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| - Nineteen year old River stood in the boiling hot summer sun as he chopped the firewood for his father. It was about the only useful thing he could do, along with helping out with everything else on the farm. But that wasn't enough. He wanted to go out and earn some money to help keep his family, but no matter what he did, nobody was willing to give him a job. River paused in his chopping and pushed his sweaty brown fringe out of his face and looked out across the farm lands, just enjoying a few moments of its beautiful landscape. It was then that he saw his soon-to-be-five year old sister, Annabelle, walking quickly towards him, looking as though she was going to cry. River put down the axe and took off his gloves before hurrying over and embracing her. 'Annabelle? What's wrong, sweetheart?' River asked as Annabelle began to cry. 'Why is it that nobody likes me?' she sobbed into her brother's chest as his arms tightened around her. 'What nonsense.' River replied gently, pulling her away and wiping away her tears. 'There are people who love you and like you.' 'Besides you, Mummy and Daddy, River.' sobbed Annabelle. 'I have no friends, whereas everyone else in the village does!' 'Annabelle, what brought this on all of a sudden?' River asked. He hated to see his sister like this. 'One of the girls in the village was struggling with something and I asked her if she needed help. She replied saying that she would love some and I helped her carry a package to her house, and on the way there I had my first really conversation with someone my own age!' explained Annabelle. 'When we got to her house she asked me if I want to play with her and I said yes. Then she was about to say something to me, when she saw who I was before yelling at me and telling me to get lost! She was also telling me to get home to "my freak", whatever that means. Why is it everyone hates me!' she demanded. 'It's because of me.' River admitted, leading her over to the shade of the house. 'I'm the freak she was talking about.' 'But why are you a freak?' Annabelle asked innocently. River smiled sadly. Oh what it would be like to be so naive again. 'Annabelle, come with me back to the village.' said River. 'Cause it will be easier to explain why I'm a freak there.' came River's gentle reply. Once River and Annabelle were in the market, River led Annabelle through the crowd and sat her by the fountain. 'How's being here suppose to help explain why those bullies call you a freak?' Annabelle asked for the hundredth time. This time, River answered. 'Look around at everyone, Annabelle. Look at their height and then at how tall I am.' River explained. 'See how I tower above all the other men my age, and how I even tower above my elders. To them, I am like a small giant, and they believe that I still haven't finished growing yet.' 'I never really noticed it before.' Annabelle admitted. 'Lucky you. They say my height is unnatural, and even traders from the different regions of Albion also say that my height is unnatural. They are yet to see my equal.' 'So they call you a freak just because you are tall? That's awful!' 'That's not the only reason.' said River. 'It is my unnatural skill that freaks them out as well.' 'I mean my speed, accuracy and a few other things.' 'That's still no reason to call you a freak!' Annabelle said hotly. 'What's so funny?' she then demanded as River started laughing. 'Nothing, my dear.' River chuckled. 'If only everyone saw what you see.' 'Don't worry, River. I don't think you're a freak.' Annabelle told her brother as she climbed into his lap. 'And as long as you believe that, I never will be.' Reaver smiled. 'So, excited about your fifth birthday tomorrow?' 'What? Every little princess should be excited about their birthdays!' 'One problem, I'm not a princess. I only have one toy and it's my rag doll that Mummy made out of rags.' said a sad Annabelle. 'Every other kid in the village has heaps of toys, so why don't I?' 'If Mum and Dad had the money, they would buy you a whole toy store, but compared to every other kid's parents, ours don't have the luxury to spend money on toys or clothes.' River explained gently as he carried her back home. The next morning, Annabelle awoke to find River silently making his bed - they had to share a room. 'Morning princess.' River smiled as he walked over and sat next to her. 'Oh, but you’re my princess, Princess.' River said, handing her a package. 'Something that many people call a present.' 'I get a present!' Annabelle squealed, before ripping open the hideous brown, rough paper. Inside the package was a brown woven necklace, with a wooden charm hanging from it. The charm was a carving of an owl in flight. 'Oh River, I love it!' Annabelle squealed again, jumping up and flinging her arms around her brother, nearly knocking them to the ground. 'But how did you get it? I thought you said that we didn't have money to buy stuff like that?' 'You're right, we don't.' agreed River. 'But it costs nothing to get vines and weave them together or to get a piece of wood and carve it.' 'You made this? It looks like something you get out of a stall!' Annabelle exclaimed as River put the necklace around her neck. 'That's it!' she suddenly exclaimed. 'You could start a stall and sell necklaces!' Annabelle said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'I would, but there is too problems.' River told her lightly. 'Firstly, no one is likely to buy them because it has something to do with me, and secondly, there's only one person who deserves them, and that's you.' River said, before tickling the little girl. 'No, no! Stop it, River!' giggled Annabelle. 'Annabelle! River! Breakfast is on the table!' came their mother's voice. 'Coming Mum!' River yelled back, before turning to his still giggling sister. 