Blood and Dew

No matter how hard I try, I cannot stop looking at it... I turn away but I can still see it, on the walls, on the floor by my feet, behind my eyelids. It’s everywhere. I haven’t slept in days, I lie awake clutching onto it as if it was a part of me. My stomach growled in hunger, I can’t even hear it roaring like thunder anymore. My ears are trained on the black book, I cannot speak....

It’s whispering...

My room is dim; my mouth is dry. I need to move, just move—go get some water. Eat something, please!

I stand up to walk away, but it’s in my mind again. I force my feet to turn my back, but the voice screams at me.

“DON’T YOU LEAVE ME.”

I am almost down the hallway...

“DON’T YOU LEAVE ME!”

A floorboard creaks below me. My shadow stretches in front of me, and then it disappears back into the bedroom. I snatch the book from the desk and run to the kitchen. The light is blinding. Dishes are left undone, flies swarm around the stacked plates and pots.

The black leather book guides me. My stomach growls but I walk passed the fridge and go to the cupboard.

I pour a tall glass of water and shakily drink it as fast as possible. I pour another one and walk to the room again.

Sirens sound somewhere in the city. I gaze out of the window, my breath fogs the glass—I feel like I’m dreaming again. The streets below are lit with yellow street lamps and it’s completely desolate for a Friday night... or is it Saturday? What day is it?

“Let me tell you a story.”

“Ok...” My vision blurs as the glass of water falls to the floor and breaks against the wood. I step over the shattered pieces, leaving blood and water in my wake as I go to the desk and sit down.

The book unlocks and opens in front of me, bending the black leather spine. Soft breath tickles my ear as a voice whispers.

“There once was a girl, as old as you, who drank from the glass of blood and dew. She sat in her room, waiting to die, as she held onto a book that fell from the sky. This book finds those who are pure and true, and that’s why He made this book—just for you.

You sang to it about wealth, you pled to it for riches. Now go to the basement and you’ll find 3 young witches. Tell them your dreams, tell them your story, go with them to the lake to be baptized in glory.

Be very careful... I must be very clear, no matter what you do, never show fear.”

The words disappear again, and the page is blank. The floorboards creak behind me, and glass crunches against the floor.

My eyes flutter shut and everything goes black.

When I wake, I’m in my childhood home, with my cheek against the floorboards... the moonlight beams in from the window on the front door. I stand shakily to my feet and look around. It doesn’t look different at all. The stairwell up to the second level still has the carpet that was stained by juice, and the grandfather clock under the stairs is still ticking. It’s like I’m a child again, waking to get a midnight snack.

“Hello?” My voice echoes into the house, bouncing against the walls in an eerie, unnatural way. “Mom? Dad?”

There is singing somewhere in the house, a haunting melody. The beautiful voice is coming from the basement... Hesitantly, and ever so quietly, I let my feet take me there.

Each step down to the basement felt impossibly heavy, as if my whole body was made of stones. I try to stay silent but I am breathing so loudly. Fear began to grow inside me. Thump, thump, thump. The steps creak and moan. There is light...

My eyes follow the flickering light of a fire. When I reach the bottom of the stairs and turn to the flame, I stop dead in my tracks when I see three naked silhouettes, standing side by side.... just staring at me. Their arms are slightly lifted from their sides, with their fingertips just barely touching. Their stillness sends chills up my spine.

I grimace, and then step back when the one in the middle cracks her head to the side in an inhuman way. The sound of her bones startles me. I shiver and remember what the book said.

“What is your name child?” One of them says in a voice that sounds too old to fit a “young witch”. She moves suddenly so fast—her bones cracking as she twitches toward me, I force myself to stand still and show no fear.

When she’s closer, I can see her face. She’s older than my grandmother; her face is pale and wrinkled. Her hair is white as a sheet and her body is sagging and aged. She lifts her hands to touch my face, and with every motion, her body cracks.

My heart begins to beat wildly in my chest, and cold sweat trails down my back. I flinch at her touch.

“The book sent me—“

“What.... is.... your.... name?” She growls angrily. Her voice, which is much like a feral animal now, cripples my confidence.

“Ophelia.” It takes everything in me not to stutter.

She leans toward me and inhales deeply as she touches my hair and pinches my skin. She continues drawing in deep breaths until her breath catches. Her black eyes pin on the book in my hands.

“He gave this to you...” She looks up at me, hunching her back as she begins to cackle. Her laughter explodes and the others join her but their bodies don’t move at all.

The one in front of me gasps and the laughter stops.

“Tell me what you dream about.”

I hesitate and swallow hard. My throat dries up and I am almost too scared to speak, or else my voice might give me away. “I dream I can take care of my parents, in a big house... I dream my dad will get his job back, I dream my mother is happy and not sick... I dream that I can afford to help them....” Tears unexpectedly flow from my eyes, I move to wipe them, but she takes me hand instead.

“You want to be rich so you can take care of mom and dad...” She tilts her head, staring at my wet cheeks. Her other hand goes to wipe a tear and then smears it on my palm.

I nod, drawing in a deep breath to steady my nerves.

