[CONTENTID1]Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.[/CONTENTID1][CONTENTID2]Day One[/CONTENTID2][CONTENTID3]    I'm not complaining. I was raised as an orphan, my master took me in- he gave me plenty of food to eat and he gave me a roof over my head in return for 20 years of servitude. In all honesty, I'm thankful.

    I found out I was a witch when I was just eight, I kept it a secret from everyone else since they would burn me alive if they found out. But the same fate was coming my way. Finding out that the mayor's- my master's- daughter is bound to be a sacrifice for the werewolves who caused chaos over our village nearly a decade ago, he made a request of me to be the sacrifice instead.

    "I'm really sorry, Rin," the mayor's daughter- Merlin- apologized to me.

    Turning around to her voice, I told her, "it's not your fault. I don't mind. Besides- I owe your family my life for letting me stay in this mansion."

    Her eyes fell to the ground in regret. "I'm just... really sorry." We weren't close at all, and this was the first time she's visiting my small shack beside the mansion. She came here to give me the red riding hood and the white dress which were coordinated to fit her.

    I changed the subject, not wanting to linger the subject about me. I hated being the center of attention."So, I guess you'll leave to another village, right? I mean, afterall- you were picked as the sacrifice- you'd get tortured if you stay here..."

    She nodded absentmindedly, "yeah... I'm going with father," she replied as I got the red riding hood that was on top of the bed. I tied the red strings around the collars into a loose ribbon, the hood fell back because of how big it was. "It's very big on you," she said as she stood up from her seat, she stood in front of me and straightened up the hood.

    Merlin was taller than me, I was only 5 foot nothing. The cloak dreaded against the floor. "I'll shorten it before midnight," I reassured her. Midnight; that's when the sacrifice will take place under the full moon. 

    The town bell rang, signalling that 12 o'clock had struck. No one could see my face under the big red hood that was only showing my lips down to my neck which was behind the loose ribbon. 

    Six tall men towered over me as they led me to the Dark Forest that the wolves territorized as their own for more than a millanium, the stranger in the front pulled me along with the chain- that was holding my wrists captive- every few minutes. "I'm very sorry Merlin. I couldn't do anything to stop the council... Forgive me..." It was Merlin's fiancé who was whispering to me. I nodded as a response, not wanting him to know who I was, otherwise, the village will look for Merlin and kill her for committing trickery to the council.

    I looked back at the tiny village from afar, it looked fragile and looked as if it could easily break by a blow of the wind. After few more minutes of walking, the village disappeared from my sight, another half an hour passed and we were completely absorbed into the Dark Forest. Darkness consumed each and every one of us, we couldn't see anything until the natural light of the moon shone down on my feet. My eyes wandered to the front, to the male before me and then back to my bare feet that was now dirtied and bloodied from the small sharp stones I previously walked upon accidentally. The council ordered that sacrifices didn't need shoes because there was one time where a sacrifice escaped and therefore, the werewolves had decreased half of the population in the tiny village. During the day, some people lay out glass shards and sharp stones on the path until halfway for sacrifices to step on so that they're too hurt to run away.

    We stopped when we heard a lone howl from the side, behind the tall trees. It was a signal for the six men to unchain me, turn to the direction of the village, and walk back... or run back.

    However, the six males stood rooted in the ground, the hand cuffs still wrappe