It was a dark and stormy night. I was waiting for Mina to get back from her trip to Dublin.

Mina is my maid, I have known her for many years, we met whe n we were just girls, she is my only friend in the world. I was on my way home f rom the theater. She was outside wandering the woods alone so I asked her, "Why are you out here so late, where is your house?" "I don't like it there... it's s cary" I asked, "Do you want to come live with us? There's plenty of space, and I 'm sure my parents will love you! My mom is really kind and my dad, he's a bit s trict but he's a very good man." "Okay..." she answered reluctantly "...but can I bring my cat-" I interr upted excitedly "I love cats! I have always wanted one. Of course you can!" Her face lit up with joy it seemed as it was Christmas morning. Lets meet at the par k at 12:00 PM tomorrow, alright?" She smiled and ran off to the left, there was a path and towering trees on either side of the path. I told the my chauffeur t o keep going. I watched her until the darkness consumed her tiny silhouette. I got home shortly after and ran straight to my dads study, he was havin g a conversation with my Uncle Gregory, I assumed. I remember years ago they use d to be really close but as the years went on when his wife died he started drin king frequently. So, he hasn't been himself since. But that one particular day h e was sober, or it seemed as though he was. I waited by the door for them to fin ish, then my uncle came out. "I hope to see you this Christmas Greg!" I overhear d my father say. I walked in slowly, he was writing a paper. "Dad?" "Yes, dear?" "May I ask a question?" I asked as innocently as possible. "Mhmm" he replied as he wrote, he looked up at me through his rectangle golden glasses. "On the way home, I met a little girl wandering around in the forest. She told me she doesn' t have a place to stay so I told her she could possibly stay with us? She's very kind and she's about my age!" He took a while too reply, "Mhmm... well" muttere d father. "Well, I'm afraid, that in these times inviting a stranger into our h ome would be immensely unwise, Maeve darling." "Yes, I know. But she is only a s mall girl, father!" "Lower your voice, young lady." he told me calmly "There are many things you are not aware of. Evil disguises itself in the most devious way s, however; I will let this... girl stay with Helgrid in the rooms downstairs." Helgrid is our other maid, she has been with our family for several years. "She will be under surveillance" he said looking at me "after all, I don't want to l eave a small helpless girl wandering the forest alone, specifically at night" hi s expression suddenly turned warm and he smiled. "Oh, thank you father!" I ran u p to my room. All I thought to myself was that I couldn't believe he said yes. These past couple of years have been tough on me, I had lost all of my f riends I had never understood why until I was older. I felt alone needles to say . My father was always busy with the business and my mother was gravely ill in b ed. So when Mina showed up I was more than overjoyed. I woke up the next morning and ran to our chauffeur "Edward! Edward!" I yelled. "Miss Lennox, you are cer tainly up early" he said "is there anything I can assist you with?" "I want to g o to the park, I'm going to see a friend" I replied. "Why, certainly, Miss Lenno x" he said bowing. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Maeve D. Lennox. Since I was a child I have not been quite as cheerful, so naturally I had decided to return to my family s manor. I moved out due to many unpleasant memories, that I ll explain f urther later on. That was five years ago, now that I am twenty I thought it my r esponsibility to return, after all I haven t seen Mina since I left so suddenly. I know she will be as happy to see me as I am of her. I looked out the carriage w indow, I remember this place so vividly; the beautiful emerald green trees tower ing far over the few buildings there were, the large park with the two willow tr ees at the far corner of the park. As a small girl my mother would take me to the park ever so often, she w ould watch me as I played. When my mother s cousin Clara would come over and talk

to her I would sneak off to the far corner of the park to the two enormous willo w trees at the base of the Black Forest. The park was very immense, you see. It was very haunting back there, the trees were like large grim reapers standing at the base of the Black Forest waiting for a poor soul to get lost forever. Needl es to say nobody ever dared to go back there, except me that is. My curiosity fo r those sorts of things has always been with me since I was a small child. Soon after people started realizing that I was unlike the other children , I was labeled a "witch." Luckily for me, when I first heard someone call me a witch I took it as a compliment and skipped merrily back to my house. We were al so past that "Burn the witch!" thing. I twiddled my fingers in anticipation to g et home, but most of all to see my best friend who had excepted me despite all m y differences. I peered out the window once again, I could see it in the distanc e on a hill, Lennox Manor... home.