Prologue

Arianna Flynn reached into the faded white box and tooe out the wedding dress her great- grandmother had worn when she had gotten married.1

She laid it out on her bed and studied it.2

The dress was made for someone with a slight built, not unlike her own. It was made with white satin and covered in black lace. The sleves were long and the neckline scooped low. The bottom half of the dress was long and wide. Sort of like those dresses that wealthy women wore to fancy balls in the 16th century. The train was long and flowing, a good three feet. Arianna turned away from the dress and looked back to the box. She took out the black stockings and black garter belt and laid them next to the dress. Next she took out the red and black lace underwhere and black and red lace corset and laid them beside the dress. She took out the small white healed shoes with black lace covering them and laid those on the floor at the foot of the bed. She stared down at the whole ensamble and felt that there was something missing, so she rummaged around the box more and felt her fingers brush something. She pulled something wrapped in tissue paper out. Arianna slwoly and carefully unwrapped the parcel and gasped. Inside the tissue was a beautiful diamond and black pearl neclace and a pair of matching earrings.3

She gently picked took them out of the tissue and laid them on the dress. Just to make sure she had gotten everything, she felt around the box again and felt nothing. Arianna remembered that there used to be a little veil that went along with it, but her grandma had told her the story of how her mother burned it on accident.4

She sat on the bed, wanting to put on the dress, but afraid to do so at the same time. Arianna could sense something strange about the dress. She knew that her great grandmother had told her daughter that she was a witch, then her great granmother's daughter told her daughter, and she told her daughter, and she had told her daughter, wich happened to be Arianna. But Arianna didn't believe any of it. 5

Her mother had told her that the dress was cursed and if she put it on, she would go back in time to the time of her great grandmother. But Arianna didn't believe any of it.6

So she quicky undressed, sat on the bed and pulled the stockings up her slim, muscled legs. then she pulled the underwhere up her legs and positioned them on her shaply bottom. She picked up the corset and looked at it. It wasn't the lace up kind, it had little buckles in the front. She unbuckled the corset and settled it on her back. She pulled the front together and was surprised to find that it fit her perfectly. She buckled the buckles over her firm, small breasts, then down her flat muscled stomach. She turned back to the bed and gently picked up the dress and lifted it ove rher head. She picked up the shes and one by one put them on her feet. They fit perfectly, also. Lastly, she picket up the neclace and the earrings and out them on too. when she was done, she went and stood in front of her full length mirror. She looked at herself and, not to be conceded, but thought she looked beautiful. The black and white of the dress set of her silver eyes, the sleves molded her arms, as did the dress itself. Her hair was left to fall down her back. The neclace set of the soft elegant curve of her neck and the earrings sparkled at her ears.7

She went to her dresser and opened the top drawer, where she kept her make up and put blood red lipstick on, then shadded her eyelids with silver and black eyeshadow. She lined her eyes with bacl eyeliner and then moved back to the mirror. As soon as she looked herself in the eyes, she became dizzy. Arianna brought her hand up to her forehead to wipe the sweat off. As she did this, she fell backwards. She could feel herself spinning, or maybe it was the room, she thought. As her eyes closed in a faint, she thought, maybe this is what her grandmother ment to happen. Maybe her mother was right. Mybe the dress is cursed. With that last thought, her eyes closed.8