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Amida Lune
Crew

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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:02 pm

~A Thousand Strange Things~
A Short Story by Scarlet

Warning: Contains Dark!Themes, light romance between three women, religious themes that may not be accepted by all and mild cursing.

If any of the above offends you, please do not read the following short story.

The twins Lily and Catherine were supposedly very dark, disturbed little girls. Of course, they were the daughters of the Senator, so everybody politely looked the other way when the twins’ strangeness was mentioned, just to save their jobs or reputations. Catherine and Lily were proper gentlewomen, as the 18th century’s society commanded, and were always seen in their prim white dresses and proper white shoes with the bows on the toes. And they always held hands in public. Nobody knew why, but it was one of those things that you just didn’t talk about.

Catherine and Lily were always in each other’s companies. They had a hidden playroom in the attic that their father bade them to use instead of scaring the hired help with their hijinx. Late at night, the attic light could always be seen from across town, for the manor that the Senator owned was on the hill overlooking the small city. The important members of society, the ones that lived near the manor, often heard strange noises coming from the attic on the nights when the lights could be seen.

When the girls turned sixteen together, their father began looking for a suitable set of husbands for Catherine and Lily. The girls did not like that at all. They enjoyed each others’ companies; they probably enjoyed it far more than was allowed by polite society. Finally, the Senator found a pair of gorgeous twin boys from the neighboring town that had not only good prospects, but good ties to excellent companies in the large cities as well.

Three days after arriving in town, the older male twins disappeared. Their bodies were never found.

Many others disappeared as well. Men looking to claim either Catherine’s hand, or Lily’s or a joint arrangement. Women who gossiped about the twins were suddenly ill with the flu, or stricken with diseases of the mind. The town council met every Friday to discuss the latest unfortunate accidents and hunting disappearances that had occurred within the last week. But that Friday, the town demanded blood. And the Senator knew whose blood they wanted.

That night, the twins Lady Lily and Lady Catherine were the ones to disappear. And the railroad station was closed and deemed unfit to build on the very next day. But the townsfolk were still uneasy. They claimed to see the unearthly images of Lily and Catherine walking the abandoned tracks at midnight, the time their screams were last heard on the winds of All Hallow’s Eve. And sometimes, people even went as far as to whisper that the light was still on in their attic, and that they were still pulling the wings from the flies that dared to nibble at their massacred corpses.

I was absolutely in love with the legend behind my new attic room. I decorated it with heirlooms I found littering the abandoned house. The ancient portrait of the twin girls Lily and Catherine, though, I hung above my bed. The kids at school thought I was weird for wearing clothing that the twins had left behind in their trunks in the attic. They told me the legend on the first day of school.

“I bet you can’t go there on Halloween, the night of their gruesome murder, and summon their spirits,” one of the boys, Adam, dared me once I told them that I had a summoning ritual that I used every Halloween when the veil between the land of the living and the land of the dead was the thinnest.

I accepted the dare.

“But you have to videotape it,” one of the girls said. “We won’t go near that god-forsaken place, but we want proof.”

I accepted that, too, because I had a brand new DVR recorder that I’d been dying to test for ages.

On All Hallows Eve, Halloween, I readied myself with my summoning ritual equipment. Mother looked at me with concern. “Honey, that place is dangerous,” she said. “You can’t go out there alone.”

“You know I won’t be alone, Mom,” I said, rolling my eyes. “My spirit guide will protect me.”

“Well, I don’t put much stock in that sort of thing, darling,” she chided. “Just be careful and be home by one, alright?”

I pressed a kiss to her cheek and walked out the door. I got on the motorcycle Mom and Dad had given me for my seventeenth birthday and pulled on my helmet. Using the rustic map I found in the bottom of Lily’s trunk, I navigated towards the ancient railroad tracks hidden behind one hundred and fifty years of overgrown forest and bush.

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:10 pm

It was close to midnight by the time I arrived. I didn’t have a lot of time to set up my circle and even less to begin the ritual. On the winds that had not seen mortal kind for many a year, I heard the sorrowful sobbing of two young women. I dismounted and took myself and my pack to the center of the forgotten trainyard.

“I cast this circle as I must, in perfect health and perfect trust,” I chanted, hastily pouring my circle of salt. I didn’t check to make sure that the circle was complete; I was confident enough in my abilities to be sure of my perfection in my circle-making. But if I had even a hairline crack in my circle, Catherine and Lily’s spirits would be able to reach me and take my soul back with them to the realm of the dead. But that wouldn’t happen to me. I set the camera up at my knees and started setting up my portable altar.

