Elisa

Elisa moved quickly, before her eldest brother could stop her, and she and Stephen and Jack were halfway down the hill towards the forest when Liam's head popped over the wall. He and George were the most overprotective, after all. What she didn't expect was to see all 9 of the others when they finally made it to the cottage.

"See?" Stephen said, looking smug.

The little place was most definitely creepy. It was made entirely of stone, except for its red, tiled roof, and looked a bit like it was falling apart. The windows were made of such a thick, warped glass that it was impossible to see much inside beyond thick, dark red curtains framing them. The really creepy part, though, began when Stephen strolled forward and took a small folded knife from his pocket, giving his palm a tiny little cut and then pressing it against the door's handle. He gave it a little jiggle, then spat on his pinky finger and jammed it into the keyhole, and the door suddenly obligingly popped open.

The very first thing Elisa noticed was the dead snake nailed to the inside of the door. Stephen's voice was unamused, but still slightly smug as he explained, "If you don't do that weird little ritual, the door won't open, no matter how much you yank on it."

There were also, just as he had described, twelve dead, featherless swans piled in one corner. A large rug covered the floor, and the walls were covered with bookshelves filled with strange books without names on the bindings. Several weird shirts made of feathers were hanging from a line from the ceiling, and in the center of the room sat a cauldron filled with a dark red liquid that looked suspiciously like blood. Although it had looked small from the outside, all twelve of them had no trouble fitting in the space.

"I told you." Stephen said, pulling a flint from his pocket. "Now get out, I've gotta burn this place down before she does something with these weird shirts."

"Wait!" Elisa cried back, grabbing his arm, still unable to believe what she was seeing. "We don't know what this place is or if it really belongs to her."

"Elisa, let go." Stephen insisted, shaking his hand loose, and that was when the first of the sparks began.

"Stephen!" George called, fear evident in his voice. Both of them turned to look at him, then at where he was looking; a small lick of flame had bit the corner of the rug, and was starting to spread across the floor.

"Woah." Stephen said, in alarm. "I didn't even strike the flint, yet!" He seemed more surprised than anyone, and stamped his booted foot on the flames, but instead of going out, they shot across the floor at even greater speed, setting the cauldron boiling and crawling up the curtains covering the windows.

"Everybody out. Now." George demanded, grabbing both Elisa and Benjamin's hands as if they were still small children and dragging them to the door. The door, which Elisa could not recall anyone closing, however, was jammed shut, and no matter how much weight George put against it, it would not open.

Smoke filling the air, the twelve of them began to cough. George continued banging against the door, while Stephen and Liam tried frantically to put out the flames, but the last thing Elisa saw before she lost consciousness was her brothers falling one after another to their knees.

When Elisa awoke, she was lying in her bed with both her father and Morrigan sitting at her bedside. "What happened?" She croaked.

"Elisa!" Her father cried, looking as if he hadn't slept for days and grasping her hands, apparently too shaken for words.

"Father?" She tried, but her voice was scratchy, and she found herself coughing.

"Shh." He soothed, brushing the hair from her forehead.

"You breathed in quite a lot of smoke, dear." Morrigan said, looking worried and also tired. "Don't try to speak too much."

"What happened?" Elisa asked, shakily. "Where- where's George?" He'd be the first one she'd expect by her side, even if he'd gotten hurt in the fire. "And- and Stephen and Benji and Chris? Are they all okay?"

Morrigan's face fell. "I- I'd found this strange cottage in the woods a year ago, and had been visiting to see if I could find the witch who lived there. I eventually figured out how to open it, but I could never catch anyone there. I went again today, and- well, when I saw it was on fire- When I opened the door, you and your brothers were on the floor. I managed to get you out, but when I went back for your brothers… a beam fell from the ceiling and blocked the door. I couldn't get the rest of them out. I'm so sorry, Elisa."

"What?" Elisa asked, in shock, her mind refusing to comprehend what her stepmother was trying to tell her.

"They're all dead, Elisa. Your father's men found their bodies in the wreckage this morning." Morrigan said, refusing to look her in the eye.

Elisa looked over at her father. He was also not looking her in the eye. He held her hand in a death grip, pressing it to his forehead, and she watched his big body shake, though no tears fell from his eyes. Shaking, she stared between them, and then she shouted, "Get out! You're lying. It's just like they said, you're a witch! It's all your fault. Get out, get out! Both of you get out of my room!" She shrieked at them, and when Morrigan wrapped her arms around her in a hug, she screamed and fought and cried until the little bit of voice the fire had left her was gone.