I had drank an entire bottle of summer brandy, drowning my sorrows and misery with the harsh, sweet bitter taste of the alcohol. My head spun with many theories that tended to take of my time, and wall space as I had written most down, pasting them all over for me to stare at. Rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand I grunted unladylike as I pushed myself up from my desk. All the blood seemed to rush to my head, as my vision blurred and center of gravity started to tilt. "Great," I mumbled to myself as I tried to shake it off, stumbling before falling over into a pile of books. The impact seemed to stun me for a good minute as I laid there, the air knocked out from my lungs. Blinking I laid there, looking up at the ceiling of my cottage, the thought of just laying here for the rest of the day crossing my mind.

Slowly and sorely I sat up, wincing at the new dull ache that came from my back side. I rubbed my skull that had taken a hit when I tumbled to the ground. "Pull yourself together, McKinley." I scowled myself, as I stood up, my knees wobbled under my own weight though there wasn't much to me anymore. Moving cautiously, knowing there would be some bruising in a few places, I made my way towards the bathroom. Stripping off the clothing, letting them fall around down into a pool of fabric around my feet before turning on the water. It didn't seem to take long for the steam to fill up the small room as I stepped in.

The water beat down on my frail body, I knew I looked sickly which seemed to add to the town folks paranoia that I was indeed the devil reincarnated or at least his daughter. Everything seemed to fall in shambles after Joshua had disappeared, my entire life crumbling around me. This cursed ability seeming to consume as a whole being, the darkness and destruction that came with it. Lost in my thoughts I hadn't realized that the water had started to run cold, quickly I washed myself and hair before stepping out. A towel wrapped around me before I walked to my room, passing Nymeria's goose feathered bed. A sharp pain in my chest made me suck in a breath. I couldn't find the strength to toss it out and burn it like I had the things that were from my old life.

Drying off, I tossed an over sized shirt on, though all my clothes seemed to hang on me like a burlap sack. I crawled into bed, the motivation that had filled me after I told Brielle to leave, left me just as quickly. Curling up in a small ball on top of my covers, I knew that even as slumber crept in to claim me, I would not get a restful sleep. I would dream of the same night that seemed to haunt me as it always did, the night my transfiguration ability came to light, the night the townies struck back with revenge. It was the night that left me crippled to this day, they tore apart my cottage and took the blood that was owed to them by killed Nymeria, my dire wolf that had tried to protect me. With tears in my eyes, I let the harsh reality of my life fall to the wayside before I lost myself in the darkness of sleep.

I was running, always running. My eyes stung not only from the tears that I had cried and continued to cry but also from the smoke. My lungs and legs begged for some relief. I could hear Nymeria panting next to me, she jogged next to me as I stumbled through the forest to get home. I had blacked out after a bandit had tried to mug me for my weekly supplies I had gotten from town. When I woke up, it had looked like a bomb had went off and the villagers shouted out calling me a monster, the spawn of hellfire. Confused and dazed I ran and ran fast towards the safe haven that was my cottage, a place where I had lived most of my free life. They followed in pursuit, some carrying torches others weapons and rope, truly they were like an irate mob that you would read about in books.

Breaking into the clearing of my home, my safety with Nym at my side. I was so close until something hit me in my back, stunning me and striking me to the ground. I could feel the fresh tears spring to life as I felt the panic set in. A large sea of people gathering around me, my large dire wolf snapping at the hands that pulled at me. Some striking her with weapons and axes drawing blood, the wolf let out a howl of pain. My screams echoed into the forest, to no reprieve they tied me and went after my companion, chanting an eye for an eye. My sweet Nymeria's calico coat saturated with her own blood, it riddled the ground beneath their feet as they moved their anger towards my cottage but not before a few struck harsh blows to my small body. The pain consuming me and causing me to pass out, however long later I woke to my cottage ransacked and Nym dead next to me.

I shot up in bed, my screams bouncing off the stone walls, warm tears spilling down my cheeks as my chest heaved up and down. The dream always as painful as the night I had lived it. Since that night the towns folk did not come into my forest and I not left the clearing of my cottage, for two entire years.