“I cast this circle as I must, in perfect health and perfect trust,” I intoned again. I lit the black and white candles. “God and Goddess, Master and Mistress of this life and the next, I invite you to my circle on this night of Samhain to bless and to guard me as I call forth the spirits of Lady Lily and Lady Catherine, the twin daughters of Senator Palmer.”

The winds gusted and blew out my candles. I shivered slightly, but continued on with the ritual. For the north I pulled mint from my bag and set it in the chalice of wine on my altar. “Shadows of the north, I give you this offering of mint and I invite you to bless my circle on this eve,” I murmured. For the east, I added chamomile. “Winds of the east, I offer you this gift of chamomile as I invite you to bless my circle on this eve.” For the South, I added a chili blossoms. “Fires of the south, I give to you this flower of spice and heat and I invite you to bless my circle on this eve.” And finally, for the west, I scooped a handful of dirt from the ground beside me and sprinkled it over the entire altar. “Almighty Guardians of the Earth, Spirits of the west I offer you the earth that Lady Lily and Lady Catherine disappeared upon as I invite you to bless my circle on this evening.”

The winds gusted harder. Before I continued, I checked my circle. The white remained stark against the black of the dirt. The moon was a crimson red and full as it hung above me. Normally, I would take it as a good sign. But tonight, with the cold weight of fear settling in my stomach, all I could think of was how horrid the place was beginning to feel. But I’d already started. To turn back now would not only be blasphemy but suicide.

“Spirits of Catherine and Lily Palmer, twin sisters in life and afterwards, I call you to my circle on this night to share with me your story,” I said, my voice shaking. I pulled out two locks of hair wrapped in faded and frayed pink and yellow ribbons. These, too, I added to the wine.

All of a sudden, the wind stopped. Not even a cricket dared to break the eerie silence that suffocated the now-frightening abandoned railroad tracks. I clutched my pentacle to my chest and closed my eyes for a moment. “Goddess protect me,” I whispered to myself.

A flash of brilliant light blinded me, even though my eyes were closed. I recoiled back, placing my hands over my face to shield myself from the intensity of the white energy exploding before me. I’d done simple summons before, but this had never happened. This was not supposed to happen! The light faded and I slowly opened my eyes.

They were there. Lady Lily and Lady Catherine were standing before me, holding hands as they always did. Their faces were as perfect as ever, their blue eyes shining with curiosity and the light of the crimson moon gleaming from their platinum blonde hair. “You have summoned us,” Lily said; I knew it was Lily, because Lily always wore pink ribbons. She cocked her head and looked at me. “Why?”

“Lady Lily, Lady Catherine, your story fascinates me,” I said, my voice full of awe. “The children at school believe me insane to speak with you now.”

“Do you believe yourself insane?” Lady Catherine asked.

“I believe myself quite sane,” I replied fervently. “But I cannot say the same about the townspeople of your time. Nobody would listen to you when you said you did not want to marry and you made sure they listened. I wish I had that strength.”

“Yours is the family that now owns our house,” Lily accused. “Tell me. How many of our things have you destroyed?”

“None, milady,” I said. “I saved everything that had your names on them. They are hidden in my room right now! Even your portrait!”

“Which room did you claim as your own?” Catherine demanded.

“I claimed no room as my own,” I said, correcting myself. I dropped my gaze out of respect. “But I have been occupying your attic room. I hope I have not overstepped my boundaries in assuming your acceptance.”

“I like her,” Lily whispered to Catherine.

“Should we?” Catherine whispered back. “She seems to know what to do. And she’s not like those other girls we’ve taken back with us.”

“She can help us exact revenge,” Lily giggled gleefully. She turned and looked at me. “You know what has been done to us. The same has been done to many girls with the same thoughts and feeling as us, the same minds as you. We have taken fourteen young girls to the netherworld with us as they attempted the same thing you are doing now.”

“Will you be our tool for revenge against the descendants of those who killed us?” Catherine asked. My eyes widened.

“I would be honoured,” I said in a breathy whisper. “Tell me what must be done and I swear I shall do it.”

“First you must release us from this yard,” Lily said. “We have been trapped here since the eve of our deaths.”

