Chapter 22 - A Witch's Curse

Chapter 22 - A Witch's Curse
Castle Vitalis, Province of Liège, Belgium

(Year 1012)

“Don’t...you...touch me,” a woman sitting in a cushioned chair stated. It was with so much disgust that the man standing in her front gave out a pained expression.

“Léa...” He reached again, aiming to touch her shuddering shoulders but stopped when she yelled.

“I said don’t touch me!” Her eyes bore a look of hate, of anger and disappointment to the man who just betrayed her trust. “Don’t you dare put your filthy, adulterous hand on me!”

Tears rolled down from her eyes and probably the millionth time that night after hearing of her husband’s illicit affair from a family friend.

“I made a mistake.” The man knelt in front of her, scooping up her trembling hands and kissing it softly. “Please forgive me, darling. The woman is a witch! She cast a spell on me! She charmed me!”

“Si...lence,” her voice came out weak, so she sucked in a deep breath and shouted, “Silence!” Pulling her hands away from his mouth, she cast him a pointed, but wet glare. “How could you, Bernard. How could you do it? What about our family? Your son! He looked up to you!”

“Léa...” the man inhaled, shutting his eyes as if to show how sorry he was. The flames in the hearth were the only audience of their drama, dancing wildly in time with the chaos in their hearts.

Then, a knock on the door sounded, followed by an older voice of a man, “Excuse me, Master Vitalis.”

Both of the occupants in the stone-walled room turned their heads to look at their servant.

“A woman outside insists that she see you.”

The Vitalis Master quickly shook his head and stood up. “No. No! Don’t let her in!”

But it was already too late.

A woman stepped forward when the door opened wider.

“Bernard...” her soft voice emerged.

The Master was speechless at first. His eyes bulged, his mouth parted.

The same happened to his weeping wife, but quickly it changed into rage.

“Eloise...” his voice broke. From acting a contrite man earlier, his overall persona now changed. His face softened for a millisecond. His eyes locked gazes with the interrupting woman with passion and longing. He looked almost, almost in love with her.

Eloise, the supposed witch and his lover, truly looked lovely even when wearing a simple ankle-length dress common at that time. She was a natural brunette with its length up to her waist. Her hazel-violet eyes looked normal, but as the flames continuously flickered, it reflected a mint green shade.

“That’s her?” Léa spoke up first, standing next to her husband in a guarded position.

Her presence was enough to make Bernard realize he was in a tight spot. A very tight spot.

“No, Léa, stand back,” he ordered, tossing an arm out to stop her from walking, and probably to stop her from strangling his untimely visitor.

“I’m the wife! Why should I stand back?!” Léa shouted, her hands curled up into a tight fist. She shot both of them a scathing look, but it was the supposed witch who had the audacity to grin in response.

“I told you she’s a witch! She might harm you!” Bernard reminded. But in his subconscious, he knew he wasn’t supposed to say it in front of his lover but what else was he to say? Comforting his wife first was his top priority.

Eloise shook her head and clucked her tongue. “But you didn’t seem to care about that when you had me, Bernard.”

“Eloise stop,” Bernard managed to send her a glare. “Leave, please. I’ll talk to you later.”

“No, you will not!” Léa cut in. She held onto his arm as if it was her lifeline and added, “Bernard, if what you say is true then don’t go to her!” Tears streamed her cheeks again as she glanced at the enchanting woman. “For me. For our family! For your son. Please.”

“But then what about me?” the other woman interrupted. Her gaze never wavered on her lover, confident that he would not leave her like what the wife subtly ordered. “You promised me a family too! You promised me while your penis was still inside me!”

“Quiet Eloise!” Bernard boomed.

But she was persistent.

“And your unborn child!” she touched her belly that was yet to show a baby bump and continued, “What about her? Do you not care for her?”

Bernard shook his head. It was a good blow to find out the witch was bearing his child, but a girl?

In a time where there were invasions here and there, nobody wanted a girl for a child. Him included.

“I care more for my son,” he gave her a cold shoulder. “My son.”

And this ultimately made the witch angry.

She lifted her chin up and snorted, her eyes shooting daggers on the Vitalis couple.

“Then, care you shall for he will pay for your trespasses against me,” she stated in an unearthly tone.

Bernard, realizing what she was about to do, shouted, “No! Eloise! Don’t do this!”

“Kill that witch now!” Léa yelled beside him.

The fire in the hearth died out and the whole room turned dark and gloomy.

Léa yelped, gooseflesh of fear broke from her skin as she clutched her husband’s shoulder.

Bernard on the other hand stood silent, cold and immovable as he stared into the deep glowing violet eyes of his ex-lover.

