankles and drag me under the bed...

It's so stupid. I'm fourteen and I'm still afraid of monsters.

November 7th, 1805

Lettie is really upset. There hasn't been a letter to her since mid-October and she's starting to think Davy doesn't love her anymore.I told her to get over it but she just cried and ran off to look at her painting.I kind of feel bad...

November 9th, 1805

The stable boy was kicked by a horse today. He's fine, but it was the first time a horse had hurt him. He's been working with them his whole life and claims he had never seen them so scared. He said it had a wild look in it's eyes like it had seen something devil-like. I think he might have over-exaggerated a bit.

November 10th, 1805

Lettie finally received a letter. It was wrapped in black ribbon and had the Navy's official Seal.I didn't have to read it to know that Davy had died at sea. The look of horror and despair was clear on her face before she started to cry...My heart hurts for her.

It hurt even more when she told Abigail and me that they had planned to wed as soon as he came back to shore.

November 17th, 1805

Lettie hasn't left her room. She looks sick and tired and she cries every time she looks at the painting of the ship in trouble at sea.

Abigail doesn't have the patience to deal with her. She just talks about how Lettie should be strong and move on to someone else. I think it's pretty harsh considering Lettie and Davy had planned to marry, but Abigail just ignores me and brushes her hair in the mirror.

I kind of wish her stupid brush gets tangled in a knot and gets stuck there.

November 18th, 1805

One of the staff fell down the stairs and broke their neck. She slipped on some water and just tumbled down. I'd heard it all from the dining hall and found her just as everyone did.

I felt a bit faint, really really faint. It's not something I wanted to see.

They said they sent her back home, but I think she died and they refuse to tell me.

I don't want them to tell me.

November 24th, 1805

Lettie's acting strange. She carries the picture with her everywhere now. She's eating, but she holds the thing in her lap like it's a child and she traces the ship when she thinks no one is looking.

She gazes at the ship like it's really Davy's, whispers loving words to it then stares at the lighthouse at the shore, as if praying it'd lead her lost love on a safe journey.

It's really scaring me.

November 28th, 1805

One of the cooks left in the middle of the night. No note, no signs of wanting to leave.

They didn't even take their things with them. They just...left.

November 29th, 1805

Abigail will stand in front of that stupid mirror for hours, primping and preening and making kissy faces at herself. It's almost comical.

She even missed dinner because she was trying on some of her dresses in front of it, looking smug and ugh! She's so annoying!

December 3rd, 1805

My closet door is creaking open. I'm scared. It's so loud and this room is so quiet. What's pushing it open? What's living inside it? Oh god oh god oh god-

December 3rd, 1805

I feel like such a baby. Nothing happened at all! Nothing was in my stupid closet and I'm an idiot for running away like that. Lettie let me jump into bed with her when she found me banging on her door. She seemed like her normal self when she let me in and even rubbed my head to calm me down. 

It was nice until she started to sing 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' and then it was just eerie.

I kind of wanted to go back to my room...

December 7th, 1805

Abigail is thinner. I don't think she's been eating. She says she's fine, but her clothes are loose and she hides her food in her napkin when no one is paying attention.

 But I always pay attention.Just as much as she seems to do in front of that mirror. She just stares at herself now. She doesn't make any faces or smooth down her hair or look at her clothes.

Just at her reflection, never blinking.

December 10th, 1805

One of the stone gargoyles fell from the wall. I watched it, like time had slowed down, as it landed on the gardener and crushed his skull.

There was...oh god, it was everywhere.

I felt so sick. I can't get the image from my mind. I still feel sick.

December 11th, 1805

Where's father? Why hasn't he come back yet? I want to go home. I don't like this place anymore! I don't want to be a princess!!!

December 13th, 1805

Lettie keeps talking about the ocean. How she misses the ocean and it's wonderful waves and salty breeze and the sand that would sink warmly between her toes.