“With all due respect, Lady Lily and Lady Catherine, I am not able to release you,” I said meekly. “The only way I am able to release you is to release your spirits. The Goddess would take you in her hands and spirit you away to the after-realm before you would be able to relocate yourself.”

“Speak quickly, mortal, for we quickly lose our patience,” Catherine snapped. For a moment, her features flashed a much darker appearance and it frightened me.

“But I can transfer your spirits to another location!” I squeaked. “All I must do is bind your spirits to me for naught but an hour while I return to your home and replace you in your attic room!”

The twins were silent for a moment. “We will allow you to bind us to you,” Catherine said. “And in return you will be our vessel for revenge. Do you have what you need here?”

“Most, yes,” I replied. I double-checked the bag I had brought. “But I am missing a few key things. Would you allow it if I came back tomorrow night with what I need?”

They spoke silently for a moment and then turned to face me. “That would be acceptable,” Lily told me. “But for now, release us and go back to our home.”

I nodded slowly. With shaking hands, I re-lit the candles on my makeshift altar and settled my pentacle down on the ground beside me. “Ladies Lily and Catherine, I thank you for blessing me with your presences on this night of Samhain and the 150th anniversary of your deaths,” I intoned. “I release you now to whence you came. Spirits of the north, winds of the east, fires of the south and guardians of the west, I thank you for joining and blessing my circle on this eve. Stay if you will, go if you must, Blessed be. God and Goddess, I thank you for joining and blessing my circle on this eve. Stay if you will, go if you must; blessed be.”

With careful movements, I dumped the wine in a circle around me, releasing the spirits and breaking the circle simultaneously. The dissolving salt burned a white ring into the ground, a ring that would remain until the next heavy rain. I packed my things and stood. Lady Lily was still standing before me, her hands clasped before her. Catherine was nowhere to be seen.

“Your schoolmates will want proof that you’ve been here, that you’ve seen us,” Lily said. She floated forwards and held out a small package wrapped in a faded embroidered handkerchief. “Give this to the one you call Adam. He will be right to fear you once he discovers what this truly is.”

I took the small parcel from her and held it gently in my hands. I looked up at her with a wide-eyed wonder. “Is this what I think it is?” I whispered. Lily smiled.

“You’ve read my journals, then,” she guessed. She pressed a sweet kiss to my lips and my eyes widened further. Lily smelled sweet – honey and roses came to mind – and she tasted like the air after a summer’s rain. As quickly as it had come, the sweet sensation was gone as was Lady Lily.

I touched my lips and found them painted with an ancient lipstick, the same colour that I’d found hidden within Lily’s trunk. I shouldered my bag, tucked the handkerchief-wrapped gift into my pocket and jumped astride my motorcycle again.

Amida Lune
Crew

Offline

Amida Lune
Crew

Offline

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:16 pm

I walked to Adam’s desk and sat down on top of it. I was wearing Lily’s gloves, one of Catherine’s hair ribbons and Lily’s old lipstick along with my Punk ‘N Proud t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. He looked at my feet, which were shod with an ancient pair of high heels, and then back at my face.

“You didn’t bring proof,” he assumed. I knew he was the great grandson of Donald Schultz, the man who demanded that the twins be killed, and I smiled.

“Lily gave this to me yesterday,” I said. I opened the handkerchief and showed him the small ring hidden within. “I think you recognize it.”

Adam’s eyes widened. “Where the ******** did you get that? The b***h died with it on her finger!” he cried out.

“That b***h just happens to be my new friend,” I sneered. “How else would I get it unless I’ve actually seen her and Catherine?”

Adam picked up the diamond ring that his great-grandfather had used to attempt to propose to Lily. It was a large carat, set in a platinum band and surrounded with beautiful pink and yellow diamonds. Lily had given it back to him and it was the reason he was so out for her blood. Lily was faithful only to her sister. But she’d died with it on her finger, thanks to Donald.

He put it back in the handkerchief and handed it back to me. “Proof enough?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, dropping his gaze. “You know, I never put stock in that bullshit that you call your religion. But I really don’t think that I have a choice now.”

“No, you don’t,” I snapped. I shifted so that I was half-laying on the long desk in front of him, curled in a kitten-ish fashion. I tilted his head up by placing two fingers beneath his chin. “Adam, I am Vengeance. I wouldn’t suggest pissing me off or talking smack about my religion anytime soon or you will quickly find yourself in the position that your great grandfather put Lily and Catherine in. Savvy?”

