Olivia (3 page)

Clara opened the door and stared into the eyes of Velta, the woman who was going to help her get rid of her little problem that was actually getting bigger each day.

“Hi,” Clara greeted the woman with a smile. The dark skinned woman smiled back.

“Hi,” Velta replied, her Cajun accent was charming.

“My name is Clara…”

“The last name is not needed sweetie. You don’t know me and I don’t know you. This day never happened okay.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Good, because what I’m doing for you today isn’t my normal psychic reading. I’ve made you a mixture. You have to drink it twice a day for six days.”

“And it’ll get rid of my… problem?”

“Yes, on the seventh day your worries will be over.”

“Okay where is it?” She was eager to begin the process.

“I have to come inside first. There’s one more ingredient I need to complete the drink.”

“Oh, come in.” Clara stepped back. “My husband is at work. But we have to hurry. He’ll be home soon.”

“This will not take long.”

“Great, follow me.” Clara led Velta to the kitchen. Nervous, she chatted as they walked. “Thank you for coming all this way to help me. I didn’t know where else to turn.”

“No, thank you Clara for contacting me.”

Clara frowned, confused by why Velta would want to thank her. She shook her head, clearing it of the uneasiness that was settling in. She was doing the right thing. There was no room for doubts now.

Once in the Kitchen, Clara turned to Velta. “What ingredient do you need? If I don’t have it, I can run to the store and get it for you.”

“Oh you have the ingredient I need.”

There was that uneasy feeling again. “Okay, what is it?”

“Your blood. Clara, I need your blood to finish the mixture.”

Clara swallowed. “My blood? But why?”

“You and this child are bound together. For this spell to work, I have to sever that bond. I need your blood to do that.”

It made sense, kind of. Or at least that was what Clara wanted to believe. “Do you have a needle and syringe?”

“No needles are needed.” Velta sat her bag on the table. “This requires a special blade. It’s called the Blade of Judas.”

“Judas, you mean like Judas Iscariot, from the bible?”

With a huge bowl in her hand, Velta stilled. “So you read the bible?”

“Of course. My father is a preacher.”

“Is he?” Velta grinned. “Perfect.”

“Why is that perfect?” Clara took a step back.

“Because it means you understand that what you’re doing is a sin.” Velta smiled. “And I don’t have to lecture you on how wrong this is.”

“Oh, uh,” Clara stepped forward once more. “No lectures needed. This will be my sin to bear.”

“Okay.” Velta placed the antique looking bowel covered in weird symbols on the table.

Clara wanted to ask her what those symbols represented but she was sure she’d rather not know. The less these two knew about each other the better. What Clara really wanted to do was to hurry up and get this over with. Velta pulled from her bag a series of mason jars filled with disgusting things.

“W-what is that?” Clara asked.

Velta pointed to the first jar. “This is the heart of a newborn pig.”

Clara threw up a little bit in her mouth.

Velta pointed to the second jar. “This is the heart of a calf.” And on down the line she went, naming items. “This is the head of a chicken. These are the bones of a lamb. This is the blood of a virgin. And this final jar contains a brain.”

“What animal is that from?”

“This isn’t from an animal.” Velta poured each item into the large bowl and began grinding them down until they were chunks. “Come Clara, hold your arm over the bowl.”

Clara stepped forward. Shaking slightly, she held her arm out. Velta grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. With a blade in her other hand, Velta closed her eyes and began to chant.

Immediately Clara felt dizzy. The words Velta were saying made no sense. Sacrifices, possession, what the hell. Clara tried to open her mouth to speak, she tried to jerk away, but she was frozen. Her eyes drifted shut.

“Stay with me Clara.” Velta’s voice penetrated the fog of confusion surrounding Clara.

“I’m so sleepy,” Clara whispered.

“No, fight it. Stay with me. If you want this baby gone you have to stay with me.”

Clara did want this baby gone. She wanted this pregnancy to be a thing of the past. “Okay.”

“Good girl, now repeat after me. I offer up my body.”

“W-what?”

“It’s part of the spell Clara. Say it.”

Clara opened her eyes. The room was spinning. Everything looked hazy.

“Say it Clara.”

“What, I forgot what you said.”

“Say, I offer up my body.”

Throat dry, Clara swallowed. “I, uh, offer up my body.”

“For he who lives in the darkness.”

“What?”

“Say it.”

“Uh, for he who lives in the darkness.”

“I willingly become your vessel.”

“I don’t understand.” She didn’t want to be this child’s vessel. She wanted it out of her.

Velta squeezed Clara’s arm so hard Clara cried out. “Say it. I willingly become your vessel.”

Clara repeated the words. A chill crept over her. “I willingly become your vessel.”

“Bring forth the child of darkness.”

“But,” Clara tried to jerk away. “I don’t want this child brought forth.”

“It has to come out. What did you think it would do, disappear?”

