A Witch's Curse (18 page)

“
Maybe I’ll join you then,” Rose said.

Gerdur then sat down across from Whelan, a tumbler full of the brown libation in hand. The olden one abruptly sniffed the drink before taking a long sip.

“
How is it?” Rose asked, trying to make small talk.

“
My dear, this makes me feel better than the day I married the most handsome man in all of Scotland.”

“
Does he live here?” Rose asked with a faint smile.

“
No. I drowned him long ago. Some men are unaware of the proper ways to treat women. You will learn that also as time comes to pass.”

Rose shifted her eyes uncomfortably to the table top. A hearth in the corner became ablaze. She turned around to see if anyone had started it, and discovered there was not a single person there. She shivered, and then faced the ancient witch again.

“
I take it Alexis is the one who told you about my beverage of choice? I will not even touch a drop of anything unless it’s this.”

“
Yes,” Rose said.

“
Harvey used to despise me. I should make people hate me more often, if they send me students with such wonderful peace offerings.” Gerdur then finished the first drink, and reached for the bottle to pour a second. “These are always available in case I should be in the mood, but I run through them rather quickly, if you understand.”

“
Loud and clear,” Rose said. She was glad Gerdur was enjoying the alcohol, for finding the proper fake identification became a surprisingly laborious task.

She waited until the owner of the cabin had been to the bottom of a few more filled tumblers, before finally deciding to ask the question.

“
How did you know my mother?”

Gerdur clicked her tongue and set her drink down, despite not allowing her fingers to uncoil from the cup. She leaned back in her chair.

“
You truly wish to know?”

“
Yes,” Rose said.

“
Me and Hemera were like sisters who were born from separate kindred. Though we did not meet each other until well into womanhood, it was easy to determine the similarities in our very independent upbringings. Our studies in elemental magic ran the same course. The year she became infatuated with water, so did I. When learning to manipulate the flowing of air, I was doing precisely the same thing, only on a different continent. We met our husbands at the same time, and learned concurrently that they were not worthy of us. I killed mine.”

Rose flinched for a second, before trying to push the new fact to the back of her mind.

“
The first time I met your mother was at a Christmas party in the seventies. This was back when I deemed humans to be worth my time. Imagine that! The notion of knowing someone born from the same mold as me did not seem promising then, but that is what happened. We discovered an abundance of mutual reverence for one another after nearly battling. She was with a man I was interested in, but that is a different story. Once we brushed the dust of anger off ourselves, it was all up hill.”

“
What did you do together?” Rose asked. “What did you see in her?”

“
She did not suffer fools gladly,” Gerdur said, a smirk forming. “She was the first enchanter I had ever known who was willing to forsake the rules of Divine Law.”

“
What is that?”

“
It states that if you do something bad, then negative things will befall upon you.”

“
Then it’s karma,” Rose said.

“
Call it what you wish. She was the first one I had ever met who thought magic was a right and not a privilege. It was something one could abuse and do so without any, how do you say, dismal repercussions. Of course she was wrong. Yet this was very appealing to me. Your mother had a reckless tendency towards absolute mayhem that I think of now as being blindly conceited, yet still very admirable for its purity alone.”

Gerdur took another sip and set it down slowly, admiring the liquid in the glass. The golden libation’s scent filled the cabin. She then averted her eyes from the treat and stared at Rose.

“
You asked me what we did. I would answer that by saying there is no short comeback to such an inquiry. We brewed potions together, discovered entire cities that we had never explored before. Many nights we drank this right here, at the nearest pubs. I would be lying if I said I did not respect your mother’s beauty. Her ability to make men fall in love with her over nothing was always a trait I found to be admirable. The subject that always bored her the most was love spells. You can understand why, for she had no use with such summons. Why should she? We still dabbled in things we ought not have.”

“
Like what?” Rose asked.

“
Things we, in all of our knowledge of the Occult, presumed to be myth weren’t.”

“
Such as?”

Gerdur laughed a bit, setting the container on the top of her hand in a moment of buzzed whimsy. “You know that old story of Lucifer being in the company of witches, and usually enjoying it?”

Rose gulped.

“
I think you get the idea.”

“
No, I don’t. Explain.”

“
Since you asked for it.” Gerdur leaned in. “Satan is a real creature, as among us now as the air. His powers are omnipotent, and his reaching across the globe is greater than you can imagine. He has the capability of possessing anyone innocent at any time. This is the reason that when we were in his presence, he could not control us. We were a little too destined for hell already. He could not govern our souls.”

“
You met him.”

“
He didn’t take the presence of a man,” she said. “Yet I refuse to believe that the king of malevolence could ever be a female.”

“
What did he…she, look like?”

“
The body he took was sublime.”

Rose pondered this for a second, before deciding to move onto the next question.

“
Did you ever know that the spells you and my mother may have cast could have caused harm to others?”

“
We wished curses upon many enemies.”

“
I don’t mean like that. I’m talking about bad luck thrown into the lives of ordinary people - ones you may not have even met.”

Gerdur smirked. “I should have known. You’re hardly ever at home, correct?”

Rose nodded.

“
So, I take it you’ve seen your mother’s effect on coming here.”

“
So you knew she was in Lake Pines as well. She brought a curse between me nad her with her. That would be a problem enough, but it‘s effecting everyone who lives here.”

“
Of course. I know a lot of things. I even see your future.”