She cried in the middle of this and wailed for Davy's name. Abigail didn't say a thing, just got up from the table without touching her food and left me to pick up the pieces.

She's so cold.

December 15th, 1805

I heard a scream. I know I did. It came from the basement. It was loud and horrible and inhuman and I can't stop crying. Oh please god, take me home.

December 16th, 1805

Abigail keeps combing her hair. She'll spend hours and hours in front of the mirror, brushing the same strands over and over and over. I think she's pulling some of it out by doing this, her brown curly hair that I was so jealous of now looks as thin as her body.

What is happening to my sisters???

December 18th, 1805

Lettie was crying in her room. She just sobbed over her picture and moaned about the ocean, rocking on her bed and not looking at me when I called her name. I left her alone.

December 21st, 1805

Most of the staff have left. They refuse to work here, they say it's cursed. I believe them.

December 22nd, 1805

Abigail smiles and brushes her hair over and over and over. She calls herself beautiful despite how skeletal she was looking and how much hair she had lost.

I want to go home.

December 23rd, 1805

Today was normal. I walked the garden and nothing happened. I felt happy, I felt normal. But I can't get rid of the dread building inside me. I want to run away so much. I want to save my sisters, but I can't do a damn thing.

It ruined my entire mood.

December...December, 1805

I don't know what to do. I thought I could never rid myself of the image of the maid twisted on the ground or of the gardner who's head was crushed under a stone devil.

But something much worse has happened. I saw it all. I saw it all and I did nothing.

I thought my closet door to my room had opened and I'd woken up, ready to be frightened into another sleepless night. But it wasn't the closet. It was Lettie coming into my room. Lettie ignoring me as she walked towards the balcony and opened the doors.

Lettie stepping out into the cold wind and looking at the mountains.

I got off the bed to ask her what was wrong, but watched in horror as she climbed the railing, barefoot and night dress flying about her as she neared the edge.

I had screamed her name, but she only turned to me and smiled before saying her final words to me.

"I can't wait to see the ocean."

And then she jumped. She jumped right off the balcony and out of my tower. I saw it all and did nothing!!!!

Abigail didn't react when she was told, just stared at me blankly before going back to looking into her mirror.

December 29th, 1805

Christmas wasn't the same. There was no Lettie to sing carols and tell silly jokes. Abigail didn't complain about the food or how I put up bad decorations.

Father still hasn't come back or sent word. 

We're stuck here, oh good lord we're stuck here!!

December 30th, 1805

Abigail has locked herself in her room and refuses to come out. She's skin and bones now and she's going to starve, but she refuses to let us inside. 

I know what's she's doing though. She's looking into that mirror. She's brushing her hair and staring at her blank, lifeless eyes.

We had to get the stable hand to break down the door and drag her away from the mirror, kicking and screaming. She clawed at the poor man while I got some of the help to take the mirror away. She sounded like a banshee when we took it from her room and I worried for my life for the first time when she looked at me with such hatred.

January 2nd, 1806

Abigail is breaking everything she can get her hands on. Especially if it has a reflection.

I have to lock my door at night, fearful she will come in and cut my throat. She's turned into a monster.

January 4th, 1806

My crazy sister found a spoon and won't stop looking at it. She just cries and stares at herself, groaning about how it's not the same as her precious mirror.

I would kill her myself if I wasn't so frightened of her.

January 6th, 1806

I stared out of my balcony today. I looked down the tall tower and into the very cliff that Lettie launched herself from.

My heart ached and I quickly went back inside. I don't want to think about this anymore.

January 8th, 1806

They found her in the garden. Laying motionless and just...dead.

Abigail looked like some lifeless doll, too thin to be human and hair almost all but fallen out. She clutched the spoon in her hand like a lifeline and it made me feel sick all over again.

I'm leaving. I can't take it. I'm leaving leaving leaving leavingleavingleavingleaving-

January 11th, 1806

Open close open close open close open close.Make up your mind.

