Okay, here's a new story of mine that I'm working on...definitely more of a realistic one. I haven't edited it at all yet, so please cut me some slack if there are a few spelling mistakes (there shouldn't be, but could be). I haven't quite decided where this one's going to go, so it'll be new to me too. Well, sort of. I hope you like.

Prologue

No one believed the rumors of the Blackthorne Mansion, because they were only that: rumors. Of course, people started getting a little wary when strange stories showed up. They would walk on the other side of the street instead of daring to walk directly in front of the mansion, or perhaps go out of their way to avoid walking in view of the bedroom windows. That was where it happened, after all, the murder of a whole family, so it was only expected of some people to take another route.

Soon enough, there were claims of catching glimpses of ghosts, or hearing strange moans in the night. Personally, I thought it was all a joke. The children here in Yorkshire, though well-mannered, were certainly capable of playing tricks like that, scaring people. I thought it was all a ploy, but now I know better. Now I know that rumors aren’t just rumors sometimes. Sometimes, they’re true. Sometimes, reality is more frightening than nightmares could ever be.

This was one of those times.

Chapter One – The Beginning

“Miss Erin!” a voice called out. I turned to find Maximillian Stone jogging to catch me. I stopped with a slight sigh, but plastered a believable smile on my face, and he smiled at me when he saw. He quickened his pace a little bit, and I couldn’t help but let a sincere smile leak through at his wavy blonde hair bouncing as he ran. It made him look much more innocent than he was. Bright green eyes contrasted with his pale skin, and though he always carried a sense of boyishness around him, his years of life showed through those very eyes.

I thought back to when he and I were mere children. He had been nothing but an immature little boy then. Now, he was a handsome young man, I had to admit that much. Though he had lost the immaturity – for the most part – he had retained his ability to laugh at himself and make others laugh as well. That was one of the many things I liked about him, that we all liked about him: his humor.

“I am glad I found you,” He stated once he had caught up with me. His English accent was clear, as were many here, despite the travelers. I was the only one – besides my sister – in our group who didn’t speak with that accent, for we had traveled from Greece when we were six, and never quite acquired the way of speaking. At first, I had enjoyed hearing the English speak, but by now, it was practically background noise, something I only thought about once in a while…like when my sister was trying to mimic them. There was a joke. Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t hear when Max spoke again.

“Pardon?” I inquired.

“Have you heard? This year’s festival is coming soon. All who are not peasants are required to go, if they like it or not.” He added the last bit with an emphasis, and I’m quite sure he was referring to my extreme dislike of parties and the sort. The festivals were always the worse: drunks coming up to me over and over; horrible crowds of people were around every corner, boisterous in their words and actions; and there was hardly a thing to do but dance. My friends knew how I hated dancing.

“Are you listening, Miss Erin?” he broke through my thoughts again. Always with the formality, hm?

“How many times must I ask you to drop the ‘miss’? And forgive me; I was lost in my thoughts.” I had reverted to the use of his nickname, the one only his closest friends were allowed to use. Otherwise, it was seen as an insult. Men.

A slight smile showed on his face, and I prepared myself for the playful insult I knew was coming. “Again? Perhaps you should listen to the voices in your head in place of coming to the tavern with me. As far as I know, Lady Lorelei, Cain, and Devon are already there. It is only you, William, and I who are not.”

“Mm,” I replied, smirking and narrowing my eyes. “Or perhaps your speaking has forced us to linger too long. Shall we start off, then?” I began walking once more, as Max followed. I could hear him laughing quietly.

Soon, another fell into step beside me, and I knew instantly who it was: William. He was a great contrast to Max, with his dark brown hair that fell just below his ears, and his equally dark eyes. AS I looked at him, I thought – not for the first time – that any who might see him could think he was a loner, maybe even dangerous. I had known him for a while, and knew differently. He was one of the sweetest men I knew, and though he was quiet, he had a sense of humor that could rival Max’s.

“Hello, good sir,” I teased, looking at him out of the corner of my eye. A smile flickered on his face, but he answered just as formally.

“My lady Erin.” A slight incline of his head accompanied his words.

