To say it was a dark and stormy night would be, while accurate in description, far too cliché. The view outside my window resembled that of a vengeful widow. The sky was cloaked in blackness so complete, that the light from my candle seemed dim. The incessant weeping and violent howling was either going to drown me or rip my home from its very foundation. Not that I would mind, as I lived in a rather dreary mismatch of shabby rubble that lacked a woman's touch. I would, however, wish to avoid drowning.

I sat at my writing desk by the window, though I had considered moving the desk to the other side of the room on several occasions that night. Not that I could move it no matter how badly I wished to. Everything in my sad little house was immovable. In more simple terms, everything was stuck to the floor, which was a rare blessing to me as I glanced out of the window. I received a sudden shock that caused me to jump back. I would have fallen to the floor if the chair had not been permanently fastened to the ever-creaking floorboards.

A shape appeared in the darkness. It was the figure of a woman in a hooded cloak. I saw neither her face, nor a travel bag, but it was too dark for my eyes to discern anything more than the gender of the newcomer. I leaned over my paper and ink to attempt a better visual. I had never seen a lady out of doors in such dreadful weather. My curiosity was overwhelming as I saw her walk into the house across from me. The front door opened and closed with haste but no lanterns were lit. The windows remained dark.

I got up from my desk and put my letter writing aside with the intention of continuing penning my note to my sister in the morning. I stretched and yawned. My broken old clock chimed midnight, but it was an hour fast. I got up and crawled into my straw bed and covered myself with my many moth-eaten blankets. I wondered if the rain would continue and I would drown in my sleep.

The next morning before the crow of the rooster, there was a tap on my door. I opened up my eyes and grumbled. I was never one to enjoy waking early. When the knock occurred again, I got up and put on my housecoat. I then noticed that the rain had stopped and it lifted my spirits because I did not die in my sleep. Then my spirits fell because I did not die in my sleep.

I opened the door to see the most beautiful creature I had beheld with my own eyes. I was mesmerized by her immediately. Her hair was raven black and her eyes were as dark as coffee but her skin was so fair, she appeared to be white. She was a lady of good breeding as was evident by the luxurious material of her full black gown and the jewels she wore around her neck. She greeted me softly.

"Good morning, Sir," she said. "I do hope I am not intruding."

"No," I said more hastily than I intended. "How may I be of service to you?"

"I was told, by several people, that you're a man who can help me with a problem I am having," she said in a voice that played in my ears like a bird song. She barely moved her lips but she spoke clearly.

"I shall do my best," I said. I restrained my eagerness.

"I wondered if you could find it possible to travel with me," she inquired. "You see, Mr. Asinus, my problem is in my home. I have no one to take care of my letter writing for business. I am not proficient in the proper language for deciphering all of the business talk in regards to my late husband's company."

She was a widow, a young beautiful widow who needed my help. I was certain that I was still dreaming. No sane wealthy lady would come seeking the help of a pauper, no matter how well-educated he may be.

"I will be delighted to assist you," I replied. "If you would like to wait, or come in, I will be ready shortly."

The lady chose to wait outside, a gesture I appreciated as my home was not suitable for company. I was never a tidy man and my home was only one larger room. I grabbed my best clothes and put them on. They were presentable for a lady of her standing as it was the last thing I owned from my days as a gentleman before the family fortune was gambled away by my contentious father. I was thankful right then that my older sister had married into a good family before that happened. I was not so lucky.

I put on my hat and grabbed my important papers. I put those into my case and closed it tight. I walked out of the creaky, drafty, dismal house that should have been condemned and incinerated. I closed the door and the only thing I was certain of at that moment was that this was going to be the last time I would look upon this miserable place.

I followed the lady to a luxurious carriage with a team of large black horses. Once inside, and across from her, I did my best not to gaze at her for I knew that I would be unable to pull my eyes away. However, my attempts to avoid looking upon her enchanting beauty were in vain as she engaged me in conversation. I would have seemed rude not to accommodate her.

The journey took the day. We stopped for lunch and continued on our way. I learned much about her. Her name was Lady Elizabeth Tod, a family name I was vaguely acquainted with in my youth. She had lost her husband of five months to an illness he contracted in the east while on business. She had been entrusted to keep the company going. Without help from her parents, as they had died many years prior, she struggled to keep her income steady. She had savings and inheritance but nothing to sustain it. I am not ashamed to admit that I felt bad for her. She was of an intelligent mind but she lacked understanding of contracts for which she had called upon me to help her.

