Poison Orchid

Chapter 4

The milk that Rossetta gave Isis to drink every evening was not normal. But Isis did not know this. And neither were medicinal herbs added to it in order to meet up the deficiencies in her body . From the day Rossetta took her out of the broom closet in a no-man’s land in a small cottage..which was her sister’s last home she had vowed to protect that child as her own.

When she brought her home, the poor child was dehydrated and was in a dying condition. Rossetta being a healer of her clan nursed the child back to health and named her Isis. After the Goddess of Rebirth and regeneration. It is not everyday that a child gets to live a new life, after the ordeal that she had passed through Rossetta had decided that Laelia had no place in the world at this moment. She would come out when she was ready enough to take on the world. While she was nursing Laelia back to health she with great care and precision had taken the time to regress the existence Laelia in a dungeon. The dark dungeon where she would be safe. And on the outer world would grow up Isis, her child, who will lead a normal life.

Tonight Laelia had come very close to coming out of the dungeon but she was not ready yet. The beautiful orchid whom she had reared had not been fully poisoned. From the age of three, Rossetta was administering careful doses of poison to Isis in her customary glass of milk every evening. Since she owned a charm and apothecary store, she was a regular customer of variety of poisons. When Isis was a child, she diluted them and made her drink every day. And from the last three months Isis had been drinking pure poison almost everyday without any kind physical complications or problems.

And now it was the time for her test. Rossetta had also reared a few snakes in the garden shed. It was the place which she kept locked. The most poisonous snakes of all, the sand viper and the king cobra were her prized possessions.

As Rossetta was making plans to complete the creation of her own poison maiden, upstairs Isis was locked inside the broom closet again once more in her dream.

A woman with shining black hair was chanting and screaming while the men were kicking her down. She wanted to scream her voices out but she remembered her mother’s last words that under no circumstances she was to make any sound. Isis instinctively knew that the woman who was being tortured was her mother but she hadn’t called her Isis. She had called her something else. What had her mother called her? Isis was not her name.

Suddenly it struck her, Lia… Laelia…Her name was Laelia. Her mother had given her this name. As soon as this revelation occurred a scream pierced from her throat, but the attackers did not even look at her. They could not look at her because they were already dead. Dead, along with her mother, she kept on screaming, Isis did not know that she was locked in her dream in unconsciousness but was bodily present in her room.

Rossetta dropped the book she was dusting downstairs and ran upstairs and put on the light in the room to find Isis thrashing wildly on her bed, as if she was trying to open some kind of door. Instinctively, Rossetta understood which nightmare she was locked in and pulled her up on the bed trying to wake her up. She was baffled finding that all her charms had started failing as soon as Isis had started coming into power. The charm of rosemary and whittles, spun together with the chant of protection had kept her safe from childhood because Isis was prone to nightmares when Rossetta had brought her.

Finally Isis woke up, to find herself in the arms of her aunt. She disentangled herself from her aunt’s arms and spoke with a deathly calm in her voice,”You lied to me.”

“Yes I did, ”her aunt replied her back with the same calmness.

“They killed my mother in front of my own eyes. And I was locked. I could not do anything.”

“Knowing this for so long also would not have helped you in any way. You were kept shielded so that you could have a normal childhood until and unless you did not forget all these things. How do you think you have lived this long?”

“How could you do this to me?”

“Your mother would never have forgiven me if I had done otherwise. And Isis..”

“My name is not Isis. I’m Laelia. You took away my name from me also.”

“Your name has already been yours until you have been ready to claim it. The way and speed in which your powers are coming into light I would say that you are sorely unprepared for the ordeal. And remember Isis, you are not ready yet to claim your name. So stop being in a state of denial and come with me.”

“It is three fifteen at night. Now?”

“If my calculations are not wrong then your dream started at the most ungodly hour of every religion which means that you need to be stronger than ever. Come with me.”

Isis got down from the bed and as soon as her aunt went out of the room, the lights flickered off and the room became pitch dark and the door closed with a slam. Something cold moved past her ear. Rossetta was banging the door from outside and trying to unlock it but to no avail. Slowly as her eyes grew accustomed to the dark Isis found that another girl was standing infront of her.

The current ghost and the ghost of Naomi could be easily called sisters if she did not know better. The girl said in a piped voice, ”She said you would help me.”

Isis could very well understand that who had referred this ghost to her. She quickly pulled up her mental wall like her aunt had taught her.

“Were you murdered in the same way? As Naomi?” asked Isis.

The girl nodded her head. As Isis looked carefully she found to her growing horror, the girls brains were spilling out of the brutal beating she had received. Blood streaked her thighs, her frock was torn completely hanging from her shoulders by mere threads. The girl was sobbing uncontrollably and Isis could help but her eyes filled with tears too. Suddenly the door opened with a bang and her aunt came rushing forward into the room. In that split second, the lights of the room came on and a cold wind blew out of her window.

“Did it hurt you in way? Isis are you alright?”

“She was asking for help, Aunty but I don’t know how to help them. She was tortured so brutally. I cannot even imagine what pain must she have undergone before those bastards killed her,” she said in midst of sniffles.

