by Ayse Hafiza
‘If you give her everything she wants she will win. You must find a way to finish the curse.’
He heard their words and he asked how. Then he heard an old voice, it sounded far away, he needed to strain to hear. It demanded attention, but because it was being drowned out he couldn’t hear it clearly, it was delicate like a single flute being played in an orchestra with loud crashing drums next to it.
Frank strained further to hear the words.
‘
The mirror was forged by the Oban Coven with the agreement of the Hamilton coven. In our day we considered it a blessing because it kept the master or priestess focused on the job of leading, a safe vault to store their beloved. Only later generations considered it a curse. The mirror thinks it is ridding the world of evil, but it does not realize that its origins are from an evil pact of which the Hamiltons are party. The mirror will lose power once it knows that the Hamiltons withdraw their pledge to it.’
Straining his ear further the words muffled themselves as if he was trying to listen underwater.
When he opened his eyes, he looked at Mrs. Boswell to see if she heard it too. She didn’t, the voice told him more than anyone else previously had, it had given him hope.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
“What?”
“This mirror was made by an alliance between the Hamiltons and Obans, an evil pact. It was given power to push the leaders of the clan to lead and not be distracted. If the Hamiltons withdraw their pledge, it will lose power.”
Mrs. Boswell jaw dropped open, none of them had ever understood that about the mirror.
Frank brought the book down from his room and sat with Mrs. Boswell in the lounge going through each page, they searched for answers. Instead of looking for spells or incantations to fight they had a new focus. How could they show the mirror that the Hamiltons were no longer in support of it, and therefore rid themselves of a curse that had plagued them for centuries?
He had his cup of tea in his hand and watched while Sophie washed up Nevaeh’s breakfast plate. Her blonde hair reflected the sunlight spilling in through the kitchen window. He allowed himself to admire her from behind, and he wondered what she would say if she caught glimpses of the ghost scullery maids as they moved around the house often in the same places as her.
Sophie suddenly jolted and the plate slipped and broke in the sink. As soon as he heard the crack, Frank was on his feet and by her side.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” he said searching her face for signs of pain.
She looked at him with a smile, “The baby kicked.” She took his hand in her soapy one and held it against her developing bump. Frank was confused until he felt the pressure, his eyes widened.
“It kicked!” he said with wonder in his eyes.
Realizing that he was repeating himself. He lent in and kissed her fully on the lips. His eyes filled with love, and he knew more than anything else that he needed to protect her. Sophie would need all of him, and anything that he could offer.
“Ahem,” came the sound from the kitchen doorway. They both took a deep breath and saw Roger.
“So that’s the baby’s father. If I hadn’t stopped drinking I could have easily believed it was mine, until now.”
He stepped into the room and put his coffee cup on the kitchen table.
They looked at him, Frank couldn’t have cared less. Sophie could sleep with whomever she wanted, they were both adults and neither of them needed to justify themselves. Most of the work had been done around the house, and soon a baby was going to join them, he didn’t care about Roger living with them.
Roger turned and walked out, Sophie started after him until Frank caught her by the wrist. He pulled her back into his embrace and kissed her again.
Later that same day they stood at the jetty watching Roger board the boat to take him back to the mainland. So, what if he wanted to leave, the choice was his. Frank was making Sophie his woman, they were having a child together and Roger didn’t fit into Frank’s image of domestic bliss.
At night Frank lay in his bed glancing at the mirror in the moonlight. He felt foolish as he considered all that he had given up to be with a woman he had only met a couple of times. He thought about Jane as being his ex-girlfriend as she had agreed to go with him for a drink. But that was it, he hadn’t really known her. He certainly hadn’t slept with her, she had never given him a child and on this island, two women were doing that. He felt foolish for spending years and years thinking about her, setting her up on a pedestal and more so believing that he couldn’t be happy without her when all along there had been other women to discover. Had he really wasted twenty years of his life on a woman that the Priestess of the Oban clan had stolen away? He had only listened to legends of the mirror from his mother, but she had never been able to uncover as much as he had. She had never been known as Priestess of the Hamilton Coven as far as he knew. What if Jane hadn’t been the love of his life, what if that was something they just said to make you feel the loss more keenly. Frank had almost lost the chance of fatherhood because he had let the mirror’s legend influence every decision he ever made. It had dominated him, and now he was aware.
He was so comfortable in the bed and so grateful for it. The years he had spent sleeping on pieces of cardboard with physical threats to his safety and all because he had listened to a legend and believed that he couldn’t shape its outcome. Although he promised the mirror something, it sure as hell didn’t mean that he would keep his promise, especially not when half the magic exercised by the mirror was that of his own clan. He was living in fear for no reason whatsoever. Frank was determined to put a stop to it all, and most definitely before both babies came. He needed to protect his women. As a man that was his job.
When dawn came, he gathered all the Islanders under the fig tree in the back garden.
“The mirror and its legend were formed of an evil pact between the houses of Hamilton and Oban. Originally seen as a blessing and vault to keep those we loved. Unfortunately, the ancestors took the secret of how to unlock the vault with them to their graves. Since early in its existence the mirror became a curse. We’ve lived with its plague for centuries,” Frank announced.
