Chapter 4

One evening, my grandmother sought guidance from a psychic.

During the session, the psychic communicated with the spirits of our ancestors, who conveyed a chilling message: the malevolent forces of the dark realm coveted her soul. The psychic cautioned that when the sinister energy surrounding my mother intensified, she would be at risk of being abducted into their realm.

Then, one day, my grandmother noticed that my mother was acting strangely. Her beauty was slowly fading and knew she had been possessed by evil spirits. They had come to take her away.

She could see the evil in her eyes, and she took her to the psychic to be healed.

The psychic managed to take out the spirit and cautioned my mother about the dreads of the evils lurking around to possess her mortal soul.

It was in the darkest hours of the night that these spirits took bodily control of people unaware of their presence.

Beauty that entranced and enraptured will attract both light and darkness.

Well, my mother’s beauty was incomparable, totally encapsulating, hence, I was sure she would have been the pursuit of the unseen forces that controlled light and darkness.

At the landing of our staircase hung a huge portrait of her as a child.

I often stopped to stare at the large portrait. I looked the same at that age.

Then, as I walked up to my room, I would feel her eyes following me with every step I took. Her eyes were deep and penetrating, and a dazzling green. Like emeralds, they shone under the light.

I was neither scared nor troubled by her watchful eyes. Anyway, her spirit guarded my grandmother and me.

One fine day, when the weather was at its best, so endearing in its touch to my senses, I lingered a little longer at the creek.

I saw my reflection in the clear waters of the creek. The face that stared back at me looked as resplendent as the blue of the pristine waters that flowed there.

That day I thought I smelled the fragrance of the white rose. They captivated my senses like no other.

I knew that I looked beautiful in its surroundings.

I stared at my reflection feeling a sudden glow overcome me.

There was a song in my heart and my feet were nimble and light as I stood upon the soft rocks that surrounded the creek.

I was the happiest at that moment.

Suddenly, I felt a strong breeze brush past me.

I felt myself whirling at its sudden contact with my body. I felt lightheaded and couldn’t stop my head from spinning.

I sat down on a higher rock by the creek and held my head in my hands as a dizzy spell took over.

I heard someone say something and looked up in surprise.

“Who are you?” I asked, a little fearful. The voice was hoarse and unintelligible.

I heard laughter in the background. Echoes of the laughter vibrated throughout the forest.

“Is there someone there?” I asked.

There was no answer and I started sweating profusely. The sweat dripped down my body and wet the ground below. I was terrified.

I tried to stand up when something pushed me back to sit down.

There was something sinister behind its powerful thrust at me.

Then, I heard the voice say with a little more clarity.

“Don’t you know who I am? I have been a haunt to you since you were a child.”

I started trembling. I felt eyes from behind the trees staring hard at me.

“No, I don’t know who you are,” I answered. Trying to be brave, I said, “Why don’t you show yourself to me?”

The laughter turned cynical this time. I took a quick look around.

My head wasn’t spinning as much anymore. That eerie laughter which had first sounded like it came from far away, kept getting closer.

I tried to stand up once more.

I suddenly looked at my reflection in the water and was taken aback to see an old woman standing behind me.

She was the ugliest woman I had ever seen.

She was covered from head to toe in black and wore a hood over her head.

Her wrinkled face had deep lines running down the corners of her mouth, and her eyes were blackened with hatred and animosity. She stared hard at me with those evil eyes, and it made me tremble with unimaginable fear.

I turned to see if there really was someone behind me, however, apart from the trees in the woods, there was nothing.

I heard the leaves moving and a cold chill overcame me. I couldn’t stop trembling and sat down on the rock again.

I stared at the reflection in the water, and that figure was still there.

Suddenly, she smiled. She looked hideous when she smiled. I suppressed a scream.

The smile was so distasteful that I thought her a demon. Her teeth were sharp reminding me of the wolves, and I thought she gnarled when I heard her speak.

“So, my dear beauty, do you recognize me now?”

At that moment, I felt faint and jumped when I felt her old wrinkly hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t understand why she kept asking me if I recognized her. Who was she that I should remember her? Perhaps a devil in the guise of an old woman. She must be if she looked and acted evil!

Her fingers pressed down on my shoulders. My skin burned as her long claw-like nails dug into my flesh and I felt trickles of blood oozing down my shoulder.

Then she did the most revolting thing.

She licked the blood off her fingers.

I stared at her, shocked beyond words and sat rooted on the rock. Tears flowed down my face and she tried to touch them.

“Tears!” her voice crackled as she said the word.

“Ah, yes, they are for the soft-hearted, are they?” Her ugly laughter rang out and echoed eerily across the forest.

The birds perched on the trees nearby flew away in fright.

Her crackled voice tormented even the creatures of the forest.

“I have the means to let the wild beasts that await a feast like you have their way.

Though, a little game I have planned for you is far better.

I have waited for a long time to get you, my little beauty. Do you still not know who I am? Well, let me tell you, then?”

The woman’s glee was unmistakable that she had me cornered like a caged animal.

I was once a beautiful princess who ruled over this forest, the most beautiful creature in the entire kingdom.”

As the words slipped out of her mouth, a wolf howled close by.

The wrinkled woman let out an eerie cry in answer to the wolf. I felt my whole body stiffen. The fear that overtook my body was inexplicable.

There were blood stains on her uneven teeth.

I cringed and let out a whimper at the gory sight of the hideous woman.

She stopped talking and glared at me, her eyes angry and frighteningly red. They were bloodshot and the veins stood out.

Then, she smiled at me.

As in sudden greed, she started touching the blood on my shoulder and slurping it off her fingers.

Her thirst seemed unquenchable, as she tasted the blood.

I grimaced, tears falling silently as the agony in my shoulders intensified. The blood continued to trickle down my body, and I feared it would swiftly deplete my body of life.

My eyes stayed glued at her reflection on the water when to my amazement, I saw her transform into the most beautiful young woman I had ever seen.

I couldn’t believe how exquisitely beautiful she looked.

Light radiated all around her and in her hand, she held a golden wand. Her black robe had changed into a purple and red gown with a golden hemline running down the centre.

She wore a small crown of rubies on her head and her long cascading hair fell to her waist. The colour was jet black, and the shiniest you have ever seen.

Her face was as translucent as the clear waters that ran down the creek, and her ugly eyes transformed into stunning crystal blue orbs.

Her laughter rang out like a melody, pure and sweet, filling the air with joy. As the sound drifted through the surroundings, the birds, startled by her beauty and voice, returned to perch on the trees. The air in the forest turned to one of serenity and delight, as nature responded to the infectious happiness that filled the air.

She was finally released from a dark spell.

And who was I? I was the maiden whose blood she drank, so that she could be released from the spell.