The woman behind the mask

“She watched me, she stalked me, she took me. She made me fear her cruel beauty.” Aurora James was an innocent beauty, loved within society, a sweet innocent soul, engaged to marry a good Christian man she had never met, until she met the woman in the mask. Chapter one. Aurora groaned as she flickered open her eyes, the thin rays of sunlight penetrating beneath her eyelashes as she stretched and shuffled her feet in the soft unfamiliar bed she laid in, her delicate hands and small pink chipped fingernails wrapped around the pillow that was engulfed in a fragrance she did not recall. Coming to her senses she rose her head, a grunt escaping her rosey lips as she took in the scene in front of her. The bedroom she saw was not her own , a regal suite made to fit a queen with fairytale drapes hanging from the obsidian black bedposts of a queen sized bed frame set in the middle of what seemed to be a luxury home , gold statues of Windows crows , horses and snakes adorned the walls seeming to embrace the gloomy grey walls , as she began to move her small frame her ankle tugged with a clink. Handcuffs she thought as she lifted the silky throw from herself and just as she had suspected, she was trapped within the comfort she once felt. Gazing at the arched window of the room Aurora felt her heart sink as she saw what lay behind the Smokey glass , a vast forest with trees that touched the sky and danced in the wind , shielded by tall silver bars that were attached to the windows edges. Preventing all methods of escape. Auroras breath began to quicken as she realised she was completely helpless , her heart rate increasing by every second , until the beautiful small bookshelf in the centre of the room began to open , it was not the bookcase moving that shocked Aurora , but what walked out of the narrow passageway the bookshelf concealed. “You” Aurora spat as she recoiled in fear as the beautiful silhouette of a woman emerged gracefully , almost too gracefully, it was the woman in the mask. Three weeks earlier. Moving her slim neck from side to side Aurora shook as tears poured from her eyes as she looked at the picture in her mother’s hand, a skinny smiley man with a gap between his two front teeth, shiny black hair parted as if a comb had just been run through it , a tanned complexion as if the gods had given it to him themselves , any Christian woman from the village would be over the moon to be engaged to Jackson Martel , the next in line of nine brothers to take over his fathers position at the church, but Aurora was filled with horror , she had a secret , however when she looked up into her mothers smiling eyes she had no choice but to act as if her tears were from happiness opposed to the crippling wrench in her stomach she felt. “So” her mother poked “ what do you think!? Your wedding is three weeks away my dear child, you should be preparing for motherhood not reading all of those books in your room.” Her mother seemed to visibly gag as the word books left her mouth , causing a scowl to become upon her lips. “He seems just fine mother” Aurora croaked out , trying to stop the river of tears that had already begun to flow down her cheek, “ I am sure I will be the fairest lady of the village” her words stung her lips as she forced a smile , dreading what was to come. She didn’t want this and it pained her to think that she had promised in marriage without her own approval , Aurora had no choice in keeping her mouth shut and retiring back to her room. Back in the safety of her room book pages turned gracefully within auroras fingertips , leaving a dry but satisfying feeling as her eyes delved into the words and phrases before her , she had a love for poems and romance novels , a love that would soon be diminished as she was forced into the world of motherhood marriage and responsibility at the young age of eighteen. Auroras breath hitched in her throat and her hands seemed to become weaker as she read of the two lovers kiss , oh how she longed to taste the sweet embrace of true love, but that was not her fate, auroras fate laid a few villages to the east , within the walls of a large bounding church , Jackson was about to take over his fathers position as pastor , along with a large amount of money saved for his long awaited bride. Aurora sighed and folded the corner of her page and placed the hard cover down onto her desk , now was not the time to dream she told herself , picking up her array of skirts that had pillowed beneath her she headed to the kitchen, today was one of the few days she was allowed to taste the sweetness of cake, her wedding cake, “at least I don’t need to be skinny today” Aurora muttered under her breathe glancing down at her small waist within her corset , mother had spent years paying for the best chefs and maids to attend to Aurora to ensure she had the perfect body , as society would deem it. Aurora did not care for these things like the village did , large dresses and tiny waists a mans hand should be able to fit around did not appease her , neither did