Category : Stories

Sub Category : Horror

She get up and went to one of the cabinets with loose doors and bring some clean dishes: big ceramic bowl, a few smaller and a mortar. She went back to the cabinet and this time bring with her a few opaque jars with ingredients I suspected were gathered by disgusting way. She also brings a candle and a matchbox.
Marissa arranged everything in a circle around the bowl and starts mumbling something, as she was forgotten the recipe. She went back a few more times, her bony fingers struggled to open the jars, taking out their filling. I recognized dried stalk of blackberry, branch of back willow, aconite. Next one was a liver from white dove and a heart of a snake. Last she added eyes of mantis shrimp – animal with the sharpest vision among all creatures. She crumbled all of these at the mortar and moved them into the bowl.
I was staying there, watching her work, her hands may trembling when she opened the door to let me in, but not now. She was never even thinking while adding ingredients. I watched other place when she smashed the heart. 
“What?” she looked at me with irony. “Once you were good enough to become my disciple.”
“Once” I accent.
“Give me the dried carrots” her fingers moved my way, pointing at the jar at the end of the shelf.
“You’re going to make salad?” I asked annoyed. “I hope you would not let me down, Marissa.”
“Have you ever seen transverse cut of a carrot?” she asked with the same mocking smile. “It looks like iris of an eye. Humans are using it not by chance, making medicine from it. Sometimes there’s nothing better than natural source.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“And now” she used the table to support herself, looking at everything as she was to check if everything’s there.”Give me his hair.”
I was looking at her tentatively. She knew for sure that if she even tried to trick me I would kill her. I reached to my pocket and pulled out plastic bag with a lock of black hair, Mike’s hair. I gave it to her.
“I hope this boy realize what a lucky he is. Back then you would kill someone like him, now you are serving mortals."
“Why I never guessed that you would start making psychological profile for me” I shudder my shoulders repiningly. “ Mix your weeds and leave my decisions to me.”
“What a gentleman” noted Marissa, and when she stop mixing everything, she took the matchbox and lighted one stick.  “That might smell a little.”
A pop came out, like an electrical device break down, there was a flash, I instinctively moved back. Bitter smell spread mixed with something soar, which started sting my nostrils. Red fire started burning inside de bowl when Marisa stand over the dish and started saying words, some of them I recognized as old latin. Something about mortality and temporary life, for gaining back powers.
With each following word her voice bestir, gaining vicious sound. Coming with that the smell was stronger and worst, I wanted to leave. Little by little everything ended.
“You should warn me there would be fireworks. I should come midnight.” I was waving in front of me, grey smoke fills the room.
Marissa gathered the mixture into a clean transparent jar and put it stopper with black feather of raven and some beads origins of which I couldn’t recognize.
“Bring this to your man” she stuck the jar into my hand. “He must take all of it. It may not work in instant, hour or two are needed.”
I stood upright watching at her. I was never trusting witches, and this one was one of the most skilled I ever met. I felt bad feeling within my guts.
“You never perceived what control you possess among the living” she told me, somehow tenderer. Her arms were working even now, collecting the rest of her stuff. “You could lead an army, could raise your brothers and occupy anything you wish for. You could call up for your children and concentrate your power. But you chose to stand alone, for all of your lives. 
“As I said, leave my decisions to me.”
“I could never influence on you” she shake her head with sadness. “Take this” she gave me glass oval bulb. “Pay me.”
“No” I sad. Her eyes rose toward me.  “Drink here and now. I am not that stupid to leave my blood with someone with your knowledge.”
 “Your blood is not enough for the magic I have made for you.”
“Then I will come again tomorrow.”
She understood I would not bend and left the phial on the table, then made a few steps to get closer.
 “I hope it tastes like once.”
I cut my arm and served it to her. She took it, bend forward and start drinking.
Disgust sprout into my chest, for her, and for myself. I swore I’ll never again turn to her, but what choice do I have? I couldn’t leave Mike, I had no right to do that if I could do something, if there was a chance he could get better, to see again.”
I wrench my hand and from the look of her face, smear with my blood,  I got shivers down my spine. I remembered now why I felt such a strong hate for witches.
“I never expected less from the best quality from you” she told me, licking her face like a predator after hunt.
“I’m glad. Because that will be the last time you will see me. Until the end of your mortal life, at least.”
“Oh, Alex, don’t be so sure” she smiled. “You never appreciate the real price of my magic.”
“What that suppose to mean?” I stop in front of her. One of the shelves had a jar containing small human heart.
“Blood gives life, my beautiful bloodsucker. Long ago I started to think that I’ve already lost enough time here, but you gave me a chance I could not miss. Do you really think one simple magic for vision restoration costs as much as my immortality?”
My eyes strain her way, my blood was still flow from her mouth. My hands starts shaking.
“No” I said. “You can’t!”
“I will die a human, if I wait for my natural death. But if I die with your blood in my organism... let's  say... tomorrow... You see, very interesting things may happen.”
“I came to you and trusted you!” I moved a few steps closer to her. I felt my voice turned low, my eyes probably were already red.”
“Oh, sweetie, go save your mortal friend, and as far as I am concerned...”
“No” I said, leaning toward. “I never gave you my permission for you to turn. You used me!”
 
Even before I gave a sign I would attack, Marissa cried something on latin and I felt how I was moved back toward the wall.
“For all these years you never learned not to play with witches, Alex.”
Pain filled my chest, she tried to break me.
 “You may be old” I said through clenched teeth “but I lived longer.”
“How dare you!” she screamed.
I fight off her impact and raised a hand in front of me, the table start shaking, bottles and jars on the shelf start clacking.
“Reckless move, Alex.”
Marissa grabbed one of the glass jars and smashed it on the floor. Dark green smoke rushed to my way, I made another step forward, I felt my fangs were coming out.