Daughter of Shadows (part 1)

          
            
  She wore a sundress and a smile that hid  her tired eyes, weary of seeing past people's lies. She was quiet and demure and always ready to listen, greeting everyone with gentle words but her heart would break upon hearing of their troubles.            
  She lived alone on the outskirts of town, a simple cottage painted white, a picket fence and roses, a small garden in the back with laundry hanging in the sun and a cat named Vespers pretending to be lazy. She sang as she worked, around the house or at the library, people sometimes sang along, her happiness was infectiously and added joy to peoples' lives. She and her town seemed truly blessed .  
 But what people didn't know was the darkness she hid inside as she quietly cried about a past that almost destroyed her and from secrets long denied that never really left her. With no place left to go and no one left to turn to, she sought refuge in the forgetfulness of shadows. She was crowned that night with a tiara of darkness, to the soft embrace of the shadows that loved her as her mother never did. Reborn, her family were now the creatures of the dark. She would sing as she worked to lull them back to sleep and listen to her neighbors' troubles, assuming a small dark one were in need of her aide.            
  Once, her past caught up with her, the man said he would hurt her if she ever left again. Threatening the most grievous harm unless she submit to his base desires. So she stopped her song, sang not a word, knowing her dark children would wake once more.    
  She never knew what happened and the creatures of the night never told, they were already fast asleep with beauty of her new song.