Sofia's Curse

The Misfortune Teller

Yasmine enters her home and leaves her old maroon mid-heel shoes besides the trailer door. She hears glass clicking noises in the kitchen and a pleasant smell of tea fills her nostrils.

"Hey, Mom."

Yasmine smiles seeing her daughter making tea in front of the stove. "Victoria, darling. Are you done packing?"

"Mhm," she sips, "Have you done everything you needed to?"

"Yes. We should leave around 5 am," Yasmine says.

She picks up the tea pot. "You want some?"

"Sure," Yasmine smiles and pours herself some tea. "You'll like Croatia. I promise," she says sipping. "They have a national park called Plitvice Lakes and it is the most beautiful place on earth. You'll see!"

She nods. "Have you been?"

Yasmine licks her lips. "Yes, sure."

"I'd prefer Italy, but..." she shrugs and takes another sip of her tea.

"Italy...yes. The country of romance and food. Purest form of hedonism," Yasmine twists her lips in sadness, "They have a lot of history, the Italians...a lot of wars," she says and looks away absentmindedly.

"You sound like you've lived there..." she raises an eyebrow, "have you?"

Yasmine flinches. She hesitates, but at last nods. "Many bad memories I carry from there," she says dismissively. "But they have great coffee," she raises an eyebrow. "I wish you made some for me instead of this tea. Wouldn't hurt to show some empathy to the elderly," she teases.

"Oh, please. Look at you, you're in full power. Don't try to make me feel bad by convincing me you're old," she twists her lips in annoyance and turns to lay her empty cup in the sink.

Yasmine frowns. "Did your hair grow longer?" she reaches her hand out to touch it.

"Did it?" she runs her fresh painted fingernails rashly through her hair. "I haven't noticed," she says dismissively and opens the tap to wash her cup.

Yasmine stiffs. Good grief, she thinks. Could it be... A million volts go through her body. "Is he here?" she whispers.

"Who?"

"Stop playing games, Scarlett."

She closes the tap and an evil laughter cuts through the air as Sophia turns to face her. "Well, hello Giovanna. It's been a while," she says, emotionless.

Yasmine's throat stiffens. "Can't say I missed you."

"You're losing your touches..." Sophia says as she walks to the left and pulls a drawer out. It contains cutlery, and she runs her finger down one of the wooden-handle knives with teeth. "Took you long enough to realize it was me."

"What have you done with my daughter?"

Sophia ignores her question. "Must be my beautiful shiny hair that gave me away..." she grins widely, provocatively.

"If you must know...it was both your grooming and the fact you washed that cup immediately...like a soldier."

Sophia clenches her teeth subtly. Then she rolls her eyes. "Oh, well, zero points for your upbringing skills. Now if only you could afford some food, maybe you wouldn't be the world's worst mom..." The provocative smile is back on. "Did you tell them?"

Yasmine looks impassive. "You know I can't."

"Oops," she suppresses a smile. "Guess I forgot that little detail."

"It's not that easy to forget," she insists. 

"Oh please," Sophie rolls her eyes. "Stop with the melodrama, will you? They're as good as dead anyway."

A cup drops out of her hand and shatters against the floor. "What have you done with my children?"

Sophia sighs in annoyance. "Your children, your children...blah, blah, blah," she smiles dryly, "they're not your kids, Giovanna."

"Tell me."

"Oh, for crying out loud! They're fine. For now," she adds with wicked humor. "Playing in their room, don't fret."

"They're here?"

Sophia enjoys her shock, then nods slowly, viciously raising her eyebrows.

"What have you done with them?" she rushes to the door, but Sophia raises her hand and an invisible force traps her in place.

"Argh" she shrieks, petrified, "How can you do that?"

Sophia fakes innocence. "Do what?"

"You shouldn't have powers! Not without them..."

Sophia rolls her eyes. "There's one thing you never understood, Giovanna...The dark is far stronger than the light. I can do whatever I want to do."

"He taught you, didn't he?" Yasmine whispers. "Luther? Or whatever he calls himself these days."

Sophia shakes her head. "Magic can't be taught, Giovanna. You are either its master or it is the master of you. Once you join the dark...it all becomes much easier to control," she says and abruptly lets her go. She doesn't move, though. She knows it would be in vain.

"Like, your kids, for example, as you like to call them...I put a veil over their door so that they can't hear a thing spoken outside of their room," she stares at Yasmine. "But you're right. Luther did help. He didn't teach me anything, though. He just offered me powers on a silver plate. You know, along with home and family. Something you took away from me," she pierces her with hatred.

Yasmine's forehead furrows as if she isn't grasping Sophia's words. Then she gazes at the floor, embarrassed. "If I could press rewind-"

"Don't even bother," she interrupts, "I don't care about your regrets. One thing I learned living with Luther is that one doesn't get second chances. If we are to live at peace, we need to confront our demons. And you, Giovanna, are my biggest demon," she takes a step forward and runs her finger down the rugged blade. "You need to be punished."

Yasmine nods. "I am being punished. Every day, Scarlett. There is not a night that I sleep without dreaming of you."

Sophia nods. "You should," she says, "but a good friend that I am, it's only fair I put you out of your misery," she says and plays with the knife, running its blade down her lower lip.

"You'll cut yourself," Yasmine warns, without thinking.

Sophia sniffs. "I can heal myself, Giovanna."

Yasmine narrows her eyes in concern. "Does he let you heal yourself?"

Sophia takes a rugged breath and turns her back on her. "What do you know of Luther? Who are you to judge him?" Her voice is loud and filled with anger.

"I know him better than you do, Scarlett. Trust me. And you are not like him."

She sniffs with disgust. "Look at yourself. All striped off your powers, weak! What do you know of our lives?"

"I have powers, Scarlett... I do. I just refuse to use them, I...I can't use them against you. Not you."

