Prologue

The Legaré mansion was dark and dreary, despite the warm summer season. Darkness leaked through the floorboards and walls, oppressing everything in a way that even the books shivered on their dusty neglected shelves. Outside, the moon hid behind the trees, fearful of the shadows that found no rest in the corners of the house. The few remaining household staff huddled around the dying embers in the fireplace, ears ringing. The air buzzed thickly as it waited for sound from the unfolding situation upstairs. Sleep did not come easily these days.

The barking of a small terrier echoed down the sullen corridors from the room at the far right. Dim light flickered from beneath the door, which was locked from the inside, the windows shut tight with the curtains pulled. Two men sat at a small writing table with a pair of candles in one corner. Their outlines faint but distinct, peering apprehensively at the small white form of the terrier across the room. It faced the wall, growling.

George Legaré raised his pistol at the wall but could make no shape out of the shadows. The young man, not more than a month his daughter’s fiancé, also lifted an iron fire poker as if preparing to parry. The men had searched the room for hidden entrances and taken the keys from the household staff. The only ways in were either through the locked door or shuttered windows.

In the middle of the room sat a large walnut bed. George and Samuel spent hours convincing Ms. Elisabeth to allow them to watch over her. When the attacks worsened, they were finally able to persuade George’s only child that propriety was less important than her self preservation. She lay there fitfully half asleep as midnight had already crossed the land. The dog began to whimper and back away as a shadow shifted suddenly along the wall, which brought George to his feet next to Samuel.

The candles spluttered and a freezing chill spread throughout the room. Elisabeth pulled the quilt up to her chin and eyed the corner nervously. The silence was as light as an elephant; her own heart thudding so loudly she could hear nothing else. Hair goosebumped along the back of George’s neck and clammy sweating hand, still pointing the pistol towards the empty corner. The atmosphere was electric. Then quite violently, the bed shook, lifting off the floor and slamming down, knocking the breath out of Elisabeth. While the two men wrestled with the bed that now resembled a bucking horse, Elisabeth felt coldness crushing the air out of her and circle around her throat. She scratched at her neck, struggling to breathe.

“Elisabeth! Elisabeth, what’s wrong?” Samuel fought his way around the violent bed and saw her scratching desperately at her own throat, blood welling up beneath the furious red marks. He held her tear streaked face in his hands then yelled to George, “She can’t breathe!” Samuel struggled with the tangled sheets and pulled her hands away from her bloodied neck. He looked frantically for a way to free her convulsing body and instinctively covered her body with his to shield her from whatever force entrapped her.

Elisabeth barely registered the warm weight of her fiance’s body until air screamed into her lungs. She sucked in another loud breath and broke into choking sobs. Above them a strong wind battered them, screeching in their ears. The candles gave out completely, casting them all in the deepest black. As the wind faded, the two men both clearly heard it promise, “she is mine…”