Eternally Bound

by T. A. DeMellet

  “What have you done?!” Namesh screamed. Satvi’s body began convulsing as she choked on her own blood, which was now spilling from the corners of her mouth. He clutched Satvi to his chest trying desperately to open her mouth and stop her choking. “Usha please! Make it stop… please help her.” Namesh felt the air constrict in his own lungs as the words left his mouth. Suddenly, he too was clawing at his chest, gasping for air. Satvi’s lifeless body felt heavy in his arms and Namesh had no choice but to let her drop. Every movement caused his body pain and he was growing dizzy from the lack of oxygen. He forced himself to crawl over to Usha, and grabbing onto the hem of her skirts, Namesh pleaded for help with his eyes, for his voice was now useless.

  “Whatever is the matter?” Usha asked sardonically, her lips forming into a wicked smile once more. She knelt down and pressed her lips to Namesh’s ear, whispering her words:

  “Did you really think I was going to grant the two of you a happy ending? Honestly Namesh, I’m disappointed in you. You knew how much I loved you; how I would do anything to have you reciprocate my love. You knew how much I despised Satvi for having your heart. Yet, you still had the audacity to ask me for help, believing I would take pity on your tragic love story and bring her back so the two of you could waltz out of here hand in hand.”

  Namesh’s eyes widened in horror as her words set in. He had honestly believed that she would help him; that she was, deep down, still his childhood friend. He never thought for a moment that her infatuation for him had made her blind with hate. He could feel his body expiring and knew that his final moments were upon him. Namesh turned his face away from Usha and set his eyes on the fragile, lifeless body of his true love - for Satvi was the last thing he wanted to see before he closed his eyes forever.

  CHAPTER 32

  MADELYN

  I awoke gasping for air, the same way Namesh had struggled and gasped for air as his life drained away. The horror frozen on his face would stay ingrained in my mind forever. What had that horrible witch whispered in his ear? What information did she give him before he died? The realization of what Damien and I had witnessed, ignited a fresh wave of panic within me. My body was trembling all over, and as I reached up to wipe the perspiration from my forehead, I noticed Damien was also awake. He sat upright with his back against the pillows, a hollow expression on his face.

  “How could they have died?” he whispered. He looked haunted by what we had just seen. Then something dawned on me and I was suddenly consumed with it: the Usha from this flashback, from the past, bore an uncanny resemblance to the present day Madame Yelena.

  “Damien, that woman, or witch… I think it might be Madame Yelena.” Saying it aloud made it sound even stranger, but there was no denying it.

  “Wait, you mean Namesh’s backstabbing, so-called friend looks like the medium you’ve been consulting?” Damien asked.

  “The resemblance is so similar it’s scary,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself. I suddenly felt chilled to the bone. “Maybe she’s a descendant of Usha’s? I mean, everything about the woman we just saw in that vision, from her voice to the strange golden color of her eyes, is practically identical. I realize there are instances where two people look so much alike, but I can’t explain it - this feels different.”

  “You think it might be the same woman? No, that can’t be. It would mean she is over 200 years old. That isn’t possible… is it?” Damien asked rhetorically as he ran both hands through his hair in obvious frustration.

  “Anything is possible, Damien. Just look at what is happening between us. If we were to explain what’s transpired in both our lives, do you think anyone would believe it?”

  “Good point,” he said, nodding. “So, let’s suppose this whole scenario is true - that Yelena is Usha’s descendant or Usha herself…”

  “Oh my God, it makes sense now,” I interrupted. “The spell that Usha wove between Namesh and Satvi did more than just bring her back to life. That is why Madame Yelena was so insistent that I contact you, that I do everything possible to follow my ‘destiny’, as she put it. Oh! What if she has been doing this to other people in other lifetimes? I wonder… what if we are the first to discover this? Damien, we have to do something!” I stood up and began pacing quickly back and forth around my room. I could feel the anxiety mounting as my mind reeled with all the different possibilities.

