The Bathory Curse

by Renee Lake

  “Bunica!” Ruxandra sobbed, “I can’t get away.”

  Nea used her whip and hit the spectral fox hard, while pushing her magic at the creature, it exploded and this time didn’t reform. Nea bent at Ruxandra’s side, “It’s okay, I’m here.” She stroked the girl’s face, kissing her cheek, but Ruxandra felt cold.

  “Draw on your magic dear one, heal yourself.”

  “I can’t.” Ruxandra wept, writhing in pain. Nea flinched as Sabine stabbed at a fox that had been about to jump on her as she treated Ruxandra. They nodded to each other and Sabine went on fighting. Nea gathered Ruxandra in her arms and began to rock her as the green sickness oozed up her leg, turning the skin a deep purple then black, Ruxandra shuddered in pain until she lost consciousness.

  “They are made especially to kill Stregas and Strigoi. Did you not think I would have weapons to kill you? I made you!” Bendis bragged.

  “Don’t you dare take joy in Ruxandra’s pain you bitch,” Stasi spit at the Goddess, dragging Daniela past her towards Nea.

  “Anatolia!” Bendis called for her daughter again, it ended on a wet cough, she hacked up blood into the grass, curling on her side as spasms wracked her body.

  “Yes, mother?” Anatolia made her way to her mother’s side, slowly, her dog right at her heels. She had finally gotten everyone out and it had made her annoyed and tired.

  “Help me,” Bendis begged.

  “How?”

  “If you give me your power, it will heal me.”

  “But leave me mortal, yes? I will age and never take on your mantle.” Anatolia knelt down next to her mother.

  “Who will hold the mantle then, mother?” Anatolia knew the answer, Lagina would be tapped.

  “Someone has to take it, I have to have a daughter to take my place.” Bendis voice was almost gone now, her eyes were dull, cheek bones straining against her skin.

  “And someone will.” Anatolia stood up and walked over to Ruxandra and Nea, giving her mother a cold back to stare at as she died, alone, without anyone paying attention. Just like that, the phantom foxes were gone. Daniela and Stasi were holding off one of the canines together when it disappeared. Daniela felt a lightness fill her soul and the shadows in her mind retreated so far back she could barely feel them.

  “Bendis is dead,” she announced. Mihail and Sabine looked at the corpse of the Goddess; it aged, crumbled and turned to dust before their eyes, sinking into the grass and becoming one with the dirt.

  “Help Mama,” Stasi commanded of her husband and the four of them rushed to Ruxandra’s side.

  The death of her mother felt like a relief to Anatolia. She stood straighter and felt stronger, taking in a deep breath. It was like she was sucking in all her mother’s magic and power. There wasn’t any color, no light, no sounds, to show that the magic and Godhood had been passed over, Anatolia was just suddenly more, like a neon color in a world full of pastels. Fulla became more too, the dog seemed larger and more vibrant, her eyes displaying many emotions and knowledge.

  “Can you save her?” Nea asked the new Goddess.

  “No. My mother’s weapons were too well crafted, disposing of them will be one of the first things I do, nasty creatures, born from her horrible temper.” She bent over and placed her hands on Ruxandra.

  “Is there anything you can do?” Nea had tears in her eyes. Strigoi that had to be killed just simply stopped being, it was part of the deal when they became Strigoi.

  “I can collect her soul and send her to purgatory with the rest of your family. The curse is broken but there is still a link.” Anatolia ran her fingers over Ruxandra’s skin and the girl gave one last shuddering breath before passing on. Nea sobbed, fingers digging into her granddaughter, she continued to rock the girl.

  “I have retracted the punishment on Daniela and the rule about Stregas not being with vampires. I will expect you to continue making Strigoi and managing your other Strega duties, however,” Anatolia told them all. “Nea, it is your job to see your family to their eternal rewards as soon as possible. The insanity will leave them, but the memories will remain until they drink from the river Lethe and are reincarnated. I wish you had more time to mourn Ruxandra, but you do not, duty calls.” Anatolia walked away, calling for Fulla to follow.

