Prologue 1 - The Early Years

Gwen Silveroak was an ordinary teenage girl, or so, Doug Brown, insisted.

Doug was a school teacher in Willow Creek. He had had a brief but memorable relationship with Gwen's mother, Arianrhod, some years ago. When he heard that she had passed away, leaving a daughter behind, Doug and his wife Lillian had adopted Gwen.

Gwen enjoyed painting...


... a pastime Lillian, who was a professional painter, encouraged her in.


She also liked to spend a lot of time outdoors... and had what Doug called "a vivid imagination."

That "vivid imagination" made it hard for Gwen when she started at the local high school. Odd, intelligent and prone to outbursts of seemingly random emotion, Gwen didn't fit in. Moreover, she didn't even try. There was one other student she got along with...

Cassandra Goth.

Daughter to aristocratic, mysterious and dark Goth family, Cassandra didn't fit in well with her peers either.


The two became fast friends...


...and as time moved on, more than friends.

After high school came University...

Gwen and Cassie both enrolled in the Fine Arts program, where Gwen pursued her painting and Cassie her music.


Their relationship continued...



... growing deeper and stronger.


Until...

New Years Eve, at the start of their last term. Gwen left Cassie alone at the bar, investigating rumors of a secret society. Cassie didn't speak about what happened that night but afterward something was lodged in her heart, pushing her away from Gwen.

After University, they got an apartment together in the City. Gwen didn't push. She just made sure Cassie knew she was there and accepted her lovers distance. Gwen understood, healing would take time and the willingness to heal. Gwen had time, far more than Cassie understood, and she would be there when Cassie was ready to heal.


Cassie poured her feelings into her music...


... and looked for something, even if only a distraction.