She released a shaky breath into the stagnant, autumn air. Opening heavy eyelids, she glanced around blurily into the hazy atmosphere. Her fingers twitched and her limbs ached, sharp pains ate at her joints from lack of mobility. It was cold, too, and the blood that soaked her clothes, and covered her skin in dark scarlet splotches didn't help much. Some of it could have been her's, but she was fairly certain that it wasn't. She wriggled her ankles and pulled her arms, fighting with her bindings for a long minute. But the ropes wouldn't budge.

Adriane huffed, settling her bare feet down onto the cold marble floor. She squinted into the dark, shadowy images taking shape in the dim light. Pale light streamed threw the tall stained glass windows, casting colourful shapes on the floor.

The church? How fitting. Oh father, forgive me for I have sinned...

Adriane gave a short, noncommittal grunt as she struggled with her bound limbs. With one, forceful jerk of her leg, she had successfully tipped over the chair. With a yelp, she—still attached to the wooden furnishing—came clambering to the ground, shoulder hitting stone with a sharp crack. Adriane choked back a whimper. She had definitely fractured something.

Oh god.

Adriane prayed—not because she believed in any such god, but mostly out of desperation—that Zach would stay away. She couldn't bear to let him see her like this, all bound and broken.

Unless he's into that sort of thing...

He most certainly is not!

Turning her head back towards the windows, she strained her neck to steal a glance at the sky. The setting sun had stained the usually clear azure a striking shade of crimson. In the distance, she could just make out the full moon, beginning its climb towards the heavens. Soon the sun would dip below the horizon, and the world would be plunged into iridescent moonlight. She shuddered at the thought of her own untimely demise.

The faint smell of smoke caught her attention, along with shouts, yells from just beyond the church doors. She could feel the thudding of impatient feet threw the ground. The whole town must have gathered.

They were here to burn a witch. Or a wolf. Only the moon would tell.

I know I really shouldn't be starting a new story, as I'm almost finished "The Course of True Love..." but I had to start this. It started off as just a half-baked idea inspired by a song. I tucked the idea neatly into the far creases of my brain, seemingly never to be touched again. But then I started doing a project yesterday on that same song, and the idea was pulled up to the for-front once more, this time with plot.

This is an AU, based in 17th Century France. I'm doing a lot of research, I want to make this as accurate as possible. The current rating is T, but that may change in the future, depending on how far I decide to take this. I hope you enjoyed reading what little I have here. I had a lot of fun writing it (: