Jane: the Curse, the Lost, and the Lovers (draft 1)

~14~

*Two years later*

"Momma!" The sound of my toddler stumbling towards me made me turn, seeing his smile as he struggled to get to me made me laugh. His blue eyes sparkled like the sea, big and filled with wonder. As he got within a foot of me, he fell, chubby legs sprawling. 

I scooped him up before he started to cry, “Jacob, sweetheart! What are you doing? You’re supposed to be taking a nap!”

“No wanna, Momma!” He cried as tears started to fall.

“Oh, baby boy, you have to do as I say, or else, you won’t be able to do your chores when you get big enough. What would your father say if he saw you acting like this? Its time for a nap!”

“No! No waps!” He sobbed. “I no wanna Momma! No wanna!”

“Baby, you have to. What if I took one with you, would you like that?” I murmured. “Come on, let’s go to sleep.” I set him down on my bed, and wrapped the blankets around him. I took the handkerchief from my dresser and wiped away his tears before settling beside him. I wiped away the stray hairs out  of his face. He snuggled into me, and quickly his soft snores filled the air, his thumb in his mouth.

Jacob was born on Christmas Eve, and was an exact image of his father. He learned to walk within nine months, and said his first word two months after he turned one. Dixie comes by when he can to see him, but with work, he’s hardly ever home. He said that Dixie was my son, and that because I had worked so hard to keep him safe, he should stay with me until he was old enough to go to work for the first time. I estimate that time will be when Jacob is about ten, after I teach him the basics of school.

Dixie returned to the profession of blacksmithing when I told him about being pregnant. My job alone wouldn’t provide for me as well as Jacob, so Dixie went back to work.

When Dixie first came here, Helena added extra alcohol into his drink, causing him to pass out and puke the next morning. She had taken her revenge. Dixie and I have gotten to know each other again, and although I can’t say that I’ve fallen back in love with him, he’s become my knight in shining armor. He told me everything that happened to him back in Monte after I left. The princess really had died, but not before she had Dixie tortured in order to find out where I was. The men who did the dirty work wound up beating him so badly that he lost all recent memories, and therefore no longer remembered what I currently looked like. So much for him being under a spell like I originally thought. He proposed again after Jacob was born, and I said yes.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, arms wrapped around me from behind, and Jacob was no longer next to me.

“Have a nice nap?” Dixie asked.

“I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep.” I whispered.

He planted a kiss on my cheek. “Its fine, I like it when I come home to you sleeping. You’re so peaceful when you doze off. I prefer it more than I prefer dinner being done, although I like that too.”

“Was I really out that long? What time is it?”

“Its only midnight, and Jacob is off in bed, and I already ate. Mrs. Nightingale brought me something when I was working in return for the shoeing on her horse.”

“Its only midnight? What are you imposing, that I go and dance like a dryad in the forest?” I laughed.

“No, I was just saying that sleeping is a perfect thing to do right now, and  Im perfectly fine with whatever you want to do.”

“Sleeping sounds good.”

“Yes, I agree.” He laughed. “Jane, I never do understand you. Sometimes you want sex, and other times you just want to sleep or have a drink.”

“I do not! Alcohol isn’t my strong suit anyways, and neither is it for you. Sleep is a good thing. And I want to sleep.”

“Whatever you say princess.”

Sun kissed hair, eyes as dark as the night, beautiful face that is only bested by the Moon Goddess herself. Bella stood at the top of a flight of stairs, where a golden door gleamed in the night. Her hair flowed free. "My lady, please let me in! I was wrong, and i wish to be forgiven of my sins and come home! Please let me in!" 

A woman stepped out, her white hair floating as if it was not even effected by gravity. Her eyes, one black, the other silver, sparkled. The door closed behind her with a thud. "Bella Montegue. You have disobeyed the most secred laws that have been the keys to the world's survival! What am i to do when a girl i blessed disobeys me?" The woman stepped forward, her clothes changing from that of ancient Greek to a pair of sleek skin-tight leather trousers as well as a blouse that was similar. "You not only have killed the man you were to marry, but you also cursed the girl i had blessed. There is no greater sin than that to me, and i cannot simply forgive it. To never fall in love again is a gift only to children, and they outgrow that gift. To put that curse upon a grown girl who is in love is unforgivable, to me as well as other gods. Why would you not think that I would not become angry at you for that?"

Bella fell to the ground, sobbing. "Milady, please! I am your servant, and i have always followed you! I was angry, Milady, and i am uncontrollable when my anger takes over me!"

"No, Bella! The Judges have decided your fate. Two years is a quick trial, and your soul has been doomed. Forever you will live on as a Spirit, that was already made sure by Zane, yet another i have thought as mine. You both will become Spirits, and i do not love to punish you for this, but it must be done. Thank you for showing the other gods that my blessings are that to be afraid of, and i will no longer bless anyone but the one i have already blessed, someone who i blessed even before you. Begone, go back to the world, and perhaps i will shorten your eternal punishment."

 Bella screamed as her clothes were replaced with black robes, a hood now covering her head, only her red lips were visable. Her skin turned white as snow. She lifted her hands which were now only skin and bone. "What did you do to me?" She cried. 

"You have to be punished. This is the way the other gods will allow you to not be destroyed, and your soul not thrown into the lake of fire. It is a blessing, in its own way. Be thankful that i am doing this for you."

"And what about Zane? Is he too like this? or is he there, with you?" Bella rose to her feet.

"Zane is suffering as well, and on Earth, or Ebony Hills, wherever he feels necessary to find Jane Garner. The boy is perfect in that way. Once he wants something, he will do everything in his power to get it. Do you not realize this? Once you both find the girl I originally blessed, then I might just save your souls, but not any time sooner. Begone!”

I woke up screaming.