Costly Obsession: Animalize

by Sasha Pruett

  Chapter Twenty One

  A talebearer revealeth secrets:

  Proverbs 11:13

  The lone bulb, naked and neglected, gave the attic a living shadowed feel as it gently swayed to and fro, casting its unearthly yellow glow upon Susanne and the others in their search for the unknown. The three opened box after box, digging through decades of a life now mysterious to each of them. Susie perched on a trunk of clothing, her elbows resting on her knees as she too burrowed through another trunk of her grandmother’s in front of her. The smell of dust irritated the nostrils of the three amateur archaeologists as years and layers of the tiny particles were disturbed and sent drifting through the air.

  Susanne could not help but reminisce as she searched through the things of her cherished grandmother. Each dress that she came upon brought with it another memory, another story, another feeling to mind and this particular trunk held her grandmother’s most delicate and cherished pieces, including her yellowed, but still radiant wedding gown. It wasn’t fancy and it hadn’t a large skirt or long flowing train, but that only added to its charm. It wasn’t ladened with sequins or bead work, only a small amount of delicately hand worked lace and a few pearl buttons down its soft back, but to her its beauty was undeniable and she allowed herself to dream of donning it for Jonathan in a modest ceremony, then proudly displaying it in one of the rooms of their home. She pulled the gown further from the trunk it had been sleeping in for most of its life and heard a thud as the last of the dress lifted free. There, in the bottom of the chest, was a cedar case of considerable size that had been long ago hidden in the folds of her grandmother’s gown.

  Susie carefully placed her treasure aside then bent into the luggage to retrieve what her granny had obviously felt important. Taped to the bottom, was a small key and had it not been carefully stored untouched for so long the tape would have long since lost its grip, losing it forever. The key easily pulled free almost falling into her hand like an offering, as the tape gave up the ghost. It fit perfectly, requiring only a slight jiggle to finally turn full circle and releasing the lock with a soft click.

  She slowly lifted the lid to reveal the objects hidden inside. One by one Susanne cautiously examined the contents of the box. She found a beautifully preserved rose stored in a smaller handmade wooden box that appeared to have been carved especially for her grandmother. Next she noticed a gold compact engraved with the same initials as the rose box, as well as a monogrammed handkerchief made of silk and lace, yellowed and tattered at the edges. Along with these riches rested a small, hand crafted, wooden toy, a well-worn doll, an old bonnet that looked to be for a young lady, a leather bound, well-read Bible with her grandmother’s name imprinted in the bottom corner of the cover, a hunk of fool’s gold, some old faded photos, a few crumbling letters wrapped in a fading pink ribbon, and an old scarf that drew her attention from all else.

  When she drew it from the case she noticed it had been used as a wrap for something far larger and far heavier. The scarf itself was plain, unmarked, and simple, but it was tattered and torn worse than any of the other items it laid with and was covered in spots that had the appearance of blood, dark and foreboding, and eating away at the cloth itself. Carefully Susanne untied the knot in the center of the bundle, peeling back the edges, exposing the secrets it held hidden for a century. Her skin crawled as she gazed at the contents inside: newspaper clippings, a diary, and a strange necklace that made her stomach churn when she touched it.

  The browning newspaper all but crumbled when she handled it even with her gentlest touch. Yet through the fading, broken, and missing edges she recognized each article as the ones that Gary had handed her only moments ago in her living room, plus a few he hadn’t. They were the originals, the first printings of a strange tale that unfolded with each new piece. A story of death, mutilations, missing and partially missing victims, slaughtered cattle and family pets all blamed on bears, wild dogs, even the devil was said to have set foot in the town of Epson. This was it, no matter how bizarre it seemed; these were the answers they had been searching for, “I think I found something.”

  Two heads sprung up from the boxes they had been buried in like bunnies out of a rabbit hole. Their attention aroused; both grateful that it had in fact been Susie that had uncovered the secret that somehow appeared to revolve around the Ashton family line. It had been awkward rifling through her family’s things, almost like grave robbers in the night, it felt as if they were snooping through not only hers, but Frank’s life as well.