As dusk fell upon the earth, a grand palace came into view. There were sixteen large windows in the front alone. The grounds were well maintained from what I could see. We pulled up to the front door and I was allowed out first. My first impression of the staff was a rather curious one. They looked upon me with pity, an expression I did not understand at the time, but one I was accustomed to. My clothes, while those of a gentleman, were worn and ill-fitting.

The gentleman closest to me was instructed to show me to my room and to explain the rules of the house to me. I followed the aging man and he gave me a strange list of rules. I was to be dressed and ready to serve Her Ladyship at half past nine precisely. Tardiness would lead to immediate dismissal. I had no objection to this first rule but the next one was rather odd. I was permitted freedom of the grounds and the entirety of the grand house. But the entire first floor on the left side of the house was forbidden to all except Her Ladyship.

I pondered this as I walked through the door of my new living arrangement. The apartment was lavishly luxurious but my mind was too occupied with wild imagination and speculation to enjoy it. What immense secrets could a person have that warranted shutting off half a floor? The more I thought about it, I began to conclude that that part of the illustrious palace was a special place for her and her husband. The way she spoke of him to me made me believe my own theory. It was likely that she did wish to risk any damage to her memories of him. I then crawled into my comfortable bed and drifted to sleep with nothing in my head.

The next morning I woke to find a silver breakfast tray on the table in front of the fireplace, which already had a fire going. I used to be accustomed to this lifestyle as a lad but now this sort of service made me feel as if I was the King of England.

I ate my meal, though I was astonished by the lack of meat, and I found every bite to be exquisite. I put on the clothes that I found laid out for me and they fit me surprisingly well. I looked like my father when he was my age. I hoped that I would make better choices than he did. This new opportunity was one I had no intention of squandering.

My ears heard a knock on the door. I turned my attention to the door and a gentle face appeared. It was a very young lady, no older than ten, who told me that she was to take me to the drawing room where Lady Elizabeth would be expecting me. I followed the lass, paying close attention to where she was taking me so I would not risk getting lost if I was left to my own devices.

The drawing room was a comfortable room, adorned in deep purple and silver with a crystal chandelier in the exact center. It was uncommon for a drawing room to be used to conduct business, but from what little I understood, the office was in the forbidden section of the house. I looked around and saw a dictionary and several business books, with notes written in delicate writing. Lady Elizabeth seemed to be trying to educate herself on the trade business. My father had once been employed in the same work and I knew it all well as I assisted him on many deals.

The door opened and Lady Elizabeth came gliding into the room promptly at half-past nine. As she had the day prior, she was dressed in solid black. I thought nothing of this as it was customary for new widows to wear black for their mourning period. She was evidently relieved to see that I was on time and she was eager to get to work. So we did. She conveyed to me the manner of the letters I was to write, and I wrote them using the proper language. She proofread my work and was very happy. She folded each into their respective envelopes and put them on a tray. I was very impressed by how intelligent she was and how well she understood the trade business.

I wrote several letters that day, only stopping for a lunch of fish and vegetables, and when it was time for tea, my day was over. I was allowed to explore the house and the extensive grounds but Lady Elizabeth reminded me rather sternly about the left side of the first floor. I gave her my word, bowed my head, and left the drawing room.

For the next few months, this was my routine. It was remarkably unvaried between eight in the morning and four in the afternoon. The exception was Sunday morning. I had seen Lady Elizabeth go through the door that led to the forbidden part of the house as I was heading out to town for mass. I had come to believe that she had a private chapel and it was a safe place for her to pray. Little did I know how wrong I was.

As time passed, I began to notice that I was growing tired. At first, I attributed it to a lack of excitement. Lady Elizabeth was a shy woman when it came to crowds. She did not throw balls, nor did she attend them. She would have the occasional dinner party, but she would never have more than ten guests at a time. My curiosity about Her Ladyship grew but unfortunately, so did my feelings for her.

We grew closer over our dinners together and our chats in between letter writing. She began to open up to me but she would always withdraw when the topic came to her husband so I learned early to avoid the subject.

After eight months of living with her, she was called to attend a business meeting with three of her company's investors. She would be gone for a week. I had planned to use the week of her absence to gather my nerves and propose. Of course, I expected rejection. I was nothing. She was a picture of beauty, grace, and elegance.

