"Daddy! Please don't go!" a young girl with long brown locks and bright hazel eyes begged as she grabbed onto her father. "What if you get hurt?" she asked through her tears. "What about mommy and I?" she asked, desperately trying to keep her father with her.

The father looked down at his daughter. His hazel eyes looking into her matching ones. Her eyes, usually so bright and full of happiness, were now dull and sad as they filled with tears. Like a cup of water about to flow over.

 

He bent down so that he was at eye level with her. He sat a large, coloussed hand atop her brown locks that matched his. "Annabelle," he said in a soft, loving voice.

 

"Daddy," she sniffled as she looked up into his eyes.

 

He smiled at his daughter. His pride and joy and the reason he had to leave. "Don't cry my little Belle," he said as he pulled her close.

 

"But I don't want to lose you." She shuffled closer to father as he held her close to his chest. "I love you daddy," she said in a whimpering plea, and final attempt at begging her father to saty.

 

"Oh, my little Belle," he cooed as he picked her up and rocked her in his strong arms. "I love you so much," he told her as she let her tears fall freely and land on his coat. "You could never lose me."

 

She whimpered smally as he rocked her. She knew, even at the age of only eight years old, that she may never see her father again should he fight. She knew that this could be the last time she ever saw him alive.

 

The father soon stopped rocking his daughter and bent down so that she could stand in front of him once more. "I'll tell you what," he started. He then proceeded to pull a single gold chain with a small locket at the end from around his neck.

"I want you to hold onto this and never let it go," he said as he slipped it around her neck. "Hold onto this until I come home, and when I do, give it back to me."

Annabelle looked at the locket her father had so easily slipped onto her neck as it lay aginst her chest. Her father held her smaller hand in his much bigger one as she spoke, "But, what if you don't come home?"

Her eyes filled with tears once more and a single tear slipped down her father's cheek as he watched his daghter. She didn't want to ever belive that her father, her hero, would never return, but she had to know.

"Then I want you to keep it," he said in a strangled voice. He then looked to his wife, Valary. Her long, blonde hair was pulled back and her vibrant green eyes were clouded with sadness.

"And take care of your mother. Can you do that for me, Belle?" he asked as he looked at his daughter once more.

Annabelle nodded. "Yess daddy," she said in a whimper before her father hugged her once more. He then kissed her forehead before kissing his wife and walking out the door.

Months went by, and still no word of her father. Annabelle was now nine and she had never once taken the locket off.

One day, out of the blue, a knock resounded against the wood door of the house. "I've got it!" Annabelle yelled to her mother, who was currently busy in the kitchen.

Annabelle opened the front door, hoping it was her father surprising her. However, her smile fell when a man, not her father, was standing in the doorway with a solemn smile.

His hair was a chestnut brown and long, as it was pulled back to sit on the nape of his neck. He wore a black cloak, as it was cold out, and his cheeks were a light pink from the crisp wind.

"Hello little one," he said in a warm voice. "May I come in and speak with your mother?" he asked kindly.

Annabelle did nothing but nod. She had a feeling that this was about her father. She knew that it had been months since she or her mother had heard from him and a fear that he was gone never once let them sleep at night.

"Come in," Valary said as she gently led the man toward the fire. "Warm yourself up. Can I get you anything?" she asked, trying to be hospitable.

"No thank you, Mrs. Sanders," he said in a kind voice. "However, I do have some news."

Valary and Annabelle shifted a bit at those words. "Is Matthew alright?" Valary asked, referring to her husband.

"I'm afraid your husband has been killed in the war againt the British," he said in a saddened voice.

Valary gasped and pulled Annabelle to her. However, Annabelle pulled away from her mother and ran to the stairs, where she shed her tears. Her head then snapped up at the sound of her mother's scream. "Mommy!" she yelled as she ran back into the front room.

Annabelle gasped at the sight. The man had her mother by her neck, blood dripping from his mouth as he tossed her mother's lifeless body to the ground. He then made a mad dash for Annabelle.

"No!" she screamed as he grabbed her by her hair. He looked down at the locket around her neck beofre ripping it off and sinking his teeth into her neck much like he did her mother.

Notes

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