Prologue

TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am! But why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story.
The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe

Children, listen well to my words. The story I am about to tell is an important one. It started at the dawn of time—long, long before even the age of the dinosaurs, and woolly mammoths, and saber tooth tigers, and all manner of extinct beasts. It began at the very start of the world.
Truly, although it did in fact begin with the creation of all, I won’t go into the details of any of that. All will be revealed in time.
The story continued with three sisters and the family they were destined to meet. Of course, a lot happened between the creation and the time of the sisters, but they were the most important. They were a turning point. The ones who were really on the side of good seemed evil for awhile. Evil disguised itself as good. An innocent female, who never knew anything, was killed. She never had the strength for what she was never meant to experience. But as I said, all will be revealed in time. The girl was to be honored, and you will learn of her as well.
In the eyes of some, the sisters were the true beginning. And in some ways, they're probably right. Perhaps that is why I selected them to be the first story I will tell. In their lives, the sisters learned the secrets of the planes, and of all else which could have mattered in the slightest. They learned how to procure eternal life for themselves and their family. And of important events later to come... They were the core. At least, as a family, they were the core.
It began with the sisters. It continued and twisted into a story of betrayal, of the darkness within a person’s heart, of bloodshed, of truth and lies, and most importantly of all, it turned into a story of all. How, you may ask, can love possibly be the most key element in a story that seems to be so full of dark and violent aspects? It is simple.
If not for love, nothing would ever have begun. One thing I can reveal to you now is that one of the creators of all was in love with another of the trio, and it was this overpowering emotion which caused him to turn on her and the other. Without this, the Nightmare Holders would never have been brought into existence. The cycle wouldn’t have begun. And the sisters would have been born regular girls.
Children, you know of these girls already. Everyone knows of the Ross sisters and their line. Everyone knows that the Archer family knew what no other knew at the time. Few, though, know the stories I am going to tell you. If you ask them how it all began, they may smile, they may frown, they may scratch their heads in confusion, or they may even walk away, scoffing at such a stupid question. All of these reactions spawn from lack of knowledge.
On the other hand, some will laugh, some will cry, some will launch into long-winded explanations, and perhaps some will even faint. These are the ones who were there, and thus are few. I was there, however. I know of the sorrows, of the joys, of the humor… I know of what the family shared, that which caused them to finally come together.
In time, you shall learn of all of the forty-three members of the family, including the sisters and their loved ones, their children, and their children’s children.
Now, let us begin with the tale of the sisters…

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All right... I acknowledge to myself that I am a hypocrite. I said that I would do no rewriting on this novel until I had completed Chapter Five. I have yet to complete said chapter, and yet I wrote a new prologue. Good, God. But this one is not just different, it is exceedingly different, because originally when I started this, I had no idea what it was about. Now I actually have a plot. That is the point, right? A plot? Anyways... I beg you to review. I lack those, except for on Sinful Love where they happen to be plentiful.