by Ford, S. M.
We didn’t see or hear from Rosi on Saturday. Donna and I kept working on the chart. We inventoried everything in the tiny drawers on the wall. Bits of hair, a tooth, what looked like a bag of fingernails. It didn’t make any sense. We wrote down what we thought each thing was. We also listed the location of each item. By the time we finished with all of that it was late afternoon. “Let’s get out of here and take a walk, Donna.” My legs were numb from sitting. My eyes hurt from reading tiny swirly handwriting. We both needed some fresh air. “I’m all over that” Donna agreed. We headed downstairs and outside into the cool, damp air. “Which way?” Donna asked. “Um, maybe this way.” I pointed in the direction away from Rosi’s house. We headed down the dirt road, kicking rocks as we walked. We neared the end of the road. I remembered the tree Dad had blasted past when we first arrived. I really wanted to check it out. I told Donna that I thought I had seen writing all over it. As we approached the tree we could see lines and scratches covering the trunk. It was a massive, tall olive tree. It must have reached 30 feet into the air. The dirt around it was littered with leaves and dried olives. Around the trunk were carved hundreds of names. After reading a few I realized these were my new found family members! Allesandro, Cirino, Eva, Maia, Kora, Polona, Tacito, Rodolfo, Orfeo, Umfredo, Sophia, Thyia, Ambrogino, Kharis, Semele. The names went on and on. It was strange to see Mom’s name too. It was weird that I had lived my whole life without knowing about this. Just two hours away. And all the while there was a tree with my Mom’s name on it. And hundreds of other family members that I never knew about. “What do you think this means?” Donna muttered. I ran my hands all over the tree. It seemed like there was a warmth, like an energy, coming from it. “I don’t know Donna. But I’m definitely gonna ask Mom about this. It’s got like a hundred names on it and they’re all family. Put your hands on it. Can you feel that?” Donna looked suspicious, but put her hands on the tree trunk. “Mmm, no I just feel tree. What do you feel?” I didn’t really know what I felt. But I tried to explain it. “It’s kind of...warm. Like it’s been in the sun a long time. But theres no sun today.” Donna shook her head. “I dunno Cal. It must be something special. It looks like everyone in your family has carved their name on it. Look, there’s Sophia’s name. I wonder if that’s THE Sophia? Or is there another? And there’s your Mom!” We headed back towards the house. I made a note to ask Mom about the tree carvings. Or Rosi. If she ever came around again. Sunday morning Donna’s mom picked her up bright and early. “Homework” Donna said glumly. I waved as their car zipped down the dirt road. Donna texted me a minute later. “Be back Saturday, k? Going car shopping Friday after school!” Shoot. With all that was happening I almost forgot Donna’s birthday was next Friday. “Good luck friend. Find a great car! See u Saturday! We’ll celebrate then!”
Chapter 11
THE DIVULGENCE
I didn’t see Rosi again until Monday morning at 9 a.m. I had texted her but had gotten no reply. She and Mom showed up at my door together. I was excited to tell Mom about the chart. And to ask about the tree. I hadn’t seen Mom at all on Sunday after Donna left. Dad only said that Mom had some important business to take care of. I had spent the rest of the day nosing around the house. We ordered Chinese food for dinner and went to our rooms.
Now I couldn’t wait any longer. “Mom, Mom! I have so much to tell you! And to ask you! Where were you?!” Mom smiled and said “Never mind where I was. Hold your news for the classroom honey. I might need to take notes.” Rosi seemed kind of distant still. I promised myself we’d talk when we got a break.