  “What is it?”

  “The murders, they’re the same.”

  Confused yet cautious, Gary tread carefully, “What murders Susanne?”

  “The clippings, you know, the ones that you showed me downstairs, they’re here, the originals I mean, here look, and here’s some sort of diary too. I think it might be my grandmother’s.” Susanne offered up her newly found treasures to the men. This was it, here could lay the answers to the deadly riddle plaguing their town. Susanne cautiously opened the leather bound journal as if it was a snake that could strike at any moment. She was unaware of how scared of the antique tome she really was as she read aloud from its thick, crisp, pages, “Here lie the writings of the Gypsy Gristalda....”

  “Who’s Gristalda?” Jonathan had never heard that name from either her or Frank before in all the time that he had been part of their family.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never heard it before.”

  “Susanne, are the entries dated?”

  “It looks like it. The first one is dated May 12th, 1874.”

  “Look ahead, are there any dates that correspond with when the disappearances and deaths from the articles occurred?” Gary hadn’t realized how urgent he had begun to sound, but Susie noticed. She quickly thumbed through the book, trying to be as careful as possible not to damage the delicate pages of history. Especially now that they were so close. Most of the writing was in a language she couldn’t recognize, but it soon turned to English again, and just in time too. She had found the dates they needed and now they would finally find an answer too horrible to believe, too gruesome to think about, and too sad to bear. “Here it is; I’ve found them...”

  October 10th, 1874,

  Dear Friend,

  They are all gone now. I remain the only one. Oh how I wish we had not left Louisiana for other parts north. Because of this journey evil has consumed them, and though I know they are all desperate to know, I dare not tell the towns elders of the demon that destroyed my familia. For in this modern day they no longer believe in the things I know to be true and not only would they laugh at a silly young girl’s ghoulish nightmare and superstitions, but the kindly family that has taken me in would surely turn me from their home. Nowhere would a twelve year old gypsy girl be welcome after telling of demons walking among them.

  October 11th 1874,

  Dear Friend,

  The couple that has taken me in are truly a blessing and has been so wonderful to me, treating me as one of their own, so in this I must be cautious. A young pair, very much encompassed in love, and in great distress, came unto me in privacy late last evening, and the moment I laid my eyes upon the man named Tobias I knew he had the spirit of the wolf within him. They had heard of my familia and believed I had the power to free them of their curse. They begged my aid for he and his future bride, the fair Dianna, but alas I was not completed with my learning before my familia was taken to the world beyond and I do not know the spell that will remove the curse of the beast from poor Tobias’ head. Their pain was so great that I gave them the talisman for protection. It cannot free his spirit, but it shall cage the wolf’s spirit. His body shall be the beasts, but it shall no longer take his mind or his soul. I have sent them away to a place of hiding that even I know not of for the safety of the townsfolk that have become beloved to me.

  This man that has cursed young Tobias must be a strong, powerful, and evil man. I fear him greatly, for there is much hatred and malevolence wit
hin his soul. May the spirits protect me against his darkness.

  To dear Tobias, I hold no hatred; no anger of any kind, for it was not he that slew my familia, but the demon that dwells within him and in turn the man who placed that demon there. I cannot bring my beloveds back, but I can help to free Tobias and Dianna, bringing this man’s reign to an end, so I shall search my grandmother’s grimoire for a cure. They shall not have died in vain. In three days hence I shall meet with Dianna in a secret place under the cover of night, may I be quick in my study.

  October 14th 1874,

  Dear Friend,

  My sorrow is great, for I have searched in vain for a cure to Tobias’ terrible disease and tonight I must meet with the fair Dianna to tell her of my failure. May the spirits guide and protect us all. Evil is on the horizon.

  October 28th 1874,

  Dear Friend,

  It is greatly distressing, they are no more, they are dead. I have failed and now at this time I am unable even to release poor Tobias’ tortured soul. I shall tell you dear friend then I’ll never speak of it again. It shall be buried in my heart alone until it is to be revealed by those yet to come.

