Out of time

Where it all began

August 1609

I was originally born the autumn of fifteen ninety one in a small village in Pendle, England. My name was Mable Hardgrave and his John Douglas, at the ages of sixteen and seventeen we had plans of marriage. We had snuck off together one summer’s afternoon to steal a few moments alone. John had been holding me closely and had stolen a few kisses and as always it felt sensational, he lightly brushed my cheek with his finger and looked me in the eyes like I was the only person in the world who mattered, I felt the blush flow to my cheeks and looked down feeling self conscience, John placed two fingers under my chin and gently lifted so that our eyes met again.

‘You are so beautiful’ he said admiringly.

This I remember vividly the last time I was truly happy without a care in the world. He kissed me again, I felt the kiss deepen like we no longer needed oxygen to live but needed each other instead, the innocent sensational kisses we had been sharing earlier had gone, and this was turning into lust. His hold on me changed, less gentle, more wanting, my body responded as my hands slid into his thick black hair, we were both lost in a moment of passion. I could feel his manhood growing and pushing against my lower stomach, I grew wet in response. John’s hands slid down behind me grabbing onto my cheeks and I gasped as he picked me up, my legs instinctively wrapping around him, he turned so he could lean some of my weight against the tree that had stood behind him. A fiery passion burned within me and headed down south, I couldn’t think straight. I started to rub against him, not knowing what I was doing but it was satisfying the ache that was crying out to me. He matched my rhythm and I thrusted forward so I could feel his hardness against the part of me that seemed to crave it the most, my lower garments started to dampen as the burn within me increased. John’s lips moved to my ear, electricity running down my spine as I felt his breath and then the slight graze of his teeth on my ear lobe. He laid numerous kisses down my neck, I moved my head to give him better access more bliss flooded me; I had never felt pleasure like it. He started to stiffen and I felt him throb through his pants, my fire increased as he let out soft moans of pleasure, music to my ears. I tensed feeling the burning sensation climbing towards some sort of peak, I pushed myself as close to him as I could parting my legs further and locking them around him to pull him as close as possible, feeling his throbbing more intensely it pushed me over the edge and I exploded internally. We continued to rub on one another our paces slowing as we came down from our highs until we completely stopped. He rested his forehead on mine both of us breathless and not ready to talk, we stayed like that for what seemed like hours both unwilling to move and end this moment.

I opened my eyes and looked up to see him staring at me. I smiled, a slight laugh leaving my lips as I did and John shook his head and laughed too. He let me go then placing me gently back down and placing a kiss on my head. We locked our fingers and started to make our way back hand in hand.

‘Maybe we should sneak off more often’ John smirked kissing the back of my hand,

‘oh you enjoyed that did you?’ I teased, knocking into his side with my hip playfully,

‘I do not know how we shall ever get any sleep once we are married, I cannot think of a single reason for ever letting you leave our bed’ he teased back. I narrowed my eyes at him

‘Is that so?’ I pulled my hand from his, lightly elbowed him in the side and ran off. He grabbed his side, not in pain but in shock as he looked after me.

‘You’ll have to catch me first’ I called. I glanced back just in time to see him set off sprinting after me I laughed ducking into the trees and hiding behind a bush. I crouched there waiting for a few minutes before I braved a glance. He was nowhere to be seen, I started to look around bracing myself for him to jump out at me and make me scream. After finding no one I began to call his name,

‘John, ... John ... Joooohn’ still nothing, my heart started to beat faster as worry set in, a few more minutes passed and still nothing.

‘John this is not funny’ I shouted in one last attempt to coax him out. Surely he would not leave me here? What if he has gone home? Maybe I should check? What if I get there and he is not home? How will I explain to my mother and father where I have been? A thousand questions running through my mind as my concentration was broken by the sound of a woman’s voice echoing through the trees. I drew nearer and gasped in shock at what I saw; John tied by the hands barely conscious, a woman standing over him in a seductive manner. She was talking to him, I stayed hidden behind a tree trying to listen and figure out what was going on.

‘I would say I am sorry but that would be a lie, my mother told me never to lie, not that I have ever listened to a word my mother has said before’ She laughed wickedly and crouched down over John whispering in his ear. His eyes bulged in shock at her words, I stepped closer my ears straining trying to figure out what caused this reaction in him. As I stepped forward I broke a twig beneath my foot and drew their attention towards me. The woman stood up and stepped away from John,

‘well, well, well what do we have here she smiled wickedly’ John looked at me in panic,

‘Mabel run, she’s a witch’ the witch turned towards John annoyance clear on her face, before she had completely turned to face him, he stumbled up and head butted her as hard as he could, the impact making them both fall backwards. John was quick to right himself and ran towards me. I looked over to the witch who was clutching her face, blood flowing from her nose.                                                              ‘RUN MABEL’ John shouted again as he closed the distance between us, the seriousness of the situation dawning on me and I took off running looking back to make sure John was still behind me.                          ‘You will pay for this’ the cries of the witch echoed behind us.