“You don’t have to be so formal with me, William,” I pushed, knowing very well that he disliked the use of his full name. “It’s not as if we’ve only just met. I thought we were good friends. Am I mistaken?”

He glanced at me briefly before another smile showed through his dark features, letting me know I had won that. “No, Miss Erin, you are not mistaken, but that does not mean I shouldn’t be polite,” he countered, looking at me again, this time quite pointedly. All right, so I hadn’t won just yet.

“All right, enough with the pleasantries!” Max broke in. I had almost forgotten he was there… “Are we going to the tavern or not?”

“Of course, Max, forgive me. You are coming, aren’t you, William?” I asked, casting a sly look his way.

“Not if you keep calling me that, I fear,” he replied, a touch of rare playfulness poking through.

“Very well, Will. Be that way, why won’t you? Let’s be off, then, before Max gets so impatient as to leave us behind.” I laughed at the expression on my friends’ faces, and we continued on.

At the tavern, Cain, Devon, and Lorelei had already sat down at a table. Each of them had a small glass of wine in front of them, making me curious. “What’s the especial occasion?” I asked as we neared the table.

“No occasion, Devon had a rough day,” answered Cain. My eyes darted to him immediately. Cain Highwind. He was probably the most serious of our group, and the one who I loved more than a friend. It wasn’t because of his looks, of course, but now I suppose they were a good addition to his personality. He was what they might call tall, dark, and handsome, with his shaggy brown hair, hazel eyes that – I thought – could melt silver and strong features. Of course, his personality was what attracted me in the first place. He was serious, calm and collected, sweet, and he had the aura of a leader hovering around his every action. I had envied the girl he would fall in love with.

“Oh? What happened, Devon?” I inquired, forcing my head to turn and look at the young man. Instead of answering, though, he shook his head. I waited for a moment, to make it clear that I expected an answer.

With a sigh, he met my eyes with his own. Those were, by far, the most shocking feature he had, for they were very intense, deep blue, like sapphires. That combined with his ebony-black hair that extended just to his shoulders, and was always pulled back in a low ponytail. He looked like what he was: a very rebellious, dangerous at times, blacksmith.

“Rowdy customers. Nearly took my head off,” he explained, not bothering to speak in sentences. Devon Giles, like I said, worked as a blacksmith, so it was expected that his customers would be rowdy. Because of this, the question of: ‘why?’ swirled in my head.

“Don’t you get rowdy customers often, though?” I asked, making the confusion in my voice evident.

“Yes, but these were more…persistent customers I told them that I was going to forge their sword as soon as I could, and that other customers had placed their orders first, but that wasn’t good enough. They wanted it done by nightfall. That’s not easy to do, you know, when all they give you is a block of silver to work with and I have much to do beforehand,” he spat. I still hadn’t gotten why, exactly, that bothered him so. I needn’t have asked, though, for he continued with a meaningful look from Cain.

“I told them that they would have to be patient of not get a sword at all, and I was quite lucky that there was one of my own swords nearby. If I hadn’t countered immediately, my head would’ve been on the ground.” Devon shook his head, muttered something about stupid, pestering, stubborn people, and was silent.

“Quite the story,” Max mused,” but we all know that’s not the only reason you called us here, Cain.”

Cain looked up, his intelligent eyes studying each of us for a moment. It seemed a very serious matter, until he released the faint sign of a smile. “As we all know, the festival is coming up in London. Of course, I assumed we were all going together…correct me if I’m wrong?” No one corrected him, and I breathed relief as he continued. “AS I was saying, then, I thought it might be an interesting time if we made a little contest out of it. One idea that came to mind was perhaps setting up booths. He or she who gains the most money – or customers, depending on their booth – wins.” He glanced around the table to see what we thought of his words.

“Excuse my interruption,” a female voice sounded. “May I bring my lady and lords something hot to drink in this chilly air?” a waitress questioned, direction her words to Max, Will, and me.

Both Max and Will looked to me and I shook my head. “Not for me, thank you.” They declined as well, and the waitress left us to our conversation, though it was obvious she was still interested in what we were talking about.

