In the Forest of Light and Dark

by Kasniak, Mark

“It’s true. I’ve seen many pictures of you as you grew up in Alabama.” Katelyn said, but then she added, “I think that may have been part of the reason I felt myself subconsciously drawn to you when I saw you sitting there by yourself in the cafeteria. Either that or I’ve just got a soft spot to take pity on friendless dorks.”

  “Hey, well, I don’t know anything about all of that.” I told her now eagerly wanting to change the conversation off of me being a friendless loser. “But, for now, let’s get this little guy’s bed all set up in the garage, and get out of here before my mama or step daddy comes home early.”

  We then left the living room and as we passed through the kitchen, just as we headed out to the garage with the box, blanket, and a saucer of milk I had gathered for the kitten, the phone began to ring. Katelyn looked at me like, Aren’t you going to answer it? And, as if reading her mind, I said, “Let the answering machine get it. We can’t let anyone know were here, remember?” and then after the fourth ring the machine picked up.

  The tape went through its recording of my mama’s voice telling the-would-be-callers that we weren’t home. That was then soon followed by a woman with a somewhat whiny voice beginning to leave her message. If I recall correctly her message went something like this, “Hello, this is Carol Coalaski from the Mount Harrison High School attendance office. I’m calling to inquire about Cera being absent from school today. We will assume that she’s at home sick. But we’ll be expecting her back in school tomorrow unless otherwise informed of her further being absent. If you are unaware of Cera being absence from school today, or have any questions, please give us a call back at…” and then the attendance lady left the number for the school’s attendance office before ending the call.

  “Fuckin’ sweet, that worked out perfectly.” I said to Katelyn right before hitting the erase button on the answering machine. “Well, that covers me with my parents. What are you going to tell yours later when they surely ask you why you weren’t in school today?”

  Katelyn just shrugged at me and said, “I don’t have to tell them anything. Neither of my parents comes home from work until past six. So, I’ll have my call from the attendance office already erased by the time they get home.”

  So much for casting a memory spell on them, I thought.

  We’d then left the kitchen to set up the box for the kitten where we put it tucked away in the far corner of the garage. I then placed the little guy inside where he seemed to take to his new bed right away. After I had watched him curl himself up into a tiny fluffy cotton ball on the blanket he then slowly began to bring down his heavy eyelids.

  While we sat there watching him Katelyn had asked me, “So, what are you going to name him?” to which I responded, “I have no idea.” to which she then said, “How about, Casper?”

  “Casper?” I reiterated giving her an impassive look.

  “Well, yeah, it kind of fits him if you think about it.” She then said with an upward inflection in her voice. “He’s all white, and we found him in a cemetery.”

  “Okay, well, I guess that sorta works. Casper it is then.” I agreed.

  “So what do you want to do now?” Katelyn then asked me.

  “I don’t know.” I responded to her before pausing for a moment. “I was thinking of taking a hike through the forest. I can steal a couple of my step daddy’s beers and we can just hang out there for the day. Besides, it’s probably best if we don’t show ourselves in the village during school hours. I imagine the two of us will stick out like a couple of sore thumbs, and I really don’t want that sort of attention right now, do you?”

  “No, I don’t.” Katelyn agreed now sounding a little abject. “Hey before I forget, do you have any salt?”

  “Um, in the Kitchen, I suppose.” I told her having been a little confused about what it was she was planning to do with it, but then I just went along and got it for her, not asking any questions. Once outside, I watched as she poured out the entire container as she made her way slowly around the border of the property while incoherently babbling something that was inaudible. Damn, this bitch is squirrelly, I thought. But honestly, I kind of found her beliefs interesting. So again, I didn’t say anything. I just hoped that my mama or my step daddy wouldn’t go looking for the missing table salt before I had a chance to replace it.

