Poison Orchid

Chapter 10

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Coming back home with Gruffy and Fluffy was fairly easy for Isis because it gave her a typical sense of security and well-being. Although they were spirits still they were much more bonded to her and Isis could feel their warmth of love and protection seeping into her slowly and steadily.

Suddenly, when she was about ten stepsaway from from her house in the woods, both Fluffy and Gruffy started growling at the same time, as if they were trying to warn her of someone’s presence. She looked around, very well knowing that it would be a live presence because the ghostly ones came to her room to talk to her. And she also knew that only she could hear Gruffy and Fluffy barking or growling. No one else can. But she could sense no one or even see no one. She ran back the last steps to home and opened the door to find Aunt Rosa sitting on the sofa waiting for her.

“Today I’m gone,”Isis muttered under her breath, she thought what to do with Gruffy and Fluffy.

“If you are to go out of home after midnight, without any kind of permission for staying out let and endangering your life and you think I shall say nothing, then you are highly mistaken Isis. I thought that I had raised you to be a responsible and intelligent girl but you are suddenly turning out to be impulsive and vulnerable,” said Aunt Rossetta.

Isis very well knew that whatever her Aunt was saying it was 100 percent true and she was also confused about her emotions. It was not that she herself could control everything that was happening inside her. But she could not say that to her Aunt as well, she did not know what her Aunt will think of her. She felt Gruffy and Fluffy sitting on two sides of her legs and panting.

“Will you speak something? Or you are going to stand at the door all night keeping quiet?” asked Aunt Rossetta. Isis could feel anger, panic and frustration creeping in Rossetta’s voice.

Before Isis could open her mouth to utter a single word even, the gramophone started blasting from the basement at a loud volume. Aunt Rossetta got up and started to go to the basement, but she turned back and said, You won’t go to your room until you have cleared out what were you doing at this late night.”

Isis kept standing there knowing that Grandma Brassia was trying to save her hide by distracting Aunt Rossetta. Fluffy nudged her leg, pushing her towards the sofa. She smiled and ruffled her head, and sat down on the couch. She said,” Gruffy, will you please keep guard on our home every night from now onwards? I need Fluffy with me.”

Gruffy was sitting on his haunches, and c****d his head one side listening carefully to what Isis was saying as if he was trying to understand what Isis was trying to tell him. He then got up from where he was sitting and went to Isis and bowed down his head as if he too wanted his head ruffled like Fluffy who was sitting at Isis’s feet. She fluffed his, ruffled behind his ears and his throat and he was so comfortable that Gruffy’s eyes started drooping. She then put a kiss on the top of his head and said,”You’re a very good boy and I need you to be my good boy darling. Now go and keep us safe.”Isis understood that Gruffy was very much loving and attention seeking like Fluffy just that he was a bit late to trust and instinctively left the decision making to Fluffy which he followed. As Gruffy was trotting towards the door Aunt Rossetta came back and said to Isis with a grim face,”I don’t know what you have done this time but I have been forbidden from doing anything or saying anything to you. So please get out of my sight, and tell whatever ghost has accompanied you to go along with you.”

The moment her Aunt said these words red hot rage flashed infront of her eyes for a second, but Fluffy started licking her feet which made her control whatever she was going to say. Isis slowly nodded her head, went to her Aunt hugged her lightly, kissed her cheek and went upstairs to her own room. The moment she was halfway to her room, her Aunt called back and said,” Isis dear!! You have exhausted a lot of energy tonight, come on and have a portion of that lasagna that I had made for you. Would you like that?” Fluffy who was just behind her, almost tripped down the stairs in excitement. And Isis’s vision blurred and swam with tears. Her Aunt loved her, cared about her and what was she going to do a few minutes back? Today Fluffy taught her an important lesson, that whatever happens never hurt your loved ones on any condition because they were the ones to whom you owe your entire life.

Isis came down the stairs again with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face to find that Aunt Rossetta had already served a generous portion of lasagna on her plate. She sat down at the table and immediately started gulping down the food like it was ambrosia. And Rossetta was looking at her with horror in her eyes. The girl who used to vomit even at the smell of meat was now eating ham as if she had loved it her entire life. Rossetta now understood that truly, she needed to listen to what Brassia was saying otherwise she would not be able to cope up with the changes happening inside Isis and Isis needed this time very badly to train in each and everything. And she as her foster mother needed to be supportive in each and every way possible.

Rossetta sat down on the chair beside Isis and asked, “Did you go to find the graves of the girls?”

