daughter!" My mother chimes in trying to argue.
"How can taking away someone's love be protection, mother? Explain to me! Please. I can't understand."
"He's yours..." Everyone is silent, even though there are not only things to be said, and relevant ones, I suppose, being the least I expect, due to the conversation, but also the mouths clearly move, but no words come out of them. As I heard the other time, this is so that we don't disturb the sorceress. This is not right! Nothing here is natural! Nothing that happens here can have a harmonic and natural result. Duran starts screaming! Like me. Of course I can't stand to see him suffer and I scream more than he does. Obviously no one pays attention to me and I despair for the only one who could, but he is hindered by the pain. Pain that I know how deep and painful it is and I just hope he resists, just like me. So that his love for me will endure, just like mine. May his love be stronger than pain. She is trying hard, I must admit, to try to remove the love from within us. From within our hearts!
"Resist, my love! Please resist! You can! Resist, Duran! Resist for us!" Mmmm... Only murmurs are what I produce, but still, I managed to scream what I wanted. Even in a trance, the spell manages to stop me. But if she thinks that will stop me, she's sorely mistaken. I close my eyes and do nothing to think, but rather, feel and I transmit my love, as well as, courage. Aware of everything that is happening, I witness what I already knew, or rather, what my feelings were already telling me, she also failed to extract the love from my beloved who even suffering, resisted! Like me!
"Glad you resisted, my love!"
"What is going on here, Norah?"
"This sorceress from the netherworld is trying to take away our love!"
"What?" He presents the same incredulity in a first moment and, how to be different? Knowing, or rather, hearing these things is one thing and being involved in them is quite another. But most importantly, he resisted. Now, I believe, she can't harm us.
"You guys, get out of here immediately!" I think I was wrong about that. Instantly my body freezes from the inside. The simple act of breathing is taken away from me by fear of what is to come. The sorceress tells my parents to leave. Looks like things are going to get ugly. They question her and she replies that no harm will come to me. That's impossible from a loving point of view, because what they're doing here most is hurting me. They obey, like subjects of a king, without question, and worse, without looking me in the face, because they know if they do, shame will fall on them. And even worse, at every step of the way out, remorse begins to accompany them and will be with them wherever they go. Today is a sad day. Today is the day when I lost, in this accursed house, on this accursed floor, my sincere love for them. Whoever is willing to look for it will find it here and beautiful flower will not be born, but in this place the earth will die and the ground will dry up. My sadness will fertilize it and dry and twisted branches will be born.
"Let me approach my beloved!" I don't know if she's in a trance and, naturally, can't hear me or if she doesn't even want to answer. Nothing is more irritating than that. Talking to someone and not getting an answer. To be ignored. Since I'm not quite sure why, I decide to ask again:
"Let me approach my beloved!" Again the silence comes like a knife and hits me full on piercing me slowly and causing pain. I resolve to change the strategy by saying:
"Have you never loved?"
"Waaarrrggg..."
"Aaaarrr..." I'm grabbed by the neck so hard that I even bother with the attack. But what terrified me most, or should I think, intrigued me most, was that she moved so fast I didn't even notice. Not to mention the frightening scream and, not from the tone, but the word, she was in pain. I could be wrong, but that was it. I am a woman. I understand these things.
"What do you know about love, child? Do you think that this childish feeling that was born with the only person present in your daily life, in your personal circle, means love? Do you think that just saying "I love you" counts as being in love? Do you think love letters with ready-made phrases mean true love? Or worse, do you think a pretty face is synonymous with love? Or to be loved? Do you think that plotting to escape means that you are experiencing great love? You don't know what real love is! You don't even know what it's like to be loved! Or love someone body and soul and be betrayed. Exchanged for one of lesser morality and righteousness."
"Don't try to compare me or anyone else with the events of your life, sorceress. People are not the same, did you know? If someone betrayed her, I'm very sorry, because this should never happen to anyone, even with the person who deserves it, because it must hurt the heart a lot and, I know, it must hurt so much that it shouldn't even heal, but...
"No, but... Enough of this morally correct talk that won't get you anywhere, however, I have somewhere to go." I don't know where she's going, but she ends the conversation that I still had more to say, turns her back on me and I see her start picking up jars that... I can't see what's inside from here.
"Duran! Duran, my love!"
"Norah!" Poor him! With a weak voice he answers me. Good thing he can do it. This makes me a little happy, but I'm still afraid of what will happen.
"Duran, hold on, my love! I'm going to get us both out of here!"
"You were always the strongest in our family, Norah. As well as, the most hopeful, even when there was no more hope."
"It is necessary, my love, especially in this difficult moment."
"We won't get out of here alive!"
"Don't say that, please. Just like, don't give up! Give yourself to me! Let's go! There's still time. She won't hurt me, because my parents... I mean, some people made that deal with her. I can't even imagine what the payment was, but makes me sick just thinking about it. Give your love for me to me, for only then it will be safe from being..."
"He doesn't have the strength for this, you fool. Also, he doesn't... Wait a second! What did you say?" I honestly don't know what part she wants me to repeat, but I remain silent.
"You said it loud and clear: "give your love for me to me"! This is a typical speech of someone who knows, or rather, not only knows, but practices sorcery."
"Don't have the petulance to compare me to you, soulless demon! I only said that to keep his love safe from you in a safe place."
"Perhaps, my dear. Perhaps, girl!
1 mouse tail
2 tufts of wolf fur
1 dandelion
2 pinches of scrapings from the toenail of a deceased man
1 pinch of salt
1 person's hair...
AND..."
"Oh my! What is she doing?"
"Don't be naive, my love. She is doing a spell and these are the ingredients. Now, for what purpose I still don't know. Or I know. Certainly some spell to make me stop loving her. And from what I've heard these spells are very powerful and impossible to break."
"Which certainly won't work!"
"Silly girl. All my spells work. Don't take me for a charlatan. My knowledge comes from hell, where I transited for thirty-seven days and returned to the world of the living at Lucifer's command, so believe in the words of "your beloved"." I can't believe Duran said that. Or worse, that he believes it.
"Demons of the underworld, open the gates of hell…" I can't believe I'm seeing this. The floor opens and a huge cauldron rises. Soon after, the fire lights up underneath where several logs are already positioned. How can this be –, real? She opens one by one the vials she counted earlier and throws in the ingredients that Duran had warned me about. With something like this being witnessed by my eyes, even in disbelief, I think he is right to say that her spells are very powerful and unbreakable.
"Norah, who told you to think of such a thing, you idiot?" I tell myself even if in a low voice, but it's just to situate myself and go back to being what I am: hopeful!