  “Honey, you’re going too fast. Let’s take this one step at a time. Go back to the spell we just witnessed. What did Usha say when she was performing her magic?” he asked, as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached out, grabbing my hand bringing me back to sit beside him. Damien was apparently the calm-in-the-face-of-danger type person, where I was the opposite, but his presence was reassuring and I took a deep breath, settling against his broad shoulder.

  “She recited the incantation and used her blood to bind herself to Namesh and Satvi, saying that her blood would make the spell stronger. But then they both died afterward, which could have been the result of the spell going badly, or perhaps she had ulterior motives. Maybe she is benefitting from this in some way,” I wondered aloud, the memory of our shared dream flooding back into my mind.

  “Well, sounds to me like we need to pay Madame Yelena a visit,” Damien said matter-of-factly.

  “But, what if she really is Usha, and what if she’s a threat? You saw how powerful she was in that flashback. And what if the spell didn’t go wrong? She could have intentionally meant for Namesh and Satvi to die again. How can we even stand a chance against someone with such tremendous supernatural power?”

  “I’m not sure,” he said looking past me, contemplating. After a minute or two of silence, he finally added, “but we have to take the chance, don’t we? What’s our alternative? Wait here and possibly have the same fate as Namesh and Satvi, or confront this woman and ask her to explain everything. Honestly, I think I’d prefer the latter.” Damien was right. We had too many questions at this point, and Yelena was the only person who could answer them.

  “I guess you’re right. Let’s go see her.”

  ***

  We picked up coffee on our drive over to Madame Yelena’s shop; the caffeine supplying a much needed jolt for what we were about face. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Madame Yelena (who just might be 275 year old Usha) had bad intentions. We sipped our coffees as I drove and I tried my hardest to savor each blissful moment I had with Damien by my side.

  Once we arrived at Yelena’s shop, I noticed that the lights were off, the curtains drawn. I gave Damien a weary glance as he grabbed hold of my hand, giving it a supporting squeeze.

  “Everything is going to be alright, love.”

  “How can you be so sure?” I asked, intertwining my fingers with his as we made our way to the door.

  “I don’t know, Madelyn, but I’m hopeful. I just have this feeling that our story isn’t supposed to end here,” he said, ringing the bell without hesitation. I tried desperately to let his words wash over me and soothe my trepidation, but I still couldn’t quiet the voice in the back of my mind telling me, warning me, the worst was yet to come.

  “That’s the third time we rang the bell, Damien. Maybe we should go.” I knew something was off when Madame Yelena didn’t come to the door right away. We even turned the doorknob, but it was locked. She knew we were here and she was either avoiding confrontation, or preparing for it… either way, that wasn’t a good sign. “Why don’t we come back tomorrow?” I suggested, barely concealing the tremor in my voice. The image of Namesh choking for air, clutching to Usha’s skirt in his final moments, replayed in my mind once more.

  “No, let’s not give up just yet,” Damien said, rubbing my shoulders reassuringly. “Perhaps she went out for something and is coming back. I think we should wait a little while longer. Friend or foe, she is the only one who can answer our questions.

  CHAPTER 33

  USHA

  The time had finally come. All the waiting, all my careful preparations
and now the two of them were here, together once again. They always arrive in the same manner. It’s so predictable…

  I heard their knocking; I could almost taste their impatience, their fear. I flicked my fingers, igniting the candles in the room, noticing it took much longer for the flames to come to life. Curse them for draining my magic. The time they spend together before their eventual demise has grown with each lifetime, making my powers increasingly weaker. I tire of being bound to them, but it is the price of my immortality.

  I wouldn’t have to wait much longer to feel rejuvenated, to feel the power once again surging in my veins… No, soon I would be fully restored.

  I smiled as I prepared myself for the next inquisition.

  CHAPTER 34

  MADELYN

  “I really don’t think she’s here,” I said, slowly inching away from the doorstep, hoping Damien would realize that speaking to Usha so soon might not be a such a good idea. There had to another way to get some answers before confronting her. I grabbed my phone from the back pocket of my jeans to check the time, and wondered idly what search results would pop up if I typed, “275 year old witch” into a search engine?

