A Daughter of Light(A Light onto the World)

Chapter 28

Marimar

Chapter 28

The birds fly in covering our view of each other.  They come at us from all angles.  The sound of wings beating against each other fills my ears with their chaotic rhythm.  I let go of Papa’s hand, trying to use my arm to shield my face.  With the other hand I swing my flashlight around knocking birds away, but more replace the one’s that I had cleared.  I keep doing this until a large group of them rush at me.  The ravens push me back.  I feel my body thud against somebody else’s.

“Come on, sweetie, we got to get you out of here,” Calista says; somehow managing to whisper in my ear.  The chaos seems to have snapped her out of her trance.  I try to pull away, not wanting to leave Papa or Sage.  “They’ll be all right.  It’s you he wants remember?”  Calista grabs my hand and leads me blindly towards the general direction of the hall.  I cover my head as we push through the birds.  They claw and peck at us every chance they get.  One grabs a strand of my hair and yanks it.

“Ow!” I cry out.  I use one hand to swat at it.  I don’t realize that we’re out of the living room until Calista starts pulling me up the stairs.  How can she even see?  I hear someone cry out in pain.  Who was that?  What’s happening to Papa?  Sage?  The others?  When we begin to approach the landing the birds begin to thin out as if they are being pulled back for some strange reason.  When we reach the landing they stop altogether.  I whip around and see the birds staring at us intently.  They continue to flap their wings.  Ready to attack, but they don’t approach.  They act as if the landing is some invisible boundary that they cannot cross.  I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I think they corralled us up here.  I turn to tell Calista, “I think they —”  Wham!  Calista strikes me.

“Ooh,” my head is throbbing.  I attempt to rub the sore spot, but I can’t move my hands.  Why is that?  I open my eyes.  I find I can’t move my hands or legs, nor can I speak.  My hands and legs are bound.  My voice is restricted by a gag.  I turn my head a little to the side.  My eyes take a moment to adjust.  As they focus I see Calista walking around the room.  Her back is turned against me.  Everything in the room has been pushed back to the walls.  What is going on here?  I try to make sense of it all.  I try to remember the last thing that had happened.  That’s when the memory floods back.  It all makes sense.  The way she could find her way in all the chaos.  How she led me upstairs instead of taking me outside.  That’s not Calista.

“Yer awake,” George says through Calista carelessly.  “Girl, ya ain’t as ignorant as ya look.  Now don’t look at me all bamboozled.  Ya came on yer own accord,” he says, before clicking his tongue at me.

Calista walks towards me with a canister of lighter fluid and pours it in a circle around me.  My only act of defiance is to stare him down, but this only makes him look more self satisfied.   He’s going to drag my death out.  God, save me!

In fear I begin to pray in my head.  Please, God, help me!  If you don’t mind, now would be a good time to send one of your angels!

“Filthy whore!  God said, ‘— The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.’  And, ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.’  I believe ya know the consequence of being a witch.  Witches burn.”

I flip him off.  I’m going to die and he’s already going to torture me to death.  What more can he do to me?

George continues, “ ‘— The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.’”