Thread: The Witch and the Alchemist (closed)

She listened carefully to what the woman said and she understood why the man had such trouble keeping his faith with a being that would take people form this world despite his best efforts to save them. She understood the man??s thinking if only for a moment. If everything was easy, if there was a mathematical equation that explained everything then nothing would be impossible. People wouldn??t need magic to do great things. All they would need was to use their brain and they could do anything. But that was not the case. Things such as magic, god and religion stood in the way of his idea of a perfect world. It would only make sense for him to denounce all of them. Well, the fact that Father Justin was the man that pushed god and religion didn??t make it any easier to want to believe in either. She was once more thankful that both Landon and Abigail had minds of their own or else they might be likely to turn her in for witchcraft despite her actions at the trial. She thought back to the trial and being dragged from her home and all of the blood that she spilt and felt weak all over again. She lifted her arms to help the woman dress her, feeling like a small child for possibly the tenth time since she arrived. Abigail had that effect on her. She smiled knowing that this woman would have made a wonderful mother. It was a shame that this woman didn??t seem to have any children or a husband, she wondered why but didn??t feel it to be her place to ask. She heard what the woman said and wondered about this niece, she never said what happened to her... She was comforted to hear that she had plenty of support in the town and she nodded, her stomach growled, looking forward to whatever the woman had in mind for her breakfast. She watched her leave and wished that Landon would get better soon, she got the feeling that she would be needed him again sometime soon. She didn??t realize how right she was. She passed out possibly just ten minuets after Abigail left her side and she was so out of it that she barely woke up when Abigail brought her breakfast. She kept dropping her silverware, even missing her mouth until the woman decided she was too tired. At least the woman knew well enough that she needed to eat if she wanted to get better and stronger so she feed Dorelia, keeping her just awake enough to swallow the food when it was placed into her mouth. Sleep should have been peaceful, it should have been easy but her dreams were rimmed with nightmarish visions of torture and screams. There was pain. Everywhere. There was pain where no woman should have to hurt. There was pain on her back and her legs. It clung to her arms like a child and wrapped around her neck like a scarf. A full jacket of pain and more rained down upon her as the whip bit into her back. Inside she was screaming. She was crying, struggling, kicking and cursing that man. There was so much frustration and hate, so much pain from the torture that she endured... there was just to much of it all. But as time passed these feelings faded, they slowly became less and less until all that remained were her silent screams and tears. The whip continued to bite her skin, eating her piece my piece, crack by crack it took a little more of herself with it until she wished that it would simply be over. Death was more merciful then this man and he knew she would run to it before he was through with her so he took precautions against it. Her mouth was gagged with something that tasted utterly vial. Tied so she could not move, hanging by her arms while he legs were weighted down. There was so much pain. Just too much pain. She wanted it over. She wanted him to end it. He took away her power to end it. Keeping her bound and gagged. He kept her so weak even a simply spell could have been enough to end her. She tried. She tried so many times with so many spells but with the gag they never came out clear enough. With her bound in this state she could never get the movements. There was not a simply spell she could caste like this. He took away her suicides. And he laughed while he did it. He taunted her. His voice was cold and sharper then any blade he used on her tender flesh. His hands were rough, not only his touch but his hands. There were worn from work. What kinds she had no clue, she never got enough light to see him clearly. When he took off her blindfold he always had it dark. The something cold would be pressed under her eyes as she cried. She didn??t understand what he was doing or why he hated her so. She didn??t know what she did to him but it must have been something horrible for him to go to so far to make her suffer so badly that she wished her own end. But it wasn??t. She did nothing to him. Nothing but exist, and for that he hated her. ??Witch,? he laughed, ??powerful as you are ugly. Where is your power now witch?? then he would just laugh and laugh as the whip devoured the skin on her back. He took care to keep her alive, feeding her and giving her water but drugging her first so that she could not gather enough wits to put together a spell to end one of the two of them or free her. He was clever... Far too clever. He knew things, things no mortal man should know about witches yet he taunted her with superstitions. ??They say a sat circle makes witches weak. I??m not sure I believe that, do you?? then he would throw salt on her wounds and laugh as she struggled vainly in pain. To call him cruel was an understatement. He was perversely twisted and sick. To call him an animal would be an insult to anything with fur. He was a monster to the fullest extent to the word and more. But she never got his name. To her that was it. Monster. Monster would leave occasionally and that was the only rest she got. Her shoulders still screaming form holding up her body or finally numb to the pain. There was no ??sleep,?? there was unconsciousness but not sleep. Sleep was a peaceful thing that one may drift into and out of at will. When he was done with her for a day or just an hour she would close her eyes and simply be gone. There were not even dreams to escape to. But her escape would come. Someone shook her awake, she whimpered, thinking that it was Monster. She would have started to cry had she left any tears. ??Shh,? someone whispered and in and instant she knew it was not monster. When he took off her blind fold she got to see her rescuer. It was a boy. He look no older then twelve and his clothing was poor and his face was dirty. A beggar? An orphan? An urchin? She wondered but just dimly. What ever he was did not change that fact that he was about to save her. ??I??m sorry miss.... you??re hurt... terribly... I??m no doctor and I can??t take you to any but I can take you from here.? The boy said. From his voice she could tell he had not yet his puberty. She smiled. God, she had forgotten what it felt like to smile. His kindness felt so strange now, after so long she had almost forgotten that kindness even existed in this world. For so long the only kindness she could think of was being annoyed to die.... But a chance at life? The boy untied the weights