  After dusk I warily snuck away to the place I was to join the fair Dianna, but nye did she arrive. Fearful for her, I began walking deeper into yon wilderness in search of her. Upon a small lit shack by the water’s edge I did come, but no soul was within; only evil lingered inside and out. It was the home of the man that the townsfolk call Saul, and inside I came upon his demon book and the curse that he had lain upon poor Tobias’ head.

  While there I heard a noise hence and hid myself beneath his cloak covered alter. Soon he, the man Saul, entered, but he was not alone. In his arms he carried he fair Dianna. He then laid her upon his bed, then bent near her ear and whispered something I could not hear to her and she awoke. They began to argue violently and he slew her, his large hands cutting off her very life as he slowly chocked the spirit from her. I was so filled with terrors that I froze and could not move; I could not save her. So I watched from my hidden place as he drug her still warm soul out into the darkness. When I heeded his footsteps no more I regained myself and crawled from my secret place, snatching his book, but too quickly did he return.

  He raged as he leapt toward me, covered in blood, and so in my panic I hit him. I hit him in the head... with an iron candlestick I retrieved from his alter, and ran into the night. Not knowing these woods I ran until I was soon lost far from home and was not found until many days later when a kindly hunter came upon me and brought me back. I have been fighting the fever ever since.

  As for that dreaded tome, I had hidden it the night of my flight and when I am well again I shall retrieve it from its secret resting place. Then I shall find where Tobias hath concealed himself from the world and release him from his tortured self.

  I have heard reports that they have found my familia and the fair Dianna, along with many other missing souls from the town and farms nearby. Each of their precious bodies slain in pieces, but I know that it was not the Tobias beast that slew Dianna. It was the monster that is Saul, he tore her flesh apart and left it to be discovered as one of the beasts many victims. It is too late to help any of those poor lost souls, but at least I now have the power to free Tobias of the dreaded wolf’s curse, as long as I can reach him in time. As for his grief when he learns of his beloved’s ill fate, that I cannot cure no matter how powerful I am or may become.

  November 10th 1874,

  Dear Friend,

  Today is a day of great joy, yet I cannot entirely feel the happiness that I should on such an occasion. So much has transpired since the fever challenged my life.

  Firstly, I have recovered the secret tome of Saul from its hiding place and set out to discover Tobias’ place of refuge, but alas as I feared I was not swift enough. Only his transformed body, void of its soul, was left as a testament of his suffering. Their sanctuary was well chosen in the rocky caves by the water’s edge. Within the inner sanctum did the young man conceal himself where the only entry to the chamber was too shy for his monstrous demon form to pass beyond; unable to escape his stony prison, unable to harm his beloved Dianna who rested within the outer hollow. It was in this inner cavity he was sealed until he removed the talisman and returned to human form, but out of fear and concern he dared not remove it from his engorged neck, for as I said, it was in this form that I discovered him, having slipped into the world beyond by his unquenched thirst.

  I have been fruitless once again and in this my sorrow is great. I could neither save Tobias and now the truth of my failure shall haunt me the rest of my days. I have failed them all, but I will make sure that no one shall ever fall victim to this evil again, for Tobias, now in death, watches over it, guarding it now and for all eternity. I could not aid him, in truth I have learned that I never could, only the one true God in Heaven could.

  Today I leave the old ways of the master liar for the true ways of the Almighty forever. Today I am adopted, and rightly christened and baptized ‘Tilly Louise Ann May’. I am taking only my knowledge of the medicinal plants into my new life in the hopes that I may aid in the wellbeing of others.

  I pray that someday I have the will and the strength to destroy the grimoire of my gypsy grandmother for it in turn is also as evil as Saul’s malevolent tome, white or black is the same; wrong; only the lie separates them. Evil begets evil; two wrongs truly don’t make a right. Unfortunately as of this moment in my life her book is all that I have left that connects me with my lost familia, and I just cannot bring myself to destroy my last remaining link to my beloved mother... but someday, someday I’ll have to.

  ‘I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

  Romans 8:38 & 39

  Goodbye dear friend, goodbye.