Chapter 6 The Curse

The Curse

The morning sun crept the drapes of the dazzling window.The rays of the sun made the ocean view sparkle like a diamond. As Evelyn adjusted herself to sit up a flash of red and orange bolted across the room. A bit startled she said, "oh please come back I won't hurt you." The timid ball of fire made her way out from behind the armoire. She flew to Evelyn's bed side and gave her a smile.

"Oh how lovely you are" Evelyn said giving her a smile back. "Your hair reminds me of my mother's...bright red, wild and untamed...she's no longer with me but reminders of her always seem to find their way towards me." The fairy remained quiet for a minute, "yes, what a lovely thing that is."

"Can you tell me where I am at, you see I can't seem to remember.I came to visit my grandmother, I was returning a dog one moment, in a tub the next, met a boy, and tucked into bed and laid to rest" pleaded Evelyn. The fairy seemed hesitant to answer her request, for she had worked for Ebony for 3 years now. How could she betray someone who gave her a resting place when nobody else would? But she felt a compassion for Evelyn, a connection that seemed as if they had new each other in a past life. "Did your mother send you here, right before her passing?' the fairy asked. "Why yes, she did actually" Evelyn responded back. "I thought so" smirked the fairy.

"Well alright, I'll tell you the story. Ebony is not what she seems and is not your grandmother. Ebony was created by a deviant man who lives on a separate island right off the coast of Maine. Edgar his name was. Edgar fell in love with your grandmother,an artificial love I suppose, he built her this big house and called her as his own. He also gave her a child...your mother. Edgar always seemed to be caught up in his studies. He would lock himself away for days and days, rejecting food or communication with the outside world. Witchcraft was his fascination. He became very bitter and nasty. His work seemed to dominate his home life. Your grandmother began to test Edgar's limits. Always interrupting his experiments by bringing him food or company. Until one day he was fed up with these interruptions. He cast a spell on your grandmother locking her away somewhere in the castle and leaving behind a replacement, who is Ebony. Her soul may never leave this house, until it's curse is broken."

Evelyn collected her thoughts and tried to piece everything together.  "You must break the curse Evelyn, your grandmother needs you!" Evelyn closed her eyes for one second, the sound of the doorknob startled her. When she opened the fairy was gone. Ebony shuffled her way in, "it's time for breakfast dear."

The old pale woman  entered the room and gave Evelyn a crooked smile. Evelyn attempted to smile back just to look natural. "Well, thank you Ebony, so I must ask a question." The ol' lady slowly put down the plates of breakfast and looked her way with squinty eyes. "Yes, go ahead dear, ask away."

"Why do you live here alone? And are there any other people?" The woman smiled and  responded: "Well, see, I have been living here since my husband and I moved in, he one day left far far away and I still remain here just to see if he would come back one day. As for people, there was this boy named Jack, but it seems he ran away into the city I suppose, a good boy he was; such a talent." Evelyns eyebrows rose to the response.

"Tell me more about this Jack fellow." The ol lady then began to feed the girl some of the bacon she prepared along with eggs. "Jack was a lonely boy who came to this island one day, I  took him in and began teaching him." "Teaching him? -Evelyn interrupted- are you a teacher of some sort?" Evelyn asked with a mouthful of bacon and eggs. "Well, you could say that my dear, I teach the mystical art of Magic, don't you suppose that's how the books flew around carrying you?" Evelyn  began to become interested in the ol lady's words.

"I knew there was something different about this place. -then Evelyn remembered the train ride- but I must look for my grandmother, she apparently lives in this island." Evelyn  began to get out of the bed. "I can teach you my dear, teach you to live an easier life, you have already been through so much." Evelyn  stopped buttoning up her blouse and began to remember the hard times after losing her mother. "Thank you Ebony, but I think I should be going now." As  Evelyn approached the open door, it slammed shut and locked itself, Evelyn looked over to Ebony who seemed to have a frown on her face. "I can't have someone else leave me too, you must stay with me."  Ties began to fly around the room and start wrapping around Evelyn, the ol lady  opened the door and looked back before shutting it. "This is your home now Evelyn, and you are not allowed to leave." she said shutting the door behind her.

The bureau  began to move... something was behind it. And as the furniture moved slightly forward, Jack crept out from behind it. "Are you ok Evelyn?" Evelyn  began to cry from the fear and disbelief. "I want to get out of here, please help me Jack." The boy  looked around to find scissors but had no luck finding them.

"I'm going to try something -Jack  began to move his hands, almost as if performing a spell of some sort- dang it, I can't remember." A sudden weak flash appeared and then faded when Jack ended the spell. "I just don't know how to use it anymore."  The orange ball suddenly appeared from under the bed with a pair of scissors cutting Evelyn free from the ribbons. "It's you!" Jack screams out. The fire ball quickly span around the boy leaving behind the etches of her fiery trace, the fairy seemed very happy. "She is the one that called out to me, the one that I freed."

"Well, I'm glad Jack, but right now we have to find a way out of here." Evelyn then began to head for the door but Jack stopped her. "You can't do that, she will know, she knows if you use the exits here. It is some sort of spell she has. So, no doors, or windows. We have to find another way." Jack  let go of Evelyn, and the fairy began to fly around. They all searched around the room and thought of a way to escape. But Evelyn suddenly remembered that her grandmother was locked deep in the basement and couldn't leave without her. After looking around, they searched under the bed and found what  seemed like a room under the floorboard. As they investigated, the floor began to tilt and the trio fell down through the hole into a new part of the Castle.

The room was a bare, only containing two doors and a framed map of some sort. The rest of the room was covered with dust and cobwebs. Evelyn looked through the first doors room. A lifeless woman was hunched over laying on the filthy stone floor. It was her grandmother. "She's in here, she's in here, I've found her!" Evelyn shouted. She jiggled the handle of the door. No luck. It was locked.

Jack pulled down the map from the wall. It was framed in a glass case. He threw it down on the floor to break the seal. "Look here Evelyn, this must be the directions to free your grandmother" Jack said trying to calm her down. The second door was their exit out of the mansion. No tricks or anything, they could leave whenever they pleased and Ebony would never know.

Jack, the fairy and Evelyn gathered around the map to read it's directions. "This must be the directions on how to retrieve the key the free my grandmother" exclaimed Evelyn. "Step one head to the forest deep in the heart of the woods, your next clue will be waiting for you there" Jack said reading aloud from the paper. "But what forest?" asked Evelyn. "Ebony forest" exclaimed Jack, "It has to be, it would only make sense!" The group grabbed the map and made their way out the door without looking back.