Fairytales are real, and there couldn't be anything worse...

I lived my entire life completely oblivious of it all. I lived a simple life back then during the third industrial revolution. Machine power was slowly replacing human labor in factories and change had become a part of us all.

Whilst many struggled to accept this new reality I embraced it. I was eager to adapt - eager to learn. I was as happy as someone from the lowest class could be. I didn't even mind that the woman who had stolen my heart was in love with another.

I had met him a couple of times. A handsome guy. No, handsome wasn't right. He was more beautiful than handsome. The kind of beauty that would intimidate even the most beautiful of women. He was a good guy though and I truly believed he deserved to be with her. He would make her happy.

As for me, I knew I would eventually get over her and I would be content to be her friend. Every time she came over to talk I would be content in knowing that she was happy even if it wasn't with me.

The last time I saw her, however, things went a little differently.

She sent me a letter asking me to meet her over by her favorite spot. Something was bothering her and she needed my help with it. Even then I saw the red flag but straight up ignored it. I knew that whenever there was something urgent or something bothering her, she never waited for me to come to her. She would run over to our farm and sort me out.

So what was different that particular day?

That's the one question I kept asking myself even as I walked over to her family's manor. I brushed my worries away and kept heading over to her place.

I knew she would be by the large Birch tree that grew right next to the River that flowed behind the manor. She always loved to sit by that tree and write poems in her diary. She has shown me some of those poems. They were beautiful and mysterious but of course society still had these expectations for what a woman could and could not do. Thus she kept her writing a secret.

I often wondered if her new love accepted that about her. He probably did - he looked like a more open minded person than the rest of the town's folk.

As I made it to her home, I quickly greeted her two sisters who - after giggling together at some private joke - pointed me towards her tree.

I was usually happy to see her but that day something felt off. I couldn't quite point my finger at what it was but deep down I knew.

"Emily," I called out for her as I approached the tree.

There was no response. Just an eerie silence.

I walked even closer to the tree, ignoring the chill that ran down my spine with the prolonged silence. I told myself that maybe she had fallen asleep and that there wasn't anything to worry about.

I came up to the tree trunk and, with my hand on the dry bark, I peaked behind the tree. There she was standing with her back to me dressed in a white dress. She stood so still, one would almost believe she was a statue.

"There you are. Playing hide and seek are we?" I said with a chuckle as I came up behind her.

She turned towards me slowly without a word and I smiled as I waited for her to speak. However as she turned I quickly took note of the red stain on her abdomen - a stain that was so blatantly clear because of the white dress she wore. Just as was the metal handle of a knife that had been deeply plunged into her belly.

"Em?!"

I ran forward and caught her in time as her knees bucked and she fell forward.

"Hey, Emily! Look at me. You'll be okay. Just look at me, okay?" I pleaded with her as I carefully craddled her in my arms.

Now that I was this close to her I immediately realized how ghostly pale she looked.

Just how much blood had she lost?

I started looking frantically around trying to see if there anyone around.

"Can anybody hear me? Help!" I looked back down at her only to see her eyes slowly closing. "Hey, Em don't fall asleep! You'll be okay, I'm gonna get help, just stay with me,"

I was losing her. There wasn't much time left and I needed to get her help immediately. Gently lifting her up I turned so I could walk back to the house but stopped in my tracks when I realized that he had appeared. Her boyfriend.

"You... What have you done?" He asked, his voice low and laced with hatred.

"What? No, I didn't do this! Listen, we need to get help. She losing a lot of blood." I began but suddenly found myself suffocating.

Blinking, I realized that Emily was no longer in my arms but in his. I didn't know which part was more confusing. How he had gotten her in his arms so fast or why he suddenly had a large pair of wings on his back.

I watched as he gently closed her eyes and carefully laid her down on the ground. He said nothing for a full minute whilst I knelt on the ground a good three feet away from them unable to utter a single word.

Then he turned his hate filled eyes towards me.

"You'll pay for this, worthless mortal."

Word count : 951