Dark Winter

by John Hennessy

  Listening next door to the sounds of the blade being sharpened, he could probably take my head clean off with it.

  I tried to wriggle free once more. No good. The binds were tight. Professional. Troy knew what he was doing.

  In the end, I knew that there was only one person who could help me. I would simply have to trust her, something I was not good at doing. I wished with all my heart that there was some way I could get a message to Toril.

  I needed her to rescue me.

  * * *

  “A plan.”

  “What?” said Toril.

  “A plan!” said Beth. “I assume you have one?”

  “I need to think.”

  Beth grabbed Toril by the arms. “Look. There is no time. You think losing Jacinta is bad? We could all end up dead.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do!” said Toril. “I am thinking. I will figure out what to do. You aren’t helping me, being like this.”

  “Maybe you wish that axe hit me instead of Jacinta. Fine. I understand that.”

  Toril wanted to spit back a retort, but she knew Beth was hurting, just as bad as she was.

  “Beth, I need you more than ever. Please, just be a friend. Be a support, okay?”

  Beth hugged herself, trying to get some warmth into her body.

  “What do you need me to do?”

  Toril’s mind was racing, thinking about different people, and was considering multiple outcomes. Although she was thinking about me, she was also thinking about Troy and how he came by that axe. The axe that hurt Dana.

  Somewhere, she was thinking that rescuing me and retrieving the Mirror was the most important thing. But Toril, who was normally more level headed than most if not all of the people I knew, made a different decision.

  “I need you to help me lay Jacinta somewhere. Somewhere where she can be at peace.”

  Beth couldn’t believe it. In her head, she thought I can’t believe you’re giving up.

  Beth was thinking that the Toril she knew would stop at nothing to resurrect Jacinta, if she could. Beth had heard of such things, things that witchcraft could do. Raising the dead.

  “You mark my words, Beth O’Neill,” said her mother one day. “There are queer folk who can summon such devilry to serve their own selfish ends. We’ll have no part of that. This is a holy place.”

  For Beth, the ‘holy place’ was a bit too much. There were crucifixes everywhere, some with Jesus on the cross, others without. Some gold, some silver, some in wood. But so many of them. Even ones above Beth’s headstand on her bed, so that she was reminded not to give into ‘temptation’.

  It was no wonder the Sister Beth mantle had stuck throughout her entire school life.

  Toril, Jacinta, and of course myself had never called her that and we never would. Even Toril, who would fully admit to feeling tempted now, wouldn’t want to hurt Beth.

  “Of course Toril, anything you want.”

  Jacinta, well meaning as she was, had messed with dark craft, and look what had happened.

  “We can’t stay here,” said Toril. “Beth, you know about churches. Is there anywhere we can take her? You know, just for safekeeping for a night or so?”

  Since the late 1990s churches were locked, except for when masses were being said or other ceremonies were taking place.

  “Beth?”

  “Oh!”

  “What were you doing? I asked you a question.”

  “Thinking,” said Beth.

  That hurt, but Toril let it slide.

  “I’m thinking that you cannot take her to a church, but a chapel might be a possibility. Just we have to go to a place maybe you don’t want to go to, that’s all.”

  Toril knew what Beth meant. Dead bodies, hundreds, maybe thousands of them.

  “A cemetery. With all the devils around us. What solace can be found amongst the bones of the dead? I never know why people visit those places. A bloody waste of flowers, I tell you.”

  “Yes. Well. Sorry Toril, it’s all I can think of.”

  “It’s a good thought, on this dark night,” said Toril. “Let’s go.”

  Nobody saw the two girls disappear into the night with Jacinta’s body in their arms.

  * * *

  As I lay strapped to the table, I wondered what my last moments would be like. Should I close my eyes when that blade crosses my throat, or should I look Curie right into his eyes as he does it.

  Nan, where are you? You meant for me to have the Mirror, I did as you bade me, and look what has happened.

  I really didn’t believe I was meant to have the Mirror. Maybe Nan made me a mistake. Maybe-

  A sharp pain in my shoulder shattered my thoughts.

  Curie was standing over me.

  “Well Romilly, I had to get your attention. You were in a world of your own, dear. I wanted to tell you why you are here. Even if you’ve figured it out, it’s only right I should tell you. You see, I have respect for you, Romilly. You’re not like those others. They, in turn, are not like you. You see? You’re more like me, actually.

  You and I often passed each other in school. I would nod to you, and you would sometimes acknowledge me. I felt, oh…appreciated! You were a nice girl.

  Then there was the Withers girl and that albino friend of hers. Both bad seeds. I am sure you know what I mean. Beth O’Neill, what a pain she was. All three scowled at me, which just wasn’t fair.

  Not you though, Romilly. Not you. Ever wondered why that was? I for one did.”