her arranged marriage. Upon entering the kitchen her nose twitched as the sweet scent flowed through her, stomach growling the chefs let out a chuckle as her eyes feasted upon the selection in front of her , red velvet , double cocoa and pure white frosted Victoria sponge lay in front of her, she began tasting each one carefully making sure to spend the same time enjoying the different variations as to not upset the chef, eventually after a few minutes her dainty hand pointed to the red velvet , claps and squeals erupted from the maids chefs and family members as she had finally chosen , but she did not have the time nor energy , she exited the room , closing the doors with a bang . The weather was awful the next day , a dark cloud had surrounded the small village she called home , the rain caressed the fog as it fell , but Aurora didn’t mind , in fact she rather liked it , it calmed her. But the weather was not what was occupied her mind , her wedding was close by and a sense of numbness had overcome her. Deciding she needed to clear her head , she put on her shawl and outdoor shoes cursing as she almost fell into the window , careful to not make a sound she gathered her skirts and began to lower herself down the short drop. It was the middle of the night and Aurora had no intention of turning back, she would have run, if it wasn’t for the expeditions of her family that rested on her shoulders , being an only child was difficult enough but being married ? That was another story , a whole new level of responsibility. Whilst trudging through the side gates of her house Aurora turned in the shadows to look upon her home , but it wasn’t only the darkened sky that caught her attention but the shadows that lurked almost steps away from her window , where she had been moments before , deciding to shrug it off assuming it was her imagination , the shadow world did not exist and the church protected them, she continued walking through the gates into the poorly lit street. Her small feet made light taps on the ground as she walked , making sure to make her splashing minimal as the water drops fell down her cheeks smooth skin , the cobblestones were difficult to navigate especially with her small feet , Aurora didn’t have the balance of most young ladies and she , as much as being headstrong , was also rather naive and unsuspecting to normal things that commenced in the common world, being of high class she was hidden from the smiles of young men , and the company of young women. Breaking from her trance of thought Aurora widened her eyes as she realised she had walked much farther than she expected or allowed herself too , she was in the darkened unlit streets that lead to the back roads out of the village , it was not safe for young women to be here of night , especially when anyone could lurk , but the docks were close by , being from Elderdale , the sea was always close by and boats often passed through , she had only been once with her father many times ago when we was a small child, it was one of the biggest docks known to all villages within miles around , the boats were impressive and made her fear the cold but calming water she saw ,deciding to pick up some curiosity and courage she pushed her sodden feet toward the docking area , a rather long walk but the stars walked with her in solemn silence. When coming upon the brown boards that began to appear more often as she walked , she knew her destination was close by. Walking past the boarded up trading posts and fish markets , she inhaled the sweet salty but rather sinister smell of the dock , she was rather Frightened as she came to the last corner before the boarding posts , people lived in their boats and any of them seeing her would be a risk , she knew each boat like the back of her hand as she often gazed at them from The dining halls windows , deciding to push past her gut feeling Aurora turned the corner and was amazed. Boats were tied against metal poles and floating items in the water exactly how she remembered , the small vessels pictured in her head from the windows view was now a shocking and frightening image , these huge objects swayed and splashed in the murky water which kept spraying and hitting her bare ankles with a sting. She began to admire each of them as she toddled along , each for a different purpose , guest boats , trading ships and food markets and homes , it was a sight to behold. The last boat tied surprised Aurora , it had not been here before , it was humongous and it took up all of her attention , tall masts with glorious black sails , multiple levels and a beautiful wheel to steer with , Auroras knowledge on boats was next to none but she could tell this was no trades boat , it must be a pirate ship she giggles to herself , but imagine auroras surprise when a slender but muscled figure began to walk upon its surface , she immediately picked up her skirts and began to hurry away as fast as she might be able too , but as she ran the gruelling distance home , it’s almost as if she heard a female softly laugh in the distance.