I wanted to kick October off by setting the right mood. Here’s a story I wrote just for fun called Shadows and Roses. Vampires, romance, and breaking a two hundred year old curse! (P.s. I can safely say I’m more of a novel gal. My fingers itched to add at least 50,000 more words to this.)

This is a paranormal retelling of Sleeping Beauty, except the roles are reversed. Enjoy!

Shadows and Roses

A bloodcurdling scream echoed in the skies, scattering a flock of crows toward the dark clouds overhead. Eliana’s heart squeezed as she dropped the bucket in her arms, the water splashing across the bottom of her blue skirt.

“Help!” Hazel screamed again as she staggered down the dirt road, her face pale and her eyes bloodshot.

Eliana joined the other townsfolk at the edge of the road as the twelve-year-old girl stumbled into her mother’s arms. Her arms shook uncontrollably, her breaths coming in labored gasps.

“Someone, fetch a wet cloth!” the mother cried, and Eliana rushed into action. She dipped a cloth into what remained of the water at the bottom of her bucket, and returned to the girl’s side.

“What happened?” she asked as she dabbed at the perspiration on the girl’s forehead. “Did you discover anything more about the curse?”

Her gaze drifted toward the dark clouds swirling overhead, a greenish tint in their gray depths. They gathered above the large gray castle several miles away, suffocating the skies so no sunlight reached their crops. Thorny green vines climbed the castle walls, a warning to stay away. At night, lamenting howls echoed from the direction of the castle, making sleep difficult to come by. 

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