  Another Kat Accompanies me in the Forest

  To my surprise, Katelyn had decided that hiking was a great idea, and I guess I should have figured as much from the get-go that a witch would like to be close to Mother Nature. Because of everything that I had heard about Wiccans up to that point, was that they had based a good chunk of their religion on the earth and being one with nature. But, for some reason I had given myself the impression that Katelyn wasn’t the sort of girl who’d liked to get down and dirty in the woods. I guess it was her whole Goth get-up and all the needless makeup she wore.

  Before leaving the house I had snatched up a backpack full of my Step Daddy Cade’s Genesee beers that I’d pilfered from the refrigerator in the garage along with a couple of bottles of waters and a bag of trail mix from the kitchen. And as I lifted the items the notion occurred to me that the thought of hanging out on the banks of the Genesee River while drinking a couple of Genny’s actually sounded pretty darn cool, but that thought only lasted up until the moment I’d tasted it though. (Even though I’m from the Deep South where Genesee beer wasn’t sold, I had heard about it several times in the past.)

  But then there was also a part of me that couldn’t help but think, What are we living in a bowling alley? I mean Sheesh. My parents just came into 436K. Can’t they afford to buy a little better brew now? But, I guess some habits are hard to break. Step Daddy Cade had been born and raised on piss water, and from my experience, once you’re hooked on it, it’s for life.

  After gathering supplies we had slipped out through my backyard on our way to the forest and had hugged the river until we came upon that enormous downed oak that I’d been using to cross. Once on the other side, I had stopped for a moment when we’d reached the beginning of the pines to look back in the direction of my house. I then fleetingly thought about the kitten in my garage—Casper. Would he be alright until we got back? I really wasn’t sure, but then I just told myself that I was worrying over nothing, and that he’d probably be asleep most of the time that we were gone.

  We then walked on for a distance along the Mt. Harrison side of the Genesee between the edge of the Pine Barrens and the rocky banks of the river. Eventually, coming up on a small section of the river where the water cascaded over a short waterfall. It was there that we’d decided to stay for a spell (no pun intended) and just enjoy the sunshine along with a few pilsners. I then had handed one to Katelyn and when I had watched her take her first sip I had to laugh at the grimacing face she made.

  “Awe, it’s not so bad.” I said teasing her. “You just got to get used to the good shit. It’s not like that city-slicker crap all ya’ll Yankees drink.”

  Katelyn just smiled back at me and said, “Don’t give me that shit. This stuff is made just a few miles from here, right from that same piss water you see flowing right there.” She then nodded towards the river. “Crap is crap, no matter where you’re from. But, free is free no matter where you’re from too, so I’ll take it.”

  I had smiled at that because I’d liked her philosophy. A moment later, though she then pulled a pack of smokes out from the pocket of her black jeans. “Want one?” she asked me after having lit herself up one.

  “Fuck, yeah,” I said, as I reached up to take one from the pack. “Do you have a smokes connection?” I then asked.

  “Yeah,” She said, letting out a drag. “Billy Lambert. He’s in our grade and works as a cashier during the evening down at the Kwikfill. Billy is one of the few people in our school who I still talk to. He’s also has had a crush on me since the sixth grade. I can get him to do whatever I want really, including selling me smokes.”

  “That’s awesome.” I said excitedly
as I gazed up at her from my place perched upon the bedrock.

  It had been more than a month since I’d moved to Mount Harrison, and I still hadn’t made any connections as to where I could score booze, smokes, or Kush from. And, I knew that dipping into my step daddy’s supply of the first two wasn’t going to last for too much longer. He was cool with me doing it from time to time, and wouldn’t rat me out to my mama, but I knew that bridge would be burned quickly if I did it too much.

  “If you can get smokes than all I’ll need is to find someone who can score me some booze and dope, and I’ll be all set. Hell, I might even be able to make it here after all.” I then said to Katelyn sounding somewhat jubilant.

  “Gotcha covered on one of those too.” she then said as she pulled out a rolled up sandwich baggy from her back pocket that contained what looked like a couple of dime bags worth of weed nestled at its bottom.

  “You’ve got to be kiddin’ me?” I said flabbergasted.