We settled into the classroom. I couldn’t wait to share everything with them! As soon as Mom sat down I let it all out! I showed her the charts and before she could comment I asked “Tell me about the tree. I saw it when we first passed it. Donna and I walked down and looked at it. What’s the story?!” Again before Mom could answer I turned to Rosi. “Have you seen it? You must have seen it. You live right here! Have you touched it?” Mom and Rosi both started to talk at the same time. Rosi stopped and waited for Mom to go first. “Calli, The tree goes back pretty far in our history. Did you finish Sophia’s Story? I’m pretty sure it’s mentioned in there.” I hadn’t finished it. I fell asleep Sunday night as I was reading. “Almost Mom. I fell asleep. But I worked on the chart all weekend!” Mom frowned at me. “Anyway, the tree came with Sophia from Italy. It’s an olive tree that came from her home in Viareggio. She carried it with her through all her travels. When she arrived here she planted it. It was just a seedling when she left Viareggio. She kept it trimmed tiny, like a Bonsai, until she got to Whiskey Hill. When she knew this was home, she planted it. It’s well over 200 years old. When it grew large enough Sophia carved her name into it. And every member of the family since has done the same. Even Pellegrino, who left the family when he completed his schooling.” I hadn’t heard this name before. “Pellegrino? Is he the only one to leave?” Rosi jumped in now. “Pellegrino left the family and has never been heard from again. The story goes that when he completed school he was terrified. He thought that by leaving he could overcome the curse. He left Freedom and no one has heard from him since. We guess he must still be alive. Without the support of the family he would be forced to live differently. Differently than us, I mean.” Rosi stopped and Mom picked up the story. “Calli, the family has devised ways to avoid attacking people for blood. This lesson was to come a bit later. We might as well address it now, though. By the time we turn sixteen, we completely stop making blood. So we need to take in fresh blood at least twice a month. What most of us do is take in small quantities daily. This way we avoid having to feed on large amounts at once. I find that distasteful. There are a couple of relatives who enjoy it though. I don’t know what they do or how they do it. Most of us eat liver pate three times a week. We also enjoy steak tartare and Steak Diane. These are raw dishes that provide blood for us. Additionally, we also have relatives at several blood banks. We get transfusions regularly at their homes. Without the family support I’m sure Pellegrino is living quite ... differently. There are a number of unsolved and peculiar crimes each year. These crimes are inflicted upon animals and humans across the country and Mexico. The family feels certain Pellegrino and his offspring are to blame.” I took a moment to let this all sink in. “So when do Rosi and I carve our names into the tree?” Rosi jumped in at this point. “Okay, so yes I have touched the tree. And I felt something...warm. That’s the only way I can describe it. Why? You must have felt something too! What was it?!” Mom interrupted now. “Yes, the whole family has felt what you describe Rosi. The tree seems more than just alive. It has a warmth to it, even in the winter. Is that what you experienced Calli?” It was mind blowing to me that the whole family felt weirdness from this tree! Yet no one was really curious about it. This family is really not normal in so many ways! “Ya, Mom, that’s what I felt too. Has no one thought about why this tree is so strangely alive? Mom took a deep breath. “Calli, theres really a lot that we all have to cope with. You don’t know the half of it yet. We still have to talk about the Stem Cell treatments and Melanin therapy. Haven’t you wondered why we can all go out in the sun? We’re all busy just staying alive honey. We could use a fresh mind or two in this battle. Along those lines, let’s get to work.”
Over the next week, we focused on The Divulgence. The first lesson was studying the original curse uttered 249 years ago. According to Sophia it was burned into her brain that day on the shore. When she wrote Sophia’s Story she committed it to paper forever. We studied the curse, and Mom made us promise to memorize it all.
Thy chose to taste what was not yours
In the gods’ names I brand thee a whore.
For all eternity thee and thine shall pay.
Thee crept in darkness
There thee must remain
Never again to know light of day.
From the sun’s sweet kiss
Thee will writhe in pain.
Never shall thee covet my jewels
again.
The mere touch of silver
Will burn thine skin
Till tis as black as thine heart within.
The life force will become the thing thy crave
In search of it will be spent all thine days.
Frozen in time thine countenance shall be pent
From the very day thy first share thine bed.
If all the days a virgin thee be
Passover from this curse thee shall see,
Thence thy wretched bloodline will wither and die.
Choose thine action, seal thine own fate,
Remain chaste and cheat me or
Be’est carnal and sate me.
Never shall this curse be undone
Save for the insight of a younger one.
In thine fifteenth year thee stole from me
In the fifteenth year only shall thee be set free.
Blood Moon, thine witness
Modesty thy foe!
Something from all
Nothing from none
Habeus corpus
Let the blood freshly run!
Live twice this moment
Of your messy disgrace.
Harlot, thee wrought this
So proffer thine face.
Tis thine one chance at salvation,
Tis thine one saving grace.
In perigee thee and thine take rest
Lo, ‘tis apogee thee & thine shall detest!
Till then, till then!
The curse made some sense, but some of it made none. Habeus corpus is Latin, I learned. It translates loosely to “you have the body.” The clue to breaking the curse must lie within it’s verse. Rosi and I promised to study it daily for clues.