The next morning, Lady Elizabeth left prior to my breakfast. I watched her leave and I saw her look up. She saw me and waved with the first hint of a small smile I had seen on her. I waved back. I was now convinced that she had feelings for me and it filled me with bliss and optimism I had not allowed myself to have before.

The first day of her absence was spent trying to find a source of meat. I was tired and growing weak. It was explained to me that Lady Elizabeth had sensitive digestion and meat did not agree with her. She could, on occasion have fish. I believed this, of course, not knowing otherwise. So, as expected, I found no meat inside the house. Feeling desperate, I went out to the grounds and began hunting for one of the rabbits I had heard the gardener complain of.

It took an hour, but I was patient. I saw the sickly-looking rabbit. It came close to the carrots I had in my hand. I did not know a dog had joined me and it scared my rabbit away. I kicked my foot at the dog and cursed its life out of frustration and hunger.

Realizing that I could do nothing about my gradually declining energy, I returned to my apartment and chose a book to read. Hours ticked by. Hours became days. Then, unanticipatedly, I heard a shout coming from beneath me. I was above the forbidden part of the house. I strained my ears. My first thought was that a servant had unintentionally broken something but then it happened again. It sounded like an echo and not from the first floor. I sprang from my bed and got on my hands and knees with my ear pressed against the floor.

I could hear the faint sound of the word help. Not caring about the consequences and finally having an excuse to satisfy my curiosity, I left my apartment and walked down the stairs slowly, so as to avoid arousing suspicion. I found the door locked but it was no matter. I had picked locks before as a lad for laughs. It took time but I unlocked it without anyone walking by.

I opened the door and closed it as quietly as I could behind me. I turned around and my head tilted in confusion. At first glance, it seemed no different than the rest of the house. It was darker as there were fewer candles but nothing out of the ordinary was immediately visible. I contemplated turning around, believing what I had walked into was innocent but my natural curiosity was too great for me to overcome, so I continued. As I looked a closer look at the oddly shaped objects hanging on the wall to my right, my breath caught in my lungs and my heart skipped a beat or two. I very nearly fainted, so great was my surprise.

I had walked into a torture chamber. Chains and crude instruments of metal and wood were the wall decor of choice. I walked along tentatively, listening, praying, and trying to make sense of my surroundings. My footsteps produced a faint echo as my polished black shoes tapped lightly on the white marble floor. My clammy skin produced enough salty sweat to fill a horse trough. I felt my heart pound with great pain in my chest as fear threatened to conquer me. My breath was ragged and unsteady.

I followed the corridor and opened a few doors, though I did not open all of them. Many of them looked normal at first glance but I knew that nothing about this place was normal. The room with the books intrigued me and I ventured in. I had always enjoyed reading but as I examined the contents of the library, it was made quite clear to me that Lady Elizabeth may not have been who she claimed to be. There were books on potions, spells, and things of darkness that frightened me. The woman I loved was a witch. Had she cast a spell on me? Was I coerced into falling for her?

I noticed behind me a splintered wooden table. On it were several vials of strange liquids of various colors and odors. I did not wish to examine them for fear of accidentally touching some kind of poison. I will also admit I feared being turned into a toad. I had heard witches turn men into toads for pleasure. It was a fate I desired to avoid if I could. Or perhaps these were potions for the skin and hair to enhance her beauty. I still could not see Her Ladyship as a bad woman. I could very easily be jumping to misinformed conclusions.

Then, beside the table, I noticed an intricately carved wooden door. Again, curiosity got the better of me and I moved toward it. I paused before grasping the black iron handle. Should I continue? What would I see? I had already broken my word and the trust of Lady Elizabeth, but her trust meant little to me at that moment. I swallowed hard and opened the door to reveal a dimly lit spiral stairwell. I followed it down, carelessly leaving the door open behind me. I walked down slowly, using the wall for support. I kept my eyes on the stairs until I saw a light at the bottom. I looked up when I reached the bottom step. I rounded the corner.

It led me to a chamber that made my heart stop. Bones. Hundreds of skeletons were in a pile at the back of the room but the skulls were placed on a shrine. I approached, passing several doors on the way without noticing them immediately. Upon close examination, each one of the skulls was lovingly cared for. I could not help but look closer. Each one had letters under them. All of them were written by Lady Elizabeth's hand. I knew this with certainty because her capital E was particularly unique. I took one and began to read. It was a love letter. I cringed.

