Chapter Text
I awoke at the sound of thunder roaring furiously outside my window. It has been raining for a few days now but nothing new about that. I felt my body shiver from the chill in the air, but as usual I lifted myself into a sitting position and took a deep breath to calm myself. I ran my fingers over my unruly black hair, I usually put it in a pony tail but I didn't feel like it today.
For a few days now I have been dreaming about a woman unfamiliar to me. She has jet black hair and a commanding presence. I always see her on a horse in a rolling hills, facing something in the distance. However, fog stops me from spotting whatever it was she faced. I try to speak to her but as if my voice has been stolen, I cannot utter a single word.
Then Darkness begins to swallow me, and it feels thick like I’m going to suffocate. I could never understand what this dream means.
Then I felt the cold floor against my bare feet, as I left my bed and opened the door of my room.
Our cottage was simple and relatively cozy, my mother's bedroom was the first door in the hall, next to the opened living room. While the room at the end of the hall was mine. The kitchen was next to the front door.
The hallway was dark and silent, at this moment I envied my mother for the peaceful sleep she gets every night.
The rain started drumming the roof once again, maybe a storm is upon us instead of the usual drizzle.
Slowly I crept down the hall, I wanted to sit in the kitchen and maybe drink some water, because sleep evaded me.
The floors made a loud creak as I reached the threshold, I cursed myself for my carelessness. I knew what was about to come. I heard the sound of her footsteps hurry and then the door of her bedroom swung open until it hit the wall with a resounding crack.
“Henry, where do you think you are going?” She said in her low voice, a sign that she was really mad. My mother was a redhead, sickly skinny but surprisingly strong.
“ I’m not doing anything mother, I just want to have a drink and then go back to bed.” I said with my head bowed down. With her hands on her hips, she came closer to me, looking me dead in the eyes and said. “This little trick won’t work on me, little man. Off to bed now, I don’t want to hear you walk out again.”
Defeated, I heaved a sigh and then walked back to my room, I could feel the tears in the corners of my eyes. I could never understand why I've been held on such a tight leash even in my own home. It feels like I’m imprisoned.
Then once I stepped again into that cursed room that I called mine, lightning flashed and brightened it for a second…exposing the writing I carved in the wall, near the window opposite of the door. Then I closed the door and stood there for a moment, listening to my mom walk back to her own bed-chamber. But not before I heard her mumble. “What am I going to do Grimalkin? The boy is growing up fast.”
Grimalkin, who did she mean by that? And what does it have to do with me, I wondered.
With nothing else to do I retreated to my bed and closed my eyes. I didn’t bother to cover myself with the blanket, I simply didn’t care. I stayed there for what it felt like hours before I finally fell asleep again.
In the morning I felt my body ache in several places, from nights of troubled sleep. My mother was already up in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
The front door of our house was open to let in some fresh air. Not to mention this is our routine, after eating she will go out to take care of our chickens.
It was her job to sell chicken eggs, it does make ends meet for the most part.
Troubled, I took a seat on the opposite side of the table and started playing with my breakfast. I didn’t feel like doing anything today, it hurts to think about the horrible life I have.
My mother won’t let me out of her sight for a second, I’m not allowed to play alone with the other kids. If I sneaked out behind her back I will be punished. What is even more strange is how I’m never allowed to leave my room at night time. What is she trying to hide me from?
“Don’t give me that face, little man,” I heard her say as usual. “Eat your breakfast and get ready to sit outside.”
Silently I did as she says and then sat outside on the bench while she worked.
In the distance I could see a forest, the trees formed something close to a barricade between it and the grassland, I wondered to myself if I could just make a run for it and never look back. Be safe from my overbearing mother. I was fourteen years old, I should be able to help myself long enough to find a place to stay. Maybe ask if someone might hire me, anything is better than the horrible life I’m living in right now.
I observed my mother as she laboriously filled a water bucket, her movements punctuated by the clucking of chickens that dutifully trailed her. Now is my chance, I stood up and steeled myself, then I bolted toward the forest. With all the strength I had, I ran and ran until I stumbled into an unseen rock and fell into the embrace of the tree line. The light diminished inside from the giant tree crown covering the sky, almost as if night time would be upon this place shortly.
I didn’t wait much, I dusted myself and then continued running, I have no destination, any place would do. The forest surprisingly was small and felt cluttered.
The ground was filled with dead leaves and fallen tree trunks, I had no choice but to slow down. I knelt down and started to crawl in the bushes and in-between trunks, trying to squeeze myself as best as I could. The path was getting narrower the further I went. Then once I was out in the other side, I felt like the smallest creature in the wild. I started to wonder if I had hit my head when I fell and all of this is just hallucinations. The giant tree trunks spread above like spider webs, and their height created long looming shadows. "Where am I?" I mumbled to myself as I watched the clearing I was in, the place resembled a meadow, and in the middle there is a bit of sunlight that snuck in from tree trunks, it was circled by the biggest trees I have ever seen in my life.