“What does everyone think?” Cain asked, continuing from before. He looked around the table again, his eyes meeting everybody’s in semi-serious smile. When his hazel met my light green, I felt as though my heart stopped. Then, he had looked away.

“I think it’s a fine idea,” my sister, Lorelei, spoke up. “After all, contests between us six are always entertaining.” I gazed at my older sibling and nodded, agreeing as I watched her. Her beauty was overwhelming for most of the men in Yorkshire; she had at least one trailing her, trying to win her heart over, every two days, practically! Dark brown hair fell to the center of her back, and her bright blue eyes held mystery in them. Yes, I confess, I was jealous of my sister. It seemed as though she could get whatever – or whoever – she wanted, and she was so much prettier than me. I looked like a ghost with my auburn hair and white skin, and my light green eyes hid nothing, seeming flat or dull.

As I was saying, though, Lorelei had something else that I didn’t: Cain. Well, I suppose she hadn’t won him over quite yet, but I believed she was on her way.

“Or,” she continued from before, “We could team up. I do love teams, you know. To my horror, Lorelei cast a sly glance to Cain.

“Or course,” I broke in before another had a chance to do so. “We girls against you boys?”

“But that would not be fair. Four men against only two women?” Max looked at my doubtfully as he said this.

“Are you implying something, dear Max?” I asked in my sweetest voice.

“No, only that four against two is unfair,” he replied quickly, hands up in defense and eyes wide.

“Then why, may I ask, did you add labels of ‘men’ and ‘women’ after, if your only concern is numbers?” He fell silent and my words, and we all laughed, much to his embarrassment.

“So is that how we’re teaming up, then?” Cain asked, looking to us.

“I think we should team up either in threes or pairs,” Will suggested. At first, I was surprised, he almost never spoke up in little meetings like this.

“Why?” I asked, regaining my own voice.

“Like Max said, us against you two wouldn’t be fair. You’d be able to work together much better than us, because you’re sisters, and we’d probably be fighting half the time.”

We sat in silence; that was one of the longest paragraphs everyone but I had heard Will say. Ever.

“Well all right then,” said Cain, nodding at our friend’s words. “That does make sense. Shall we do twos or threes?”

“Twos,”

“Threes,” Lorelei and I said immediately, in unison. The guys sitting with us gave us strange looks.

“Perhaps we should draw sticks?” Max suggested weakly. I sighed, and shook my head. I would take my chances.

“No, I guess I’m fine with us doing pairs.”

“But you and Lorelei can’t be together. That would just be a little inside connection, cheating,” Max made sure. Of course, Lorelei was fine with that. I, on the other hand, wished her to keep her hands away from Cain.

“Right,” I agreed.

“Partners?” Max asked, holding his hand out to Devon.

“Of course!” the blacksmith answered, taking the outstretched hand and shaking it once. That left Will, Lorelei, Cain, and me. Great. I didn’t want Lorelei to be with Cain, but I couldn’t let Will down either.

“Shall we, Cain?” I heard Lorelei’s oh-so-sweet voice ask. For one fleeting moment, Cain’s eyes flickered to mine, but he nodded.

“Well we’re going to get started,” my sister said, looking meaningfully at Cain. Her voice was dripping honey, and it took all I had not to turn away in disgust. I contented myself with glaring at her back as she walked away with Cain, snaking her arm around his possessively. Max and Devon also walked off, talking quietly about ideas already.

“Sorry you didn’t get to be with Cain, Erin, but we’ll kick their asses anyway, hm?” Will said, standing and helping me up as well.

I laughed at his words. “Yes, that we will.” It was nice that the others were gone, for Will’s true self always came out when it was just us. Perhaps he didn’t feel like he needed to hide behind a mask when they weren’t there. In any case, I was glad, knowing his sense of humor would pull through very soon.

“Any ideas?” I asked as we walked out of the building. Will didn’t answer for a moment, in thought.

“Well, we could set up a new kind of game, one that hasn’t been done. Of course, I don’t know what, but…” he trailed off, and I turned to see him looking down an alley to our right. His gaze was locked on three men, looking to be thieves, surrounding a young woman around our age.

“Leave me be!” I heard her say loudly. “Get away from me!” One of the men laughed at her words.

