Excerpt: Que Sera Sera

The burning dreams always start out the same, a woman, hunched over her caldron in a small cottage of the outskirts of town. A knock at the door and a man steps in, asking the crone if his potions are done. She always nods, and pulls a vial out of her cloak. She looks at him curiously before she hands it to him. The question is always worded differently, but each with the same outcome. She asks why he calls her a crone.

He looks at her oddly, but before he can respond there is a knocking at the door. The witch hunters have arrived. The crone glances furiously at him. She yells at him, for she thinks he has betrayed her, but he slaps a hand over her mouth and points toward the false wall towards the back of the cottage.

He knows what she must think of him, but in all truths he had never told them about the crone’s secret, he had never told anyone about her secret, for it was his too. As they flee out of the cottage a terrible truth dawns on him. He had only told one person, his beautiful fiancée Ella.

When they reach the woods he turns back, hoping that his thoughts are not correct. He holds his breath, hoping desperately, but no, there she is, leader of the witch hunters. His eyes meet hers for a bare second, all trust shattering between them before the crone pulls him away.

They run for what seems like an eternity, the crone surprisingly quick for an old woman. She makes a quick right into a cave and tugs him in with her. She has figured out that it is not what it seems. He gives into her questioning look and begins the heart aching task of explaining what has gone down.

The dream always skips into nightfall, when all tension is gone. The crone asks again her previous question. He looks at her questioningly, and thinks the answer must be obvious, but she pulls up her hood and he gasps. Sitting before him is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.

She looks up at him through her lashes and sighs. She knows what he must do. She hands him a vial and tells him to drink half and save the rest for her. She tells him to wait for her. A silent question hangs in the air, where she is going. She looks at him sorrowfully and answers. She is going to her death.