Precious Anathema

by T. L. Manning

  “I said, whatever it was that I said or did I am sorry ok?” I smiled more out of disbelief than anything, I certainly wasn’t going to let me guard down with her, and just as I had the thought Xander walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around me, in front of everyone. I wanted to crawl in a hole, but Kali laughed at my pink cheeks and reassured me.

  “Honey, we all know so it’s about time you two became affectionate in front of us.” She winked as Israel took his son’s lead and walked up to my Aunt and pinched her butt. At this point it was clear to me that Selene just needed to get laid, as she groaned and stood up to walk out of the room. Freya stopped her and made her march back in.

  “You young lady still have to get into the circle with Ella.” I sat up straight, shaking my head.

  “No she doesn’t I am sure that we can just assume I have her gifts as well.” With that Selene began to laugh.

  “No one has my gifts; I can guarantee you that the princess certainly can’t do what I can do.” Freya pointed to the middle of the room.

  “Then you have nothing to be afraid of Selene, now let’s get into the circle.” I had no idea what Selene’s gifts could be, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know either. We stood in the middle of the room with everyone around us, I put my hands out and she just stood, glaring at me with her arms held tight at her sides. I spoke before I even realized what I was saying.

  “Stop being a bitch Selene and do it!” I couldn’t take her anymore and the two of us were going to have it out once and for all after this. Her glare deepened but she moved her arms so that I could take her hands, as soon as our fingers touched I heard a gasp and then Selene backed away from me, it was really pissing me off.

  “Stop it Selene, it’s not a big deal just give me your damn hands already!” Trouble with that was it wasn’t just Selene that was in shock, I looked around the room and everyone was staring at me.

  “What?!?” No one would speak, just open mouths and big eyes. Selene ran out of the room, leaving me standing there alone. I suddenly had an image in my brain that she had done something horrible to my face and ran to the large mirror in the dining room, followed by everyone. I turned the corner and screamed.

  “NO, no, no, no-no this is not ok, no no no!” I touched my face, it was me, but it wasn’t me. My reflection was Selene. “What the hell is her gift again?” I couldn’t remember and just started yelling as I pulled on the thick black hair that swept over my shoulders.

  “She can take on the appearance and even capture the personality of another person, and apparently so can you honey.” I couldn’t stop staring at myself, if this is how Selene saw herself she had no idea how beautiful she really was, but I had to snap out of it and get out of this outfit fast.

  “How long does it last, I mean I am not stuck like this am I?” Kali walked over and took my hand.

  “It lasts only as long as you let it, now take a deep breath and close your eyes.” I did as she told me, and when I heard Freya shout out “Hell Yeah!” I knew my red mop had come back to me. Selene had run upstairs, I knew I had to go see her and talk to her. This had to stop; I couldn’t take the animosity between us anymore. I kissed Xander, letting the room fill with light making me blush a whole new shade of embarrassing and as I made my out of the room I thought I saw Israel glare at us, shaking off the paranoia I continued on my way upstairs to make amends. I had no idea what I would say as I approached her door, but I took a deep breath and knocked anyway. She didn’t come to the door, just let out a grunt and I walked inside. She glanced up and then put her head back down on her pillow, this was the first time I had been in her room and it was elegant with a strong stench of arrogance dripping from the velvet drapes.

  “Look, I think we should talk, or fight or scream or something. I don’t want this to keep going.” I sat at the foot of her bed and she picked her chin up, I could see that she had been crying which almost made me dizzy with how real this all was to her.

  “What is this exactly Delilah?” I wasn’t sure how to answer her; I certainly didn’t know what it was and hoped she did.

  “I am new here Selene; you are going to have to tell me what it is.” She took a deep breath but wouldn’t turn to look at me as she spoke.

  “You don’t get it do you? You have no idea what Eris and I have been through, yeah my Mom and Aunt seem great now but when we were younger they were horrible, vindictive sluts and conquered every man they were near. Some were lucky to be single, others had wives and families of their own at home. We were moved from one town to another, the women would form angry mobs knocking at our door.” She wiped her face and sat up to look me in the eye. “I had to pay my dues to earn my place, so did Eris and what did you do?” I was shocked; she didn’t hate me at all.