  I let him talk, hoping that it would delay the inevitable long enough for either Toril to free me or for Troy to come to his senses.

  As Curie continued his inane babble, I prayed. Hard. Hoping that I could get out of this situation.

  “One of the worst jobs at the school was cleaning out the bins. A pretty girl like you probably doesn’t know what I mean. Of course, someone like you wouldn’t go and frequent that area, where the bins are. I mean, why ever would you? Do you know what lies there, Romilly? Amidst all the rubbish?”

  Was this a rhetorical question? Curie seemed far too interested in talking about himself than being interested in hearing anything I had to say. I remained quiet, and very still, though my eyes remained locked on him, and the axe he held in his hand.

  “Rats. Lots of rats. In the summer, you can add insects to that. Oh, the stings I would get on my arms, Romilly, you should see that. That, you should see. From bees, and wasps, of course. Horrible blighters, they really are.”

  He’s right. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to do such a job.

  “No appreciation though. None at all. Sometimes the schoolchildren would raise a hand in my direction. The boys, mainly. Some would give a thumbs up to me. I can tell you that some of those boys will be doing my line of work in the future. Of course, they don’t know that yet.”

  “The girls though, they would rarely acknowledge me. I mean, why shouldn’t they? I was removing your rubbish, your filth, Romilly. Am I not deserving of acknowledgement? Is Toril Withers too great to say hello to me, is Beth O’Neill so holier than thou that she cannot send a kind look in my direction. Jacinta Crow? Does she think she is the only one that something bad has happened to her? How goddamn selfish. How dare they treat me so badly.”

  “Looking at the rats and the wasps would fascinate you, Romilly, and it certainly fascinated me. I could learn from these creatures, you see. Have you ever observed them, and watched what they do? Rats don’t just bite, and wasps don’t just sting. Oh no, Romilly, to think like that would be to think them too primitive. Which I assure you they are not.”

  “I wouldn’t expect someone like Toril Withers or Beth O’Neill to think about that when they see a wasp. I’ve seen them, those two, killing a wasp, even when it was just flying close by their ankles and not attacking them. You know why they killed that wasp, Romilly? Because it was smaller, and weaker than them. They killed it because they could.”

  “I won’t deny I took a swing at a few of them mysel
f. But having to deal with your garbage meant that I didn’t have time to kill them all. I just wore some repellent. Maybe it was that which made girls like you despise me. You must have thought I reeked like that all the time.”

  “Now I have explained it to you though, you will understand.”

  Curie paused for a moment and looked rather sad.

  “I did, regretfully, have to kill one of the rats though, Romilly. One of the little blighters bit into my finger and I could not shake him off. He was huge beast, almost as big as a cat, and was one of those dark brown ones. He seemed to enjoy inflicting pain on me, a bit like your friends would like to do to me if they ever got me into a darkened room, I expect. I could not get free, so I swung my hand towards one of the big metal bins.

  His brain must have shattered on impact, because he let me go instantly. I can honestly say it’s the worst pain I have had in my life.”

  “Wasps are different from rats. You’ll see wasps carry their dead off, but not rats. No, not them. Rats eat each other, Romilly. No burial, no sending off. Eaten. Can you imagine eating one of your friends if they died, Romilly? Think about it for a second. Think about it.”

  “I imagine your friends would like that to happen to me. My lifeless body being dragged away by a company of wasps, or a few rats ripping my innards apart. Yes, yes, they would like that. What about you though? What about you? Are you a wasp, or a rat?”

  This did not sound like a rhetorical question. I opened my lips gently to speak, not sure what I would say, when Curie placed a dirty, wizened finger onto my mouth and said “You don’t have to answer that.”

  Curie stood up slowly, and grasped the axe with both hands. He moved slowly but purposefully towards the table to which I was bound.

  He stood over me, and I could see the newly sharpened axe glistening in my eyes.

  “This is for you, Romilly. I could torture you, but I know you will never give up the Mirror, much less help me to use it. But I like you, so I will make your passing all the easier. I….I don’t know what will happen when this axe severs your head from your body. I mean, I know, but that Mirror has been in the possession of the Winter females for who knows how many generations. I don’t know what will happen when its ownership is broken.”

  I could not help but think how I had let Nan down, and everyone before her. I did hope that the Mirror would now pass to Toril. I remained determined to look at Curie whilst he did this.

  “I’m sorry, Romilly,” he said as he held the axe aloft, ready to bring it down. " I suspect you are a rat.”

  My teeth chattered in the severe cold, even though with my blood pressure so high, my body should be boiling. I was helpless to stop the tears rolling down my face.

  As the blade hurtled towards me I finally decided I could look no longer, and shut my eyes as tightly as I could.

  * * *

  “Let’s not stay here any longer than we have to, Bethany,” said Toril.

  “Agreed. So. The plan?”