Isis nodded her head and said, “tomorrow, I have promised them tomorrow I shall help them to set free.” Finding the perplexed look at Rossetta’s face,Isis continued,” Grandma Brassia had given me a lot of books to study from which I read that a spirit who had died a violent death or accidental death which was death before it was destined for her then the spirit tends to linger on earth which makes them more attached to the earthly things which shouldn’t be happening after death. So I need to help them set free.”

“Okay, I get your point but how do you plan on doing that?””

“I was going to ask Grandma Brassia for helping me.. because she would be having better idea at helping spirits free themselves with a greater ease than I will do. And…”

“Before you go on any further, do you know that you have brought Brassia in the basement by summoning her name, and the summon is locked till the basement itself. So she won’t be able to go out and help you.”

“No Aunty, I didn’t know this. But I wasn’t going to ask Grandma to accompany me. Actually I was going to request her to train me on how to do the work because reading the theory is one part but doing it in real life is something absolutely different.”

“MMmmmmm, I think that is a pretty good idea, but if you didn’t go to find their graves today then what for was this late night outing? As far as I know you wouldn’t be going for rendezvous, would you?”

With the word rendezvous the image that her mind conjured was of Gabriel with his beautiful purplish blue eyes, and his handsome strong chiseled face, with high cheek bones and pale skin like the Russians do.

“So it was a rendezvous then, hmmmm, who was it with?” her aunt prompted.”

“No no Aunty. It was no rendezvous. I just went for something you won’t like,”replied Isis hastily.

“Try me.. I might surprise you.”

“Actually I went to the town cemetery wall, to bring some one,” while saying this Isis once looked down and saw that Fluffy had her ears perked up and was looking at her with question in her eyes, she looked up at her Aunt and said.

“I brought home Gruffy and Fluffy,” Isis stated calmly.

“Who are they? And why can’t I see them?” asked Rossetta.

“They are a pair of black Labradors. And you can’t see them because they are spirits.”

“You brought dogs in my home?” asked Rossetta with disgust in her eyes.

“Aunty, they are spirits, they don’t shed, they don’t eat, they don’t poop and they don’t even disturb anyone. Only I can see them. And Aunty I needed a spirit animal to anchor my power and cats are not my thing you very well know that.”

“At the least you could have asked me once Isis.”

“And please tell me how would have that helped? We would have the same discussion of dogs and cats over and over again. And do you know for the past minutes from the moment you sat down at the table beside me Fluffy is sleeping over your feet. Do you feel anything?”

Rossetta jerked back from the chair and almost toppled over. “Isis, I’m warning you, you are not to frighten me like this..”

“There is a full blown ghost so many years old locked in your basement but you are afraid of a ghost of a dog? Come on, Aunty, you are not that sily. I know my Aunt and she is a pretty brave woman.”

Her Aunt was a bit assured by her words but said,” Isis will you please tell her not to touch me?”

“No,” answered Isis with a smile.

“Why are you doing this to me child? What have I done to you in order to make you do this to me?” asked Rossetta.

“Once in your childhood, a pack of dogs chased you and you ran, despite of knowing that if you had waited there calmly they wouldn’t have attacked you. So it is high time you get over your fear, more over it is pretty useless saying these things when you can’t see them and feel them anyway.”

“What for do you need them that I still haven’t understood..and wait where did you come to know that I was chased by dogs when I was young? Who told you that?”

“Fluffy did. She showed me.”

“What are saying Isis?”

“Actually this is the thing that I’m trying to say Aunty, that tthey are anchors to my powers and I need them to learn how to channel my power and ground it. Moreover, they are highly trained and not to mention that they are natural sniffers. And Fluffy is saying that her previous master was a pathetic cook but your lasagna tastes even better than pizza which is her favourite.”

The last sentence brought a smile on Rossetta’s face and she said,” How do I know that you are not making this up?”

“You can always check up with Grandma Brassia, she knows everything that goes on in this house. You can ask her if I’m lying or not.”

“Okay, enough chatter, now go upstairs and sleep. Change your clothes and you are to braid your hair at night from now onwards.”

“Braid my hair? Why?” asked Isis as if it was a ridiculous notion.

“Grandma’s orders. For your safety. Open hair attracts more nightmares.”

“I haven’t heard this before but if you say so, then I will do it. But are you sure that I won’t have nightmares anymore?”

“Look dear, I cannot guarantee that but yes it reduces the chances by some percentage. You will be safer this way. When you sleep, your mind is relaxed and you go closer to your spiritual world and so anyhing can happen there but whatever happens everything will be virtual. You just have to wake up at the right time.”

Satisfied with her reasoning, Isis along with Fluffy went to sleep upstairs to her room.