  “What?” she then replied with a mirthful, little giggle. “Witch, remember? Spells, potions, and all that crazy stuff you don’t believe in. When I told you that I worked with all kinds of herbs, you didn’t really think I wouldn’t have this one, did you?”

  “No, I didn’t. And now I’m startin’ to feel sorry for ever havin’ doubted your religion.” I told her being hardly able to contain my giddiness. “Now why don’t you work on a spell for gettin’ me high?”

  After Katelyn had finished rolling us a joint, we sat there passing it back and forth while listening to the sound of the rushing water make its short plunge over the waterfall. It was definitely nice to just relax and feel good for a while.

  “So, what’s your story?” I then asked her suddenly curious about Katelyn’s past and her life growing up in this fucked up village.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “You know... How... How...” I said, stammering as I was doing my best to hold in a lungful of smoke as long as I could. After having finally let it out, the billowing smoke came accompanied by a small cough that I quickly got under control before asking her my question again and passing her back the joint. “You know... How did you get into witchcraft, and how did you meet, my grandmother, and what’s the story with the bitches at school?”

  “I thought you didn’t want to talk about any of that stuff?” Katelyn then asked me sounding a little dismissive, but surely knowing that my curiosity had gotten the better of me.

  I had paused, not saying anything for a moment, mostly because I hadn’t thought of a way of defending my recent line of questions, but then I didn’t have to because she just decided to tell me anyway.

  “Well, I guess your questions are all tied together, actually.” She began as she let smoke freely flow from out her mouth and nose before taking a swig of beer. “Back when I used to be friends with Keri, Laurie, and Hallie.”

  “What! No-way... You were friends with...” I began to say, but had stopped myself mid-sentence confounded by the thought.

  “I sure was.” Katelyn then said with a mirthful smile while looking up at the sun. “And, I was also friends with, Harlin Tapp, Donnie Reese, and Erik Myers at one time too. Them and ninety-nine percent of the rest of the school.”

  “So what happened?” I asked.

  “Your grandmother is what happened.” she then said to my surprise.

  “What do you mean my grandmother is what happened?” I asked, having been perplexed, yet again.

  “Yeah, it was back when we were all freshmen. We used to all hang out together. I was a part of their group or clique. Donnie Reese used to want to fuck me sooo bad too, but I was never going to let him. I would just tease him a little which used to piss him off to no ends.”

  “Wait!” I shouted while putting up my hand. “Are you telling me that you used to go out with Donnie?” I had asked her this as I tried to suss the situation in my head. “Oh, my God,” I then said to her as I began to crack up at the thought. “You little slut, you,”

  “Alright, alright, get it all out now and get it over.” Katelyn then said to me as she began to laugh a little at herself or maybe she was just laughing because I was laughing so hard.

  “Katelyn, the little strumpet,” I then teased her mockingly.

  “Okay, enough, do you wanna hear the story or not?” she chided me.

  “Yes, yes,” I said, still choking back my laugher. “Go on, please. Please, go on.”

  “Well, like I said. It was autumn, and we were all in the ninth grade together. Of course, we had all heard of the stories about Abellona Abbott and the curse that she had put on the village way-back-when. Everybody had, but at the time, none of us believed in that shit. I’m mean, who would?

  “Then that fall about half the school had acutely come down with a mysterious illness that doctors couldn’t diagnose. It had swept through the whole student body in less than a week. I mean it hit like lightning, sending kids to the E.R. in less than a day. So, naturally everyone became worried about just how bad and for how long this particular sickness was going to last for. You might or might not have heard, but this village has had a long, dark history of having a plethora of different exotic illnesses passing through it. Each one taking out a number of kids before it’s finished. Not just stuff like influenza or a case of the runs either. I mean, like weird shit that people just don’t get anymore—Measles, Dysentery, Typhoid, and Scarlet Fever are just a few off the top of my head that I can remember having paid a visit to Mt. Harrison that I’ve been alive for.