“Now, now, my lady,” he said in a crude tone, mockery clear in his voice. “We wouldn’t want teh hurt you too bad. Jus’ give us yer pretty li’tle jewels an’ we’ll be on our way.” I could tell he was lying.

“No! Leave me alone! Someone help!” she yelled. Immediately, the burly man of the group grabbed her and clasped a hand over her mouth roughly.

“Awright, girlie! You as’ed for it!” The man who had spoken moved forward, grabbing the front of her sweater and ripping it open, popping buttons off. Before I could say something, Will had started sprinting down the alley, to the woman’s aid.

Meanwhile, the men were laughing boisterously as one of them tore open her blouse, leaving her in just a corset, shivering in fear with tears coursing down her face.

When Will made it down the long stretch of dirt, he pulled back a fist and hit the lead thief hard in his jaw, knocking him over. The other two dropped the woman and moved forward, both swinging at Will at once. I gasped, but he ducked gracefully and easily countered. One fell to the ground, unconscious, and he kicked the other hard in the stomach, so that he flew back with a groan. Then, I saw something Will didn’t.

“Will!” I screamed; my eyes were wide. The leader had gotten up and pulled a knife out, and now he was advancing toward Will with a terrible look on his face. Luckily, instead of looking to me, Will spun around and saw the knife. It looked like his eyes widened and he took a step back as the thief swung the knife. Oh God, Will! Be careful, please! I begged inwardly.

Before I could quite comprehend what he’d done, Will’s leg snapped up and kicked the man’s wrist hard. The knife fell, and he even caught it before it fell to the ground, flipping it and holding the blade to the man’s throat.

“I don’t ever want to see your face in Yorkshire again,” I heard Will say as I hurried down the alley. There was menace in his voice that I had never heard before.

“Of course, good sir, of course,” the man whimpered, before turning heel and running past me.

I kept my eyes on Will, who had leaned down to the woman. She was visibly shaking, her bare arms wrapped around her body. Will held his hand out to her, speaking soft words, but she left it.

“Will,” I said quietly. He understood my tone and moved aside, letting me move to the young woman. “Shh, it’s all right now. We’re only here to help,” I tried to soothe her. Taking my own overcoat – no matter how improper it was for ladies to walk without one – I wrapped it around her shoulder and fastened the top buttons. “There, now come on, we’ll help you.” It seemed as though she trusted me, for she stood, taking my offered arm.

“Please,” she said, surprising both Will and me. “I need to know the names of my saviors.”

I glanced to Will and he nodded, so I answered her. “Erin Aoire and William Malan.”

“Thank you, Miss Erin, Sir William. I am forever in your debt.” A small smile graced her red lips, lighting up her face.

“No, we did what many would have,” I insisted, trailing off at the end, for I didn’t know her name.

“Jeniva Arian,” she answered with another smile. She seemed to be getting over the fright quickly, which was excellent right now.

“Please, Miss Arian, she is right, you owe us nothing,” Will said to Jeniva as she started to ask what we wanted in payment. “It really wasn’t a lot at all.” Jeniva moved forward, placing a hand on Will’s arm as she looked up at him.

“Call me Jeniva,” she purred. “And please don’t say I am not in debt. You saved me from those horrible men…no matter how dangerous they were. And taking on that knife the way you did? My gratefulness runs deep, William, please do not refuse my payment.” As she finished her short paragraph, Jeniva moved closer still to him, until her was a mere two inches from his, and I watched with my arms folded, not caring that I was frowning. She was flirting with Will quite obviously, and I began to wonder what her ‘payment’ was going to be. Did Will even notice? He was just standing there! Wait a minute- was he losing that so carefully-structured composure? He certainly looked uncomfortable.

“Yes, well,” he started, stammering a little. “I would rather you not worry about that. I don’t mean to be rude, but you really don’t owe us anything.” He abruptly changed the subject to something else, and I raised an eyebrow. Then, I scolded myself. There was no need to get defensive about Will, just because of a woman, and even if he was my best friend. After all, we always teased him about getting a girlfriend, that maybe he would open up a little more, then. But I was still apprehensive about Jeniva. She seemed the lead-on type, if not worse.