All of the warm feelings I had felt for the delicate and kind woman I thought I knew vanished. To replace them, fear and hatred moved in. Hatred was so unfamiliar to me that it took me a moment to recognize what I was feeling. Then a sound got my attention. I jumped. No one was there. Then I realized that I had been passing doors. I folded the letter and put it in my inner pocket.

I peeked through one door. There was a bathtub in the middle of the room. It looked empty but I did not want to investigate it further. The sound came down the stone corridor again.

I followed the sound to the third door on the left. This door was cracked open and a putrid odor attacked my nose. I pushed hard because the wooden door was heavy. There was one torch burning in the room but it was enough to see what the odor was. This room was filled with the decaying bodies of men. Naked, rotting men with parts of their flesh ripped off the bone with teeth. There were sixteen that I counted. Three of them were not so rotten that I could make out facial features. One of them I recognized as a guest from a dinner party. The digested contents of my stomach pushed their way up and I vomited violently all over my shoes. The acidic odor did nothing to disguise the scent of feces and rotting flesh.

Then a sound from by the door made me look back. A man was chained behind the door. He did not appear decomposed but he seemed very nearly dead. I knew him from a photograph I had seen, and this was Lady Elizabeth's husband.

"You're alive!" was all I could say.

I hurried over to him and noticed that he had marks on his neck. I touched my neck in the same place. I felt marks on me. What had I been allowing to happen to me?

"Not for long," he said in a forced whisper. "For your life, man, run."

"I'm going to get you out of here," I assured him.

"No time," he argued weakly. "She has already started draining you of blood. When you get too weak, she'll chain you in here and drain you of all your blood and bathe in it. Then, when you're dead, she'll feed off your flesh. You need to escape while you can."

"There is no way out," said a familiar voice.

Lady Elizabeth stood in the doorway. In her hands, she held large daggers that already had blood on them. Her mouth dripped menacingly from whatever poor soul she had just consumed. I feared for my life.

"You should have not made a sound, My Love," she said to the dying man.

"Shut up, Devil," he said as loudly as he could. The echo in the room made it sound as though he had yelled.

Lady Elizabeth hissed and made a move toward him. I drew the only thing that I held of value; a foldable double-edged blade of my grandfather's design. I was always armed as my father had insisted. I was glad at that moment for his instruction. I was skilled in combat, which was something I never disclosed to anyone, also at his instruction. It took Lady Elizabeth by surprise.

We battled fiercely but I was slow in my weakened state. She was much stronger than I. She had tricked me and sank sharp dagger-like teeth into my shoulder. She ripped at the flesh, but my clothing protected me, though minimally. I yelled out in anger and pain and stepped on her foot. Then I kicked her in the knee. She backed away briefly. I grabbed the torch closest to me and threw it at her. I could think of nothing else to do.

The screech she produced was unlike any other sound I had ever heard. The fabric of her black gown went up in flames. She tried in vain to put out the fire. Within seconds Lady Elizabeth Tod was no longer visible as she was engulfed in fire. I found a bucket of water that was full. I grabbed it and hastily threw it on her, extinguishing the fire. I grabbed her and dragged her to an empty set of chains. I bound her to the wall and made sure that she could not escape. I slipped my blade away and picked the lock of her husband's chains.

He fell free. I took off my coat and covered him. Then I lifted him over my shoulders and carried him out of the room and through the corridor. I carried him up the spiral staircase. In the library, I set him down for a moment to think. I looked at the books and grabbed one. I picked him up again. We left through the front door with no opposition. I called for the carriage immediately. The staff seemed eager to help, though they looked frightened. It took a few minutes but we were soon on our way to town. The first stop was the hospital.

I checked in Lord Tod. He was whisked away by the doctor. I then sent for the police. When they arrived, I told them of the horrors in the house, the events that transpired there, and I told them that they would find Lady Elizabeth chained and burned but alive. The police dispersed at once and left me to get my shoulder tended to.

My injuries were not as bad as it seemed. My body would need to replace the blood I had lost and I would need a diet of red meat for several days. As I would later find out, Lady Elizabeth took small, unnoticed amounts of my blood at first and then steadily increased her supply as she deprived me of a source of protein and iron. The letter I had found still in my jacket pocket was dated 1763, exactly one hundred years prior. As Lord Tod recovered, he told me all of the gruesome details of his knowledge and experience during my visits to his room.

She had sought him out, as she had done with me, and slowly seduced him. He believed at first that it was his money but she mourned a dead husband who had died from an illness. She gained his trust and he fell in love with her but when he found her room, she turned on him. It was nearly my story as well. What I did not know was how she stayed young. I asked him if he knew.

