Prologue: What Happened Before?
Under the glow of a luminous full moon, two tiny figures with fiery red curls dashed breathlessly between towering, moss-draped trees in the dense Appalachian Forest. Little Martha, despite being only slightly older, gripped her sister Maisie's hand protectively as they ran along the rugged, leaf-strewn path.
"Come on, Bunny!" Martha urged, her voice steady despite her fear as she pulled her smaller sister forward. "Keep running!"
Around their necks, identical silver pendants swung wildly—simple chains holding small rectangular bars engraved with "Martha" and "Maisie," each letter catching the moonlight.
"Scared, Honey," Maisie whimpered, clutching a battered stuffed rabbit to her chest.
Martha, gripping a worn stuffed bear, wrapped her free arm around her sister. "We find water," she declared with determination beyond her years. "We be safe there."
A sharp crunching noise echoed behind them. Both girls froze before Martha grabbed Maisie's hand again, pulling her forward as their small feet pounded against the forest floor.
Hidden in the shadows of a gnarled oak, a pale figure observed their flight. Ronald—not yet the spray tanned caricature he would become, but already calculating and cruel—wore an elaborate velvet cape. His cold eyes followed the children with predatory interest.
"Let them run," he murmured. "The little witch twins will lead us right to it."
High above, Bartholomew the bat—Bartie—watched with growing unease. His sleek black fur and refined British accent set him apart as he whispered, "Oh dear, this is becoming rather unsavory." He had been following Ronald as part of his vampire surveillance duties, but something about this felt... wrong.
When the girls burst into a clearing, three vampires materialized from the gloom, blocking their path to the distant sound of rushing water.
"Well, well," hissed one vampire, revealing glistening fangs. "What have we here?"
Martha immediately shoved Maisie behind her small but fierce frame. "Run, Bunny!" she commanded, trying to shield her sister as she looked for an escape route.
In the ensuing chaos, one vampire lunged forward. Martha threw herself at him, her stuffed bear flying from her grasp as she fought to protect Maisie. "RUN!" she screamed with all her might.
But as Maisie turned to flee, another vampire snatched her up, his cold hands silencing her terrified cries. "I did it. I got the one. This one. This is all we need," Ronald grinned, pointing dramatically at the captured Maisie. "Put that one down," he commanded sharply, gesturing at Martha. He looked at the underling who had moved toward the other girl in disgust. "What are you doing with that child? I said we only need one! Do you think I'm running some sort of orphanage? One witch, one victory, one Ronald being tremendously successful!"
The other vampire dropped Martha.
"NO! BUNNY!" Martha shrieked, launching herself toward her captured sister, but a third vampire blocked her path.
Ronald dramatically pulled a small pouch from his cape with a theatrical flourish, holding it aloft like a prized trophy. "This should make things... cleaner," he declared with smug satisfaction, his voice dripping with self-congratulation. "Behold! Ronald's proprietary memory modification powder! Patent pending!" He threw a handful of glittering dust into the air with the grandiose gesture of a magician completing his greatest trick. "I really am tremendously brilliant at this villain business!"
The sparkling powder settled over both girls like a malevolent snow. Martha's desperate struggles slowed as confusion clouded her eyes. Maisie went limp in the vampire's arms, her memories beginning to dissolve like morning mist.
"The dust will ensure they forget each other completely," Ronald announced proudly to his minions. "The one we're taking won't remember her sister, and the one left behind won't remember being a twin. No witnesses, no leads, no competition! I really am tremendously clever."
As the magical dust worked its cruel magic, Martha collapsed to the forest floor, her mind emptying of everything except a strange, inexplicable ache and the fading echo of a word: "Bunny."
From his perch high above, Bartie watched in horror. Something twisted in his chest—a feeling he'd never experienced before. This wasn't vampire business or surveillance duty. This was... wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong.
"Good Lord," he whispered to himself, his refined accent trembling with newfound resolve. "I can't simply observe this atrocity. That poor child..." He looked at the unconscious Maisie being carried away. "Right then. I suppose this is the moment Idiscover whether I'm truly just a vampire's lackey, or if there's a hero buried somewhere in this furry exterior."
With that declaration, Bartie silently swooped after the departing vampires, no longer a mere observer but a determined protector-in-waiting.
From the edge of the clearing, Leahnora Loveridge emerged, drawn by the disturbance. She found Martha lying unconscious among the fallen leaves, the stuffed rabbit that had been Maisie's clutched in her small arms alongside her own bear.
"Oh, little one," Leahnora whispered, gathering the child gently. She could sense the residual magic of the forgetting dust, the cruel emptiness where memories of a beloved sister should be. "Let's find you a safe home."
She carried Martha toward Cauldron Falls, toward the Victorian house where Rhoda and Edgar Hadwin awaited. In time, they would know her simply as "Honey"—never knowing she had once been half of a whole.
High above, the promise of a future blood moon lingered—a harbinger that one day, the separated twins might find each other again. Until then, their paths would diverge: one sheltered in Cauldron Falls' heart, the other held captive by vampires, both carrying only the faintest echo of what they had lost.
The forgetting dust had done its work, and the long journey toward reunion had begun.
As before, the iron gates creaked open on their own as Honey approached the imposing estate alone. Leahnora met her at the door, an inscrutable smile playing about her blood-red lips.