We came to a halt when we were convinced that we had put a safe distance between us and the witch. I and John were panting heavily and trying desperately to catch our breath, for a completely different reason than we had been less than an hour ago. Once my breathing had somewhat normalized I started pulling at the rope that bound johns wrists in an attempt to free him. A few minutes later his hands were free and he engulfed me in a protective embrace. We stayed like that for a while holding each other close, almost scarred to let go in case we lost each other again.

‘Who was that, what happened?’ I asked speaking into his chest still not wanting to let him go, he sighed,

‘It’s not safe here, come on I will tell you everything but first we need to get out of these woods’. He grabbed my hand looking around to check the coast was clear and led me back towards our village.

The night was starting to draw near and we ducked into a nearby barn on the outskirts of our village, we sat on a hay bale and john twisted slightly to look at me.

‘I was looking for you after you ran off’ he started, grabbing my hand and taking it into his ‘I heard a humming, a strange kind of song and thought you were just playing a game’ he squeezed my hand tight and with his other brushed a piece of my long brown locks behind my ear.

‘I came across a woman, well I thought she was a woman, she introduced herself as Mildred. She told me she was lost looking for the nearest village and so I pointed her in the right direction’. He looked down at his hands now looking ashamed, I gave his hand a squeeze this time and gave him a reassuring smile

‘She thanked me and offered me a drink from her flask, I shook my head in refusal but she laughed and told me it was something better than water. Curiosity got the better of me and I took a sip, the next thing I knew I was awaking up feeling hazy with my hands tied, She was stood over the top of me, said I was exactly what she had been looking for, that she needed a man and then she crouched down and whispered in my ear’. I felt him stiffen, that same look he had worn in the woods now plastered on his place again. I looked at him and nodded for him to continue. 

‘She told me she needed someone to help her continue her magical heritage and that’s ....... when she saw you’ my heart pounded quicker in my chest and my breath got caught in my throat, she wanted John to get her pregnant. I pulled my hand away from Johns and stood up turning away from him trying to rapidly organize my thoughts. 

‘Why would she think that you were willing to ...’ I stopped unable to finish my sentence. 

‘Mable no, I could not, would not. I have no idea why she chose me, my heart belongs to you all that I have, all that I am is yours’. He pulled me into his warm embrace and I sank into him allowing him to comfort me.

His body was warm, a contrast compared to the chill the night was bringing with it. A cold breeze blew at my back and I froze at the piercing nature of it. As it ran up my back my hands and arms began to stiffen, I could feel my skin turn cold and I struggled to breath under the weight of it. Sensing that something was wrong John tried to lift my chin to make me look up at him but I wouldn’t budge.

‘Mable?’ he took a step back to get a better look at me, his eyes meeting mine in confusion.

‘How sweet, I do hope I am not interrupting anything’ a voice came from behind me but I was unable to turn to look.

‘Witch, what have you done to her?’ John hissed between his teeth.

‘Nothing that can’t be undone, if you give me what I want that is.’ I could feel her getting closer to me; John looked at me torn unsure whether to take a step away as she drew closer or stay by my side’, RUN I screamed in my head unable to say the words out of my frozen lips but he didn’t he squared up to her,

‘Release her and I will do as you say’. NOOOO I screamed in my head, a tear rolling down my cheek.

‘Hmmm ...That is interesting’ the witch mused ‘all that fight you had in you earlier. Gone. All because I have this girl bound in a spell’

‘So?’ John spoke between ground teeth.

‘She belongs to you and you to her in return’ the witch answered mostly to herself as her voice trailed off deep in thought.

‘Does it matter? Let her go! Let me see that she is safe and I will do whatever you want of me.’

‘It’s a complication’ the witch responded as she walked closer to me and looked me dead in the eye. John went to grab her but she held up her hand and he stopped in his track. She turned to face him

‘You are not free to take, your heart belongs to her’ she turned back to look me in the eye ‘She must give you to me.’ My heart froze; give John ... To her ... NO, Never. At that moment I felt my body be released from the cold that had held it. I fell to the floor, my constricted breathing had gone back to normal and my limbs ached to be moved as the stiffness wore off.

‘Name your price’ the witch we later learnt was called Tabitha hissed at me. Still on my knees I looked up at her through my brown wavy locks, my brown eyes locking with her grey ones, anger radiating off of me.

‘You. Can. Not. Have. Him.’ I said each word deliberately so that it would sink into her skull just how serious I was.

‘Don’t be a fool, I could give you almost anything that, pretty little head of yours could dream up. Name it and you can go about your life.’ I slowly stood up holding my shoulders back and my head high, trying to show her I was not afraid,

‘NO’ I stated with the most dominant tone I could muster. Tabitha became angry, losing the smug exterior, she had held only moments ago. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head until only the whites of them remained, she started whispering to herself and as she did I felt the wind start to stir, it took my breath away, I felt as though I was chocking. I heard the witch click her fingers time slowed down and everything happened at once; the wind halted, an ear splitting scream, the sound of bone breaking and a shot of pain coursing through my leg. As time returned to normal I realized the scream had belonged to me, the involuntary reaction to having my bone forcibly broken.

