Alone

Chapter 1

                                                                                          May 1802- Anna

    There was a great storm that had been going on sense this morning. Thunder and lightning crashed against my bedroom window. Outside I could see the distorted image of my aunt running inside with the laundry in tow. I could hear the commotion as she entered downstairs.

    “Where is she?” She screeched. As always, her voice went an octave higher when she got worked into a tizzy.

    “I’m up hear, Aunt Sisilia.” I called. I could hear her clamoring up the stairs, as I prepared myself for what was coming. Her once perfectly done hair was in shambles as it was the first part to appear from the stairs and then as the rest of Aunt Sisilia emerged I could see how much trouble I really was in.

    “Why were the cloths not inside before it had started to rain, Anna Elizabeth?” Aunt Sisilia asked. Dang it, she’s using my middle name, I thought. I’m in deep water for sure. On further inspection, I could see her dress was absolutely ruined, mud caked the bottom of her dress and she was missing her slippers, from what I could see. Her face was blotchy from how upset she was.

    “What happened to your slippers, auntie?” I asked innocently. Her face turned beet red.

    “They got stuck in the mud, because someone did not do her chores yesterday evening!” She exploded. As I tried to think of a good excuse, aunt Sisilia shook her head. “No, do not start thinking up some scenario to try to get out of this one. Just wait till your uncle finds out that all his cloths are completely ruined.”

    “Aunt Sisilia,” I retorted. “They are just cloths. It’s not like we do not have enough money to buy more. Besides, I had forgotten about the laundry last night, but when I woke up this morning to bring them in it had already begun to rain horridly.” I understood why she was upset, I really did, but honestly it wasn’t like everything couldn’t be replaced. Anything could be replaced. Everything but a family.

    Seeing the forlorn look on my face, Aunt Sisilia began to calm down. She came over to my bed and sat down. Her face had a sad expression on it. “I miss them terribly, as well.” She stated. “But I know that they are looking down on us right now and wishing we would not remember them in this way. Your mother would want us to remember them when they were happiest.”

    Ten years had passed sense that night, and I still remember it like it was yesterday. I had been 7 years old at the time. My father’s work had taken him away, as usual. Even though we lived in America, he still worked for the crown all the way in England. I was not really sure what it was that he did, all I knew was that he would be away for weeks, or even months at a time. Even though we were quite well off and had many servants, my mother always made sure she was the last face I saw before I went to bed.

    That night it had a been a quiet one, and I drifted off to sleep with the moonlight as my companion. I was awakened later that night by something. At the time I wasn’t sure what had awoken me. As I laid back down to sleep, I heard it again, but this time I could distinguish what it was. It was the sound of crying. It almost sounded like my mother. I got out of bed to investigate. I opened my bedroom door and crept into the hallway. I could see a faint light to the right of my room at the end of the hallway coming from my parents room. The closer I got, the louder the crying become. When I was right in front of the door I looked in from the crack. I realized with great fear, my mother was not just crying, she was begging and she was not alone. 

    Aunt Sisilia shakes me back to the present, away from that terrible night. I realize I am crying. I look over at aunt Sisilia and she is crying too, except she and I are crying for two very different reasons. She is crying for the sister and brother-in-law that she has lost, but I am crying because I know how my parents really died. I know the truth.

    A werewolf killed them.

    Back then I thought all those things, those monsters, were just in books. I never expected to see one in real life. Much less watch one kill everything I ever loved.

    After my parents murder, I was passed around from family to family. From Maryland and all the way to the Carolinas. No one could make out anything about my babbling of werewolves, and murders. They all thought I was making it all up to cope with the lose of both my parents that night. After my 12th birthday my aunt Sisilia, who was my mother’s younger sister, decided it was her turn to take me up. Aunt Sisilia was never much of an aunt, she was more like a cousin or the sister that I never had. She was a couple years older than me so she was not able to take me in till she was married. Ever sense then I have been living with them, trying to keep my secrets at bay or else be sent to an institute. Sometimes I do think I made everything up, and that I am crazy. But I will never tell anyone that.

    Tonight, would be my official coming out party. The towns matchmakers, better known as the mothers of all the eligible bachelors, have been in a frenzy these last couple of months, because of it, and aunt Sisilia has been none the better. Because of my father’s high status with the English government, and my mother coming from a long line of French royalty, not to mention my sizable dowry. I was considered a ‘good catch’. You would think that with all the miserable marriages around this area, they would be less inclined to force unwanted men on women. Alas, my auntie would have none of that.

    “You know your mother and father wanted you to marry well,” Auntie reminded me. She didn’t have to even look to know I was rolling my eyes. She was pulling out dress after dress that she had made especially for tonight. “So now stop frowning. It will put wrinkles on your forehead and you will never find a suitable husband.”

    “Great! I don’t want a husband. Someone to tell me to stand a foot behind him for the rest of my life and to birth his ugly children. No thank you.” I declared. Resigned, I looked over the dresses auntie had pulled out of their delivery boxes and placed them on my bed. Although, I did not want this party, I had to admit, the dresses were quite lovely. One was made of a blush fabric with a tight bodice, a wide skirt, and lace ruffles over the lower half of the skirt. Another was of a gold fabric and it felt like it was made out of satin. The sleeves were elbow length, it had a wide skirt and a long train. The last dress was a light blue dress with elbow length sleeves, but what stood out the most was the daring cut of the bodice. I smiled to myself. “This is the one I will wear tonight.”

    “I thought you would, which is the reason as to why I commissioned for this dress.” Aunt Sisilia retorted. I ignored her reply and picked the dress up to admire myself in the looking glass. I might not be happy to be looking for a husband, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun tonight.