The Tortures And The Trembles

Fear and dismay swirled through Alicia's head as she experienced this.

The ancient tradition of voodoo, which she had previously only read about in myths and folktales, now loomed over her own life.

A chill ran down her spine as she realized that she might experience a fate similar to those sad souls she had read about.

She had read up on voodoo curses and how people could be tortured and controlled without ever coming into contact with each other. Alicia felt a deep sense of fear at the very prospect of becoming entangled in such an evil web.

She felt a spark of defiance within her. Alicia was resolved to find a method to escape the voodoo's impending shadow because she would not accept her lot as a helpless victim. She had yet to discover a lot about whatever this witch was spouting about. They seemed so unbelievable, yet learning about them won't cause her pain. But first of all, she had to find a way to get away from her clutches.

"Oh sisteri ut spiritis! Do mercy upon Pey. Bring thy nuweye upon pey quu um thii."

The sudden voices of the witch's gibberish words brought Alicia out of her reverie of thoughts.

At the loud mutterings she turned to look at the witch, Alicia's gasp resounded throughout the entire room.

She was too terrified to speak after what she saw. Before her eyes, the witch's appearance had significantly changed, no longer resembling the lovely, blue-eyed woman she had known.

The witch, however, no longer reflected the flawless, youthful skin she formerly possessed; instead, her face showed signs of deterioration and distortion.

This must be the witch's true appearance.

She was aware that witches use their black magic to change their appearances into human ones. They'd look nothing but angelic with their young-looking appearance. But in truth, they were the most disgusting-looking creatures one would eye upon.

The more they use their black magic, the more their bodies transform into skin deterioration and an ugly color with too many patches forming on the skin.

She had once come across a book at the public library and had the chance to read about the witches in brief, but the librarian came in time only to grab it and say that the book was forbidden with a pointed look which she still could remember like it had happened yesterday. But even after so many days Alicia never came across that book again. She searched for it in every visit of hers toward the library. She even tried finding for books similar to it but there wasn't any to quench her curiosity about the fictional world.

Cecilia had started her incarnation in an unknown language, perhaps the language of the witches she presumed it to be. But whatever it was, her heart pounded as she knew Cecila was up to no good with the Voodoo doll in her hand and the continuous incantation in her mouth being muttered to no end.

As she continued to do so, the already dim light flickered with the sudden rush of air wooshing from out of nowhere. She wondered if there were any windows or shutters in the room for a possible escape, given that the wind had suddenly come out of nowhere.

The witch had begun to do her work, which meant her life was no longer anything but safe.

Alicia felt her heart pound loudly with fear and dread.

"Have eeye um py poweri quu dwell wayzeth eeye soul."

With that saying, Cecilia glanced at her with her snake-like slit eyes. A creeping smile broadened her ugly, wide lips.

"Now, now, shall we try thissss, huh?" She questioned, her 's' stressed out, having her snake-like tongue peek out of her mouth.

"Don't you worry," she continued to glance at Alicia, "for I'll try from the sss-smallest of all."

She stood up from the stool and placed the voodoo doll over the wooden table, which had a lot of tools on it. She took iron nails from a lot of the things that were there.

Giving one last glance at Alicia, Cecilia muttered something under her breath that Alicia could not hear.

All that filled her ears was the loud pounding of her heartbeat. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Cecilia furiously searching for something, but as soon as she did find it, Alicia's eyes widened in shock.

'Hell! No way, she's going to do that!'

Her mind screamed. She shut her eyes when Cecilia raised the instrument and waved it down at a fast pace toward the newly made Voodoo doll, and she waited for the pain to pass through her. But her wait never came to an end.

Alicia opened her eyes tentatively, confused and anticipating the worst. She frowned even more as she came to realize that Cecilia was no longer in her line of sight. She began to panic and anxiously cut through the dark space for any indication of the witch.

Feeling a slight pain in the middle of her bone, she let out a faint gasp. Her body stiffened only for her to shriek out loud, feeling the sudden sharp pain increase immediately at once. Her painful resonating all around the room.

A searing pain shot through her body. The sharp cracking sound she heard was followed by a sharp pain on her back, as if her whole body were being twisted and squeezed like the dress after its wash.

It sent trembles of terror down her spine. She fisted her palm tightly and forced her hands together as if to break through the steel clutches around her wrist.

Tears slid down her cheeks and fell on the torture bed. There followed a light spark where the little teardrop fell, which went unnoticed. It continued that way for a long period of time. The excruciating pain would have made her almost faint if it weren't for the every crack that went through her body. She felt like her bones were being crushed.

The world around Alicia at that point was a haze of suffering and perplexity. She found it difficult to make sense of what had just transpired as the situation grew out of her hands.

As she lay there, wracked with pain, her earlier determination to escape was thrown to the ground. She wanted to refuse to let this setback break her spirit, but what could she do when there was so much pain running through her body?

Through gritted teeth, she summoned every ounce of strength she had left, vowing to fight back and find a way to break free from this dark ordeal. As she did so, she screamed.

"ARGHHH!!!"

This time, louder than she earlier did with her closed eyes.

Cecilia, who now stood by the little burning of fire and the new voodoo doll she had created clutching in her hands, snapped her eyes wide as she felt the light tremble on the ground.

Her eyes immediately flew through the curtain that hid her from the sight of the elf that was in the clutches of her hand, screaming in agony.

"What the fuck was that?"

The burning coal in the spoon which she had been placing on back of the voodoo doll fell down as she clutched the doll tightly and she slid the curtain aside only to gasp in surprise.