form her legs then her arms, grunting as she fell on top of him and falling under her weight. She cried out in pain and realized he had not removed her gag. ??I??m sorry miss, I??ll get you out of here but for now please keep that gag in your mouth. You are hurt and if you cry out in pain I worry you will wake the man sleeping in the hay.? The boy was innocent enough. Her mind groaned as it tired to work properly and think of what man this boy could be talking about. How could there be a man here? How could that man have not let her down? Then she realized who it was. For so long she had thought of him as Monster that she had forgotten he was just a man. She couldn??t believe that it was just a man but it seemed that was true, according to this boy at least. In her state she would have believed anything he said. She wouldn??t have thought twice if he called himself the tooth fairy. He set her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She vaguely realized that this was not out of rudeness. He had tried other ways be he could not support her weight any other way. But she was not mad at him for this. She could not stop whispering muffling ??thank you??s to the boy as he carried her from the building. She did not get to see Monster. She passed out once more on his shoulder. The last thing that came to her mind was thanking the night for it??s cool breeze and wondering why it seemed so much colder then she remembered. The visions came to her in bits and pieces as she woke up and fell back into her tortured sleep. She was never awake for more then a few minutes at a time and was unaware of the time passing or what was going on. Days were passing. The man??s mistreatment of her caused her wounds to become infected, despite Landon??s and Abigail??s best efforts. But they fought with her to overcome it. She remembered waking up to find Landon worriedly leaning over her. There was pressure on her forehead... he pulled his hand off it and then he yelled to Abigail. She remembered the worry on his face and the woman running form the room. Had he said something mean? Why did he have to be mean to her? She was such a nice woman... He looked down at her as he spoke. His words were too mixed up to hear. She could not make heads or tails of a thing she was saying but she asked him why he yelled at Abigail. Abigail came back carrying something and then her forehead was cold. She didn??t like it and struggled but Landon held her down. She scolded him like a bad child, but it was so weak it barely came out other then the words ??bad Landon?? and ??lemme go.?? Her words were still slurred with fever form infection. And then she was out again. Next she remembered soup. It was warm and tasty. Magically finding its way to her mouth though she knew she was not moving. Abigail was there. She was speaking kindly, saying kind things that Dorelia didn??t understand. But the soup was not the only thing that was hot. She wondered if they had left her in the sun and was curious as to why she was all wet. She asked Abigail who got her all wet and the woman just smiled and said something, then she was unconscious once more. When she awoke next someone was undressing her. She was to out of it to see who it was and feared the worst. ??Noos.... no shtop... plea??...? she begged as she struggled. Then she realized there were two of them. Believing the worst had come to pass she thought Monster came back with help. ??Nos.... lea??me ??lone Monshter.... lea??me ??lone...? her words were slurred and quiet. She was too weak to speak loudly. She struggled with them until she was gone. This went on for five days. Her fever spiked and fell and Landon and Abigail kept a close watch over her. Pieces of what happened to her would come back and she would mistake them for Monster when she woman up while they changed her soaking nightgown or touch her in any way. Sometimes Abigail would feed her and she would mistake her for her mother and began to cry. ??Mommy,? she would whimper weakly, her eyes only half open or just fully closed. ??I??m sorry... I??m sorry mommy.... I??m sorry. I love you mommy.... why do you hate me? Why do you hate me?? her sobs would shake her and her pillow would be wet with tears before she fell back into nightmarish sleep. Dreams of her mother would come. They would be happy dreams. Her mother playing with her, holding her, kissing her. Memories of her mother??s earliest teachings. Always stir the soup so it doesn??t burn and make sure dinner is ready before daddy comes home. Her mother would speak these words so kindly to her and she would give her mother and exaggerated nod then stand on the chair that her mother pulled towards the stove so she could reach the soup and stir it. Then there would be unhappy ones. Dreams where her mother was still alive, dreams where she hated her daughter. Sometimes she would even see her mother??s face ass Monster??s. ??Why mommy?? she would ask as Abigail feed her soup, ??Why do you hate me? Why do you hurt me?? and then she would pass back into her uneasy sleep. When her fever finally broke and was covered in sweat and longed for a bath. Her limbs were still weak and she was wearing a nightgown that she did not recognize. She noticed a bucket in Landon??s arms and a horrible taste in her mouth. Had she gotten ill? She hoped not. Her nightgown was like a second skin, soaked to transparency with sweat. Abigail came in holding a wet rag and she realized there was a warm one on her forehead. She as sat up and felt slightly heavier, she had to guess that they had been feeding her sell and seceded that she might need to go on a diet. She tried to use the warm one to wash the sweat form her face and then she looked at the two of them. They both looked exhausted and she wondered why. She didn??t know how much time had passed but she felt like it had been a while. She wondered why Landon had not been sleeping and wondered if it had been his experiments or her spell that made him look so tired. How ever long it had been he should have had enough time to recover. She didn??t take that much energy form him had she? She thought through many things as she looked at the two of them .They seemed completely speechless and she looked at the two of them confused. When neither one spoke she decided to be the one to break the silence. ??Okay, I clearly missed something.? She said as she looked down at herself, realizing her nightgown was transparent and blushing deeply as she pulled up the covers to hide her body form him. ??Why am I covered in sweat and why do you have a bucket.... You both look so tired... haven??t you been sleeping?? she asked the two of them then she just shook her head. ??Never mind those questions.? She said then she smiled at the two of them. ??Abigail,? she asked the woman, ??where can I bathe?? To her nothing had happened. Surely the memories would return later but right now the last thing she could actively recall was Abigail going to get breakfast and help Landon to get some sleep. The rest would come later and rather easy if she tried to remember it but right now the only thing she cared for was a good bath.