“Listen and listen carefully, I sayeth to you,” Eloise began, her voice having a distinct, screechy echo. For a witch in the middle of casting a curse, she wasn’t floating or even spurting electric currents from her hands. She just stood there, on the threshold, feet on the ground and her eyes aglow. “Your son will grow, yes. To become a man of stature and power. He’ll be like you, bold and handsome.” She paused and licked her bottom lip. “A hit among the ladies.” She giggled low, succubus-like, before continuing, “Overflowing with authority no one can contest. But his heart. Ohhh, his heart will turn like a stone. He’ll never learn love or even understand it. And in his thirtieth year, he’ll pay for your mistakes. His heart will stop beating. Same goes to the people under this roof tonight. He’ll lose his sight and will be damned for eternity feeding off blood. Human blood.”

“No! No! Eloise, please. I beg you. Give me reprieve. Cast a curse on me. Not my son!” Bernard threw himself on her, holding her knees, so fast that his wife had no choice but to stand still out of sheer fear.

The witch cocked her head sideways and grinned. “You’re too late to beg, Bernard, but don’t worry. There’s a way. There’s a way to end all of this.” She petted his head, something that a master would do to his dog, and clenched her teeth, her sore heart not healing upon the sight of him groveling.

“Thank you. Oh, thank you!” the Vitalis Master said, hope visible in his eyes.

“You, your wife, your son or those people that got cursed in this night,” she paused and looked at the terror in Léa’s eyes, “Can. Kill. Your. Selves. Let Death embrace you.”

“NO!”

“No!”

Both Bernard and Léa bellowed.

Eloise cackled; clutching her belly and doubling over, pleased with the sheer terror she saw from their faces. She loved the man, she really did, but to cross paths with a witch’s temper meant death. It was wrong of him to lie, wrong of him to hide the truth that he was married. And it was wrong of him to make her believe she was precious. The only one.

In rage, Bernard pushed her to the floor. His hands shot straight up to her neck and strangled her with all his might.

Eloise didn’t fight back. Her grin only widened as she continued to speak amidst the tightness in her throat.

“This...shall be my...curse! Let my soul be...damned in Hell if it...means your family’s destruction!”

Shadows enveloped her body then. Little by little, parts of her body disappeared. Bernard, upon seeing this, hurriedly bashed her head against the ground before this too would disappear.

“You cannot escape you hear me! You will not reign over my family like this!”

“Too bad you didn’t chose me or our daughter,” Eloise answered, the corner of her mouth dripping with fresh blood. She gazed at the Vitalis Master with pure hate, then to his wife with contempt. And lastly. Lastly. With coldness to the boy of twelve years old who just stole a peek from the outside of his father’s window.



Castle Vitalis, Province of Liège, Belgium

(Present)


“But to me, it does!” Amanda declared, but quickly, she reevaluated her words when realization hit her like a bullet train.

Oh God, why did I just say that?

Why indeed did she say that when in fact all she wanted was to confirm if her blood truly had a potent effect on him. She just wanted to know if a witch’s blood could actually cure a vampire from his dark eternal judgment. She wanted to see if this was the second reason why vampires hunt her kind.

But in a slip-of-the-tongue, she meant the words in a different way. In a rather personal way that included her caring for him more than she should.

His heart.

His unbeating heart.

Heck, it affected her so much that it mushed her brain.

Subtly, she cleared her throat just as he moved to submerge his body on the water.

He looked stunned himself, and somehow speechless, so to immediately divert his focus from her careless words, she changed the subject.

“Cord, what happened huh? Tell me. I want to know. I want to know how you became a vampire.”

In response, he released a long sigh.

“It’s complicated to tell.”

Amanda, too naked already to hide herself, just joined him in the tub, sitting opposite him with her knees gathered to her chest.

“Hasn’t it dawned on you that I seem t to attract complications? I mean, look at me and you. We are complicated enough.”

“Touché.” Cord grinned.

He leaned a little, swept a stray strand of her hair out of her cheek before starting:

“It all began with a witch.”

A witch?

Amanda was all ears then.

“My father was a well-known nobleman. The most powerful among his circle. When I was still small, a human to begin with, I admired him so, but that all crumbled down when my mother and I found out his affair with another woman.”

Amanda swallowed expecting where his story led to.

“And not just a woman, a witch.”

Cord’s eyes changed into stony, cold ones.

“He tried to come clean and blamed her for his mishaps saying she cast a love spell on him when in fact, he truly was lusting on her.”

Amanda shifted a little, feeling too conscious on the way he strongly emphasized the word.