“I… uh…”

“It has to be expelled.”

“Like a miscarriage?”

“Clara, just repeat the words. Bring forth the child of darkness.”

Clara repeated the words. “Bring forth the child of darkness.” She screamed out when Velta sliced her forearm. Blood spilled into the bowl. The windows of her home begin to vibrate.

Clara shut her eyes, trying her best not to cry out from the pain. Her arm was hurting. Her head ached. A loud ringing sound took up residence in Clara’s brain. And as suddenly as it all started, it stopped. Clara opened her eye to find Velta bandaging up her arm.

“The drink is ready,” she told Clara.

Clara pulled her newly bandaged arm away.

“The first sip has to be straight from the bowl, understood?”

Clara nodded. It was a lie. She didn’t understand and she had a terrible feeling she’d just made the biggest mistake of her life. Velta lifted the bowl and brought it to Clara’s mouth. The stench of the mixture made her gag.

“No one said it would be tasty,” Velta told her.

Clara took a deep breath then placed her lips on the edge of the bowl. Velta tilted the bowl and the chunky mixture began to move closer to Clara’s lips. She closed her eyes, not wanting to stare at it. The first drop on her tongue surprised her.

It was delicious. The best thing she’d ever tasted. She chewed the organs and swallowed them before gulping more of the mixture down. Inside of her, the child stirred. Perhaps the elixir was working already.

“That’s enough,” Velta pulled the bowl away from her. “You have to drink this for six days. On the seventh day you will awake and your problem will be gone.”

Clara nodded as she watched Velta bottle up the drink. Soon her problem would be gone. She’d done the right thing. Her stomach growled. Clara stared at the mixture. She wanted more. Her baby wanted more.

Dana stormed out of the kitchen, doll in hand with her friends following closely behind her. How the hell had it gotten back inside. It couldn’t have gotten up and walked in on its own. One of her friends did this. They had to.

“Dana slow down,” Keira called to her.

“This isn’t funny,” Dana yelled, nearly tripping in her high heels as she stomped away. When she reached the trash can she tossed the dirty doll inside and slammed the lid down. A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump.

“Geez, chill out Dana,” Keira told her, jerking her hand away. “What’s wrong with you?”

Dana rubbed her arms. “I put that doll in the trash for a reason. It’s creepy and it stinks. Which one of you took it out?”

“Not me,” Keira told her. “And Shelly has been with me the whole time so I know she didn’t do it.”

“And can you see me touching a dirty thing like that?” Shelly asked.

The answer was no. But Dana knew she’d thrown the doll in the trash. There had to a logical explanation to this. Her friends were trying to play a trick on her. They had to be. Dana wasn’t stupid. Keira was the one who took it out. Shelly wouldn’t have touched it, but she was in on it.

Dana smiled nervously, slightly mad that she was reacting exactly how they wanted her to. “You know, forget it. Maybe a ghost brought it inside.”

Keira and Shelly frowned at her.

Dana’s smile grew bigger, glad that she was outsmarting them. “It’s happened before,” she lied and watched a look of fear cross their faces. Serves them right. “Let’s finish drinking.”

She walked past them and up the sidewalk leading to her home. A glance over her shoulder let her know that her friends were the ones scared now. They both stood staring down at the trash can.

Dana laughed. “Are you guys coming or not.”

She walked into her home, leaving the front door open so her friends could enter behind her. In the kitchen she added a little bit of juice to her margarita and then sat down at the table. It wasn’t long before she heard the door close and her friends walking through the house.

“You’re screwing with us,” Shelly said when she came into the kitchen and sat down in the chair across from Dana.

“Yeah,” Keira sat in the chair at the head of the table. “You wouldn’t move into a haunted house, would you?”

Dana shrugged, refusing to put them out their misery. If they wanted to assume her new place was haunted, she would let them. It was no worse than them making her think that nasty doll had come into the house on its own.

“Come on Dana, tell us. Have you really had stuff like that happen before?” Shelly asked, her voice shaking slightly. “I mean, I know your mother dabbles with that stuff, but you’ve never been into it. You’re still not into it, right?”

Dana sighed. Of course she wasn’t into it and she hated when her friends brought up her mother’s craziness. “Let’s just drink and have a good time. And no, this house isn’t haunted, okay?”

Both Keira and Shelly laughed, but it wasn’t a merry laugh, it was a nervous laugh. Dana needed to get this party back on track. This was her one night to have fun.

“Okay, so who wants to play a drinking game?” She asked, and just like that, the fear from before was gone.

“Ooh, let’s play truth or dare,” Shelly suggested.

“Uh,” Keira rolled her eyes. “The last time we did that I got arrested.”

“But no charges were filed,” Shelly told her.

“Uh, no.” Keira said. “How about we play beer pong?”

“And destroy my house?” It was Dana’s turn to roll her eyes. “No. I know what we can play. We can play Uno.”