I stared into his eyes for a moment and he gulped.

“Kneel,” I ordered. The students, the seventeen descendants of the twins’ murderers knelt in the circle of salt I had just created. We were again at the abandoned railroad. “You must follow my directions exactly or you will be killed. The spirits of Catherine and Lily are vengeful and it would not do for any of you to be hurt now, would it?”

I myself stood outside the circle. Catherine and Lily had already sworn to protect me from their own wrath and in them I placed my trust. “Why aren’t you in the circle?” Adam asked. “Aren’t they going to hurt you?”

“Definitely,” I lied convincingly. I wrapped my arms around my abdomen and scuffed my feet. “It is not easy to do a mass-summoning. Not with so many people outside the Gift. In order for you to see what your ancestors did to Catherine and Lily, they will need somebody to demonstrate on.”

“Will we be safe?” a girl squeaked.

“Perfectly,” I told them. Inwardly I was laughing my head off, because I had left a space the size of a finger beneath the altar that would allow Catherine and Lily to enter the circle and destroy the children. I took a deep breath. “Just stay calm,” I whispered. “And remember that so long as you are inside the circle of salt, you will be safe. Keep a close hold on your stones.”

“Alexis?” Adam said, his voice child-like and fearful. “Will you be alright?”

I closed my eyes and said nothing. I held out my hands, palms down. For a moment, I made a show of concentrating on something that wasn’t really about concentration. “Lily, Catherine,” I whispered. With a swift hand I pulled out the ornate dagger used by Donald Schultz to remove the fair Lily’s sweet eyes and sliced my palm open. “By my blood, I call you here tonight to seek vengeance for what was done to you! I summon thee now! To me, Catherine! To me, Lily!”

Blood flowed openly from my wound and dripped onto the unmarked graves of Lily and Catherine Palmer. The wind whipped my long, dark hair around my face and my stormy silver eyes flashed dangerously beneath the light of the stars. Catherine appeared behind me and settled her hand on my shoulder. Lily did the same on my other side, but snuggled closer and nuzzled my neck.

“Stay calm, pet,” she soothed. She twined her hand with mine and used a bit of her spiritual power to close my wound. Catherine glared at the children and moved closer to me.

“There are so few,” she hissed in my ear. “You promised us all of the descendants!”

“These are all of the descendants,” I replied softly. I kept my eyes trained on Adam, who was as pale as a ghost. The spell I had cast on the mis-cast circle earlier would prevent anybody holding their stones from leaving. Lily’s teeth on my earlobe dragged me back to the present.

“Alexis? Ally?” Adam cried out fearfully. I kissed Catherine’s hand where it sat on my shoulder and then turned to press a kiss to Lily’s forehead.

“Take them,” I ordered. I pulled away and turned my back. “They are the ones you asked for.”

I was trembling with guilt and sadness. Catherine pulled Lily forwards and I began to walk to where my motorcycle waited. I wasn’t going to have any other part in the slaughter. I would not stain my hands with the blood of an innocent. I’d fallen for the twins and I did as they told me, but not even the love I felt for them was worth killing for. My spells had been strong and my warnings stronger. They didn’t need me, not really.

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:18 pm

I sat hidden in one of the abandoned private train cars. Once the screams began sounding, I ran from even my motorcycle. The old-west style compartment was that of a rich man and I held a glass of very old and very delicious brandy in my hands. My music was blaring in my ears and even then, all I could hear was the sound of Adam begging for his life. Catherine and Lily appeared together in the seats across from me.

I had no issues with death. I had no issues with torture. But the wiccan rede stated that ‘An harm ye none, do what ye will’ and I had willingly mis-cast a circle to the deaths of seventeen of my friends. I had harmed innocents. And that wasn’t okay with me.

“It is done,” Lily said. She licked a few drops of blood from her fingers. “What is the matter, Alexis? Surely we did not disturb you too greatly. After all . . . you willingly brought them to us and they foolishly believed you.”

“Their ancestors wronged you, but the most that they did was believe the legends,” I said. I drained my brandy and then wiped the tears from my cheeks. “It went against everything I was taught to lead the innocents here.”

“But surely you were not disturbed?” Catherine prompted.

“Disturbed, no,” I snapped. Her face darkened but I was inebriated and hormonal and I didn’t care. “Angry, confused, pissed off and hurt, yes, but disturbed? No, never.”

