Prologue Ch. 4

There was nothing but darkness. Charlotte was alone, on the ground, and covered in dirt. Charlotte felt her arms move, rocking the rest of her body until she flipped over on her stomach. She felt her body trying to stand up, but she stumbled a few times before actually managing to effectively move. She allowed her tiny feet and legs to carry her back to the wooden shack that her parents called home. She raised her hand, but the knob was just out of reach. She felt her hand touch the door softly. She couldn’t move it, her hand was stuck there. Her body couldn’t move. She was frozen in this position. She heard herself muttering something under her own breath. She felt something hot in her hand. Something on the door was glowing brightly. Charlotte could see her hand and arm, but it didn’t feel like hers. The light grew brighter and hotter.The small part of the door her hand was covering caught fire, and she felt her legs carry her away from her family and parents.

She stood back to watch the wooden structure go up in flames. She heard herself laugh. There was a voice echoing inside her skull, “You’re mine now child!” Charlotte heard the screaming of the people that used to be her parents. She tried to cry, but her captor wouldn’t let her.

After hours passed and the flames had died down, Charlotte’s legs carried her to the wreckage, where her eyes forced her to examine the charred remains of her dead parents. “They are dead. Nobody knows about you but me now, child.” Charlotte wasn’t alone. She was carried to the sack next to the old lady’s skeleton. Had this old lady suffered the same fate? Her hand grasped the strap of the pack, and started dragging it off into the forest.

Charlotte had noticed a few changes about herself. She began to think more. Not the same thoughts she used to have either. Her biggest concern was no longer for food or a change, but more sentient feelings, like happiness and freedom. She had also began thinking that this wasn’t normal for a two-week-old infant. She noticed that with each passing minute, her steps became more fluid and graceful.

She saw that she was approaching a cave. She knew that meant shelter. Her legs walked her into the cave. The cave was dark, but not empty. Charlotte’s hand raised, and started glowing. The cave was filled with hairy, monstrous beasts she had never seen before. The word “bear” came to her mind. The beasts were easily twenty times her size, probably more. She wanted to be afraid, but her body wouldn’t listen. She heard her mouth scream, waking these “bears” that she wanted to run away from. They woke up, at least five of them, and growled at her, approaching her slowly.

Her foot stepped forward, as if challenging the hungry family of monsters. The monsters had no reason to be intimidated and charged. Her hand pointed at the “bears” and with a flick of the wrist, they tripped. Charlotte’s legs ran past the grounded beasts, toward the back of the cave. Her body turned around, facing the mouth of the cave. She saw her fists close and the mouth of the cave collapse. She now stood in a room, completely sealed, and filled with hungry bears. Charlotte’s hand was pointed at the bears. She felt a familiar feeling in her hand. It started to glow, and in an instant, the beasts were nothing but charred corpses on the ground.

Her legs sat her down in the pitch black cave. Her hands changed shape in her lap. A light appeared in front of her, illuminating the cave. Her legs stood her up, and she started doing fantastic things, things she didn’t even believe were possible. She lifted rocks without touching them, burst them into nothing but dust, and reassembled the dust into a statue that looked almost exactly like her. Her eyes examined the statue. Not the witch’s best work, but it showed improvement. Her legs sat her down again, and her eyes closed. Her infant body needed rest.