I took a deep breath and smiled at the rising sun, my mind as still as the waters, and my hand commanding brush strokes across my canvas. I laughed as I looked at the painting in front of me…if this goddess was going to torment me, the least she could do was help lift my block. She was beautiful. With white, wavy hair that came down to her ankles, and chocolate-colored skin that contrasted with the white of her hair and the bright red of her full lips. She had siren eyes that shone a bright blue, and a figure that reminded me that I liked women too. I had painted horns on her and her red eyes pierced me through the canvas, compelling me even as I continued to paint.
“That’s impressive,” a voice said behind me. “No one has been able to depict her so beautifully…it’s almost poetic.”
I turned around sharply and my eyes widened in surprise as my uncle stood behind me.
“My goodness, what are you doing here?”
“Is that how you greet your uncle these days?”
I laughed and jumped to my feet, encasing my uncle in a bear hug. My mind went into overdrive, thinking of the last time I had seen him.
“I’m sorry. How are you? What are you doing here?”
Uncle David shrugged. “I moved into the next town some while back. Your father told me that you were here, and I thought I’d drop in and see my favorite nephew.”
My heart sunk at the mention of my father, and a tinge of guilt at the fact that I hadn’t spoken to my mother in a very long while.
“How is she?” I asked.
Uncle David shrugged. “He’s good. Still a stubborn bastard.”
“And my mother?”
“Still as beautiful as ever.”
I didn’t miss the faint blush that graced his cheeks at the mention of my mother. It has been a poorly kept secret that Uncle David, my father’s brother, has had the hots for my mother since the day he met her. And as children, it had been a thing of amusement to tease him about it. His eyes strayed to the painting again, his eyes transfixed on hers.
“She’s been giving you sleepless nights?” He asked, his tone heavy.
I nodded. “What do you know about her?”
Uncle David sighed. “A lot and not enough. I only know of what my grandparents told us.”
“What did they tell you?” I asked, happy to finally be able to get some answers.
Uncle David shrugged. “Our people used to settle here. They worshiped her, the goddess of the river, and in turn, she blessed our bloodline with wealth, fertility, and king life. All that changed when one of our own raped her daughter.”
My brows furrowed in confusion. “She had a child?”
Uncle David laughed. “Yes. Water beings can take the shape of humans, act like humans…live amongst them without suspicion. But back then, this wasn’t the case. Water beings walked freely amongst us. They were in no danger until one of our own killed her. Raped her and killed her. The child died in her hands.”
My uncle shook his head and sighed. My mind was boggled, and somewhere, I felt pity for the woman…for the mother who had had her child ripped from her embrace so heartlessly.
“That’s messed up…” I said finally.
Uncle David nodded. “It is. Her murder was cold. She was defenseless, she was trusting, and he took advantage of that. When the goddess found out, she was inconsolable and very angry. Rivers rose, flash floods, dead fishes, and then the icing on the cake was the curse on our bloodline.”
“Shit…”
“After much pleading and rituals, she decreed that in each generation, one child must be sacrificed to the river and one must serve her. Your brother’s death…”
“No,” I stated firmly, refusing to believe that Jaime’s death was anything other than what I knew it to be.
“Oliver…”
“No!”
“Your brother Jaime was the sacrifice! Listen to me!” He yelled, grabbing hold of my shoulders and holding me in place. “That’s why his dead. His death wasn’t a suicide. As the eldest, he was meant to be the priest but he refused her call, and so she decided that since he wouldn’t serve her, he would be the sacrifice.”
I felt my knees give out, and I collapsed onto the sand, my head spinning. My parents had lied. As I sat there, I wondered why they hadn’t told us all this from the beginning. They had made me believe that Jaime was suicidal, they had us think that he was mentally unstable. They knew all along!!!
“No…no, that can’t be true. Jamie…he…he committed suicide. That’s what everyone said. That’s what I believed.”
Uncle David shook his head slowly, tears glistening in his eyes. “He didn’t want to die, Oliver. He fought against it. But the goddess…she’s powerful. Her will is absolute. Jamie was taken because our family owed her a debt, a debt that’s been passed down through generations.”
I felt bile rise in my throat as the pieces began to fall into place. The dreams, the water’s call, the goddess’s relentless pursuit of me…it all made sense now.
“She’s hounding you, Oliver,” Uncle David said, his voice barely above a whisper. “She’s chosen you to be her servant. That’s why she won’t leave you alone. She wants you to take Jamie’s place…to become her priest.”
“No!” I shouted, shaking my head violently. “I won’t do it! I won’t become her puppet!”
Uncle David knelt beside me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “You may not have a choice, Oliver. The goddess’s will is strong, and her power…is beyond anything you can imagine. But you’re not alone in this. You have Gabriel, you have us. We’ll find a way to break this curse.”
My uncle eventually ended with a promise to find a way to end the curse, and I eventually stood and dusted the sand off my shorts. I stood before the painting, tears blurring my vision. Anger and sympathy warred in me for dominance, and eventually anger won. I thought of Jaime, his cold body lying in the casket. He didn’t deserve to die. The longer she stared at the painting, the more her eyes seemed to come alive, and I could swear that her lips tilted up in a smirk. The goddess wouldn’t stop until she had what she wanted. But I wasn’t ready to give in, not yet. There had to be another way.