  “It hasn’t even been five minutes,” Damien reminded me, pulling me forward to stand next to him.

  “I know, but…” I trailed off, catching a faint stirring in the house. We exchanged a worried glance when we heard the lock on the door click, and I held my breath as Madame Yelena slowly opened it.

  “Madelyn, so good to see you. And this must be Damien. Come in, come in,” she said, moving away from the threshold so we could enter. I couldn’t help but notice that she looked tired, the glow in her face seemingly dimmed.

  Damien gestured for me to enter, answering my silent question of whether or not we should proceed with this insane idea of confronting Yelena. I took a deep breath and stepped inside, with Damien right behind me. She closed the door as soon as we entered and I noticed her turning the deadbolt, locking us in. I felt a slight chill and the hairs on my arms raised in response. I was pretty sure it wasn’t due to the shift in temperature.

  I turned to face her, my heartbeat pulsing in my ears as I spoke, “Madame Yelena, we were hoping we could ask you a few questions about the strange dreams we’ve both been experiencing. They involve a young Indian couple from the past. We think... I mean, we’re wondering if it’s possible that we are the reincarnated versions of their souls,” I explained, realizing just how crazy it sounded when said aloud.

  “You’ve dreamt of Namesh and Satvi?” The question burst from her lips, her expression instantly shifting. Shock, then anger marred her face.

  “Wait, you know their names? How could you possibly know of them?” Damien demanded.

  I looked over at her for a response, and saw that her usual friendly demeanor had melted away and was replaced by a vicious sneer. Yelena sighed dramatically before speaking.

  “Let’s drop the pretenses, shall we?” she replied nonchalantly, striding over to her chair and sitting down; fatigue and strength simultaneously woven in her features. “I’m tired and the two of you don’t have much time.”

  “So you are Usha?” Damien asked incredulously. “What do you mean we don’t have much time?”

  “How I tire of telling the same tale over and over again, but alas, it is my curse to bear as well. As you may have already figured out, Namesh and Satvi were the first; the first of many life cycles that have sustained me. The spell I wove over two hundred years ago was not only to bring Satvi back to life, as Namesh arrogantly requested of me, but to serve a much higher purpose. Of course, I had to benefit somehow… it’s only fair,” she laughed. “I cast a curse upon them that night which would forever bind their souls to mine, causing their love to feed my immortality. Every lifetime begins with a new path leading back to me. Sometimes your souls find me quickly and other times you need a little push, like a gift of a special tea to awaken your being and allow a stubborn mind to open up to the possibility of your destiny, or a warning of any person that I feel may interfere with the two of you finding each other, like my not so subtle hint about Damien being deceived by someone close to him. Every time Namesh and Satvi’s souls reincarnate and inevitably find one another, their inseparable bond leads to their eventual demise and therefore fuels the fire of this curse. No pun intended dearest Madelyn, although I’m sure you have no recollection of burning,” she said contemptuously, giving me an icy glance before turning back to Damien. “Their deaths in turn give me renewed life and restore my powers. And now, your time has come. Just like the others before you, you’ve come to me today with your irrelevant questions, hoping and praying that I will be your salvation, when my only plan is to have you die before me so that I may absorb the vitality of your lives once again.”

  Damien and I stared at Usha in shock. This was actually the witch from the past, and not the Madame Yelena that I had grown to like and respect. How could I have believed that this woman was my friend? An ally in my quest to decipher the strange occurrences plaguing my life? I felt so foolish now for having trusted her, and for having lead Damien to her as well.

  “How could you do this? How could you destroy the love between two innocent people? Watch them die over and over again. It’s hateful and cruel.” Damien looked disgusted. He reached over and protectively grasped my hand while I stood, shocked by Usha’s deceit and the revelations being laid out before us.