“In our time, witches were known as Soldiers of Darkness. It is unknown where they get their magic and abilities. It is unknown how they cast spells. But most believe they obtained it from the bowels of Hell. Over time, I dismissed the curse as false. I reasoned that such a woman could hold no power over my family. I believed it so, but many of our servants didn’t, including some of my relatives, a few of my friends and my parents - all of which were under the Castle Vitalis roof, celebrating my birthday. They feared the curse, so they killed themselves. I thought it was an act of stupidity. For someone to actually believe on the supernatural, fear it to the point of seeking Death just as the witch dictated. Huh, it was totally absurd. However, it was my mistake. I did not realize how powerful that witch was until her spell worked on me the moment I turned thirty.”

“That’s when you became a vampire,” Amanda filled the gap, her voice thinning to a whisper.

Cord snorted. “Amanda, vampire is just a word, a name to call us dark ones - a flaw of nature.”

“But you drink human blood in order to survive,” she cited.

“Just like that woman’s curse dictated.”

“And you fear sunlight.”

He shook his head.

“My subjects are, but not me. I’m immune to it. I have my shadows to protect me from the sunlight.”

Shadows.

“Cord, are you saying that you got that shadow ability from a witch?” Her voice climbed up a little higher. It was only then that she thanked the heavens for the water submerging her hands for they began to shake.

“That happened so many years, Amanda. When I was still hell bent on killing them, slaughtering them, one by one, in an act of revenge.”

She couldn’t be so sure, but she saw a glint of evil in his eyes. Death. Hatred. Anger. Sure anger. It instantly strained her breathing. She shifted again, but alas, it was an inch away from him, not closer.

“I can sense dread in you Amanda. Your heartbeat is increasing and I am not even touching or kissing you.” Cord’s concerned eyes were upon her. “Talk to me.”

“Cord, they were of my kind,” she expressed, lips slightly trembling.

“I know.”

“They live and love too.”

“I know, and I already expected you’d feel a little bit different about me when I tell you this truth.”

Amanda broke eye contact with him, bending her head, feeling partly guilty and partly - no - maybe...maybe fully afraid.

“Do you repulse me now? Do you regret that you gave yourself to me?” Cord moved a little, reaching for her right wrist, suddenly feeling possessive.

“No...no.” Amanda, despite still processing and sorting out what she truly felt, shook her head.

“Talk to me, Amanda. This is a consequence that we should face as enemies.” His grip turned like steel cuffs.

Amanda raised her head to look at him with worried eyes.

“I just...I just don’t understand what I am to you, Cord.”

Was it even the right words to say? Did she phrase it well?

She couldn’t be certain, so she hastily added:

“I mean my blood...why? It seems to have an effect on you. We seem to have a connection. My mother didn’t tell me the history of your kind, only that they were vile creatures that should be avoided. Yet, I can’t. I wasn’t able to avoid you.”

“Yes, true. We seem to have a connection,” he agreed, “So don’t be afraid of me. I’m not going to suck you dry.”

Was that promise even a genuine one? Oh, he knew that it wasn’t for before they even shared a bed, he dreamed of sucking her dry.

But a little white lie wouldn’t hurt now, would it? Especially when he wanted to ease her fears. Keep her close. Chain her inside the castle. Or maybe in his bed.

“That’s you, but how about the others in this mansion?” Amanda pointed out. “How about that rogue biter then? Does he know? Does he know that I have a healing blood?”

Or at least that’s what her blood seemed like to her.

“Amanda, worry not about him. He’ll not harm you again,” he guaranteed.

But to Amanda, this wasn’t enough. Heck, him already gripping her wrist way too much was already scaring her.

“Cord, I’m...I’m sorry. I need...space,” she voiced out weakly.

To Cord, this was a fatal blow.

He inhaled, sharp and quick, and studied the uncertainty in her face.

“Then I’ll give you that.” He released her wrist and straightened his spine. “I’ll give you time to think. A day or two if it’s a must, but you have to know that you cannot and will not leave my castle.”

Amanda refused to look at him even though she had an urge to do so. She wanted to object. She wanted to say no, but instead remained silent; her face so hot amidst half of her body immersed in the now-cold water.

“Not with him,” Cord continued, a little hint of worry mixed in there.

Amanda curled her fingers and raced to cover her breasts with her arms. She suddenly felt conscious of her nakedness.

“You’re mine, Amanda. Put that in your head.”

And that was the last thing she heard him say when she sensed him disappear. She stared at the area where he sat and right then and there realized, with his absence, the spacious tub didn’t hold much appeal anymore. It was barren. Empty.

And so was the feeling in her heart.