'You were saved this time, but I will get revenge.' he said, before chasing her down the stairs. It wasn't till a few years later that the bad events began. One cold and stormy night, eight year old Annabelle, and twenty-two year old River, sat by their mother's bedside as her life was slowly taken away. 'No, Mummy! Please stay with us!' begged Annabelle as tears pours down either side of her face. 'We need you!' 'I'm sorry, my beautiful daughter, but I can't. My time has come to move on.' Their mother said painfully. 'Now please leave, my daughter. I do not want you here when I go.' 'Yes, Mamma. I love you!' cried Annabelle as she left the room, leaving only River and their father to stay with the dying woman. 'I want you to leave too, my son.' she added, looking over at her tall and silent son. Regardless of what the other villagers told her about River, she never stopped loving him. 'As you wish, Mother.' River replied, trying to hold back tears, as he stood to leave. 'Remember, no matter what anyone says you are a very special young man, and not a freak. You were given those skills for a reason, and in time, everyone will see why.' 'I know, Mother.' River replied, before leaving the room to find his sister. 'Is she gone?' Annabelle gasped, when River found her drenched and shivering in the barn, sitting next to her horse. 'Not yet.' River replied, sitting down next to her, and putting her in his lap with his arms holding her close. 'Everything's going to chance now, isn't it?' sobbed Annabelle. 'No, only our lives.' River replied gently. 'Everyone else will go on with their lives as normal, the animals will go on with their lives and the seasons and weather will continue to change.' 'Why is life so cruel? Why did they have to take her from us?' 'I'm afraid that I have no answer for that.' admitted River. 'But Annabelle, always remember that Mother will always be with you.' 'I don't think so. But she will always be with you as long as you always remember her and you will always find her in your heart. And remember, she will be watching us from heaven. Always protecting us.' Sadly, their family was about to suffer even more. A year later, their father took his own life. He had given up living, unable to live without his wife, leaving his twenty-three year old son and nine year old daughter to survive on their own and to manage the farm. River hated his father for it. He hated that his father abandoned them. No, abandoned Annabelle. Annabelle had lost many things in her childhood. She didn't have any friends, hardly any toys, or books. She could barely read or write. She never went to school. She had now lost both her parents, which had now resulted in her doing chores around the farm, when she should be out playing and having fun like any other kid. It was for this reason, the River got up early every morning and went to bed late. He was doing more chores around the farm than was healthy, so he could allow Annabelle to keep at least a fraction of her childhood. It was when River turned thirty that he began to feel older than he really was. All the work around the farm had finally taken its toll. River watched as his sixteen year old sister, went around with her daily chores and he began to worry. What would happen to her if something was to happen to him? It was then that he made a decision. He would try to find away to stop death, so he could always protect his Annabelle. On the day of the annual festival, River sent Annabelle ahead of him, telling her that he had some business to attend to, before he came and joined her. Once Annabelle was gone, River made his way to the most feared and forbidden place in Oakvale: the Shadow Court. He was going to them for help. They were the only ones that could protect him from the disease of time and death. River was so happy when the Shadow Judges agreed to help him, with the price being one person sacrificed to them annually. River knew he could live with that, after all, it wasn't as though they were going to be killed. Little did he know that there was a second part to the contract. The Shadow Judges had purposely left out the part that they would take everyone's lives in Oakvale and destroy the village as payment as well. Once River had signed the deal with the Shadows, he walked happily to the festival, when he became aware of screaming, and amongst those screams was the scream of Annabelle. River ran through the luscious fields of Oakvale towards his sister, ready to protect her from whatever was threatening her. He found her by the fountain, and she was shaking with pain, crying out his name. 'Annabelle, what happened?' River asked urgently. 'I don't know!' she screamed. 'I was just sitting here when I felt pain course through my body, then it happened to everyone else!' River looked up and saw that she was right. There was not a single person in Oakvale that wasn't in pain. 'Why aren't you being affected?' demanded one of the elders of the village. 'I - I don't know!' River gasped, turning his attention back to Annabelle. 'River - why are there Shadows there?' Annabelle gasped. River looked up once more, and saw the Shadow Judges and many other shadows taking the life out of everything in sight. 'What are you doing?' River yelled at them. 'We are fulfilling our part of the deal,' replied the Shadow Judges, speaking as one. 'In order for you to retain your youth, we are to receive another's youth yearly and we get Oakvale and its people.' 'What? You never told me that!' accused River. 'Stop it! The deal is off! Stop it!' 'Please stop! This isn't what I wanted! Take me, and leave everyone else alone!' River begged, holding Annabelle, closer to him. River began to sob as he realised the mistake that he had made. In order to protect his sister, he had condemned her along with his village and the rest of Oakvale. He looked down into his sister's beautiful face, ignoring all the curses the people of Oakvale were aiming at him. He looked down into her horrified face, and he knew that she now saw a monster...a freak. Next chapter link: Written: 6 September 2011
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