  “Selene I swear I didn’t know, I have no intention of taking anyone’s place.” She rolled her eyes at me.

  “Don’t you get it you Bitch, you already have. You are the family’s new toy, and since your mother left because her sisters kept fucking her boyfriends and ultimately your Dad while Freya stuck up for them makes it that much worse. They all feel guilty and nothing more.” My Dad, she said my Dad, forgetting the man whore issue that could be discussed later I had to know, how did Selene know anything about my Dad?

  “Do you know who he is Selene?” She stood up and lit a cigarette.

  “Know who?” blowing smoke in my face.

  “My Dad, do you know who he is?” She started to laugh and then stopped.

  “You are kidding right?” I stood up and took the cigarette out of her hand.

  “No, I am not. Do you know him or not?” My whole life had been a lie, why should I think my mother had told me the truth about him?

  “Of course I know him, I can show him to you if you promise not to tell anyone.” I almost cried as I grabbed her in only the second most awkward hug of my life.

  “Selene, you just made my whole life.” She pushed me away and her face became cold.

  “I will get the pictures and sneak them into the basement later tonight, no one will look there, but you have to promise to keep it a secret Ella. No one and I mean no one can know I am doing this.” I nodded and pinky swore, knowing I would tell Xander but that would be ok. I left the room feeling like a million dollar witch, made my way out of the estate and across the garden to tell Xander the great news.

  *

  “I saw it in your eyes Xander, this is not a fling and you know it.” I leaned against the counter in the kitchen and shrugged my shoulders as I stared at the floor to avoid his gaze. “You know that it can’t be more than that son, listen to me I know this is a burden only you have had to carry, but it means our freedom from this prison and you can’t let some screw mess that up!” I raised my eyes slowly, knowing that my reaction would give me away I took a breath and counted to ten.

  “She’s just a screw Dad don’t worry, I keep the dagger close and I will know when to use it.” Clutching the counter behind me I leaned against I prayed I was lying, I was still unsure myself of what would happen when the moment came. I loved her, but I wanted to be free and the closer it came the more I wanted it. Not trusting myself I had locked away my dagger for now, maybe Dad could screw one of them without feeling sorry but I couldn’t. The sky went dark outside the kitchen window and when I saw it I pushed past my father and ran like hell through the field. I had just given myself away and I didn’t care.

  *

  The smell of the roses and lilies swept through the air and I was transformed to a secret, sensual place as I closed my eyes to take it all in around me. The air was crisp, the sun hot on my face and the dark cloud that suddenly blocked the light made me grumpy as I was forced out of my daydream and opened my eyes. Before me was a large black bird, three times the size of myself, I looked up it’s surface and screamed as I came face to face with Cora. I turned to run, but she swung her wing, knocking me to the ground. Lying in the tall grass she moved the ground as she stepped closer to me, I closed my eye
s to make peace with life as I felt breath on the side of my face.

  “You will not destroy me little girl.” A voice so soft and sweet in my ear, I couldn’t believe such a monster could have that inside them. I felt the wind pick up and opened my eyes to see her fly away with a great scream following behind her. I didn’t dare move, had she killed me so quickly I didn’t know I was dead yet? Why would she trap me and then let me go like that? I put my hands over my face as I began to cry, I could hear Xander screaming as he ran to me, and the next voice I heard was almost as shocking as Cora’s had been. Selene had seen the whole thing and screamed as she made her way to me.

  “Ella, oh what the hell was that thing, are you ok?” I sat up with Xander’s help as Selene put her hand on my back to comfort me, I could tell this was not something she was used to as her face distorted and her hand went limp, allowing Xander to take over the part of comforting me. I looked up at both of them and began to explain.