They listened to his words, as he shared what was on his mind. They had all been impacted by the fever that swept the Isle and they knew the touch of the mirror’s magic. They were in fear of the Priestess of the Oban, so they hung on his words waiting to hear their coven master’s plan.
“I say we reverse the curse and send it back to the house of Oban.”
The Islanders cheered. Frank shook hands with them at the end of the meeting, and parents introduced their single daughters to him, he knew that similarly to Audrey they wanted him to gift their daughters too. But two women having a child of his was one more than enough.
Mrs. Boswell stayed in the garden after the others went home.
“So, we’re going to find scouts to investigate their bloodline, and once we have a scent of it, we will be able to find a relative to attach it to,” Frank said.
“You know Frank that is an inspired plan, I’m so glad that Audrey’s child will have your brains,” said Mrs. Boswell.
He stopped dead in his tracks, the old woman knew. He looked at her, waiting for a huge slap to land on his face but it didn’t. Instead, she looked over at Sophie who stood by the kitchen window surprised to see the village congregated in the back garden in the early morning.
Mrs. Boswell looked at her then tapped her nose with her index finger. Frank felt the air from his lungs escape.
“Please don’t tell her. She doesn’t understand the concept of bestowing gifts.”
The older woman nodded, and again Frank found a partner in his conspiracy.
“I don’t think she would call it bestowing gifts,” chuckled the elder woman.
Frank laughed along with her. If this had been a year ago neither would he, besides he was getting comfortable with being a cheat. It was easy when he was
Master of the Coven. He had shaken hands with each of the villagers as they left and when the last of them was gone, he walked back toward the house.
Sophie was still in the kitchen and as he stepped in. He almost froze when he saw Nevaeh walk into the kitchen followed closely by Heaven. Frank wasn’t sure the little girl was unaware of her twin.
“I didn’t realize that you were having a party,” said Sophie.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. The Islanders have a ritual around the tree, it’s part of their traditions. Mrs. Boswell asked me late last night,” his voice trailed.
He turned to look at her, she said nothing and continued preparing breakfast. Frank didn’t like lying to her, but what he did in the garden of his own home wasn’t anyone's business.
14
The Nightmare
Frank was in bed thinking about his plans when he heard a soft knock on the door. Expecting it to be Sophie he leaped out of bed with a smile on his face. Maybe she had an itch that only he could scratch? Since Roger had left, they had been less cautious, and usually when Nevaeh had been sleeping Sophie would creep along the corridor to his room.
Frank opened the door already excited, but it was Nevaeh who stood outside.
“Mommy asked me to call you,” she sounded worried.
Frank immediately put on his dressing gown and headed straight to her room. Sophie was panting with her hands cradling her lower back. Rivers of sweat had caused her nightdress to stick to her swollen body.
Nevaeh sat back on the bed watching, she looked afraid.
“Soph, what’s happening?” he asked as he entered the room.
“I’m having a baby stupid,” she said between labored breaths.
“We need to call Mrs. Boswell and get the midwife here, and we should get you a glass of water too.”
He didn’t move closer to her, he could see the wild look in her eye. He held out his hand and she clutched it, holding it with a strength that surprised him.
“Arrgghhh!” she screamed throwing her back. Her hand held his like a vice. He felt as if his knuckles would burst out of his skin. She doubled over then straightened herself, fluid started to run along the inside of her leg leaving a sparkling trail on the wooden floorboards. Frank was now panicking, he had never seen this before. He had never seen the strength a woman could possess. It was majestic but scary. As he held her hand, he was forced to pace with her, and when she stopped with a labored breath he didn’t know how he could help. All he wanted to do was hold her and try to take the pain away.
He occasionally would ask her to sit down, or even lay down but every time he suggested it, she held his hand tighter.
“I. . .need. . .to. . .pace,” she spat at him through gritted teeth.
He felt his heart racing and the glass of water that Nevaeh brought was ignored. Frank was flapping. He knew it. There was nothing useful that he could say or do, and he felt helpless that he couldn’t take away her pain. He couldn’t even touch her. She held onto his hand, and he knew by the time she let go that there would be a thick purple bruise, but he didn’t care. He would let her bruise any part of him with the life that her body was about to expel.
“I need to go and call Mrs. Boswell,” he said eagerly. “We need to get the midwife here. Will you be okay here on your own for half an hour?”
Sophie nodded, but Nevaeh looked scared. One day he would explain to her that this was the way in which she too entered the world, but today was not that day. He went to his room and quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a jumper, he came back into her bedroom to let her know he was about to go.
“Hurry Frank!” Sophie said.
He turned and ran to the stairs, sprinting down them and as he made his way down he wasn't cognizant of how cold it was and how the temperature had dropped. He thought nothing of it until he saw the demonic maid waiting at the foot of the stairs. Stepping forward so that the dark corners of the hall no longer hid her. He was determined not to stop so he continued downstairs willing himself to push through her. But she surprised him when she breezed past him, going up as he was coming down. Frank turned and tried to take a step up behind her, with her on the loose he didn’t want to leave the house and leave the girls here alone.