“Write in the book, “The pain I feel is the pain I see, give me riches, So it be, times three.” Write this every day until the new moon. And every day prick you’re finger with a needle and smear 3 drops of blood onto the words. Your riches will come and your pain will go. When your wish is fulfilled, you must go to the highest peek, and throw it over the edge.”

“What will happen to me after?” I ask, trying to sound stern.

She smiles, wider and wider. Her cheeks wrinkle as her lips curl toward her eyes. I back away, when my back hits the wall, I hold back a scream. The flame behind them gets dimmer... they’re getting darker and darker and closer and closer... when I hear their cracking bones get louder, I gasp and know it’s going to come out. She cracks her head to the side again, smiling... smiling...

Oh my God...

I’m outside being dragged, it’s freezing out. My heavy head drops side to side as I try to recall what had just happened. Is this a dream? I can hear a voice humming, and the sounds of leaves crunching. Someone is pulling me by my ankles. Then my back is frozen, and before I know it, I’m being dragged into water! No!

My eyes can barely open, but I force them to, and I just see the water above and two dark arms holding me under. I’m drowning... oh God, they’re killing me! I can hear the water in my ears, the mute tone that surrounds me is deafening. My heart is pounding, faster than lightning. I’m dying... This is it. I kick and thrash but their hands are in a vice grip.

MOM! DAD!

Finally, the scream erupts from me, but I’m in my bedroom again. I’m lying in a puddle of water and glass. The lamp light flickers a few times and continues beaming. My breath hadn’t yet caught up with me, and my heart is still beating wildly. I clutch my burning chest and look around in sheer terror.

I rush to my desk to see the book lying closed and locked. I go to pick it up, and it immediately unlocks.

With a black ink pen, I scribble down the words of the witch, and use a needle to prick my finger. I do this fast, swallowing the pain. My head feels light as a balloon and my fingertips tingle. My body feels so... strange. I feel like I’m falling again. I close my eyes as I smear my hand across the words. I take the book to bed and hold it tight to my chest.

The book is here... everything’s going to be ok. It’s going to be ok... I’m fine now...

2 Weeks Later

I cleaned my house today, I took a shower, I charged my phone too. Slowly, my focus was coming back to me. I feel better... awake. 2 weeks had passed since I climb the stairs to the top of my building, with trembling legs. I was so starved, I thought I would die before the spell was complete. When the book left my hands, I almost dove into the air to catch it. But as soon as it began to fall, my whole body felt strangely tingly. And I could smell the wet pavement again and the soil from the greenhouse beside me. I could see the night in shades of blue that felt unreal. My lungs filled with sweet air, that tasted so clean. Everything was alive again. I was back.

With a cup of iced tea, I read a book on the roof, listening to the birds and helicopters flying around the city. The sun is bright and hot but I feel the cool breeze in the shade of the greenhouse. My phone buzzes beside me and I see a text from my mom.

Mom:

Hey sweetheart, I’m so sorry to ask this, but we don’t have any other option right now... is it ok if we borrow 20 dollars today? We need gas money to make it to my appointment. Big news! They were able to call a specialist for me from out of town and even bigger new! You dad has an interview tomorrow!

I stare at the text with astonishment. Dad has an interview... and a specialist is coming to see my mom? Did the spell work?

Ophelia:

Of course, I’ll transfer it now.

I close my book and walk back down the stairs. As soon as I open my bank app I send my mom the $20.00 and decide to go for a walk.

The day is too beautiful to spend inside, I muse. I can’t stop smiling at the sky, feeling a sense of relief, happiness and hope. The street is bustling and busy, pedestrians pass by, talking on phones and to each other. I move around the crowd of faces, and then stop in my tracks when I see 3 women standing in the middle of the road on the white line. They appear young and beautiful... nobody else seems to notice them. Not even the cars that pass them. A truck passes them and suddenly they’re all smilingly in that same horrible way, and their skin is wrinkled and old again. They’re identical to one another, naked. As cars pass their image flickers in my line of vision. My heart stops.

Fear petrifies me. I can’t hear again, all of my senses numb. I try to remember not to show fear, but it’s written all over my face as I look around to see if anyone can see them. My neck won’t move. I’m paralyzed. My breath comes out quick as the one in the middle widens her already impossibly large smile. Her cheeks bow her eyes in a sinister way, almost on a knowing way...

Suddenly they’re pointing at something in an alley way. Another truck passes them and they’re gone...

My heart thuds loudly in my ears like a drum. I stumble out of the crowd and into the alley. My hands are shaking uncontrollably. I take a minute to calm my breath and gather my head. Just then my senses return. I lean against the brick wall by a few trash bags and wait for my heart to slow down. I can’t think...

My eyes flutter shut for a moment as I listen to the cars and people. When I open them again, the witch in the middle is standing right in front of me and all I can hear is a ringing in my ears. She’s smiling so wide...

Just go away!

She points at a bag on the ground without breaking eye contact. When I look down at it, she vanishes again without a trace. Slowly I squat down to open the bag, looking around cautiously. My trembling fingers unknot the top. What I see causes me to fall to the cement and gasp.

The singing from the basement drowns out the city sounds, and the voice from the book whispers.

“There once was a girl, as old as you, who drank from the glass of blood and dew. She sat in her room, waiting to die, as she held onto a book... that fell from the sky.”

The End