.Chapter 1.

Fedora was and always had been a beautiful girl. She had rich skin, long wavy black hair— which she kept tied up as she did her daily chores— and eyes were an aqua color and the tint of them changed with her emotions.

Her family was equally beautiful and exotic. Her Mamma, Ana, was slim and graceful, with darker skin and blue eyes, and long hair which swung like a pendulum against her back. Mamma was always singing and the house was always full of cheer and the crystal sound of her voice. Fedora's Poppa, Alin, was strong and had the hands of a farmer. He, like Fedora, had emerald green eyes, his pale skin was tanned from work and his hair was cut short and modest.

She had a younger brother and sister, Deriah and Selma; they were twins. Their wide oval eyes were the shadowy grey color of mist creeping through the swamps. Their haunted eyes looked at the world with shameless wonder and curiosity; Mamma would sometimes say that they were old souls. They had slender frames with a glow of indestructible innocence; their black hair curled in wide rings and made them look like angels. Selma and Deriah watched the world with silent actions, and when they laughed it was like bells ringing. And if they were to weep, it was heartbreakingly sad. Yes, that was her family, all uniquely gorgeous people.

They lived in the forest a couple miles outside of a sleepy little town called Jessah. The people who resided there were nice enough save for the traditional suspicious looks strangers received upon arrival. The little town was nestled comfortably in one of the many valleys of the Carpathian Mountains. It was almost harvest time and Fedora could feel the change in the air already. She couldn't wait until after harvest; everyone in town would bake something and share with the people who came knocking at their door, and if one did not make anything than everyone else who did would get to play a trick on them. Fedora loved harvest time. Each day a little more golden yellow, or reds and oranges were added to the leaves. She breathed deeply as she walked on a dirt road through the forest. The road was lined with crosses and statues of The Blessed Virgin; they were to protect against the evil spirits and demons that traveled at night.

It was the middle of the day though and Fedora, at the time, wasn't thinking of evil spirits. She was furiously thinking of a way she could get out of the marriage her parents had arranged for her. She couldn't believe it! They were giving her to some wealthy lord. She didn't want to get married, but she knew no one cared. She had gotten out of marriages for the past four years. Now she was seventeen and way past the “coming of age” time and her parents were marrying her off. She wondered what the wealthy lord was like; Fedora thought of him as being a mean, arrogant, lazy man who lugged an ale-swollen belly. But, despite all of her worries, she still enjoyed the smell of the air on an October day— everything was cool and breezy. As Fedora was walking she stopped abruptly in her tracks. Something wasn't right— she sensed it— and something bad was going to happen. She ran the rest of the way home to see if everything was okay. Blazing through the forest like a frightened mare, Fedora ran through a hail storm of leaves as a strong sudden wind whipped through the trees.

Everything was peaceful as she came out of the forest and into the clearing where her home stood. Her family was in the garden relaxing and the twins were playing with the three dogs, Silver, Stone, and Oak. They were hunting dogs and were gentle with children. Her Mamma sat on the porch of their cabin knitting something nice, the wool lying on her round growing belly; Fedora could hear she was humming a soft tune to herself. Her Poppa was working in the garden.

Although everything looked fine she still didn't feel right. Fedora was born, like her mother, with psychic abilities which got on her nerves sometimes. Her father would ask her from time to time if it would be a good harvest year or when the opportune moment to plant a particular crop would be. Fedora also had the ability to communicate with spirits, and not just that, she could see them as well! When she first started seeing them, she thought she was going crazy and then it scared her senseless. She would stay in her bed all day and try to hide from them. Her Mamma never lost patience when Fedora refused to get up and do her chores and daily lessons though. At night, when she fell asleep, Fedora would see things and events that were to happen.

When Fedora was little, she had dreamed a baby bird fell out of a nest in the forest. The next morning Fedora ran out of the house and into the forest; her feet seemed to know where they were going. She reached a tall oak tree, like the one she saw in her dreams, and she climbed, almost slipping off a branch on the way up.

She looked to each bough of the tree and at the top she finally found a small nest with three little birds in it; the mother was gone, maybe finding food somewhere on the forest floor. Fedora sat up there until the mother came, then she neatly climbed down and brushed her off. Then Fedora's vision was washed over with a blood red haze and she heard a screech as something fell in front of her.

Fedora stared down at the tiny little bird lying on the ground. She picked it up and started to cry as she ran home with the little bird in her out stretched arms. Mamma came rushing out to embrace her.

"What's wrong Fedora, my sweet?" Her mother knew but it was that kind of thing you had to ask little children, to give them a chance to explain. "I could hear you crying."

Tears were rolling down Fedora's cheeks, and she held up the little blue bird, its broken neck lolling to the side. They buried the little bird in the forest under the tree where it had fallen from. It was dead.

"Honey, you should head out into town now so you can get back before dark." Mamma told Poppa and he got up from his little garden. They had acres of crops but her father loved to just plant things. And her mother had a flower garden which he tended to since she was pregnant.

"Yes, I shall." Poppa looked up to the sky at the sun that was almost directly over head.

He kissed everyone goodbye.

"Poppa, can't I go with you?" Fedora asked. He considered for a second, but changed his mind.

"No, not this time, but I bring you all back something from town, okay?"

"Okay." Fedora pouted. As he walked away, her vision was hazed with scarlet. Tears welled up in her eyes. Doesn’t Mamma know? But she knew her mother’s power was not to see the future of anyone, but that of empathy and levitation. Fedora didn't tell her mother; she didn't want to upset her. The future could be changed sometimes. But Fedora knew that the stronger the blood was in her eyes, then the more definite and near the future was.

Fedora looked to where her Mamma was sitting; she was still knitting as if she didn't feel that Fedora was anxious about something. But, her mother’s powers were awry; maybe it was because she was pregnant.

"Fedora, Sweetie." Mamma looked up from her knitting.

"Yes Mamma?" Fedora asked trying to conceal her feelings lest her mother should get breeze of them.

"You should relax; you look tense. What's on your mind?" Fedora knew her mother wasn't stupid; Ana could tell something was going on.

"Nothing, just— nothing. I'm going to go take a nap, excuse me." Fedora walked on to the porch, careful to avoid touching her mother.

"Okay, Dear, have a nice rest." Fedora nodded her head and walked into the house. Fedora slept long but uneasy.