While Rose was naturally tempted to get onto this subject, she decided to stick to the topic at hand. “That’s great. Yet what I’m wondering is how can I stop the awful events that have been happening within our town since she showed up. Surely there’s a way to prevent it.”

“
You have to forgive-”

“
I know about that already. It’s not possible. I can’t let go of my grudges towards her. I have tried, Gerdur. I’ve even lost sleep over wanting to make myself excuse her, pardon her, let her off. It’s not happening, and the reason for that is simple. I hate her.”

Gerdur took in a deep breath, looking behind her for a second. Rose saw a pair of brightly lit yellow eyes pass the window behind her.

“
It is not possible for me to truly understand how to stop the blight that has been placed at this corner of the earth. It has even hurt me. Two of my wolves have died - one drowned in the lake, and another was killed by a bear. Such ill happenings have never befallen me in such a tranquil place as here. Except for when snotty kids your age come to my door and bark.”

Rose wearyingly leaned back in her chair, trying to let the words sink in. “I thought I heard your pets. Are you one of those crazy old animal hoarders or something?”

“
You do not want to cross me. Because if you do, then you’re also crossing them.”

“
Please help me,” Rose said. “There’s chaos happening out there. Half of my school has burned down since she decided to come here. Everyone is going out of their minds. Innocent people are dying. I know the town means nothing to you, but as you said, there’s already been an adverse reaction in your life because of her. How do you know it won’t escalate and end up doing something worse to all of us?”

“
I don’t have an answer beyond how I know that one way of eliminating the spiritual nuisance is to absolve your mother. However, I do know someone who can help you. Though I must admit that she can only give you eight minutes of her time.”

“
What’s her name?”

Gerdur tilted her head back, a balking smile forming. “Bloody Mary.”

Rose almost rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know you liked bloody mary’s. I thought whiskey was your favorite. I take it you need one to give me the valid name, right?”

She laughed, raising the cup high in the air. “No, although you’re welcome to bring me more of this anytime you want. You can be my best friend if you do that.”

Rose thought, no thank you.

Gerdur continued: “I am deeply puzzled that you have not heard of Mary Worth.”

Rose had recognized the name in a vague way, like she could have read it in one of her books. “Who is she?”

Fulminations formed in the invisible amplitudes outside of the chalet. The sounds of them cracking against wet soil filtered through the walls. Rose cringed at how much light filled the windows with their thrashings. The thunder was far more menacing on this night than any other Rose could bring to mind.

“
You haven’t been invited to many slumber parties in your life, have you, my withered Rose?”

“
I prefer to be around boys,” she said.

“
Bloody Mary Worth is from the other realm, naïve one.”

“
Meaning?”

“
She is not living. She is dead, a ghost. You have to send for her with a beckoning at midnight exactly. All it takes is a mirror and a little knowledge as to how to properly manage her attendance. You need to say her name thirteen times exactly into a reflecting glass darkly. Only you should not do it at home.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because she has a tendency to plague whatever house she is called in. As I said, it is considered a nice trick for bored teenage girls who have nothing better than to antagonize the spirits during a sleep over. Many have paid the price. Some mortals were once young and beautiful, but after meeting Mary, they looked like they had crawled out of a den of barbarians after being tortured for years. You need to go somewhere that cannot be weighed down with negative energy. A cemetery, for example, shan’t be harmed by her making herself known on its grounds, for any necropolis has already had its fair flow of wraithlike specters. She would probably give you much more insight if you were to sit in a mourning chair.”

Rose cringed. She had always seen that stony bench length seat, and had always held out hope for the notion that life would never be so cruel as to force her to one day sit there. She had grown up next to the graveyard for most of her life, and it was never out of the ordinary to see an old woman perched on the stool, crying frenziedly, her tears wetting the evening air as the elderly would place her face in her hands, trying her best to conceal the hysterical weeping from passing walkers.

A part of Rose always wondered what terrible tragedy they might have gone through to render them in this traumatic state. She had never worked up the courage to walk up to them and give the people comfort. Then she would feel selfish for not caring about them enough. A kind of pit of wallowing despair would entrench her on these days.

“
There’s something else I should inform you of. Do not dare mention children to her. A few urban legends speak of how one must say ‘I killed your baby’ in order to make her appear. This is hog wash, and in fact will put you on her bad side, both here and into the next world.”

Rose nodded, looking around and staring at the pitch black night outside. She made the motion to rise, knowing that saying thank you was not on her list of necessary things to do.

“
Oh, and Rose?”

She had reached the door prior to hearing her name called, turning around and staring at the necromancer. Gerdur now seemed to be in the most relaxed state since their meeting had commenced.

“
Do your best to escape your fate of dying at the hands of your mother.” Gerdur then unleashed a fractured and shrieking chortle, revealing teeth which were perfectly white and jagged. The laughter’s piercing noise could have cleaved metal.

Rose ran out of the wooden lodge, leaping over the flight of steps at the bottom of the portico, feeling as if the already hyper boreal air had lowered in its level of coldness. She scrambled across the beach, holding a miniature flashlight in front of her, trying not to trip on anything. The distant snarls from unearthly strays resonated from an unseen beyond. Rose saw multiple pairs of yellow eyes staring at her. These were Gerdur’s pets, and their growls were heard. She walked to the edge of the beach until she was only a few feet away from the azure water, and then turned around to discover that those same golden optical spheres were following her. Feeling a shiver that came on as if it had arrived due to more than just the frigid air, she began walking at a faster pace until she broke out in a run.