  Nea wanted to say, “screw duty,” but she could not, her family was counting on her, had been for all these years.

  “Mother, we will take care of Ruxandra,” Stasi said, coming forward slowly.

  “Yes, we will see she is buried and that her rest is not disturbed,” Mihail agreed.

  “I am going to come with you” Daniela announced into the silence that followed.

  “What? No you’re not! We can finally be a family!” Stasi argued, watching as Mihail lifted Ruxandra into his arms and Sabine helped Nea to stand.

  “We can be a family for years, I need to help grandma with this.” Daniela walked over to her grandma and the two women hugged, “I loved all the gifts.” At her words Nea cried into the girl’s hair for a few seconds.

  “Stasi, everything is going to be fine.” Mihail wanted to hug, kiss and fuck his wife, but it would have to wait. All the happiness, the home coming and the celebration would have to wait until Ruxandra was buried and the Bathory women taken care of.

  “Sure it will be. After we are done with Ruxandra we will go back to the house in New York and eat something, then when Dani and Nea get back you two can begin apologizing to your mum something fierce,” Sabine speared them both with a searing look that made them feel sheepish.

  “Come on grandma, they’re waiting for us,” Daniela said.

  “Yes, they are.”

  Chapter 25

  Daniela and Nea stood in front of the Bathory house in Limbo, for the first time Nea couldn’t hear crying, screaming or the other awful noises that normally came from inside.

  “It’s so quiet,” Daniela said.

  “It’s weird. Come on, we better see what’s going on.” As Nea led the way, she opened the door and stopped, surprise filling her features. Twenty-two Bathory women stood in the entry way, crowding it, silent, eyes wide, staring at each other.

  “Ruxandra.” Nea spotted her granddaughter, the woman came forward and embraced Nea.

  “I got here before you, so far none of them are speaking, except…” The women parted and Jenica came bustling through, she held her hands out to her daughter.

  “You did it, my beautiful girl, you saved us.” She gripped her daughter’s hands.

  “Daniela saved you, she was our curse breaker,” Nea admitted.

  “Grandma, you did all the work,” Daniela blushed, “I just made some tea.”

  “It doesn’t matter, the details, the curse is broken. I felt it lift right through me. The house went silent and Mariska was suddenly speaking to me, clear as day. I went through the door for the first time and the house was airy and bright,” Jenica was gushing, tears streaming down her face.

  “Thank you, Nea.” Mariska came then, she had an arm around Viva, her daughter.

  “I have to help you all now. Ella and I have to help you all find the lives you were meant to live,” Nea explained. At those words, the other Bathory women seemed to wake up, some began to cry, others to quiver uncontrollably, they found their mothers and sisters, there was laughter and hugging. Some couldn’t bear to be touched or even look at those they had wronged and drew within their shells, it was slowly becoming chaos.

  “We need to get them to the river, they need to drink and forget this life and move on to the next,” Nea continued with further details.

  “We’ll help you, Bunica,” Ruxandra said. She, Jenica, Ella and Mariska herded the lost and highly emotional women out the door and down the street. Souls from the other houses in Limbo came to watch them, some with longing, some with envy and many with relief.

  The River Lethe was a slow moving stream, clear and bright, with a cheerful burbling, and when you stared directly into the water you could see thousands of memories
swimming just below the surface.

  “Who wants to go first?” Ella asked the women.

  “I will.” The infamous Elizabeth Bathory stepped forward, looking the way she always had, proud and sure of herself. She strode up to Nea, “thank you for trying to save me,” she said and then knelt down, cupped her hands in the water and began to drink. After a few moments she stood up; her eyes became a foggy glassy color and her mouth turned up into a slight smile. As they watched, her image began to fade away, almost sparkling, until she was gone.

  “What happened to my mother?” Orsolya asked.

  “She was reincarnated. She will now get a chance to live a life free of our curse,” Jenica told them. Orsolya took her sister’s hands and together, Katalin, Anna and she drank from the river.

  “That water looks pretty refreshing to me,” Viva said, through her lipless mouth, making a joke of her burned state.