He didn’t want the demonic maid anywhere near Sophie. He took a step back upstairs, then he felt a pull on his arm, Jane was holding him. She was not in the mirror she was standing next to him. Nothing about her was any different to how he remembered her. Wrapping her body around him, on the stair she held him in place. Part of his brain wanted to throw her off, push her to one side, discard the memory and get back to Sophie.
“Argh!” Sophie screamed aloud.
Frank tried to push Jane away and take another step, but she wouldn’t let go. Jane was stronger than she looked, holding him at the bottom of the stairs like a heavy anchor of a ship. He turned to face her, her eyes glinted like those of a mad woman.
How was she here, she wasn’t dead or a ghost? But she was here in the flesh, even though she was deathly cold, and she was holding him firmly in place, rooting him to the spot. He tried to shake the top part of his body free and use the banister and his upper body strength to pull himself back upstairs to Sophie.
Panic was rising fast inside, he would have vomited if he could, but her hands were all over him, she was far more powerful than her slight frame suggested. His upper body started to become paralyzed, he couldn’t move his entire body felt like stone, and as he tried to take another step, he failed.
“I’m sorry Soph,” he whispered, the words sounded like a gargle as his voice box froze. Frank was stuck on the bottom step and Jane had held him in place, not let him go back to her. The familiar scent of Jane’s skin drifted under his nose, she leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth. It didn’t feel nice, it was more like payback. It was their shared kiss that had condemned her to live a life in the mirror, but she was also now doing something to condemn him. He could feel it. Terrorized he didn’t feel the warmth that he once had, he felt only terror and revenge from her touch.
A smile broke then across her face, the same demonic smile that he had seen from the maid and he watched in horror as it crept up to the apples of her cheeks. Frank had spent years pining for this woman, and now for the first time, he considered that maybe being trapped there had driven her mad.
“Argh,” a final painful scream sounded and then there was silence. Frank could hear footsteps along the hall above. His heart raced as he felt the temperature drop further. He could only see from his peripheral vision, so it was only when the demonic maid came into view that he saw she held Nevaeh by the shoulder, and in Nevaeh’s arms was a small bloody baby that was crying loudly. Frank knew that was his child. He wanted to call out to Nevaeh, to beg her to protect her baby sibling but he couldn’t even move his mouth. They came to stand in front of him, and Nevaeh passed the child across into the arms of the demonic maid. The baby continued to cry and all Frank wanted to do was reach out and grasp it, hold it, kiss it, and protect it. He wanted to do everything that a father should. The maid raised it to her breast, exposing her dry gray skin and let the baby suck on her when the child pulled on her nipple, its face grew dark with the negative energy that it imbibed.
He desperately wanted to look away, but Frank could see the demon was poisoning his baby. He would rather have the child die than to see it become one of the followers of the Priestess of Oban. As he pushed against the forces that kept him pinned in place, he could see the blue veins in his child's face become engorge and darken. As something evil from beyond was being passed to his child. Then the maid held the child to her shoulder and winded it. All playing out while Nevaeh watched.
Lowering the child, she brought it face to face with Frank. It was the first time that he had seen the child’s face, it had black eyes like the ghost of his mom. The child vomited its poison into Frank’s open mouth and he felt himself jolt. He wanted to scream, to leave, to stop her. But she was making it clear to him tha
t she would own his baby.
Fear and desperation grew inside him, he couldn’t protect what belonged to him. The little human that he had made with Sophie was going to get infected by her, diseased by the Priestess. Her message was clear and received.
Frank knew that they needed to run away. He would stop at nothing to save the babies future. Between them, the four beings turned their backs on him. The demonic maid, his baby, Nevaeh and Jane all walked upstairs. A paralyzed Frank watched them leave him. He wanted to fight, but he couldn’t move.
He woke in bed and a rush of relief flooded his senses, he kissed the pillow and sheets, it had just been a dream. The huge surge of relief he felt when he went into the hall to find Sophie there and still pregnant was unmistakable. Although, he didn’t trust the way that Nevaeh was looking at him. He didn’t feel comfortable with her, he wondered if she had been able to tap into his nightmare or what role the witch was making her play.
He paused on the bottom stair, and looked at the banister, at where he had gripped it during his nightmare, and although he wanted to, he didn’t dare put himself in the same position as he had been in his dream, that would have been tempting fate.
He watched mother and daughter move around the kitchen. He sat with his tea and looked at Sophie’s pregnant belly, she wasn’t ready to have the baby not yet, it would be too small if it happened now. He shuddered as he remembered his dream, it had all been so real, it scared him. He cleared his throat.
“I was thinking,” he announced.
“About what?” Sophie asked resting her palm on the kitchen countertop.
“About this pregnancy and how far we are from any hospital or people that can help.”
“Oh?” said Sophie, urging him to continue.
Even Nevaeh stopped playing to listened.
“I would feel so much happier if you had the baby on the mainland,” said Frank, trying to keep the panic out of his voice and make sure that he sounded reasonable. “I think it would be sensible to have the baby in a city. . .you know where there is better help.”