January 12th, 1806

I can hear the heavy breathing. It's coming from my closet. It's closed. Please please please please please don't open.

January 13th, 1806

It's back. It's louder. It wants to kill me.Someone save me, please!!!

January 13th, 1806

It's gone. The door is shut.I can finally sleep.

January 21st, 1806

I saw her. She jumped and fell down down down down down down down down down downdowndowndowndowndownDOWNDOWNDOWNDOWNDOWNDOWN-

January 22nd, 1806

It's so pretty outside today. Abigail seemed to really love it and even relaxed. Lettie talked about Davy again and I gagged. She was a good sport about my little joke and we all laughed.

I love my sisters.

January 24th, 1806

Abigail let me wear one of her best dresses today. She thought I looked beautiful and showed me many beauty tips. She grinned at me as she fixed my collar.

I love my sisters.

January 25th, 1806

Lettie showed me some of her poetry. All about Davy of course. She's so simple sometimes.

I love my sisters.

January 25th, 1806

Abigail smiled at me in the mirror. She looked so pretty, so beautiful. She won't have any trouble finding a handsome man.

I love my sisters.

January 25th, 1806

Lettie keeps falling, she won't stop. She won't stop.

I love my sisters.

January 25th, 1806

I love my sisters.

January 25th, 1806

I love my sisters.

January 25th, 1806

I love my sisters.

January 25th, 1806

I love my sisters.

January 25th-

You frowned and flipped through the pages, the same entry now repeating over and over and over for the rest of the journal and leaving you confused, and quite frankly, scared.

Was this really true? Did this all happen? Or was a fourteen year old writing tales and spinning horrors for whoever found her diary?

Unease settled over you, feeling like all of this had really happened. A bit of it even ringing true to what was going on with you. The screams, the strange events, someone dying in an accident...

None of this put you at ease as you looked up, staring at the covered mirror that was possibly the same one Abigail had been staring into. Then you looked to the balcony where it was obvious that Lettie had jumped from, it's description plain in the diary entry of her death.

Then you dragged your eyes over to the closet just beside the mirror, wondering if it ever opened and closed on it's own without your knowledge.

The image made you shiver and you quickly slammed the journal shut, wishing you had never found it.

You could feel anxiety creep up once more, making you rock back and forth in your bed as your chest heaved and lungs clawed for air. This place was definitely insane, no doubt sending people spiraling into madness and leaving nothing but their horrors and tales of terror behind.

You were going to cry. You weren't strong enough for this and you held no power here. You were just some girl who wanted to be normal. 

Before realizing it, you were reaching for the jar and holding it close, a calm easily washing over you and making your mind feel less like a hive of worker bees. You scowled and clutched the wretched jar in your hands, wondering if this was how you were to die here, clinging to some human remains and found dead in the garden.

The image made you nauseous. It made you nauseous and pathetic and you didn't want to do it anymore. You didn't want this anymore and you certainly didn't want to die.

It was too bad that you had no choice in the matter of your fate. Because at that moment the sun had finally set behind the roaring storm clouds and the candle, your only source of light, flickered out.

Your breathing stopped and you found yourself staring into the darkness, body tense and skin crawling with shivers. You turned your eyes to look at the flashing sky and watched as lightning shoot across the dark clouds in an amazing display of light and power.

You hugged the jar close to your chest as you felt something wrap around your waist once more, almost snake-like and deadly. You felt hot breath puff into your ear, lingering there for a brief moment before you felt him move to scrape his teeth lightly against your neck. He pulled you into his lap as his fingers dug into your skin without mercy, his touch made you shiver and his voice made you shrink away.

He whispered something to you.

But you didn't hear it, the voice too quiet as thunder boomed outside your tower.

You could only focus on the arms wrapped achingly around you, pulling you closer and closer until it almost felt too impossible to be this close to another human being. It made your heart race in fear and your body tremble in terror.

Clinging to the jar, you hoped this was just another dream. Something you would soon wake up from.

Wake up, wake up, wake up!!