‘NOOO’ John screamed. The smug look had returned to Tabitha’s face

‘Leave her alone, just take me, he begged, you do not need her permission, I give my consent.’ John pleaded in an attempt to protect me.

‘Oh foolish boy if only it was that simply... you have already given your heart to her’ she said the last part in a mocking tone as if she found us comical.

‘A bond has been formed between the two of you, before I can have what I want it must be broken’. As she spoke she placed her hand on Johns face and stroked his cheek, his teeth were clenched and his eyes were fixed on her in a glare. I wondered why he did not move, why he stood there tolerating her touch. An anger started to stir within me an emotion I had never felt so intensely before, I took in deeper breaths and felt my teeth grind as a cloud of rage smeared my judgement. I wanted to break each of her fingers then rip her hand right off her bloody wrist and burn any part of her that had dared to touch what is mine. Tabitha suddenly turned snapping her head in my direction, she laughed at me as I lay on the floor, my hand clutching were my now exposed bone pierced the skin.

‘Such negative thoughts Mable... Tut tut’ she mocked. My face hid nothing the pure loathing and hatred I felt towards her was on show for all to see. ‘I see are we a little jealous, darling girl’ Tabitha teased clearly enjoying herself.

‘You see what a real woman can do for him..’ she bit her lip in a seductive manner, moved her hand down from his face to his shoulder then walked around him so that she was looking at me from over his shoulder. She whispered into his ear and John fell to his knees, Tabitha was quick to wrap her arms around his neck she bent down slightly her head now level with his, she looked me straight in the eye and without hesitation licked his ear, she started to moan clearly enjoying herself not once breaking our eye contact. My rage was full blaze, my jaw had started to hurt from the pressure of grinding teeth together, my knuckles had gone white and stiff as I clenched them so hard my nails had drawn blood from my palms and all feeling lost as I was caught up in the hatred spiraling out of control in my body. Tabitha then starting sucking johns ear and I lost all control of myself,

‘get the f**k of him you b***h’ I spat out at her like venom, those words had never left my mouth before but I regretted nothing.

Tabitha let go of John and made her way over to me she looked pissed, I looked around for something to grab but before my vision could focus in on anything around me she had grabbed my neck, her vice like grip restricting my breathing and for the second time tonight I struggled for air. I tried to pry her fingers from my throat, her nails digging into my flesh further as I did.

‘What did you just say to me girl’ Tabitha hissed into my face.

‘You listen to me; you are nothing, nothing but a nuisance and an inconvenience to my plans. You will give me what I want and you will do it now. I have grown tired of your pathetic existence’. Her distaste for me became clearer with every word she spoke; I found my eyes growing wider in panic as she lifted me by my neck off the floor. I looked down at her as she held me a little above her head, her arm fully extended. I noticed her eyes had gone darker turning from a light grey to slate grey in colour,

‘I will have him, he will be mine and you will give him to me before I break another bone in that woeful little body of yours’. She spat every word. Despite been barely able to breath and powerless to defend myself from the viscous witch threatening me and the man I love, I mustered what strength I had left and slapped her as hard as I could right across her repulsive face.

We both just looked at each other silently as the actions I had taken begun to sink in for both of us. For me all that registered was shock, I could not believe my own actions as I gazed at the clear outline of my vibrant red hand print on the witches face. For Tabitha, it was clear, there was a rising anger within her, her expression went from one of shock, to one of pure hatred. Before I had time to utter a single syllable she had launched me across the room like a rag doll, my head hitting one of the wooden posts in the barn – hard. The rest of the memory is a bit hazy from there; I remember touching the back of my head and feeling wetness - what I now presume was blood from where I would have smacked myself. I remember the witch launching herself at me and watching helplessly as John tackled her mid air, then ... nothing. I lose a chunk of time, seconds? Minutes? Hour’s maybe? Of that I am unsure. The next thing I know I and John are bound with rope next to each other he is trying to talk to me but I find it difficult to focus. I’m dipping in and out of consciousness from what I can only presume was because of the gashing wound I received, the witch is chanting over the top of us. I try to focus on her words listen to their meaning but it’s like I’m drowning in a sea of  unconsciousness, every time I mange to swim to the top to gasp at the air of reality, a wave knocks me back down into the darkness. I recall the struggle trying desperately to grasp to the words and fight the inevitable blackness.

His precious heart. Darkness.

Love to another, a deadly curse. Darkness

Years you will have. Darkness.

Memories will not be. Darkness.

Start to fear. Darkness.

Watch him die that is your dept to pay. Darkness.

Your day comes to. Darkness.

The curse rebegins. Darkness.

End of time. Darkness.

 It’s so frustrating, I can remember her face see her lips moving but hear no sound as I dropped back into my subconscious. My eyes are shut tight trying desperately to squeeze some new information from the memory if I could just ... BANG, BANG, BANG. I jump up in shock and slam my journal shut as I recognize the sound of someone knocking on my apartment door, I had been so lost in my memory I had forgotten my surroundings.

‘Coming’ I sighed as I shoved my journals under my chair out of sight and headed for the door.