Prologue
-16 Years Ago-
Anna F.
Helga the centuries old hag lived in a hut underneath a blanket of trees. I was with my husband and we had ventured into the forbidden forest with nothing but dread and resolve. Our reason for making this journey was due to my inability to create children. My husband and I had agreed long ago that our lives would never feel whole without a son or daughter to call us mom and dad.
We searched for solutions and found rumors of an old woman with a gift to bless fertility. We had decided to track down this woman. The way I saw it we had no other choice. Before departing an old friend of ours gave us a warning before we began our search. He told us that there would no doubt be price for what we seeked. That it may be more burden than reward.
“Don’t worry, Anna,” My husband said. “If whatever she wants is too much we don’t have to go through with it.”
“I know.”
“There’ll always be more options.”
I gave a tired laugh, “If we had other options we wouldn't be resorting to witchcraft.” My husband, as optimistic as he was, never was very good at lightening the mood. After a few months of travel we had reached the old withered shack housing our only hope. The structure looked to be holding in its last breath, ready to fall apart at any moment, but it stood tall in it's shrivelled looking defiance. My husband knocked three times.
We didn't hear footsteps, but eventually, the door creaked open. A frail raspy voice spoke out, “Who is there?”
I only saw a partial face hidden by the door, but from what I saw the woman looked as old as time. “My name is Anna Foreman. We were told you could help us.”
The door closed shut abruptly! “I can’t help you!” the woman shouted from inside.
My husband knocked again, “Please! We were told you could help us have a child!”
There was an un-ironic pregnant pause. Then the witch spoke softly, “A child you say?” The door swung open and the woman revealed herself to us, “Come in.”