Rossetta understood that Isis could not protect Isis from all these things. The power which was dormant in her for this long was now bursting out like geyser and nothing could control her. Trying to stifle out that power was like trying to put a lid on the volcano. The only option left out right now is to teach her to learn magic and use it for the purpose she had been given the powers for.

Isis was still sobbing uncontrollably. The most shocking part was that she was not shaken by nightmares but she was shaken by the horrific deaths of the girls. Rossetta understood that this meant her heart was pure and she was an empath. The only difference being she could empathise with things dead and not living. Rossetta took her hand and urged Isis to stand up and took her out of the room. She could start teaching her the most basic stuff but she did not think that it would do her any help. But it was worth a try.

Rossetta took Isis to the basement. Isis looked at the big hall which as the basement. It was filled with potions on the racks, and one wall was stocked from top to bottom in volumes of books. Trunks of different shapes and sizes. It was a lot to take in. It looked like a completely different world.

“Whooaa …. Aunty…”

“That’s right. I had hoped that you would not exhibit any powers and live a normal life. But I guess we have to learn to expect the most unexpected.”

“Why did you think that? That I won’t have any powers?”

“All the sisters of our clan start showing their tendencies to show powers as soon as the hit puberty. But that was not in your case. So I had considered that you are a Null.”

“Now what is that?”

“It means that you’re empty of powers, void. Nulls have their own uses. They are the best mediums and can easily learn anything and everything. Nulls become the best spies and the greatest assasins in history. And they were all women.”

“Okay. So I guess we don’t study about them in our history?”

“You may read some of it but the version of human history and the version of Wiccan history is completely different. You need to study that very carefully because you are going to work with the creatures who are not of our realm. Ghosts exist in our present but in the respect of time they are a thing of absolute past. The better you are equipped with knowledge the better you are dealing with them. But I am not the best person to teach you how to us your growing powers. I can only support you to grow. But someone else will have to teach you.”

“But Aunty you said that there is no living soul on this earth with powers like mine.”

“Who said that a living soul will train you?” said Rossetta with a twinkle in her eye.

“You mean ghosts will teach me?” asked Isis incredulously.

“Do not refer to them as ghosts. They are your ancestors and you need to learn how to call upon them and ask for their blessing in order to stay here and train you to grow into your powers to fulfill the mission of your life.”

“And what exactly is that? The mission of my life? “

“To become the greatest Necromancer in the Universe and stop all the things going wrong and bring back balance, to restore what has been disturbed.”

“That is Big…No…No.. make it HUGE..Coming from you..”

“I already told you being in denial will not help you accomplish anything. You have to, and I repeat have to learn to use your powers. You have no idea Isis what your mother had gone through when she was your age. She had no one to teach her. At least you have me. I shall be always there with you.”

Isis suddenly felt, loved, cherished and protected. She went and hugged her aunt. She was lucky to have one hell of such aunt.

“We are going to summon our great grandmother Brassia, who had named your mother Cattaleya. She was a necromancer too. The best of her age. Unfortunately she did not live a long life.”

“How can I summon her? I did not call those girls. They came to me all by themselves.”

“That is because they are in need of your help. Now you have to call upon Brassia to ask for her help.”

“Brassia…”

“Spell after me. Brassia Rebecca Jonathon Haronti.”

“Brassia Rebecca Jonathon Haronti..”

The moment she had spelled her name a shrill voice rang from behind her. Isis jumped forward. Turning back she found a woman in her sixties, standing in a floral gown smoking a pipe.

“Don’t you think a woman should be allowed to rest in peace, you stupid imbecile. I was in the midst of a very interesting and enchanting discussion with Dante.. Who the hell are you to summon me from my rest?”

“You have rested enough Grandma, it is time for some action,”said Rossetta who didn’t seem to be unfazed a bit.

“Oh!!!! My darling, Rosa, How are you? How much I have missed you,” saying this the spirit moved forward to give her a hug but stopped in mid tracks to get a good look at Isis.

“Well well well, now isn’t that interesting!! You seem to be….. Rosa.. Is it who I think she is?”

“Yes Grandma. She is the daughter of Cattaleya. Isis.”

“Interesting, very interesting. This seems to be much more interesting than that parlay. How did you call me girl? Do you know the chants to do that? Who taught you, girl?”

“I didn’t do anything ma’am. I just took your name.”

“That sounds the most preposterous thing I have ever heard. But on second thoughts, she is the thirteenth Necromancer of our clan. It is natural that the curse that she bears by blood in her veins will be far more stronger than any of us.” Pondered Grandma Brassia.

“She needs your help Grandma.”

“I understand that Rosa Darling. Now be a sweetheart and knock that girl with some sleeping draught of yours and let her sleep for a few hours. And why don’t you bring me a gramophone down here with some records? Ohhhh!!! And don’t forget to bring me my ottoman. I left you that in my will.”

“Sure Grandma.”replied Rossetta cheerily.

“Is she going to live here?”asked Isis.

“Of course, you devil’s spawn. Now go and get some beauty sleep,”Brassia’s spirit said with clouds of smoke.