  “That was Cora, and she spoke to me. We have to get Freya right now.” I shook off the fear and we ran into the house, As Xander went back to his to get his father, I couldn’t help but look at Selene with suspicion, this whole afternoon had messed with my head and she was at the top of the list with a question mark. Running through the house, screaming for my Grandmother I wasn’t sure what we could do, what she could do and I had never felt so scared. She came running from a study on the second floor and I ran to her with my arms out.

  “Freya, she caught me in the Garden.” I was crying and talking so fast I could barely understand myself. “Cora was in the garden, she trapped me and could have killed me but she just spoke and flew away.” It was the word spoke that Freya heard the loudest; she pulled me away and looked me in the eye.

  “She spoke, what did she say to you?” I caught my breath and remembered the dark, cold feeling that washed over me as she hovered over my stiff body.

  “She called me a little girl and said that I wouldn’t destroy her, but her voice was sweet and calm when she said it.” Freya’s eyes became large and her hand flew up to her mouth.

  “Delilah, you heard her speak. It was a test, she was testing you.” She grabbed my arm and started to drag me through the hall, screaming for everyone in the house to meet, but then she stopped and held my face in her hands.

  “I am so sorry honey, I had no idea this would happen.”

  TEN

  Sitting on the floor of the main study listening to Freya speak from an old book made me feel more and more nauseous with every spoken word. None of it was good, and all of it was about me. The writings were from a hundred years ago, about the connection between Cora and the one who would break the curse. She would read a passage and then explain it to us; a few paragraphs into the first page I found myself sitting with my knees pulled up into my chest, just rocking back and forth in fear. The words seemed to echo in my head, over and over again.

  “The chosen one will share the most with the castor of the spell, she will have equal amounts of light and dark inside her, she will have to use dark to conquer the tasks, and she will turn dark in the end after taking the curse into her soul so it can die with her.” Everyone stared at me as Freya spoke, I couldn’t stop myself from getting on my feet and running. It was all happening in slow motion, I made it to the doorway before Freya even noticed I was running, I made it outside and ran through the field to the woods, I didn’t care if Cora could see me or not. She had a chance to kill me and for whatever reason she let me go. I ran through the path to the river, I never stopped to catch my breath, I never turned around I just ran, crying and began to scream into the woods. The rain started to come down in a sheet but I never stopped running. The sky turned black and I heard thunder, I shrieked into the woods as loud as I could and I heard the thunder again, it shook the ground as I ran and I fell to my knees. I didn’t get up, the rain pelted my body and the thunder shook my chest as I cried and hid from the world. I heard the rush of water from the river and stood up; I walked slowly to the bank taking off all my clothes as I sobbed. I stood on the bank, naked and soaking in the pelting rain, I heard the scream of Cora in the woods near me and I didn’t fear her, I just closed my eyes and I jumped. I hit the water and the thunder clapped. I went under and wished to stay, to hide, and to be alone with my burden but my body floated to the surface and I heard Cora scream again. She knew where I was, she knew I was alone and yet she didn’t move any closer to me. I took a deep breath, felt the tears dry up and floated in the river, naked and happy. I knew Cora had not gone anywhere, I would hear her scream once in a while, just letting me know that she was watching me. She could watch me all she wanted, the fact was she had a reason to keep me around or she would have killed me when she had the chance, or she would swoop down and kill me now, but she stayed back and I had to find out why. I knew one thing, as long as she was lingering in the tree’s nothing that could hurt me would come within a quarter mile of this place, I stayed in the water for two hours just hiding and clearing my head when I heard a voice above me on the bank yelling. I opened my eyes and then dipped my head under the water realizing I was completely naked in the crystal waters, once again my head popped back up before I was ready and I turned my head to look away from his smile.

  “I knew you would be down here you know.” I knew he couldn’t see my face but I rolled my eyes at him, he thought he knew me so well all ready. I waited to see if he would say anything else, but instead I heard the splash as he jumped into the river behind me. I screamed and started to swim away, splashing at him.

  “Xander, I am naked in here!” I kept splashing and he stopped swimming and started laughing.

