GLIMMER AND DECAY [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 9

THE WITCH'S LAUGH FILLED her eardrums. Graciella was still terrified of what she had witnessed: Arianna leaving her alone in the woods with the old hag dragging her towards the small room.

The witch noticed her behavior and made fun of her.

"I saw how much you liked that sister of yours and it's really saddening to see her run away like that only to save herself."

Graciella's lips pressed together, her jaw clenching as she did her best to stop her tears from falling. But they betrayed her too. The little kid who was abandoned by her dear sister ended up crying her heart out.

The witch was so annoyed with the little girl's whining that she continued to drag her to the small room. She knew that the little girl's sister would come back for the child, so she wanted to leave right away.

And as they entered the small room, they were magically transported to a different place. This made Graciella stop crying and the fear that was bubbling inside her bursts.

The little girl watched with fear in her little green eyes as the old witch destroyed the small room with an ax. And somehow she knew that she would never see her family again. Ever.

A few days passed and the cottage near the Ingvarr territory was nowhere to be found. When the old witch destroyed the small room, the whole cottage and all of their trails disappeared into thin air.

Graciella didn't know of this fact, and so she was still hoping that her father, mother, and Arianna would still be able to find her.

The few days she spent with the old witch who introduced herself as Gothel was torture. Old Gothel would often slap her if she wouldn't address her as mother.

Although she would treat herself as lucky because the old witch dismissed the thought of killing her. It appeared to her that old Gothel took a liking to her.

Her reason? Graciella didn't bother to know why. She only wanted to live until the day they find her.

"I told you to cook the food before I get home, didn't I?" Old Gothel yelled from the kitchen.

Graciella was in the middle of cleaning the dirty bathroom when she heard loud noises of things being thrown on the floor and on the wall from the kitchen. She stopped from what she was doing and immediately went to where old Gothel was.

"You ingrate!" Old Gothel shouted as she pushed Graciella.

The little child fell on the floor, face first, because of how hard she was pushed by the old witch.

"There's no food in here! Why didn't you prepare anything?" She continued shouting and kicking the kitchen utensils, making loud ramblings in the kitchen room.

The old witch soon stopped with her tantrums when she saw the little kid curling on the floor, her hands covering her ears.

"I will be back after an hour. Be sure to cook my meal before I get home," she grumbled at her then kicked Graciella on the stomach.

"Ugh!" Graciella squirmed on the floor as she hugged her stomach tightly. It wasn't old Gothel's kick that was painful for her, but the pointy shoes she always wears that hit her stomach.

She was still in pain when she pushed herself up. The tears that trickled down her cheeks now dried up. Graciella wiped her face with the back of her hands then she began preparing the food.

There were really no ingredients prepared to cook real food. There was only spoiled meat, rotten fruits, and rotten fruits stored in the old witch's lodgings.

But that wasn't the case here. She wasn't really required to eat the food stored in this shitty house. It was only the food reserved for a withering human shell of the witch.

Graciella used a stained handkerchief to cover her nose and mouth then she started chopping the ingredients. She did the vegetables first then the fruits and lastly was the meat.

Her stomach churned at the sight of the food being cooked in front of her. She did her best to keep herself together, not wanting to create anymore mess or reason for the old witch to beat her again.

Fortunately, she had completed every task she needed when the old witch returned. The food was also ready and prepared in a wooden bowl.

Old Gothel didn't want to see Graciella during her mealtime, so the little girl was allowed to go outside for an hour. And Graciella always used this chance to gather some wild berries and edible herbs she could eat to fill her stomach.

Truthfully, this wasn't enough for her. She would still feel hungry even after eating a pile of red berries. However, she didn't know how to kill a rabbit or any small animals.

One afternoon, Graciella left the old witch to enjoy her meal and the little girl decided to visit the stream near the cottage. It had been 10 days since her last bath and she was starting to feel itchy all over, so she decided that it was bath time for today.

Graciella took off her dirty clothes and bathed in the stream. The water wasn't too cold nor was it too hot, it was just the right temperature for her.

The little girl took her time cleaning herself. She was so occupied with how warm the water felt that she had forgotten the time. It was already dusk when she returned to the cottage.

The little girl's hair was still wet from taking a bath when she reached the front porch. She tried to turn the knob and open the door, and to her fear, the door was locked. She gasped when she heard the deep, terrifying whisper of the witch from the other side of the door.

"It's your fault for staying up so late outside, you little bastard. Go and spend more time with the forest as your punishment. I'll see you tomorrow."

She felt her heart fall as she heard the old witch's footstep slowly fading and a loud howling erupted from the forest. This was one of the nightmares she prayed not to happen to her, and yet. . .

Graciella fell on her knees, her forehead pressed against the wooden door. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth agape. She felt breathless and suffocated and that weird, hot feeling creeping underneath her skin.

Maybe it's because she was still a child that she couldn't understand what this emotion meant. All she knew was that darkness was starting to eat her heart.

Morning came and Graciella was greeted with a bucket of cold water being poured onto her. She was still half asleep when she prompted herself up.

"Wake up, you little knucklehead!" Old Gothel yelled at her then threw the wooden bucket to her, hitting Graciella on the head.

Graciella gripped her wet skirt as she forced herself not to cry.

"I will be back later in the evening, so don't prepare any food for me," old Gothel said and she headed off, leaving Graciella alone.

The little girl began her day by changing into another rag dress that the old witch kept in Graciella's closet. She would always feel relieved whenever the old witch would go out in the morning and fear every time she goes home in the afternoon.

During the day, she would busy herself cleaning the whole cottage. Because of her small frame and child-like appearance, it would always take her three days to clean up the whole cottage.