  “Go, my darling.” Mariska kissed Viva’s cheek and pushed her towards the river.

  “I think so too,” Catharine said, stroking her dried out, parched skin.

  “Yeah, I could use a drink.” Gryzelda’s laugh was dry and Nea remembered finding her dead, killed from exposure. Her heart filled with joy as they each drank from the river and went on to their new lives.

  “I don’t deserve reincarnation, I deserve punishment,” Clara, the baby killer, moaned into her hands.

  “No, you don’t, we deserve forgiveness.” Maragareth put an arm around her.

  “It wasn’t our fault, right Nea?” Beth asked, desperate for clarification that it wasn’t in her real nature to poison people.

  “You do deserve forgiveness and it wasn’t your fault. An angry Goddess cursed our family,” Nea confirmed and watched more of her kin turn into shimmering light and disappear.

  Klara and Zsofia went next after a touching reunion with their mother, Anna. Zsofia begged her daughter to come with her but Borbala refused. She was staring down at her hands clasped in prayer and missed her mother’s transformation into light.

  “I was supposed to die and see God,” Borbala whispered.

  “If you had been a good Christian maybe you would have,” Ruxandra told her. “Now, you have the chance, you don’t want to stay here in Purgatory.”

  “Come on Borbala, I’ll hold your hand,” Jozsa said, even though she could barely look at her own daughters; Agata and Marta.

  Nea sniffed, trying to hold back tears, even as her cheeks hurt from smiling so widely as more members of her family left Limbo; Barbara went next and was pretty brave about it too, since she had died from drowning; Madalina went after that and had to be completely submerged in the water since she was holding her head and couldn’t properly drink.

  “I don’t want you touching me, but I don’t want to go alone,” Agata peeped at her twin through downcast eyes.

  “Hold my hand, even if it is disgusting to you.” Marta reached out, hand in hand they drank together.

  Anna, Elizabeth’s mom, was the last to go, “Nea, I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend, even when I was so horrible,” she said.

  “I love you Anna, you are my family.” Nea hugged her.

  “You tried to do right by me and my girls. I hope that’s something this river doesn’t take from me, the knowledge that someone once loved me enough to spend her whole life trying to help me.” Anna backed away and bent down, she slurped up the river water quickly, like she was worried it would hurt and stayed kneeling as her form wavered and became glittery, then was gone.

  “What’s next?” Daniela asked.

  “I think that is.” Ruxandra, shivered a little, a coldness she wasn’t used to aching her spirit.

  There was a boat coming down the river now and behind it the river turned black and deeper, wider and the water flowed faster. As the boat came to stop beside them, the ground quaked and all five women jumped back as the bank widened and a dock appeared. The river had to be a mile across now. The dark murky water, the new river, had consumed the old and they stood looking at a gentleman in a hooded clock, steering the boat.

  “Ladies, come aboard and I shall take you across the river Styx to your afterlife, if, of course, you have payment,” he chuckled, his voice raspy.

  “Across? There’s nothing across but more Limbo,” Ruxandra said.

  “Is that so?” He pounded his staff against the side of the boat and pointed, what had been barren waste land with more unusual buildings holding souls was now a lush green meadow full of tiny white flowers and there were people waiting on the other side.

  “Magic is so cool,” Daniela whispered.

  “Now, are you coming or not?” He lowered a ramp to the ground

  “Goodbye sweetheart, I don’t know when I will see you again, but I love you.” Jenica threw her arms around Nea, stroking her hair like she had done when she was a little girl.

  “Bye Mama.” Nea tried to hold in her sob, it felt like she was losing her, again.

  “Take good care of your grandma, sweet child.” Jenica withdrew from Nea and kissed Daniela’s forehead and then went to board the boat, “I think I see your father.” Jenica smiled, waving to a figure on the other bank.

  “Thank you. I can go see my husband now and my son,” Mariska smiled, shyly and darted up the ramp.

  “I guess this is goodbye, Bunica.” Ruxandra came to stand in front of her grandmother.