  “I know that, the pile of clothes on the bank gave it away but don’t worry I am not naked and I won’t look, well I won’t look much.” I splashed him again but stopped swimming for two reasons. I trusted him, and I heard Cora scream again.

  “Xander, you need to get out of the water. Cora is watching me, she’s been watching me the whole time but hasn’t made a move and I don’t want her to hurt you.” He didn’t stop swimming, he didn’t even look scared as he put his arms around my waist and pulled me close.

  “Delilah, have you forgotten that I am just as much in this curse as you are? She won’t hurt me because she can’t hurt me but I love you for trying to keep me safe.” I couldn’t believe what I had just heard, and the minute it came out of his mouth I waited to see the look of fear wash over him, but it didn’t come, he just smiled at me and as his dimples popped and the sun beat on our skin I squeezed him close with my legs and kissed him so deep and long it actually took my breath away. As we stopped kissing he put his hand to my chin and rubbed it with his thumb. “Delilah I came down here to talk to you about something else though, Since you arrived things are happening and everyone is scared so I know you are, but you need to decide now if you are going through with this or not because it will only get worse the longer it waits and I know that if you chose not to do it you will have to leave, and I hate that but I understand.” I put my arms around his neck and heard Cora one last time in the tree line before I saw a massive wing fly away from us.

  “Xander, what if Cora isn’t as bad as they think she is?” He looked puzzled and worried. “What if she wants the curse broken as badly as everyone else, I mean how did she become the lechuza to begin with? When she spoke to me I didn’t hear evil in her, when she was close to me I could smell her and it was beautiful, not scary.” He looked me in the eye and then backed away a little.

  “Did she do something to you? Why would you think she was good, she has killed so many men Delilah don’t you know that has to be evil?” I wasn’t convinced.

  “How do we know that the men she killed were not the evil ones?” He took a deep breath and pulled me close again.

  “I will give you the benefit of the doubt, when we get out of here we will look up everything we can find on the lechuza and see if we can find names of some of her victims, but if we find nothing you need to get this fantas
y out of your head or it may be what kills you, ok?” I agreed and kissed him again. His body made me tingle all over as the water slapped between our bodies, his sweet breath made me long for more than his kiss, and as I opened my eyes to see his staring back at me I couldn’t stop myself as my hand went under the water. He said he would wait forever if it took that long for me to make the first move, I think we both knew I was too weak to make him wait that long. As my hand touched the band around his boxer briefs he started to push me away.

  “Are you sure honey?” I reached inside and smiled at him. I was more than ready, and he was everything I had ever wanted. We made our way to the bank and became a tangled, sweaty mess as the sun shone brighter and brighter on our bodies while we moved in sync with one another like we had been doing this dance forever, and then the intense heat shone on our bare skin from above us as my toes curled and I called out his name in an explosion of energy, a bolt of lightning struck a tree across the river and we both stopped and then began laughing. He grabbed a fist full of my hair and gently pulled it back exposing my neck, as he leaned in to tease me he whispered in my ear, reminding me that I am still in control of what happens with the two of us.

  “I will have to remember that you do that beautiful.” With a wink of his eye we went from laughter to more burns on our skin in record time. I was completely in love, and whether I moved forward with erasing the curse or not I knew I would always be in love with him. After another hour on the bank of the river we made our way back through the woods, to the clearing where I saw my whole family on the deck of the dining room looking at the sky above us. I turned to look and saw Cora, sitting high on a tree looking back. Not screaming, not trying to hurt anyone, just looking. Xander pulled my arm and we started running through the clearing. Eris and the others were screaming for us to run faster but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She could move at lightning speed, and would have caught us by now if that was her intention; she just sat and watched us run. None of this made any sense to me, why wasn’t she trying to get me, why was everyone so convinced that she was the evil? As we reached the deck Freya hugged us and I turned to see her once more before she outstretched her wings and flew away from us. I was more convinced than ever that she was not evil; she was making sure I made it back ok; she was trying to keep me safe, but safe from what or who?