"Powers? You call your little tricks powers? You are merely a fraction of a shadow of what you'd once been! And look at me! I'm at the peak of my power! I don't need them to be!"

"Because you're practicing dark magic, Scarlett! You're at the height of what you can do with the dark. But you will never be stronger than him. Because he was born to rule the dark. And you were born for the light! You were born to live with us. And if you were here, you'd be much stronger! Much stronger, Scarlett! What do you think why he doesn't want you to reunite with them? Because you're weaker in the dark."

"Dark," Sophie sniffs, "Magic is magic, Giovanna. And when I practice it... Sometimes, I simply use the knowledge I acquired from another book," she smiles. "There are no rules on the other side, Giovanna. No curses."

"Because your life's already cursed by evil! Evil by itself is a curse, Scarlett. You don't belong with him. You are not evil," her voice cracks and she widens her eyes, making it look like she's saying something with a deeper meaning. "Don't believe everything he tells you."

Sophia's eyes fill with tears. Yasmine can't tell whether they are genuine or not. "You really think I'm not evil?"

She nods. "You never were. It was all a mistake. Katrina...She couldn't have known it would lead to this...."

A tear sheds down Sophie's cheek. "It's not her fault, Giovanna. It was your mistake. You were the one whom she entrusted with a task. One you were not up to. And yes, incompetence deserves to be punished. But why am I paying for it?"

"Scarlett...I tried. I..." Yasmine sobs, "I was too late... That bastard was faster than me to realize where you were!"

Sophia shakes her head absentmindedly, as if not listening to Yasmine's words. She continues quietly, gazing into a little red cup on the cupboard in front of her, as if speaking to herself. "Why am I being punished?" She swallows hard and then focuses on Yasmine. Her silent fury entangled with anxious emotion of helplessness disappears. Her eyes are gleaming with stony hatred. "You see me now and you think it's O.K. You see I'm alive," she breathes short shallow breaths, "But you have no idea how it was." She pauses, emotionless. Then she sniffs and a tiny smile appears on her mouth. 

Yasmine wonders what she is reminded of. Yet she hopes she doesn't find out. She can only imagine how traumatic it must have been living at Luther O'Connor's mercy. She knows his nature well. Random outbursts of fury, punishment, cruelty, torture... As a terrifying image shoots through her mind, she lowers her head in embarrassment.

"Don't you dare," Sophia whispers.

Yasmine raises her head, ignorant.

"Pity me," Sophia hisses. If there is one thing she hated, it was people's pity. She doesn't need it and she sure as hell doesn't deserve it. If somebody is tough, it is she. "He does love me," she says after all. "In his own way," is what follows silently. "The scars...that cover my whole body...are the expression of his love towards me," she speaks clearly, slowly. And each second that passes is another sting to Yasmine's heart.

"Have you ever been loved like that, Giovanna?"

Yasmine gazes into the floor, gasping. "Please don't," she utters. "Please don't blame this on me, my child. I...I cannot live knowing you think I haven't tried," sobs cut her speech.

Sophia's face is an emotionless stare again. "I don't," she says bluntly. "I am a survivor. I am a fighter. The best soldier you've ever seen," she continues. "Do not cry, you stupid woman. I am everything I could have hoped for and more."

Even though her words are enveloped into poise and confidence, Yasmine cannot get herself to believe it. She just lets the words linger in the air, saying nothing.

"When is it all going to be over?" Sophia finally continues. "I'm sick and tired of it. I keep waiting...and waiting...but it never ends. I need to put the kibosh on this, Giovanna. I do."

"I need an end just as bad," she nods in understanding. "I keep living in silence and fear. And there's no one I can talk to. There's nothing I can do to make it right. Every time I try...I fail."

Sophia wipes her tears away. "Luther said this could be the last time...."

Yasmine slowly shakes her head. "I can't see how... Not unless we change something. Not unless you join us."

Sophia's eyes pop open. "Are you suggesting I betray him?"

"It wouldn't be your first time, Scarlett."

"But it wouldn't be my last either, Giovanna. And where would that leave me?"

"Oh...my poor child," Yasmine gasps and opens her arms, inviting Sophie into a hug.

Sophia hesitates only for a moment, then launches herself into her arms.

She flinches out of pain as Yasmine's hand grazes her shoulder blade.

Yasmine frowns, "He punished you for what you've done, didn't he?"

Sophia says nothing. She stares blankly into the distance, a soldier's face, and as she hugs her, she stammers, "He's the only family I've got," as if she was apologizing.

Yasmine nods, caressing her hair, and she is left breathless as a sudden sharp pain runs through her abdomen. Sophia thrust a knife in her.

Her lips part and she can barely hear Sophia's words as she gasps for air.

"Luther says hi," Sophia mumbles and takes the knife out.

"No," Yasmine breathes as she crumbles onto the floor, blood claiming her surroundings quickly. "What've you done?" She knows she can't die. Her children need her. They can't survive without her. She is determined to fight for air, but her face goes pale, and her body stiff in a matter of seconds.

Sophia knows where to stab a person. This is hardly her first kill. But it was one the most enjoyable ones. She wipes the fake tears off her cheeks, and takes a deep breath. Even an inexperienced murderer senses the odor of death when it lingers in the air. She has done it. Luther will forgive her. He will forgive her for what she had done.

She launches the knife in the air, and catches it with ease as it falls down. Then she directs her gaze towards the door of the twins' room. She swings her hand and sends the knife into the wood. 

She turns and, stepping over Yasmine's dead body, leaves for the door. In one swift movement, not even turning back, she raises her hand to drop the sound-protective veil in front of the twins' room and leaves the house, happy. Not only because Giovanna is dead. But also because she found a way to please Leeroy without hurting the two of them.