The Sacrifice (WillowVX & littlerooster)

[littlerooster]

Winter was coming and the townsfolk of Maidensfayre were in preparation for the coming of the Winter Ceremony. A 3 week festival which starts upon the first true mist of the season. When the mist is so thick that one cannot see their own hand in front of their face, then that is when the festival is called to begin.

This was the time of the year when the town boys became more obnoxious than usual, starting to taunt the teen girls, the teen boys looked at girls they desired with a knowing expression, sometimes with pity, often with lust.

The older men stayed calm, having gone through this many times before, it became better with time as they grew older. They started building the structures that would make up the festival, the huge wicker virgin pyre, the stands for the market booths and stalls.

The women started counselling the virgin girls aged 15-19, telling them what to expect, what they will go through. For the 15 year old girls this would be their first experience, and for the 19 year old's this would be their last and the stress was showing on them.

Some of the older virgins cracked and lost their virginity to their boyfriends or boys who had been wanting them for years. For some they just couldn't go through the lottery again.

It was a time of mixed emotions for all, an unwanted but necessary festival, a sacrifice to their God of winter survival the great Adalfried who for an annual sacrifice of virginity would take care of them throughout the winter months. The winter months being quite harsh rendering the townsfolk to a near hibernation state for two months of each year. One year the town mayor, who disagreed with the sacrifice as two of his daughters were drawn two years running. He decided one year to not hold the festival and sacrifice and that winter last longer and was colder than the ones before it, half the towns population died and when winter finally ended, the townsfolk slaughtered the mayor and his family in revenge and swore that they would not anger the mighty Adalfried again.

The selected Virgin each year had a mixed fortune, on the one hand she was seen as a martyr ensuring the survival of the town throughout winter. On the other hand, she was marked, a used woman, one that had been had by all the townsmen, quite often the selected virgin would move away after the great festival.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie Parrigan just moved to the small town of Maidensfayre to live with her aunt Cynthia and uncle Ben. Her parents were involved in a fatal car accident, her aunt and uncle were the only family she had left. Annie just recently turned fifteen years old and she was an only child. She originally lived Seattle, Washington. The move to this small town was a bit of a transition. Since Annie's parents died, she's been very distant, very vulnerable. She had only arrived to Maidensfayre a week ago and it seemed that the whole town was in preparation for some sort of celebration. Her uncle Ben was an active member of the town counsel. He hadn't given much away about the celebration that was only a few days away. Annie assumed it was some sort of fair or carnival. She didn't want any part of it.

Some of the boys that Annie met in town gave her looks. She wasn't sure how to explain these looks. They looked at her body up and down like they were sizing her up. Some would give her winks and smiles. One boy even went as far as to grab her ass when she was walking home with groceries. Annie was so mad at her parents for leaving her here. This town was seriously creepy and she counted down the days until her eighteenth birthday, when she could live on her own.

Annie laid in bed and wrote a letter to her best friend back in Seattle. She was halfway through when a knock at her bedroom door interrupted her concentration.

 

[littlerooster]

It was Annie's Aunt Cynthia,

"Annie? I think we need to have a talk about this town and the upcoming festival, it seems we will have to take part, it is part of their tradition, it doesn't matter that you are new here and you are not free to leave until after the festival either" her Aunt said gravely.

She came in and sat on Annie's bed. "I'm so sorry Annie" she said looking down at the floor.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie's aunt Cynthia came into her room. She had the oddest look on her face and she was trying to explain to Annie about the festival. Cynthia and Ben have lived in this town all of their lives, they were probably used to all of these little traditions and fairs, but Annie didn't want anything to do with them. She just wanted to sit in her room and write letters.

"Do I have to go? It sounds boring." Annie continued to scribble away, not looking up at her aunt. "And I don't like the other kids." She wrinkled her nose at the boys she saw in town.

 

[littlerooster]

Aunt Cynthia gathered her thoughts, she had, had these talks with her own daughters many years back just as her mother had the talk with her and now she would have to have the talk with Annie. Cynthia hated this tradition, many of the townsfolk did, but it was an accepted evil, something that they couldn't bring themselves to part with.

"Annie, you know the people here are quite superstitious right? They have their old Gods from the old country that they still believe in and believe he takes care of them, especially their winter God through the winter months." Cynthia took a breath.