He looked at the wall for a while. Then he told me that she divulged everything to him because he was going to die anyway. She would travel and be gone for a month at a time. It was her first room that he had stumbled upon. The first door beside the stairs I did not see. Inside were dresses, both shabby and elegant. Mummified children littered the floor. She had literally sucked the life out of them. We cried for them.

Then word got back to us that the police were unable to find Lady Elizabeth because they were too afraid to go through the door. There was too much fear and superstition regarding the house. They did not want to see what we saw and if she was chained, she could do no harm and would die there. Lord Tod and I disagreed but said nothing.

After a week, we no longer spoke of the horrible things concerning Lady Elizabeth, but rather, how to recover from the nightmare we had survived. It turned out that Lady Elizabeth had a type when it came to her men and Lord Tod and I could have easily passed off as brothers, or cousins at the very least. So we devised a rather clever plan. Together, we would claim back his riches and steal hers. We would then buy a grand house in Hertfordshire. We would host balls and live grandly but before we did this, Lady Elizabeth would have to die. We also knew that she wouldn't die in a natural way. We would have to beat her at her own game.

I began examining the book I had stolen. There was no sign of wear in the spine and the pages were in mint condition. I came to the conclusion that this book was either new or unused. As I flipped through the pages, I knew this was unused. It was full of spells for healing others and blocking Black Magic. It was complex and I soon decided that it wasn't worth it.

The next Wednesday, Lord Tod was released from the hospital. We went in the afternoon to a dealer I had found. He was a shady fellow, but when he learned of my plan to kill a witch, his manner changed.

"Are you going after the Lady Elizabeth?" inquired the man.

"Yes," I replied.

"Not alone, I hope," said he.

"No, Sir," I said.

"Good. I hope you kill the she-devil," he growled wistfully. "No one who goes into that house comes out. Strange things happen there. I heard she puts spells on men, marries them, and kills them."

"The rumors are true and much worse," I confessed.

I told him of my time there, my discovery, and my grand escape, though I left out the gory details. He gawked at me when I finished my tale.

"Well then, I'll offer you a deal," he said. "Anything you need to kill her, you may take at half price. Too many of the people in this town have suffered and gone missing because of her."

We took a simple carriage to the edge of town the very next morning after staying in a rather drafty cheap hotel. We made sure we were heavily armed with weapons, Holy Water, and a pocket Bible over our hearts. We walked to the side of the property because there were no windows. We sat down against the wall and rested while we went over the plan one more time. We waited for nightfall, ate cold turkey legs, and filled our hearts and minds with the Word. We wanted to go in at our full strength, both physically and mentally.

Then dusk fell. The stars became visible one by one in their designated areas as was designed by the hand of God. The scent of grass and fresh hay filled my nostrils. The thought of what I was about to do faded far from my mind as I took in the sheer beauty of what I saw. Surely there was a God because this kind of peaceful beauty could not have happened by chance. But, if there was a God, then there was a Devil, and the Devil was Lady Elizabeth.

At the first sound of crickets chirping, Lord Tod and I got to our feet, sent a quick prayer to the heavens, and climbed the vine-covered wall. Getting up was easy. Getting down was not. Once on solid ground, he and I darted toward the front door. We were expecting opposition but we were met with none. Everyone who saw us moved aside.

We entered the forbidden door, removed our shoes, and drew our weapons. We stayed together on the way to the stairwell. Once in the stone dungeon, we split off but we remained within several feet of each other. All of the doors were open so searching was going to be quiet, providing there were no sudden surprises. The first door I looked into was the room that Lord Tod had described to me. The small dresses were carefully preserved and hung but the mummified bodies themselves were carelessly thrown into a pile in the back corner.

I could not bear to see anymore so I looked into it next room. This one contained large jars of blood on shelves. They were labeled by the gender and age range. I did not want to anger myself further by reading the labels in detail so I left the room. Lord Tod was waiting for me. He pointed to the door that had the bathtub. I listened and heard liquid moving and the sound of Lady Elizabeth humming to herself.

We peeked. She had been healed of the burns. We looked at each other and he nodded. I raised my gun and kicked open the door. To say that Lady Elizabeth was surprised would have been a drastic understatement. She fell naked out of her tub full of blood and what looked like rose petals. I was never going to see a rose in a positive manner after this.