  “The plan,” said Toril, “is to lay Jacinta in the chapel of rest, save Romilly and protect the Mirror, and then….”

  “And then?”

  “And then, I’ll deal with Dana. She has to pay for Jacinta. We owe her that.”

  “No, Toril, please don’t,” said Beth. “People seem to end up dead around Dana. I don’t want to lose you too.”

  Toril smiled a half-smile. She was trying to reassure Beth. “Maybe it won’t come to that.”

  “Why do you think Romilly is in danger?”

  “She’s not here, with us, and Troy has turned, somehow. Dana’s loose out there, and with Jacinta gone, and a named soul, we have the problem of another Zeryth being released.”

  “What? Another one? Jesus!” said Beth. “Remind me not to ask about any of your plans. Ever.”

  “Beth, I need you to go to Romilly. Do you think you could do that?”

  “Sure. But how? You can’t deal with Dana on your own.”

  “I can set up a portal, and you can just go to Diabhal Takh, get Romilly out of there and back here. We’d be stronger together but I suppose we have to be apart for awhile. I will deal with Dana.”

  “How do I get back? How do we both get back?”

  “There will be a corresponding portal at that end. You’ll be okay.”

  Toril motioned for Beth to stand between three small posts she had erected.

  “You have done this before, right Toril?”

  “Loads of times. In practise.”

  “In practise?”

  Toril waved her wand and then thrust hard in Beth’s direction.

  “Goodye, Beth.”

  Beth disappeared from view. Toril would understand the gravity of the situation once she arrived at Diabhal Takh. She just hoped that Beth would arrive before the Zeryth.

  * * *

  Toril tried to process the information coming at her. The blade hurtling towards my neck, the arrival of Beth but also the Zeryth. The other three Zeryths, Troy and of course, Dana, whose whereabouts were unknown, but likely to converge all at Diabhal Takh.

  One thing Toril was good at, was having a sense of priorities. Of the spells rolling around in her head, she previewed a freeze spell.

  That would be no good if the spell was broken, or someone knocked into Curie or the blade.

  A disappear – reappear spell? That would fail too, especially if the Mirror was not safe.

  So Toril went for a spell she had never done before. A miniaturisation spell.

  It wasn’t before time too. I disappeared from sight as the blade slammed into the desk, with Curie howling madly.

  Toril had saved me by making me small. What she didn’t know, was just how small she had made me.

  I looked up at the bag on my chair, which had the Mirror poking out of it. It was far too big. There was no way I could possibly bring it with me.

  There was no point escaping. I could tell by the way Curie was rushing around the rooms and smashing things that he could not see me. I couldn’t leave without the Mirror though.

  There just had to be some way to bring it with me.

  * * *

  Toril sank to her knees in the mudded ground, and clasped her head. What she was suffering felt worse than any aneurysm. She rolled around on the ground, and the image of Jacinta, lying in the chapel, came to haunt her.

  With no-one around to judge her, Toril felt she could let it go, and cried uncontrollably.

  “I’m sorry, Jacinta. I’m sorry for failing you. You should be alive. This is not fair. It’s not fair!”

  More tears, but there was no time for that. Toril was not alone in the cemetery.

  “Crying?” sneered Dana. “Are you crying? Won’t do you much good. You can be thankful she died quickly."

  Toril turned around, with her knees still in the soil. “I can make you meet your end too.”

  “Great! Most people are afraid of me, not you though. We both have wands, we both can do magic,” said Dana, through bloodied teeth, the gaping wound in her shoulder pussing blood down her chest, spoiling her clothes. Dana’s grin disappeared and was replaced with a terrifying snarl.“But we already know the outcome. You can die on your knees if you like, it makes no difference to me.”

  Toril’s eyes flashed with vengeance. Indirectly or not, Dana was to blame for Jacinta’s death. Balancing herself on unsteady legs, she clasped her wand tight with one hand, brushing away tears with the other.

  “I’m your daisy,” said Toril. “Let’s finish this, Dana.”

  * * *

  Toril’s co-ordinates had been spot-on. Beth arrived in the room I had been restrained in. The problem was, she couldn’t see me, and I needed her to. Just how long would this spell last?

  Beth cringed when an almighty smash was heard in the next room.

  “Jesus! For the love of God, what is going on back there?” said Beth to no-one in particular, though I could hear her perfectly.

  I waved my arms frantically at her, but could not get
her attention. Then Beth moved to look through a small hole in the wall. She couldn’t resist being nosey, it seemed.

  “Jesus!” said Beth, a little too loudly, and immediately clasped a hand over her mouth.

  I was never one for heights, but I would have to put this aside. I had to see what was going on. I climbed up Beth’s leg, and tugged at the hem of her skirt, which was a few inches just above her knees. If I couldn’t reach, the whole mission would be impossible.