[gremlin]

( I hope that this is alright. )

Two years ago the Bainard family found a young woman who had come to shore, from where they did not know. The young woman was confused; she had no recollection of anything but her own name. When they had brought her to their home, the woman, Phae, clothed the young woman and dressed any injuries that she had. When she awoke they fed her and allowed her to stay in their home for a few nights. Though a few nights turned into weeks, then months. Phae had grown fond of the young woman. One night Phae spoke to her husband, Roy, of perhaps taking the young woman in. The young woman had nowhere to go considering she could not recall her mother or father or anyone that she had known. Phae had also never had any children of her own; she was incapable of doing so. Seeing that having a friendly face in their home made his wife happy, Roy allowed it. The young woman named Emily became their daughter. They lived peacefully for two years.

It was a warm summer day; it appeared to be like any other day in the small market place. The constant chatter of the other villagers filled the air, she breathed in the smell of freshly baked goods. Phae had given Emily some errands to run as usual. Emily was expected to pick up a few things from the market place, mostly food and material to sew clothing for the small family of three. Emily was allowed to bring home anything of her choice if she liked it enough. Phae spoiled the young woman who she now called her daughter. Emily swung the basket that she had brought with her back and forth in an attempt to amuse herself. There was not much to do in the village, Emily felt like an outcast seeing as her fellow villagers gave her odd looks every now and then. It was most likely due to her abilities. They had never been seen before in the small village, there were rumors that she had done a deal with a demon to obtain them.

It did not take very long for Emily to gather what her mother had sent her out to retrieve. She easily fit what she had purchased into her basket and thanked the men and woman who supplied her with what she needed. Emily began to make the long journey back home though before she could leave the market place a sudden feeling came over her. She stopped; she turned her head to look in the direction of the exit of the market place that led to the main road for travelers. A few villagers had stopped briefly to look over at their new visitors as well. Four heavily armored men entered the market place; they all sat upon heavily armored horses. Weapons rested by their sides, more than one for each of them. For a moment the villagers fell silent, tension erupted throughout the small market place. One of the men smiled briefly at a woman with a child, some of the villagers began to speak again though quietly. They were afraid.

Emily watched the four men; she turned away quickly when one looked directly at her. The smile that crept upon his face was unsettling, the way that his eyes rested on her made her skin crawl. She began to walk quickly in an attempt to leave the market place; the last thing that she wanted to happen was for any of those four men to become interested in her. Her ears fell slightly as she heard what seemed to be one of the men getting off of his horse; her heart began to pound in her chest.

"Excuse me mi'lady," knots filled Emily’s stomach, she jumped as she suddenly felt his hand around her arm. Her basket fell from her hand, everything spilled out across the ground. "Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked, when she looked up at him his smile grew large. "You can’t stay here and play with us for a bit?" he purred, he leaned in closer to her. "I must not stay any longer, my mother is expecting me." She spat out the words quickly in an attempt to escape from him. Emily pulled her arm back in an attempt to free herself from his grip. She let out a soft cry when he pulled her back; he tightened his grip without a second thought. "You have become quite the woman, haven’t you?" he whispered quietly to her a laugh escaped from between his lips. "Excuse me?" she squeaked, her eyes grew wide as he brought his other hand to the back of her head. He pulled Emily downwards to get a better view of the back of her neck. His fingers ran through her hair for a moment before brushing it away from the back of her neck. Emily tried to resist him though his strength was almost abnormal. "To think, I have finally found you. All of these years we thought that you had perished along with the others but here you are!"

A soft groan escaped from her lips, he pulled her back up forcing her to stand straight as he held her by her hair. "I don’t know who you are or what you want, let me go!" she slammed her free hand against his chest, though the man before her did not even flinch. He released his hand from her hair then brought it to hold her once free hand. "You should remember me that is a pity. How hard did you hit your head?" Emily narrowed her eyes, her ears perked up. "I would never remember a man like you because I would never associate with a man like you! Now let me go!" she hissed, though she wanted desperately to escape there appeared to be nothing she could do. The villagers were no help; they all stood silently watching as Emily was being held by this unfamiliar man.

Laughter erupted from the man; his grip grew stronger around her wrists. He forced her to walk towards the other men. "My name is Maven," he told her as they walked. "Do you remember me now?" Emily looked up at him for a brief moment, though she could still not remember his face or his name. "I told you, I do not know who you are! Where are you taking me?" her eyes frantically looked around her for help though the villagers seemed content with not getting involved. "That’s too bad, though after what I am going to do to you, you will never be able to forget me again." Maven forced Emily up onto the horse; he took rope then tied her wrists together. "If I told you where we were going then it wouldn’t be a surprise would it?" he then brought himself to sit upon his horse. "Burn down the market place, take care of these people. Then do the same to the village, we were never here." He told the three other men, the villagers looked up at them in alarm. Maven pulled on his horses reigns, then he left. Emily looked back at the village, flames erupted suddenly from it. The villagers screamed as one by one they were slaughtered.