  “Well anyways, after several of our fellow students had succumbed to the unknown illness, and after doctors hadn’t come up with any explanation for what it was or for why such other rare diseases kept popping up in Mt. Harrison. The people around here naturally turned to Abellona Abbott and the curse she had put on the village as the culprit. I mean, modern medicine wasn’t helping, so what else did people have to go on, right?

  “Anyway, so the entire school became sick with this terrible influenza that the doctors can’t pin-point. The illness is not like anything they’ve ever seen. Kids are throwing up, shitting themselves, having seizures, hallucinations. Some are even said to have seen Abellona in their delusions. In the end, though, seven kids die of the illness before it finally broke and went away just as fast as it came.”

  “That’s terrible, but how does that tie into my grandmother?” I asked.

  “Relax, I’m getting to that. Let me tell my story you little slattern.” Katelyn then said to me and then she tossed her empty beer can my way so I could put it in my backpack. I then handed her another telling her, “I think we’ve already established here who the local hussy is, haven’t we?”

  “Y’all fixin’ for an ass whoopin’.” she then said, mocking my accent while giving me that telltale smirk of hers. I had found her attempt to sound Southern humorous because she really had no clue as to just how many girls down in New Orleans dressed like her pretending to be vampires in some lame attempt to come off as dark and edgy. But I didn’t say anything about it. She then carried on with her story.

  “So, after the sickness had passed and all the funerals transpired, the whole village was left once again picking up the pieces and asking themselves, “why?” And, with every one of these epidemics. Every time we’d get hit with one bad enough that it would cause the deaths of some of the village children or even the deaths of a few of the adult residence. Everyone would get up-in-arms over your family still living within the confines of Mount Harrison or they’d start blaming Abellona and her curse again. Then, there would always be at least one jackass that would get the rallying cry going to form a mob to try to drive you Barretts out. All because they thought that with your family gone, things around here would naturally be ameliorated somehow, and Abellona Abbott will just go away.”

  “Why? What does my family have to do with any of this?” I asked, feeling a morose now beginning to build up inside of me over Katelyn’s injection of my family into the story.

&n
bsp; “Calm down, I’m getting to that.” she said, waving me off with her right hand, and then she re-lit the joint that had gone out. Which by now was nothing more than a roach at this point. I then watched her take a few weak drags off of what was left of it, and I questioned whether she was even getting any smoke out of it. She then offered it to me, but I turned it down.

  To my surprise though, Katelyn let out a billowing cloud of blue-grey smoke, and in a slightly hoarse voice she said, “Okay, well, the story goes like this. When Abellona Abbott was alive, she had been friends with a girl in the village who was one of your long-distant relatives. (I instantly thought of Emma.) And, I mean this all happened almost three hundred years ago, so...” Katelyn then paused, taking one last drag off the roach before throwing it in the river and beginning again. “So, this girl, your distant relative, hung out with Abellona and some of the other village girls, right? Normal shit. And the girls, they all knew of, and a few of them are said to have had at some point made friends with this old woman named Alcina Wilcott who lived out in the forest.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard of her.” I said recognizing the name. “My mama told me the story of her, and how the jack-offs from the village tormented her and accused her of witchcraft before they eventually burnt her at the stake.”

  “Yeah, that’s her.” Katelyn said agreeing. “The only thing though is... She really was a witch. Not an evil, Cruella Deville type of witch or anything like that, but a witch like me. She was like one of the first Wiccans in this area, a founding father, or a founding mother actually.

  “Well, one day, Abellona gets caught in the woods with Alcina by one of the village boys who had spied on her, and probably jacking off in the bushes. And this was well after Abellona had already been told several times over by her parents and the village leaders to stay away from Alcina. Well, after being caught together Abellona and Alcina were both then arrested and accused of practicing witchcraft and then later blamed for the poor crop yields the villagers had experienced that year. Also, for the deaths of several of the village’s cows, goats, pigs, and whatever other shit they could pile on.”