The Bride

About ten minutes walking in silence uphill, Claire plopped down on a boulder, refusing to stand up. She fixed her high heel shoe, which was an obviously bad choice, and was whining about how hard it was to walk any further. I didn't tell her we had about a mile left, I savored the fact that she was so spoiled and now she got a dose of reality. I loved it.

"Anna, why couldn't we take a car?" she called out to me.

I shook my head," I think they didn't have any cars or roads when it was first built, Claire. Did you not pay attention to History at all?"

Claire looked at me cross,flipping me off at the same time. I laughed and took a few more steps ahead, trying to see if I could get her to move any faster, dusk was approaching fast. Seeing that she wasn't gonna budge, I surveyed the land. We were still in a dense forest, yet the trees seemed to be spread only slightly apart. Up ahead, I saw a faint sliver of the rooftop of the house, which made my heart jump. Only a mile left to go, and then all my dreams would come true.

"Anna, do you think they would be some hot guys there?"

I turned around to see Claire standing right behind me, fanning herself. It wasn't even hot, and yet she was panting like it was the middle of July. Rolling my eyes, 'cause the answer is no, I moved on ahead, her trailing behind me. We were silent for a while until Claire couldn't take it any more.

"Anna," she paused,"why don't you want to marry Alix? He is fine, darlin'."

I looked ahead, not breaking step," Because he's a spoiled brat whose IQ is about that as a rock," I paused," and I think that would be an insult to the rock."

"You know you can't break the promise, A! It would put your family to shame! Not that it's not already ashamed, I mean with your dad and all..."

I snapped around, my eyes wide. Did she just say what I think that snot- nosed brat said? Oh heck no. I walked up to her, my face millimeters away from hers, grabbing the collar of her fluffy jacket. Pulling her closely to me, I snapped.

"Claire, I swear on everything that's holy, that if you make another slander towards my father or my family, you will not live to see the light of day! Do.You.Hear.Me?!"

Her emerald eyes grew big, nodding her head vigorously. I set her down, quickly storming off, not wanting her to catch up. At that moment, I would have gladly liked to kill her, but I knew better. The Board of Good would use that as a reason to kill me like they did papa. Some while later, after fuming, I noticed a large wrought-iron fence ahead,and all my anger dissipated.I reached the house.

"Hey,Anna! Right behind ya!"

I didn't turn around to see Claire, I was too busy pinching myself. It was magnificent, the mansion was. A Gothic inspired architecture mixed with a southern appeal, the house looked like it covered some good acres and then some. Beautiful marble glinted in the waning sun,and the windows held a tiny flame.

"Hello there! You must be the two young ladies that are spending time with us!"

I looked up to be greeted by a young woman with auburn hair and fair skin approach us,a warm smile on her face. I nodded my head and motioned that we were indeed the girls. The woman smiled and waved, unlocking the gate.

"Welcome to the Mansion! I hope you will enjoy your stay!" she smiled.

I nodded and followed her into the property, Claire not paying a flit of attention. The young woman, whose name I found out was Katherine, was going on about the weather. However,I didn't notice, my attention was caught by the upstairs window. Shaking my head, I reasoned that it was only a hallucination, but it couldn't be. A closed window doesn't let any air through,so why should a curtain move on it's own accord? Unless.... I shook my self again ,suppressing the chilling feeling that I was getting. I mean, Death really can't be here. Can he?