Alena walked through the dark town, the only company she had was Rabe. The small village had grown a lot, it had expanded and the houses had changed. She had grown as well since the attempted hanging that took place ten years ago. Alena’s second lunar eclipse had come and the last fragment of good that had existed in her heart had vanished. She wasn’t sure whether or not the people there would remember her; she wasn’t the small six year old she had once been.

As Alena walked she found herself walking the path toward her house. She continued down it and, after awhile, found herself standing outside the small house that had once been her home. Now, there was no sign of life and the vines told Alena how long the house had been abandoned. She turned her back to the old house and continued to walk through the village. Suddenly, as she was a passing a house closer to the center of the village, the front light flared on-scaring Rabe and causing him to fly off-and the front door opened. A woman, probably in her late 20s, stepped out and a white cat followed her out. The woman seemed surprised to see Alena and for a moment she stared at the girl. But then her face brightened into a smile and she called out, “Are you from around here?”

“No,” Alena said. The woman had a kind round face with caring brown eyes. Alena found herself fascinated with the woman; she obviously didn’t know who she was.

“Where are your parents?” the woman asked, interrupting Alena’s thoughts.

“I don’t have any,” Alena said softly.

“Oh, you poor thing,” the woman said, “Come on, come inside and I’ll get you something to eat.”

Alena smiled and said shyly, “Thank you.”

“My name is Alese,” the woman said, “What’s your name?”

“Magdalena,” Alena said.

“Magdalena,” Alese repeated, “That is a very pretty name.”

“It was my mother’s,” Alena said.

“You must have loved her very much,” Alese said. Alena had to bite her tongue to keep from answering truthfully.

Alese placed her hand on Alena’s back and gently guided her into the house. Alese took Alena to the kitchen and told her to sit down. As Alese got some food ready, Alena looked around the kitchen. There were a couple pictures of Alese and a young man and Alena eventually got curious, “Who is that man in some of the pictures?”

Alese stopped what she was doing. She had her back to Alena but Alena could see her shoulders sagging. “He was my husband. We had been married for only a few months when he died.”

“How did he die?”

“He was killed by an accused witch,” Alese said and Alena froze, “He attended the hanging of a girl that had killed an old woman about 10 years ago. The girl escaped and all those who had attended where murdered by ravens that had been roosting in the trees.”

“That’s…awful,” Alena said carefully.

“Yes, I miss him very much.”

“Did you know the name of the girl?”

Alese turned slightly to stare at Alena, “No, I don’t know her name. My husband wouldn’t tell me.”

Relief swept through Alena and she almost sighed.

“So,” Alese said, trying to be cheerful, “How long are you planning on staying in our little town?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I was planning on passing through and meeting up with my aunt and uncle.”

“Where do they live?” Alese asked.

“In the next village; I visited them some time ago so I know how to get there,” Alena said pleased with herself for making this stuff up off the top of her head.

“The next village is a few days walk away,” Alese said.

Alena shrugged, “I’ll be fine. I’m used to walking.”

“Why don’t you stay for a couple of days? That will give you some time to rest for your long journey.”

“Okay, if you don’t mind me living here,” Alena said.

“Oh, not at all, I could use the company,” Alese said.

Alena smiled, “Thanks.”

A/N: Alese is German for Beautiful Soul

The next day Alena stepped outside and shut the door quietly. Rabe flew out of the tree in Alese’s front yard and perched on Alena’s shoulder. Alena knew she couldn’t stay with Alese any longer. For ten years Alena had lived her life with only Rabe as her family; she didn’t need humans. But her time with Alese was stirring old feelings and Alena didn’t want them back. By the time the authorities found Alese, Alena would be long gone.

Two houses down from Alese’s, Alena came across a large pasture. A bay horse was grazing quietly in the fields. Since animals were the only thing Alena felt love for she stopped and walked up to the fence. She called to the horse with her mind and the animal raised its head. It nickered softly and trotted over to Alena.

