The Witch's Curse

Chapter 2 | The Whispering Shadows

THE WITCH'S CURSE
CHAPTER TWO
THE WHISPERING SHADOWS

❝ The darkness in a woman is such that, stripped of our sight, we must feel our way through it — we crawl, we enter her circles of Hell until we sympathize with her sorrow, until we learn from her rage. ❞

[Segovia Amil]

━━━━━━━━━━━━

IT WAS ALL AROUND ME; the darkness. It was within me, it always has been and there was nothing that could be done about it. Resisting only caused the darkness to grow and spread like a disease; perhaps this was the darkness Mirella foretold would take over me. How foolish of me to think that my sins could simply be washed away by trying to save my own soul.

The air had suddenly gone cold, causing me to shiver as I tried to remember what it was like before the darkness had poisoned my soul.

"Amarisssss..." A sickly, harsh-toned voice hissed against the shell of my ear. I then noticed a beam of light just above me, perhaps a way out of the darkness. "He waits for you, just beyond the shadows."

I reach out my hand towards the beam of light, surprised when I feel the warmth of it hitting my fingers. It reminded me of my fathers hugs when I cried and my mothers gentle kisses before I went to bed; it felt like home.

But it was never really my home. I never belonged anywhere, neither worlds accepted me and I knew my parents were one amongst many that feared me. I could see it in their eyes, sense it even.

The first time I knew my parents feared me was when the found me in the backyard, dried tears staining my face once they saw a previously dead raven in my small hands had been brought back to life. I remember finding the raven, as still as a statue that had fallen from a nest laying dead in the grass.

As a six year old little girl, I was curious as I gently picked up the bird and tenderly brushing dirt off of it. It appeared so weak and lifeless as I pitied it — how could a mother abandon her own child?

Such a cruel world this was. Even as a child, I was aware of the whispering shadows that stood beyond the dark forest in the backyard, watching me as I closed my eyes and concentrated.

The shadows whispered louder as I imagined the birds heart beating once more and it's small wings fluttering softly. Moments later, I felt it moving in my palms.

I opened my eyes with a smile as I looked at the bird, alive and breathing, as it cawed at me, almost as if it were thanking me. Excited that the bird was no longer dead, I stood up from where I was crouched at and ran inside the house where I found my parents furiously talking about something.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Immediately they stopped talking and turned to me with their brows furrowed. "I brought it back!"

"Honey, what are you talking about?" They seemed more concerned than usual.

I felt so small as they scrutinized me, like an ant beneath a magnifying glass. "I was playing outside where I found a bird that was bleeding and wasn't moving but I brought it back. It was so cool! Look!"

Mom and dad looked at each other with fear and worry; why did they look so worried? "You brought this bird back to life?" Mom questioned softly as I slowly nodded my head, wondering why they weren't excited or proud of me for saving a bird. "Sweetheart, the bird probably just hurt its wings or something."