I got up and walked to the bar, grabbing the bottle of brandy and taking a large swig. Catherine and Lily stared at me with both awe and fear. “You drink?” Lily gasped. “But women aren’t supposed to have alcohol! I mean, a little wine with dinner is fine, but brandy? Daddy would be furious if he found out . . . ”

“Daddy’s dead, remember?” Catherine sniped. She turned and glared at me. “And you need to put down that bottle, Alexis. Alcohol is not good for you.”

“The alcohol makes me numb and the less I can feel, the ******** better,” I swore. But I set the bottle down and simply poured myself a more civilized glass. I sat down again and looked at the ring on my finger, and then at the deep cut along my palm. “Is your business in this world finished?” I asked softly.

“Even as we speak now, our spirits are being tugged to the other side,” Lily whispered. She sat down next to me and touched my hair, brushing it away from my face.

“Take me with you, please,” I begged. I grabbed at Lily’s hand and pressed it to my cheek so that she could feel my tears. “I don’t think I can stay here anymore. It just . . . hurts so much now.”

Lady Lily wrapped her emphereal arms around me and held me tight. I curled into her, seeking the warmth that now eminated from her ghostly form. Catherine sat on my other side and rubbed my back. “Meet us at the manor tomorrow at midnight,” she whispered. “You will be with us, I swear it. But we must gather what strength we are being given to take you with us.”

Lily cupped my face and kissed me hard. I kissed her back with equal passion, trying to get whatever comfort I could from my lovers. Catherine pulled me away gently. “Go, Alexis,” she said softly. “Trust us to come for you.”

“Do you promise?” I asked weakly, hating how pathetic and kitten-ish I sounded. I looked between Catherine and Lily and then back again.

“We promise,” they replied together. Lily kissed my cheek.

“Be careful on that mechanical bicycle of yours,” she murmured. “And no more drinking. Do you promise?”

“I swear it,” I said fervently. I kissed Catherine and Lily one last time before running to the spot where my friends disappeared, gathering my things and zooming as fast as possible in my inebriated state from the railroad station.

“Honey, you seem upset, did something go wrong at your ritual?” Mom asked. I held my grimioire tight to my chest, using it as a shield against the horrible feeling settling in my heart, and leaned against the closed door.

“Nobody showed up, but I heard people screaming,” I said in a low voice. “I hid in one of the trains, found a nice stash of old liquor, drank myself almost into a stupor and then booked it.”

“Driving drunk? Alexis Anne Raye! I am surprised at you!” she shrieked. She ascended on me like some crazed bat out of hell, grabbed me by the shoulders, shook me and screeched in my ear, “I’ve taught you better! How dare you do such a heartless thing!”

I grabbed the dagger I still had in the waistband of my jeans and slashed her arm; it wasn’t deep, but it was enough to get her away from me. I pushed past her and ran up the stairs to the second floor. I darted to the attic stairs and locked the door firmly behind me before bolting it shut and shoving a chair under the handle. I took a few deep breaths and then walked up the attic room. But first I locked, deadbolted and sealed the door at the top of the stairs to make sure that Mom, Dad and Michael, my brother, couldn’t get upstairs to sneer at, scowl at or yell at me.

I curled up in the window box overlooking the mountains beyond the town, and the beautiful forest beyond my backyard, and started crying silently again.

I dressed carefully in a pristine black dress and a pair of black buckle shoes with bows on the toes. I straightened my long, dark hair and pulled it up in a half-ponytail with a black ribbon. A pair of wrist-length black leather gloves and my black lipstick. I rimmed my eyes with kohl eyeliner and then plucked my eyebrows one last time. I put the ring Lily had given to me on a silver chain and hung it around my neck.

“Come with us, dearest heart,” the twins whispered in my ears. I felt ghostly hands pulling me back, pulling me towards the window. I closed my eyes and let myself be lifted from the ground and pulled towards the open window.

I sagged in the air when I found myself floating in a suspended reality. There was darkness all around me. Around us. I turned and saw Lily and Catherine standing behind me, smiling. “You look wonderful, dearest heart,” Lily said warmly. She embraced me tight and pressed a kiss to my cheek. I looked down at myself and realized that I was standing on a grassy lawn in the outfit I’d . . . died in? Escaped in?

When I turned around again, Catherine was walking to a magnificent castle of black and white marble that glowed with a brilliant light. “Welcome to our heaven, pet,” she called out. She waved us over and, hand-in-hand, we ran to join her.