Just as the horse reached Alena a harsh voice called out behind her, “Hey! Stay away from my horse!” Alena spun around to see an unshaven man wearing long pants and a tattered shirt standing behind her. Something shiny at the man’s feet caught Alena’s eye and she looked down to see pointy, inch long spurs on the man’s boots. The horse let out a high-pitched neigh and backed up from the fence. “Now look what ya’ did! Scaring my horse like that!”

“I don’t think the horse is afraid of me,” Alena said quietly. She felt the hatred rising up in her heart.

“Just get lost kid, before I get my shotgun,” the man said.

Alena glared at him and started walking back down the path. As she walked, she looked back and saw the man had entered the field and was attempting to get a rope around the horse’s neck. When he finally roped the horse, he tied the rope to the fence and grabbed a saddle that was lying in the dirt. The horse was fighting against the rope but the rope was too strong to break.

Alena couldn’t take it anymore as she watched the man place the saddle on the horse’s back. Alena clenched her fists in anger as the man forced a rusty bit into the horse’s mouth and untied the rope, climbing on. Alena entered the horse’s mind and was hit with the horse’s pain as the man dug his sharp spurs into the horse’s side.

“Buck him off,” Alena said. She heard a yell and opened her eyes. The horse was in the middle of a buck and the man was barely holding on. The horse landed back into the ground and the man started to slide off. The horse took off running across the pasture before leaping into the air while kicking out with its back legs. The man flew off and crashed into the ground, creating a small dust cloud. The horse trotted circles around the man for a moment then started making its way to Alena. “Wait,” Alena said and the horse stopped, “Kill him.”

In an instant the horse turned around and galloped full speed at the man who was just starting to get back to his feet. He heard the sound of the horse’s hooves and turned just in time to see the bay charging down on him. Alena watched as the horse’s body slammed into the man, knocking him to the ground. The horse’s hooves flashed through the air and sprayed the sky with blood. When the horse was done it trotted back over to Alena.

“Hey!” A voice called out from behind Alena. Alena turned around and saw a man coming out of Alese’s house. The look on his face told Alena that not only did he find Alese’s body; he saw what the horse had done. Alena knew the horse would be slaughtered if the man got his hands on it so she turned back to the field and climbed over the fence. “I need some help over here! There’ve been two murders!” the man called out. The bay reared slightly as Alena dropped to the ground on the other side of the fence. But it calmed down when Alena took control over its mind again. The horse still had the saddle and bridle on and Alena set to work getting the things off.

Just as Alena got the saddle and bridle off three more men had arrived at the scene. The first man was pointing toward Alena and gesturing with his other hand back into the house. Alena grabbed the horse’s mane, jumped, and managed to get her right leg over the horse. The horse had started moving at a walk as Alena tried to pull herself the rest of the way up.

“Stop!” someone shouted behind Alena. Finally, Alena managed to straighten up on the horse’s back, and she urged the horse on into a full gallop. The horse took off across the pasture toward the opposite end and back into the forest.

“So, what, they found out it was you and put up that wanted poster?” Drew asked.

“Yeah, from then on I pretty much stayed away from civilization. Coming out only at night when I had blood lust,” Alena said.

“So what happened to the horse?” Drew asked.

Alena’s features fell, “It died. Its former abuse from its master had left it extremely weak. It didn’t last long.”

“So how come your raven has managed to live this long?” Drew asked.

“I lit the candle inside of him. Humans aren’t the only ones with the black candle. I lit the candle and he will live by my side forever,” Alena said.

“What the hell is a black candle?”

“That’s what I use to describe the evil,” Alena said with a shrug.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Drew asked, “Your life, the deal about the black candle?”

“Why do you think?”

“I have no idea. Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with, like you did to my brother!” Drew shouted.

“Your brother was only in my way,” Alena replied.

“He was trying to kill you!”

“He was in my way,” Alena repeated.

“What does that mean?”

Alena smiled darkly. “He was in my way, to you.”

Drew was speechless. Alena placed her hands on Drew’s shoulders and bent down so her face was inches from his. Drew tried turning his face away but Alena took one of her hands off his shoulder and grabbed Drew’s face. She pulled his gaze back to her and whispered, “You see Drew. You were born on the night of a lunar eclipse.”