  Usha’s eyes darted toward our interlocked hands, her face oozing with hatred. “Cruel? Cruel is what Namesh was to me. Asking me to revive his dead princess, knowing full well how much I cared for him, how much I adored him! He had no consideration for my feelings and no remorse over breaking my heart. They were not innocent. No, they were guilty of many transgressions including dishonoring the caste system and the bonds of marriage. Satvi took advantage of her nobility to pursue and charm Namesh, a lowly servant, then proceeded to marry that foolish prince and instead of honoring her vows, she lay with him while her husband was at war protecting our empire. She deserved her fiery sentence. Then, instead of realizing his love for me and our compatibility, Namesh went against the laws of nature and asked me, a powerful dayaani who was in love with him, to resurrect the dead. They deserved everything that happened. You deserve to watch her die over and over again. You deserve to suffer lifetimes of unfulfilled love, just as I have.” Anger flared upon Usha’s face; hatred dripped from every venomous word spewed from her mouth. “I could have been everything you needed, Namesh. I loved you fiercely and you never honored my loyalty and dedication to you. You speak of cruelty? What you have done is cruel!” Usha cried out furiously, making both of us back away.

  “I am not Namesh!” Damien cried out in a desperate attempt to gain control of the situation.

  “Oh, but you are, and you will both suffer the consequences of your past actions,” Usha shot back.

  I felt a strange pull in the room, begging me to notice Usha’s necklace. I noticed a shift in the amulet as Usha became increasingly angrier. It began to glow with every spike in her fury. As I stared at the golden triangle, I once again became captivated by its alluring, thrumming energy; a life force all its own. Fragments of previous dreams began falling into place: the swing of the pendant while Usha cast her spell, the henna that turned to coiling serpents on my hands, the glistening triangle made of three arrows encircling the iridescent sphere. All of them pieces of the amulet that had caught my attention the first time I met Usha. The same amulet that was now calling to me.

  “It’s the necklace. It’s her amulet,” I said faintly, hoping Damien would hear.

  “Of course, it’s the amulet,” Usha announced, hearing my whispered words. “I have been harboring our souls in it for centuries. This amulet is what is keeping us eternally bound. It doesn’t matter, though. You have both come to die, just as you’ve done many times before.”

  As soon as she spoke the words, my breath began to labor and I looked over at Damien, concern clouding his face as he
watched me trying to catch my breath. My knees buckled beneath me and I collapsed onto the ground. Damien quickly rushed to my side and slipped his arm behind my neck, hoisting me up.

  “Are you okay, Madelyn? What’s happening?” he asked nervously, brushing a strand of hair away from my face.

  “Your fate,” Usha spit out. “Once the three of us are in the same room and finally together, the curse will be executed just as I devised,” she said, mockingly. Damien lowered me down and abruptly stood up at her words, his hands balled into fists and anger rolling off of him in waves. He suddenly lunged at Usha, reaching for the necklace that contained the magic binding us together. Usha gracefully stepped aside causing Damien to crash into the apothecary table behind her. Tiny crystal vials fell and shattered; their contents spilling onto the ground.

  Usha took in a deep breath and smiled, seemingly unaffected by the broken glass littering her floor. I noticed she appeared somewhat renewed. “Her soul is already beginning to feed my powers. It won’t be long now before you follow suit, Damien,” Usha laughed wickedly.

  I watched Damien dive towards her again and again, and each time he faltered. With every attempt he grew visibly weaker. Usha’s maniacal laugh swirled in the air around me, my head in a dizzying fog. There was nothing we could do. She was getting too powerful and we, too weak in our attempts. Usha walked over to me, bending down so her eyes met mine.

  “You will never have him for more than a few moments in time,” she gloated.

  Rage flowed through my veins, giving me the strength needed to gain control of my body. “Neither will you,” I spit out, using every last ounce of my energy to kick Usha’s legs out from underneath her. Her arms flailed as she grabbed for anything that would break her fall. Damien seized the opportunity and threw himself over her, ripping the amulet from her neck.