“Erin, are you okay?” his voice broke my thoughts apart, and I looked up to see Will and Jeniva watching me intently.

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry, I was just thinking. Would you please repeat what you were saying?”

“I asked you if it was all right to escort Miss Jeniva home. I would rather she did not go the two miles alone.” Two miles?!

“Heavens, Jeniva, you must live outside of Yorkshire, do you not?” I asked, incredulous. The closest she could possibly be was a mile out of town; we were practically in the center of it.

“Yes, I do. I am so sorry for being this much trouble. If you wish, I will find another to go with me.” Even though there was sincerity in her tone, she glanced at Will as she spoke.

“No, it’s quite all right. Would you prefer I stay here, Will?” I questioned, implying that it was obvious Jeniva wanted to be alone with him. To my surprise, he flushed a little! I had only seen him act embarrassed once: when we were all playing as children and Lorelei kissed him on a dare. That was one time only in the nine years I had known him. Was he attracted to Jeniva? Quite possibly. Was I jealous? No, I was sure of that. This meant that I would be able to tease him later… Devon would have fun with that.

“It is your choice, Erin. If you’d rather stay, then do so, but if you’d rather come, but by all means, come.” I was quite satisfied with that answer, but Jeniva was not. I saw the flash of distaste on her face before she hid it.

“Sure, I suppose I’ll go with,” I agreed, just to annoy Jeniva. “Perhaps Jeniva can help us with some ideas for a booth?”

We started walking to the road as she answered. “What booth is it that you’re talking about?” she questioned with honest curiosity. Will lapsed into his characteristic silence, so I was the one who replied.

“For the annual festival. We’ve all decided to set up a station of some sort to make it entertaining. Will and I are partners, so we’re trying to think of what activity to set up in time for the fair,” I explained, watching her nod here and there. We stepped onto the main street, where Jeniva turned right, and we followed.

“Interesting. I’ve never been to the festival. Does it take place in a certain part of the town?” she inquired.

“Yes and no. Usually the limits are Yorkshire’s boundaries, but most people set up in or near the town square. That’s where most of the business is.”

Again she nodded and spoke, this time with an idea. “You could hold a contest of some sort, each of you figures out what you’re best at. Then, if people want to, they can challenge you.” That was actually an alright idea.

“I like that. Will, what do you think?” I asked, looking at him. He had been silent this whole time.

“It’s a good start,” he said, resorting to his short sentences again. I wondered – not for the first time – why it was he was always so quiet when other people were around. After all, he was almost never near-silent with only me. Perhaps he would warm up soon.

“All right, then, maybe we’ll use that idea.” I smiled warmly at Jeniva before glancing in front of us, seeing that Yorkshire’s entrance was only about another eighth of a mile down the road. On our left, about halfway to the gate, there was a large mansion: the Blackthorne Manor. Jeniva shuddered just slightly, and I laughed softly. “What’s wrong? It’s just a house,” I said, referring to the mansion coming up. In reply, she crossed to the opposite side of the street.

She glanced over to me with a raised eyebrow, and we both stopped, forcing Will to do the same. “You must be joking. That manor, you do know what happened in it, right? You have heard the stories, have you not?” She honestly sounded like she believed in all of the rumors, all of the idiots who said they saw things or felt evil presences.

“No, I am not joking. Do you truly believe in those silly superstitions?” I asked, biting back laughter. Her look was dead serious; I had to be kind, at least.

“Yes, I do! A whole family was murdered there, Erin! And other people who have gone in there are said to have been cursed, and some have died after they did!” Her voice was raised now, slightly hysterical, and I saw Will glancing between us with something like worry on his face. None of us believed those stories. We all thought the curse was just some silly game that children had played, and that now the same children were playing tricks on everyone: making strange sounds at night, dressing up as ghosts and standing in the windows. It was all a plot!

“Jeniva, those are merely rumors, stories. They are meant to scare children. I know that a family was murdered in there, but it was nothing that had anything to do with a curse!” At least, I hadn’t heard that it had had anything to do with a curse. Not that it changed how I felt about the house, of course. Like I said, children’s games. That’s all.