"How?" I took few steps further, then I felt my feet slid out beneath me and I fell to the ground bellow. I could feel some dirt snuck into my mouth. I had a painful coughing fit, slight blood spewed out of my throat.
It took me a second to realize that I was standing on a giant root, which is why the fall was rough on me.
Then I heard it, a whistle coming from the shades of the giant trees. My heart thundered louder than any other sound.
“It is you…” Someone spoke. The voice was harsh as it dragged every syllable. I lifted my head off the ground slightly. The forest looked the same to me; however, the light of the sun seem to dim ever so slowly. It took but a second and the place looked like an hour before nightfall. Terrified I slowly lifted myself off the ground and then I searched the meadow
“You are the Witch’s son.”
Witch?
“Who is this?” I yelled to the nothingness. Then out of nowhere I felt a cold breeze rattling the tree branches, freezing my fingers and toes. I could sense it, someone was watching me, but where?
My breath hitched, I started to wonder if I made a terrible mistake by trying to run away from home.
I tried to be brave, I made fists and then held my head high. “Show yourself, right now!” The tall grass rustled loudly as if something big on fours was coming my way, but nothing happened. I waited a few more moments, still holding my breath. Then the noise returned. It was getting closer and I thought I could hear it breathing. A shiver went down my spine. I started backing away from the spot I had been standing at. I needed to hide and maybe try to get a glimpse of whatever this thing is! Maybe it was a wolf or something like that.
In an instant, a figure leaped forth from the shadows, colliding violently with me. The impact stole the breath from my lungs, leaving me momentarily gasping for air. Above me loomed a woman, her form imposing and unnerving, as she pinned me to the ground with hands that ended in jagged, claw-like fingers. Her complexion was alarmingly pale. She was hissing and mumbling words I couldn’t understand. I struggled as I freed one of my hands and touched her face, something inexplicable occurred. A bloodcurdling scream erupted from her as my fingers made contact with her skin. To my horror, I watched as her flesh began to dissolve, melting away beneath my touch. Her grip slackened, and I wrenched myself free and scrambled backward, my heart racing with terror. I just stayed there watching as she trembled and cried out, then just like that she jumped backwards and vanished into the thick trees.
I stared down at my blooded hand. “What just happened?” I mumbled to myself.
Then I heard someone take a long breath behind me, on alert I jumped back and faced whoever was trying to attack.
To my surprise it was my mother, her face was blank. I wondered if she saw what happened? What would she think about me now? Am I going to burn at the stake like what happened to these women I heard about?
“Mother…I?” I tried to speak but she cut me off. Silently she beckoned for me to follow her.
This was the moment tears slid down my cheeks. I didn’t say anything as I tried to clean my hand on my shirt, I just followed her back to the house and then I sat on the chair in the kitchen. My eyes were focused on the ground. I couldn’t look at her, as I wondered if I’m going to die today or maybe tomorrow.
“Henry!” My mom said and her voice was surprisingly calm. Slowly I lifted my eyes to look at her. I was shocked to see tears. My mother was crying? I have never seen her do this before. “ I think it’s time for you to know your true identity.”
My mother was silent for what it felt like forever, as if it is hard for her to say the words. Was she going to hand me over to the inquisitor after she tells me that I was a mage of the sorts?
She took a long breath and then started to talk. "I still remember the day she came to me, with a crying baby in her arms. She looked dirty and bloody, as if she went through a rough fight. The woman was clutching that baby to her chest like a life line.
'Please, keep him safe. I beg of you, do not let him out of your sight no matter what.'
I tried to understand what happened but the woman didn't want to stay long in my cottage, she made me promise to protect the child.
'I will be able to throw them off his trail.' Is what she said."
Her words buzzled me, I felt my heart hurt. This cannot be happening, it must be some kind of a joke. "What do you mean... what does this have to do with me?"
She whimpered. " I loved you like my own, you made my lonely life worth living, but you must know about your real mother."
It felt like a heavy rock was pressed upon my chest, I still begged the Gods that this isn't true.
"Your mother is a well known Witch, her name is Grimalkin of the Malkin clan. She entrusted your safety to me..." She paused for a moment, holding back a cry. " I was hoping your powers won't show up until ten more years. I wanted to watch you grow into a handsome man, but I guess it was not meant to be."
Angry I stood up, "So you mean to tell me, the reason why I lived in such imprisonment is because I'm the son of a Witch?" My tone was sharp, I never spoke to my moth....this woman in such a way before but, how could I accept such a thing?
"Are you messing with me right now? Please stop." I could hear the hurt in my own voice with the way it trembled, I couldn't hide what I felt at this moment. As I took a seat again, I tried to think about everything. This could explain why I was raised in such a way but...this is impossible.
"I'm so sorry," My mother whispered as she knelt down before me. "Your life was in danger, I had to do what I can to keep you safe. You saw what happened the moment you tried to run away."
...
That would be all for now.