The Harbinger - Bethany College

Narcissa was born some twenty years ago to a woman and a man. Obviously.
The mother named her ‘Catalina Elaine’… their last name is irrelevant.
Well, little Catalina grew up in a perfect world. Cherished, spoiled,
sheltered… that is, until the happy family moved to a new town… in a
new place… with new and unforeseen dangers.
Catalina went missing around the age of twelve.
Tragic, no?
What the happy family failed to realize, was that the reason the home
they bought was so cheap was that it was adjacent to a stretch of acreage
owned by a proven molester and an -almost- proven killer. The man escaped
the law due to lack of incriminating evidence. Everything had been
circumstantial…
The tabloids had nicknamed the man: Serpent.
Catalina had been playing near the border of the Serpent’s land. All that
was found was a scrap of bright blue fabric from her shirt. No prints, no
scents for the dogs, no blood. Nothing. Just a little patch of cloth.
The family hadn’t been from around those parts and had no idea about
what they lived near. It was rumored that once the authorities gave up the
investigation, both parents were found dead. The mother shot first while
the father then finished himself.
What happened to Catalina?
It’s a shame really. To have wasted such brilliance and innocence.
Catalina was abducted by the Serpent, who… got his name from the fact
that he housed - in a large barn - hundreds of snakes. Many were poisonous,
as Catalina would come to learn.
In the center of the barn, was a large circular pit that was about six or
seven feet deep and about ten feet in diameter. Above the pit was a series
of lights that illumined the whole little display. Catalina learned that her
captor had no need for her to live and that only angered the child. She
vowed not to die and not to give up. Brave, eh?
60