1. A Broken Heart

The night was dark and rainy. There was no moon in the sky, and the stars were hidden by the gray clouds that fell undone over a mostly sleeping city.

The Archer house stood tall at the end of the hill, showing its gloomy face to the peasants that dared to walk in the stormy night.

Inside the house, all of the family members and sleep-in workers had retired for the night and were sleeping, or about to, all of them, except for one, the Archer's only daughter, Annabelle. 

She was definitely not a normal, society lady.

Not that she had weird tastes, or was vicious in any way, her only addiction, as a matter of fact, were books, and more often than not, storytelling and writing, although she hadn't done in a while.

She was a very creative girl, a feature mostly fueled by her mandatory seclusion. Since she was just a kid, she was forbidden to play outside, due to some severe crisis that she started having when she was near her sixth birthday, after one very traumatic day for her parents, where she was found unconscious in the yard of the house by her governess, and the physician had to be called promptly.

She was diagnosed with a very rare heart condition that immediately had as a consequence that she had to be secluded.

No high impact exercise, agitation, or extreme emotions, all of that was forbidden for her by the family physician, doctor Joseph Marsh.

Her father had been looking for "second" opinions, although there have been a dozen more than a second, along the years, waiting for the science to find a cure for her daughter's illness, so she can be free from her birdcage.

Her early years were no longer sunny and playful, most of the time she spent with her governess, being educated, and the rest, either in the big and beautiful playroom her parents conditioned for her to safely play, or in her bedroom.

The playroom was the next door to her room, down the corridor.

There were tea sets and small tea tables, where sometimes the helpers of the house spent time with the little girl on tea parties with her many fictional characters as guests.

The large room was also populated by many teddy bears and dolls, that she didn't enjoy as much, always saying that the dolls were watching her.

Besides that, there was a large bookshelf, filled with a curated collection very well selected by her parents, with all the books she could want to read.

Her usual routine was to take one or two to her room and read in bed. That was her life during her childhood and teen years.

She didn't like to complain, and bravely pulled all of her emotional load on her own, but the more time passed, and the more doctors telling her that she could not be cured, and almost certainly would not live longer than her twentieth birthday, started to erode her soft heart, covering it with a crust of stone, slowly making her bitter and loner.

When our story starts, Annabelle has passed the doctor's estimate and was 25 years-old.

She had gone through so many crises that she was pretty sure she was ready to abandon this world.

She was not really having a life anyway, so she thought any time death wanted to come to pick her up, she was ok with that.

Many bottles of medicines from her cabinet greeted her good morning that day. Her eyes ran through the many names looking for the right remedy for that time of the day.

She took the little bottle, opened and picked one of the small pills, and swallowed without water, leaving the bitter flavor pass through her tongue to the rest of the mouth and throat. She then returned the bottle to where it belonged and turned to go back to her bed, but stopped curious by the window.

The days in London for that fall had been as gray and languid as herself, still, the very pale young woman with black, long, wavy, hair, thick, black eyebrows and large eyelashes stood there, seeing how the sky was getting ready to pour again.

She had a regular discomfort in her chest, so constant she no longer noticed, except for when it became stronger, like that morning near her window.

Her chest started to ache more than usual, her breathing became labored and her head was dizzy.

She had an emergency bell on one of her nightstands, but she was not sure she was going to be able to reach it.

She looked at it holding herself to the window, while her sight became cloudy.

She was not close enough, so had to push herself and tempt her feet to move towards the bed, and remain conscious enough time to get the bell and ring it, so someone could come and help her.

The strong-willed lady put both her hands behind her and used what strength she had left to impulse herself. Her feet weakly responded, and she made it to her bed.

She reached just in time to ring the bell and fall unconscious over the mattress.

She was motionless for about an hour, after which she opened her eyes again.

A very familiar gentleman about five feet and six inches, blue sparkling eyes behind round glasses, gray hair and long beard, was placing instruments back in a black leather handbag while talking to her parents.

The look in all their faces was grim, she thought this time was very close to happening, and wondered, what will they restrict now? What new medication will she have to try now?

As soon as she moved, the three other people in the room stormed towards her as if she had been a porcelain doll that fell from a shelf and they were checking if there was any possible fixing.

She blinked and frowned bothered and the doctor asked her parents to step out of the room for a moment while he checked and talked to her.

"Hello Annabelle, how do you feel now?"

"I could be worse, Dr. Marsh. I could be dead."

"I see. Well, you were close this time, child. Do you remember what you felt before passing out?"

"I remember it hurt more than usual, my vision clouded and I couldn't breathe. I tried to get to the bell, and that's it, then it all went dark."

"How long have you been enclosed in these four walls?"

"Since my last attack, a few months ago, I haven't had much of a will to move around the house, especially not to the gardens, to be very honest with you, Doctor."

"I've heard your parents have a very nice villa in Exeter, and I'm about to recommend them to transfer you there. I consider it the best option for your health, but I also want to know what you think about it, your mood, in this case, will also do a lot for keeping you stable."

"Do you mean, doctor, that I would go to live there permanently?"

"You would go there temporarily, to try to improve your condition. I would recommend a month, at first. If you feel better, yes, it could be extended. If not, you could come back to London whenever you want, after that month."

"It sounds fair enough. I would actually like a change in the ambiance."

"Ok, then it's settled. Let me go talk to your parents."

"Yes. Thank you, doctor Marsh."

The physician left Annabelle's bedside and walked outside the room where her parents were waiting. A few minutes later, Geoffrey and Margaret were getting ready for their trip to their villa the next day.

Packing and sorting, arranging, and leaving orders both to the housekeeper of the house and on their businesses for the time they planned to be absent. Her parents might not be able to be with her the whole time, but at least the first week they were going to take the time and stay.

Before leaving, Joseph Marsh, the renowned physician of London who was the doctor of the Archer family, approached once more to the young woman.

"Annabelle, your parents tell me that you're having problems sleeping. In your condition, your body must get the rest it needs, so can you confirm what they say?"

"Yes, it is true. Most nights I can't get sleepy so I stay up reading. I didn't think it was much of a problem, since I don't really extenuate my body."

"Oh, but you extenuate your mind, don't you? I will recommend a bottle of sleeping pills. Take them every night at eight o'clock."

"Yes doctor, I'll do as you say."

"Good. Very good. I will visit you at least twice in that month, but since I will be far, I'll recommend a colleague that will assist you in case you have an attack, or any kind of emergency, ok?"

"Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate all your help."