"Anyway Annie, it's like this, every year there is a sacrifice, all the virgin girls aged 15-19, their names are placed in a lottery, a name is drawn and that virgin girl...." she took another breath.

"Well, she sacrifices her virginity to the town males." there she had said it.

"Do you understand what I am saying Annie? I will help you through it, I too was in the lotteries and I was never drawn, but I understand what a girl goes through leading up to it and I have had friends drawn and can have women talk to you. There will be support, especially if your name is drawn, but so far it's just the lead up process and I can help you with that." Cynthia looked at the confused Annie, the lottery was such an ingrained part of town culture that it wasn't much of a big deal anymore, but to an outsider especially in the days of Feminism it must have been seen as a very shocking festival indeed.

Cynthia thought back to her teen years, how she and her sister - Annie's mother Melissa had to go through the lotteries, at first Cynthia was alone but the following year Melissa was also involved as they were only a year apart. The time when Melissa was 17 and her number was drawn. It was something that they never really spoke about, in some ways they didn't have to, as it happened in front of the town it was hardly a mystery, Cynthia felt strange watching her virgin younger sister being defiled by all the men in town, and yet felt a guilt, happy it wasn't herself up there as she was happy previous and subsequent years when she watched the so called lucky virgin being used. There was also this strange feeling that she never understood until she got older and went to college, she was aroused by seeing it happen, was something wrong with that made her feel this way to see that? Was that why she returned to the town after college and still lived there now even bringing Annie to live here, did she like seeing this event, did she believe in the strange Old God from the old country?

She held Annie's hand as she let it all sink in and watched her, waiting for the inevitable questions and bargaining that she too asked and offered and had heard so many times before.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie sat there silent and listened to everything that her aunt Cynthia had to say. Her eyes were wide and she stared at her in disbelief. Then, suddenly, her mouth curved up slight and a giggled escaped her lips. That giggle was followed by a series. And soon turned into full out laughter. She couldn't hold onto her aunts hand anymore as a laughing fit shook her body. Annie had to steady herself to breathe. She wiped tears from her eyes and shook her head and aunt Cynthia.

"That was good, aunt Cynthia." The last of the amusement erupted from her chest. "I didn't know you were such a good storyteller." She sighed and her body calmed. She shook her head again and then put her attention back to her letter.

 

[littlerooster]

Cynthia looked gravely at Annie as she started to laugh, the young girl thought she was joking, Cynthia wasn't angry, but was frustrated, she understood Anne wouldn't believe it, it was a hard thing to accept, that this thing would happen, that soon a virgin town girl would have to offer her body to all the men in town.

"ANNIE. I am telling you the truth, this festival it does indeed happen, you have to listen to me. There is so much you need to know and you need to understand. I don't want you to feel like your mother did when she was drawn" Cynthia bit her lip, she didn't mean to say that much.

She held Anne's hand. "Annie, would you like to speak to the other women in town, if you don't want to believe me?" she looked at her.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie looked at her like she was insane. Was she serious? How dare she bring up her mother? Annie looked at her and clenched her fists, tears welling in her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She started, talking through her teeth. "But if this is some kind of joke, it's not funny." Annie set her jaw and spoke with complete determination. "And if you're serious. I'm not doing that. You can't make me." She crossed her arms and lowered her eyes.

 

[littlerooster]

"Annie, I'm sorry I brought your mother into this, I didn't mean to, but you are so like she was, she was in denial about it all, thinking it would never happen to her, and then her number was drawn in the lottery and she was devastated, she took it far worse than other girls did. Please nothing is expected from you unless your number is drawn, but please when you settle down and get your head around this, we need to talk, to prepare you for what might happen" Aunt Cynthia says to the overwhelmed Annie before she leaves the room.

 

[WillowVX]

Aunt Cynthia finished explaining herself before leaving Annie alone to ponder. Before her aunt made it all the way down the stairs she shouted,
"You people are crazy!" She threw her notebook at the door. She couldn't be SERIOUS, could she? They don't really do that to people - to little girls. Then Annie thought, yes, yes they could. In a world that could take away her parents, any terrible thing was possible. She was NOT going to be a part of that. She didn't realize until she jumped off of the bed that there were tears in her eyes.