Each day we learned more about how we exist. In many ways we basically cheat the curse. The curse says “From the sun’s sweet kiss thee will writhe in pain.”
So how can the family go out in the daytime? Melanin is what gives skin pigment. The more Melanin skin has, the more resistant it is to burning.We super supplement Melanin through daily intake of vitamins E, B, and Folic Acid. Copper strengthens Melanin as well. We eat huge amounts of copper in our diets. Our daily food intake must include some or all of the following items:
Liver
Oysters
Sesame seeds
Chocolate
Cashews
Calamari
Lobster
Sunflower seeds
Sun dried tomatoes
Roasted pumpkin seeds
There are several medical doctors in the family, we learned. They travel often to Mexico to obtain supplies for stem cell treatments. Stem cells are sort of magical, I found. They are harvested from the placenta after childbirth. They can be used to heal almost any illness. They are like little blank checks for the body. Stem cells have the ability to be grown into almost any type of cell needed! For us, they are used to strengthen and heal our skin. These treatments were not available in the United States yet. Supplies are brought back in bulk from Mexico and Europe. Family members are treated with skin cream and shots. In addition, we buy massive amounts of sunscreen and encourage covering of skin during outings. Imagine how hard it must have been for Great Sophia back in the early days, before modern medicine! Then there was “The mere touch of silver will burn thine skin till tis as black as thine heart within.” As far as silver goes, well the family just prefers gold or costume jewelry. Copper is also a favorite. The most interesting thing about Divulgence to me was Odontogenesis. Apparently, we have two teeth that will grow quickly. They replace our canine teeth, which will just fall out sometime during the fifteenth year. They aren’t like normal teeth though. They are made of keratin, something that’s more like really tough hair or fingernails. The really cool thing about them is that they are sort of like a cat’s claw. They look like normal teeth until the sheath is pulled back. Then they become fangs. They are hollow and have a vein in the center, like a straw. Mom says we don’t use them anymore. We’ve become civilized vampires! The thought occurred to me...I was definitely going to use mine to drink a soda! The other area that was totally cool was Vitalization. Finally, I learned what it meant! During the fifteenth year, we begin to grow physically stronger. Like, incredibly stronger. Superhuman strength, you could call it. We don’t look any different, but we are. Mom said “You won’t know you’ve begun to vitalize until one day you just break something by touching it. For me, it was sort of funny. I was feeling a little frustrated one day after a Divulgence class. I went outside to the front porch. There was a beetle crawling up one of the porch posts. I just tapped it with my foot to knock it off. The whole beam snapped and the porch almost fell in on me! Yes,” she smiled, “that’s why the front porch is a bit saggy to this day.” Wow. No wonder Mom had never even swatted me once when I was a little kid. She was probably afraid she’d break me! Mom interrupted my thoughts “Now, you two must be wondering about the aging part. Or should I say, the lack of aging? You must have noticed, right?!” Mom looked downright offended that we might not have noticed how young she still looked. “Honestly, Mom, I mean, I know you look good. Your obviously not a troll or anything. But, really Mom, I never really thought about it! Sorry...” Mom looked as though she might yell, but then she smiled. “I suppose I never really thought about how young my parents looked, either, when I was your age. Everybody just looks old, unless they’re under 18, right?!” Rosi and I breathed a sigh of relief at the same moment. Mom might be old, but she totally still understood being young. “Well, anyway, grab your book and open Sophia’s Story. Turn to The Curse, and find line 15. Read through line 19.”
Frozen in time thine countenance shall be pent
From the very day thy first share thine bed.
If all the days a virgin thee be
Passover from this curse thee shall see,
Thence thy wretched bloodline will wither and die.
“Now, what that basically means is we will stop aging the moment we have sex for the first time. But, if we choose to remain virgins, the curse will pass over us. We will remain completely mortal, and will age and die just like regular people. The curse is written to inflict punishment no matter what we choose, though. If we live our lives and take a sexual partner, we are cursed with immortality, vampirism, and all the troubles that come with it. If we choose to remain virgins, yes, the curse passes over us. But the punishment there is that if all of us remain chaste our family bloodline will die out. Well, and no sex, which could be considered quite a punishment in itself! Long story short, if no one has kids, eventually our entire family will be wiped off the face of the earth. Either way, the witch wins.” Rosi shook her head. “Cuz, I vote we take a good hard look at the curse. We need to pick it apart line by line to really get it.” I nodded. “I’m with ya. After class tonight let’s get started.”