  “I am so sorry it ended like this, I wish there was something I could do.” Nea gripped the other woman’s hand, tightly.

  “There isn’t. I have had a long and good life, longer than it probably should have been. I died helping the one person I have loved most in the whole world. Be happy Bunica.” Ruxandra was openly crying now, which caused Nea’s heart to break, her granddaughter was normally so stoic and calm.

  “I love you,” Nea told her, she clasped her in a firm embrace, taking in her scent and face one last time.

  “Do you think my family will be there? My father and mother? My brothers?” Ruxandra asked quietly.

  “I don’t know about your father, but the rest, for sure.” Nea let her go and gave her a push towards the boat.

  “Come on then, I haven’t got all day, I have other souls waiting for pick up.” The man was gruff, but smiling.

  “Hold on to your breeches, I am coming.” Ruxandra slowly made her way to the boat, she stopped and looked back one more time, waved and then she climbed aboard. The boat took off at a speed Nea didn’t even think was possible and the scary river disappeared behind it and the River Lethe became normal once again.

  “What now?” The question was asked a second time.

  “Now Ella, I guess it’s time for me to give you your 18th birthday present.” Nea took a deep breath and linked an arm through her granddaughter’s.

  Before Daniela could blink, they were standing in front of a large house, two story with the roof supported by columns; there were multiple windows on the upper and lower floors and both the second and first floors had porches. The house was brick and wood, painted a lovely shade of pale yellow with white roof tiles. There were all kinds of plants and trees surrounding the house, the property stretched on several acres and was surrounded by a large iron fence, in the back was a pond. There were lanterns lit everywhere, and string of electric light, the whole place was bright against the dark sky.

  “Where are we?” Daniela asked.

  “We are in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this is our new home,” Nea told her, leading her up the path to the porch.

  “It’s lovely!” Daniela told her.

  “That it is, and the pond is clean and fresh, an underwater spring supplies it and it’s deep enough to swim in and wide enough for a small paddle boat.” Nea stopped before the front door.

  “Why did we move from New York?”

  “Because you could not go to Radcliffe College if you lived in New York.”

  “I couldn’t go to…. Grandma!” Daniela’s eyes became wide.

  “Yes, I am paying for yo
u to attend college, happy birthday.” Nea was glad her day could end in happiness. The night passing and this was what she wanted to remember most.

  “Thank you!” Daniela hugged her grandma.

  “I see you told her without us,” Mihail said stepping from the doorway, Daniela squealed and threw herself at her father, their reunion made Nea’s heart swell.

  “Mama, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for how I acted; we both are, we know you would never hurt us on purpose.” Stasi came out and stood next to her mother.

  “It’s in the past, I don’t want to think about it,” Nea stopped and looked at her children, “what are you wearing?” Mihail was in a one piece short sleeved jumper that ended at his knees, it was black with white stripping, while Stasi was wearing a black swimming cap over her blonde hair and a matching swim suit and bloomers with stockings.

  “We are going to go swimming, join us?” Sabine sauntered out in what Nea could only assume was her underwear.

  “You better put some clothes on!” Nea exclaimed, Mihail covered Daniela’s eyes as the girl began to giggle.

  “Hecate gave it to me before we offed her, it’s called a bikini” Sabine swirled around showing off the vibrant red color.

  “Well, put a robe on, at least to the water front so the neighbors don’t think you’re a whore,” Nea laughed.

  “Darling, who cares, I don’t have to live here, only you do.” Sabine had a towel over one shoulder and began down the path to the pond.

  “Why don’t you go change, Daniela, and meet us in the water.” Stasi nudged her daughter. Daniela sounded like a little girl as she shrieked in joy and took off to find her room.

  “Again, I can’t say I am sorry enough.” Stasi squeezed her mother, feeling like she could breathe again, it was all over, she wished she could curl up against Nea like she had as a little girl and cry in relief.

  “I love you my darling.” Nea stroked her hair, throat tight as she held back tears. She didn’t want to cry anymore. It was so much emotion, happy and sad. She looked over Stasi’s shoulder at Mihail, who simply bowed, they needed no extra words.