“Really, Dana?” Keira pouted.

“You are such a mother,” Shelly slouched back into her chair and took a sip of her drink.

“No, it’ll be fun guys. Look, every time one of us have to draw four or well, draw anything, not only do we have to pull that many cards, we also have to take that many shots.” Her friend’s begin to look a little less irritated.

“Go on,” Shelly prompted her to continue explaining the rules.

“Okay, and every time a person puts down a reverse, the person behind them has to take a shot.”

Keira and Shelly stared at each other then back at her. In unison they both said, “Let’s do this.”

And so the game began. It wasn’t long before they were dropping cards on the floor and laughing like they were back in high school.

“Come on Keira. You have to take four shots,” Shelly’s words were slurred as she pushed the bottle of tequila toward Keira.”

“I can’t. I really can’t. Plus I have to pee.” Keira stood up and wobbled slightly. “I need to take these heels off. Why did I wear heels anyway?”

“Because they’re sexy,” Shelly slurred. “Now go piss then come back. It’s your turn to take shots.”

Dana was pretty sure they’d all already had enough shots. Though she was sitting upright, she felt like she was leaning to the left a little. Dana stared to her left. Maybe she was leaning to the right.

She giggled. And for some reason her friends begin to giggle also. They were so drunk. Tunes from Shelly’s phone filled the air. Keira had suggested they listen to music as they played. A great idea. Dana sang along to the music as Keira walked slowly toward the kitchen exit.

“Dana where is your bathroom?”

“There’s one down the hall and there’s another one upstairs.”

“Oh two bathrooms,” Keira laughed. “I can pee twice.”

That made no sense, but Dana found herself laughing anyway as she reached for the deck of Uno cards. Shelly rapped her on the hand.

“Ouch,” Dana pulled her hand back. “Why did you do that?” Hey, was she sounding slurred too?

“We’re not done. We’re just taking a pee break. When Keira gets back she has to draw four.”

“Oh yeah. Well what are we supposed to do while we wait on her?”

“I don’t know. Drink.”

“No, I think I’ve had enough for now.” Dana braced her hands against the table and pushed herself to her feet. “I think I’m going to go pee.”

“Hurry up, because I have to pee too.”

“I’ve only got two bathrooms.”

“I know. Go, before I pee on the floor.”

“Ew, if it gets that bad go outside and pee.”

“No, a squirrel may try to bite me down there.”

Dana laughed as she stumbled from the kitchen and down the hall. The hall bathroom door was closed. Keira. Dana stepped out of her heels and began her trek upstairs. It felt like she was climbing a mountain.

She gripped the handrail so she wouldn’t fall. Each step was wobbly and when she finally made it to the top she thought about falling to her knees to kiss the floor, glad that she made it. Once she reached the bathroom she shut the door behind her.

No point in locking it. Neither of her friends was going to walk in on her because they were drunker than her and wouldn’t be able to make the trek upstairs. She did her business and washed her hands.

Fixing her hair as she stared in the mirror she noticed one thing about herself… she didn’t look drunk. Maybe she wasn’t. Dana touched the mirror. “Are you drunk?” She asked her reflection. Her reflection shook her head. “I didn’t think so,” Dana said then turned and left the bathroom.

The trek back down stairs was easier, thanks to gravity. When she made it to the kitchen only Shelly was there.

“Keira’s not back yet?” Dana plopped down into her seat.

“Nope,” Shelly answered. “She must’ve had to do number three.”

Dana frowned as she picked up her cards. “Hey, did you cheat?”

Shelly nodded, “I took all the draw fours.”

“You can’t do that.”

“There was no one here to stop…”

A loud scream pierced the air.

“Keira.” Dana jumped up and ran from the room. She could hear Shelly behind her. Moving fast made her nauseas but that didn’t stop her from racing to the bathroom door. She turned the door knob as the screams from inside grew louder.

Shelly beat her fists against the door. “Keira what’s wrong? Open the door?”

Keira’s only response was more screams. It sounded like a mirror was crashing inside. They could hear things falling. What the hell was going on?

“Keira,” Shelly screamed. “Open up. What the hell is going on in there?”

Suddenly the screams from inside stopped. Dana glanced over at Shelly. Shelly shrugged.

“Shelly,” Keira’s weak voice called out. “Dana.”

“Yeah, we’re here, Keira.” Dana placed her ear against the door.

“Run,” Keira yelled. There was a loud thud against then door then all was quiet again.

“Keira,” Dana reached for the door knob.

Slowly, she turned the knob then tried to push the door open. Something was in front of it. She pushed harder and the door opened. The sight that greeted her turned her stomach. There was blood everywhere.

It covered the cracked glass of the mirror and the pictures hanging from the wall. There was even blood dripping from the ceiling. And the object that had been preventing the door from opening was Keira’s mutilated body.