She grabbed her duffel bang and started stuffing in clothes. I'm out of here, she thought to herself. She packed clothes, her can of pepper spray, and her notebook. She threw her window open and climbed out onto the room. She threw her bag onto the grass in the back yard and jumped the two foot gap to the tree trunk. She was a veteran when it came to climbing. She climbed down the tree, grabbed her bag, and ran as far away from the house as possible.

Annie wasn't familiar with the town. She didn't know where to go. She wandered around, trying to come up with a plan. It was late at night, so she knew her aunt and uncle wouldn't realize she was gone until morning. She'd have to put some distance between herself and this town by then. She came upon a park and decided to rest, come up with a plan. She sat on a swing at the park and dropped her bag beside her. She let her head fall in her hands and she cried. Why was aunt Cynthia doing this to her? If she was serious, how could she think that was okay? Everybody here was crazy. She tried to clear her head to come up with an escape plan when the snapping of a twig made her body go rigid.

"Hello." A silky, young male voice said from behind her.

 

[littlerooster]

"Hello, trying to escape the town are you? A lot of girls try around this time of the year but not many make it out, the ones who get caught cop it real bad too, let me tell ya" the voice was coming from the shadows, still not wanting to be seen.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie was frozen on the swing. She listened to the voice and whipped her head around. She couldn't see anyone, just a shadow by the trees. She was not going to get caught. She jumped off of the swing, grabbed her bag, and took off running.

 

[littlerooster]

"Hey! Wait!" The voice said, running from behind the shadows chasing her.

"Don't do anything stupid, I'm the Sheriff's son, please stop, I like you, please, wait!" it called out.

Clarke was the Sheriff's son, 19 years old, tall, blonde hair and blue eyes, built like a linebacker. He was one of the few males in the town who disagreed with the festival, in fact there was a small secret group of males who opposed it but they had to keep it secret, things happened to people in the town who voiced their concerns of the festival and the sacrifice.

Clarke being the Sheriff's son also had to toe a precarious line of publicly endorsing it and playing along.

This would be Clarke's first time having to participate, unlike the girls who were eligible from the ages of 15-19, the boys could not join the queue in front of the sacrifice until they were 19 years old, an odd case of double standards going against the boys for once.

Clarke had seen his sweetheart sacrificed 2 years before hand, Selena, 17 years old, sweet and pretty, he had hoped to marry her, instead he had to see her sacrificed, had to witness his own father queuing up and having his turn with her. Selena was so sweet and sensitive she couldn't handle the aftermath, the looks and the questions, a few weeks later she took a long rope, tied it to the side of the railway bridge and put the noose around her neck and jumped off.

He had loved her with all his might. He tried telling her it wasn't her fault and he still wanted her, they would run away, somehow, somewhere. She didn't or couldn't listen though, she saw no other way to deal with it.

Not all the Sacrifice's ended up like that, many went on to lead normal lives, some had that arrogance or pride in knowing that they saved the town, that they would always be looked upon in that certain way that men look at a woman that they or a friend has had. They enjoyed it.

Clarke ran after Annie, and caught up with her.

"Hey, I know you are new in town, talk to me, please, don't run away, they will catch you before you even get out, they patrol the woods around town this time of the year, your Aunt and Uncle will pay the price" he tried reasoning with her.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie heard the voice calling back to her but she couldn't stop. She didn't want to get caught. She heard fast food steps behind her and she didn't stop, she pushed herself harder, to run faster. It didn't take long before he caught her. She felt strong hands wrap around her arms and it stopped her mid run. He spun her around to face him and tried to explain. He was out of breath and his blonde hair was wonderfully disheveled. She blinked away any hint of attraction.

"Let me go!" She screamed and tried to pull her arm away. "I don't care! I'm not even supposed to be here. And I'm not going to be a part of any stupid festival with a bunch of crazy people!" She wrenched her arm free but she didn't run. The comment about something happening to her aunt and uncle prevented her from moving at that moment.

"What would happen to my aunt and uncle?" She asked the annoyingly beautiful boy standing in the darkness. Her long brown hair was windblown and messy. She wasn't very tall, barely 5'3. Her small chest heaved up and down, adrenaline pumping through her body, she was ready to take off again in an instant. Her large chestnut eyes looked up to him in frustration.

 

[littlerooster]

Clarke looked at her, she was beautiful, he had not loved since he lost Selena, this was hurting him to look at this girl.

"Annie isn't it?" he asked catching his breath himself.

