As our carriage rolls down the cobblestone road the melody comes to me again. It has been a few days since I heard it in my head, and I begin to hum it while leaving back in my seat. This journey has been long, and brother speaks very rarely. Not that Joseph was ever one for words.

When he did speak it was only to say small things like, "Stop it Renee," or "No Renee." Mother and father were fond of him, which is nice. Not often now do families have as good a relation as ours did. Hopefully we reach their manor before morning.

I huff and smooth out my long blue dress, and tug on my white sleeves. My movement catches Joseph's attention.

I notice him watching me while I hum as though he wants to say something.

He is taller than me, but with the same blond hair. I keep mine up in a pony tail at all times, like a true lady, while his is longer than most men and quite unkept. He wears a black suit and red gloves that he insists keep him warm even in these summer months. I do love him so very much.

It is late at night and the horses seem on edge. I hope we get to our destination soon.

Suddenly, a thought comes to my mind as I realize what area we are in. An old tale told in our town from time to time abotu this lane we ride on, and missing girls that have never been seen again. Normally the thought would upset me, but tonight something feels different in me. I wonder what it could be...

The forest blows in the wind under the moon and I turn to Joseph gravely.

"Have you heard the story of the kidnapped maidens?" I ask.

He shakes his head, his eyes growing curious. So I go on.

"Apparently the girls were all around my age. They all vanished while traveling down this path." I finish with a slight smile.

I see it unnerves him and I feel like laughing. Why does he always worry so much? Ever since we were young he has been looking out for me, when it is quite clear he does not need to.

Something in the bushes along the road up ahead moves and I lurch forward in my seat trying to get a better look. The lantern shines on a small black figure crouched in the road.

"What was that?" I say, trying to see what it is.

Suddenly the figure leaps at the horses and Joseph leaps from his seat, only to be tackled by a tiny black cat with a disfigured tail. He lands on his back and looks up at it bewildered by it as I hurry from my seat to assist him.

I stop short from where he lies, uncertain how to go about getting the cat off of him. It hisses in his face and his eyes widen in surprise. 

"Are you alright?" I call to him, worried that the cat might be diseased.

It is then that I feel something behind me. Something dark. I don't have time to turn to see what it is before a hand wraps around my waist and I am yanked back towards the forest. I scream out in shock.

A black fog surrounds me while I struggle against the person holding me. In only a moment they have my wrists locked and a thick rope tied around them keeping me from running. In the struggle my shoes comes loose and tumbles off into the forest. 

Uneven and shaken the figure pulls me to a stop. I finally get a look at my assailant, who is a man wearing quite the odd outfit. He is taller than me with bright red eyes and long unkept hair like Josephs, only his is an odd silver colour, almost blue or green. He is dressed in all white with a red bow and white top hat, and requires a cane to walk, which is odd because he could not be much older than I or Joseph.

Joseph jumps to his feet, his eyes frantic and he makes to come towards me. The man holding me laughs a horribly terrifying laugh. At his feet his black cat, which has abandoned joseph, hisses in his direction.

Suddenly the forest changes, and lights spring forward from the trees that seem to grow faces and reach out in every direction. Objects that seem quite odd appear from nowhere and my head spins just trying to take it all in. Were we not just on the road a few moments ago? How did I end up here?

Joseph is stunned for a moment, and in his confusion the man holding me pulls me deeper into the forest. Just like before a thick black smoke envelopes us and I hear the shrieking of bats from behind us. I cringe expecting them to attack, but when we emerge from the smoke we are deeper into the twisted forest, and the bats are gone.

"Those bats should slow him down..." The man mumbles, pulling me along with him.

I try to look back to see if I can see Joseph, but I trip over my feet and the man stops, angry with me for slowing him down.

"Who are you?" I demand, now that we are standing still.

"You will know if you are the one..." He mumbles.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He smiles, an odd smile and lifts me from the ground. I cry out and struggle against him but he is too strong. He lifts me over his shoulder and holds me there while I pound my hands on his back trying to weaken him. He just ignores me.

He moves over a bridge made of wood and I see the rushing water under his feet. My fear kicks in. Ever since I was a little girl heights and water have always terrified me. My head becomes heavy and I go limp against the man with dizziness.

In the distance I can see Joseph coming for me, and I wish I could call out to him. But the man crosses the river and turns around, forcing me to face away from Joseph and unable to see what the man is doing.

There is a loud clanking, which I assume is the man hitting the bridge with his cane, followed by the sound of explosions. When he turns around again to move I see the destruction he has left, all from the tap of his cane.

The bridge we crossed is gone, leaving only a few scattered logs in the water. Across the river where Joseph stands a large tree, that had not been there previously, blocks his way to getting to me. He looks so defeated. I hope he does not give up on me.

But how did the man do that? All he did was tap his cane and the bridge disappeared! Even if I could explain that, it would not explain how the tree got there! Is this the man who kidnapped all of those maidens? All the ones who were never seen again. There is no way I could be one of them. I had only told Joseph that story to frighten him!

Now I am living the story. 

The man mutters to himself as we walk, and now that we are away from the water again I am feeling more like myself. But still I do not move. If he finds out that I am awake and myself I do not know what he will do. He seems very odd.

Then suddenly, in the distance, I see Joseph again. The tree that had been blocking his way has been pushed over, and he looks more determined than ever. But before I can react the man turns around to face him, and I lose sight of him again.

Neither of them make any noise, and I want so badly to fight back so that I can return to Joseph, but then just as suddenly the man turns around and pushes his way through a door in the tree. A large shadowed figure jumps down blocking my view. I don't get to see Joseph again before the door slams behind us.

Joseph made it through the other obstacles quickly, so hopefully he can get to me before the man gets to where ever he plans on leading me. 

I have a feeling I will not like where that takes me...