I pulled the trigger of my Beaumont–Adams revolver. The bullet struck her in the shoulder, rotating her body to the left with the momentum of the bullet. Lord Tod fired, hitting her abdomen. She screeched as deep, red blood sprayed and oozed from her open wounds. This did not stop her from raging at us. She closed the distance between her and Lord Tod. I made my move while she was directing her attention elsewhere. I took out my blade and swung, creating a large gash at her shoulder, nearly removing it altogether. Her arm dangled off of her, holding on by a small area of skin.

Lady Elizabeth focused her attention on me. Lord Tod then sliced open her side like a butcher cuts the throat of a pig. The amount of blood loss should have killed her but she was still standing.

"Perhaps you should have opened the healing book," I said to her.

Then she cast a spell and directed it at us. With dumb luck, I had a mirror and I aimed the reflective surface at the witch. Her spell hit the mirror and bounced. She barely moved out of the way in time as a jet of statically charged purple light flew past her. The stone wall behind her melted like ice in the sun and I was, for a brief second, glad of my own vanity. Upon realizing that I could block her, she directed her attention toward her husband. She advanced and he stumbled back. He tripped over an uneven stone and his body descended against his will under the force of gravity. I believed that he was done for. Then I saw it ...

There was a shadow of hesitation in Lady Elizabeth. She did have some twisted form of feeling directed at Lord Tod. I calculated my next move quickly, weighing options and outcomes in less than the time it took to blink. I took a fool's chance. I moved in with my blade and positioned my body to swing down. Lady Elizabeth saw that my blade was going to end up in the stomach of her husband. Without thinking, she made to throw herself on top of him and I reversed my momentum.

I swung my blade one last time as hard as I could and I felt the impact all the way down to my littlest toes. Her head fell with a thud to the floor with an expression of surprise still lingering on its face. Lord Tod and I watched for a couple of minutes as Lady Elizabeth's eyes continued to move and blink. Lord Tod grabbed one torch and handed me the other. I took the black powder out of my pocket and poured it all over Lady Elizabeth's body and, to make certain, in her mouth.

Lord Tod ignited her torso and the pain showed on her face. I lit her hair and we bolted out the door as quickly as our legs would carry us. We rounded the corner to the stairs just before a deafening boom met our covered ears. We waited for the dust to settle and our ears to stop ringing before we went back to investigate. I went first. I peered into the rubble and took a deep sigh of relief. Lady Elizabeth was in many tiny, fleshy bits, splattered all over the room. There would be no more people suffering at her evil hand. Satisfied that she was no longer a danger, we grabbed gloves and began our second plan; laying Lady Elizabeth's victims to rest.

I walked out of the forbidden door and found the place littered with corpses that were not there upon our arrival. I looked closely and recognized them as Lady Elizabeth's staff. I went back to retrieve Lord Tod and together we tried to make sense of it all. Upon examination of the bodies, we found a mark on their wrists. I went to the library and began searching for a clue. It took an hour to locate the symbol but I discovered that they had been dead for some time. They were soulless puppets, used to do her bidding and housekeeping. I went back to share my findings with Lord Tod.

"This means we will need more graves," he said, woefully.

"It shall be done," I said, trying to sound more hopeful than I was that we could do this alone.

So we started digging. The smell of earth and fresh air surrounded us and the owl hooting in the tree nearby kept us company as we dug a mass grave. When we finished digging, we began moving bodies. The sun was high in the sky by the time we were finished with our work. We were exhausted, filthy, and hungry. We sat down under an oak and promptly fell asleep.

I will not attempt to convey the extent of my joy when we discovered that Lady Elizabeth processed riches beyond our wildest dreams the following day. After searching the house, we found a hidden door in her bedroom that opened up to mounds of gold, piles of jewels, and mountains of cash. We took it all and put it into a large trunk and hid it with gentleman's clothing.

Thus, our scheme was made complete. We made several investments to increase profit and keep the money coming in while we lived like kings. We never spoke of Lady Elizabeth again. We both avoided women with black hair and pale skin, but we both did find true ladies of our own and married for genuine love.

Though we never mentioned her out loud, I swear I can still see her lingering in the corner of a dark room, or hear her voice in the middle of a stormy night. I see her occasionally in my dreams, and sometimes, I see her standing behind me in the mirror. I know that her vengeful spirit of evil is out to get me and Lord Tod. And it may be soon that I die an unexpected and gruesome death but until then, I will continue to spend every day thankful that I did not drown in my sleep.