"Your Aunt and Uncle will be shut out and financially ruined if you run away, they used to murder the parents of the runaways, burning them at the stake in fact but not anymore, some things do change, even here" he explained.

"I'm Clarke by the way" he smiled and offered his hand to shake.

 

[WillowVX]

Her eyes went wide when he told them they used to burn people at the stake. What kind of place was this? How had she gotten here? How could her parents have done this to her? He held out is hand and introduced himself. Annie stared at his hand for several long minutes in silence until she collapsed to the ground in a heap of tears.

"I..." She started. Gasping for breath between sobs. "Want.. to.. go... home!" She couldn't trust anybody here. Not even her own aunt and uncle. Now this boy was going to turn her in. And it would all be over.

"Even if you make me go back. I don't do it." She shouted at the boy who was only trying to help. "And you can't make me!" She grabbed her bag angrily and shoved it at him.

 

[littlerooster]

He looked at her not knowing what to do then say beside her.

"Look, it doesn't happen to every girl anyway you have to keep in mind that the odds are low that you will be picked. They only pick one not several. They haven't had the lottery or even started the festival yet so don't get too upset about something that might not happen" he wanted to say more but had to be careful, sometimes the towns council would have girls play this part and get people to help them only to be arrested.

"Let's just keep our cool and chat ok" he smiled at her.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie knew he wasn't going to help her. It made her mad that he sat here next to her like they were friends. Like he cared what happened to her. She didn't want to chat. And she didn't want to keep her cool.

"How could they do this?" She asked, incredulous. "They can't get away with that." She suddenly looked at him with a fire in her eyes. "How can you be OKAY with this?" She yelled at him, suddenly turning it into a person attack. "Can't you see it has to stopped?" She jumped to her feet and she came to a new resolve. Once Annie had an idea in her mind, it was stone. Nothing could waiver it. She didn't want to leave the town anymore. She wanted to stop this. She remembered all of the young girls that she saw in the village, some happy and full of life, others who walked with their heads down. They can't get away with this. She stomped a foot and clenched her fists to her sides.

"If nobody else is going to stop it." She breathed with a reluctant confidence. "The I am."

 

[littlerooster]

He got up and grabbed her, "LOOK. You have to be careful around here" he lowered his voice and started whispering.

"They have eyes and ears everywhere ok, you don't know what you are messing with. And I'm NOT ok with any of this, but I won't cut my own throat either, my sweetheart Selena, just 17 years old, she killed herself because she was sacrificed, so don't you a newbie in this town try and tell me that I am ok with this" he noticed he was getting angry and relaxed himself.

 

[WillowVX]

"Don't you UNDERSTAND?" She whispered back furiously, tears springing from her eyes. "That is exactly why it has to be stopped!" She was angry with herself for crying in front of this stranger. She wiped them away and stood up tall. "How long does this have to go on? How many girls have to kill themselves?" She couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the boy. Nobody deserved that. Annie was intimidated. She didn't know what she was messing with... but she had a feeling that he did. If she could have a friend, just one. Maybe not even a friend, maybe someone just angry enough to help her, she would have a chance.

 

[littlerooster]

"Look Annie, you won't achieve anything until you calm down and listen rationally. This town has been doing this for centuries, here and in the old country, the one year they didn't have a sacrifice everything went bad and people died. They are terrified. The ones who support this are members of council, police they are respected people, you need to settle down, when you have we can start to talk about it" Clarke said once again hoping she was calm enough to at least hear him.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie's hands were shaking as she ran them through her long hair. She tried to breathe and sat back down on the ground. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"Okay." She sighed.

 

[littlerooster]

Clarke looked at her relieved she had settled down at last.

"Good, now I'm Clarke, and I believe you are Annie Parrigan? Sorry to hear about your parents, your mother grew up around here, you might already know that" he said wondering how much she knew about her mother and her own sacrifice.

 

[WillowVX]

Annie stiffened a bit when Clarke mentioned her mother. "Yes. I'm Annie." She replied shortly. "My.. mother, she never really told me much about where she grew up. All I know is my dad never let us go back. But that was before..." Annie swallowed hard. "Well it doesn't matter anymore. Because I'm here." She chewed her bottom lip and stared at the ground.

 

[littlerooster]

"yeah you're here, sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Your dad was quite brave Annie, I have heard the stories, of how he lived in the next town and met your mother and took her away from it all." Clarke said hoping to make some kind of connection.