The Sorceress (9 page)

A hazy image began to appear on the screen. Petrified, Kali stabbed the power button repeatedly with her thumb.

Desperately, she jabbed the button over and over in quick succession, breaking up the forming image, but unable to shut off the TV. She wanted to get out of bed and run to the safety of her parents' bedroom, but she felt paralyzed…unable to scream and unable to move. Murmuring fearful little utterances, she watched as a woman's face began to materialize on the TV screen.

An awful image filled the TV screen—a close-up of the dreadful face of the witch from the mirror. Kali expelled a frightened breath. The witch's mouth, drawn tightly in fury, began to open and close. Her hateful words were at first muted, and then became frighteningly clear.

“They're mine!” the witch hissed, her eyes shifting toward Kali's bureau. Stunned and terrified, Kali looked questioningly at the items arranged on the top of her bureau.

“You stole my jewels…all my beautiful trinkets!” The witch's blue eyes glared at Kali's musical jewelry box and then she pointed a long finger at Kali. The child trembled so violently, her knees knocked together.

“Those treasures inside that box belong to me, you snot-nosed thief!” She shook a fist at Kali, her lips curled with menace. “It's only a matter of time before I break out of here.”

The scene changed to a barren, smoke-filled place, a ghastly backdrop for the witch. Muffled shrieks and cries were heard. A wide-shot of the hellish place revealed horrible ghouls and malformed creatures that were battling each other. They all were naked. The witch, Kali now realized, was naked, too.

“When I get out of here, I'm going to pay a visit to the Stovall plantation—”

Kali recoiled, sniffling and whimpering.

“I'm coming after you, you disgusting Stovall spawn. When I get to the plantation, I'm going to put these hands around your neck—” The witch paused and wriggled the fingers of both hands, demonstrating her eagerness to strangle Kali. “I'm going to choke the life out of you, and then I'm going after your parents. The punishment I dispense upon those two will be slow and torturous.”

Kali covered her face with both hands. Daring to peek through her fingers, she saw the witch's eyes glowing, aiming twin beams of blue light at the foot of Kali's bed. She gawked in horror as the blue light roved over the soft blanket that covered her feet.

She felt heat. Fearing she was about to feel the sting of the taser-like beams, Kali flew into action, throwing off the blanket, and scrambling out of bed.

“Mommy! Daddy! Help me!” she yelled. A split second later, the TV made a sizzling sound. The screen went dark.

Ajali's heart drummed as she and Bryce raced to their daughter's bedroom. Kali was huddled in a corner, shaking uncontrollably, her face buried in her hands.

She practically pounced on Kali, covering her with her own body, instinctively sheltering her child from whatever harm lurked inside her bedroom.

Meanwhile, Bryce skidded across the room, yanking open closet doors, tossing aside large stuffed toys, searching for an intruder. He raced to the windows and found each one locked.

Ajali tossed a quick look at Bryce, her eyes probing his. Perplexed, he shrugged. She pried Kali's hands away. Her daughter's face was distorted with fear. “What's wrong?” Ajali took Kali's hand, trying to coax her over to her bed.

Kali refused to move. “I don't want to sleep in here, anymore! That mean lady came back. She said she's coming to get me. I'm so scared of her, Mommy.” Kali broke down in sobs.

Bryce inserted himself between mother and child. He lifted his daughter in his arms, kissed the top of her head. “What mean lady? There's no one here, sweetheart. Daddy searched the room. I think you had a bad dream.”

Kali tried to burrow her head into her father's chest. Ajali stood close by, massaging her daughter's back. “Tell Mommy and Daddy what happened.”

Kali lifted her head. “That witch lady said she's coming for my jewelry. She called me a thief,” she whimpered.

Ajali and Bryce shared a worried look. “Kali, you know the difference between what's real and a bad dream.” Bryce tried to be the voice of reason.

“Bryce, I don't think we should make light of Kali's fear,” Ajali said harshly. Her tone didn't go unnoticed. Kali looked at her mother questioningly and then searched her father's confused face.

Softening her voice, Ajali asked, “Kali, what does the lady look like? Can you describe the lady in your dream?”

Ajali kept her eyes on Kali, but she could feel Bryce's stern gaze; trying to dissuade her from feeding into Kali's fears. Ajali ignored him.

“Kali, tell me exactly what happened.”

“The witch came back.”

Grim-faced, Ajali stared at Kali.

“You had a nightmare about a witch?” Bryce asked.

Kali shook her head. “It wasn't a dream. The witch was here.”

“Where?” Bryce asked, his eyes sweeping the bedroom.

Kali pointed to the TV mounted on the wall. Bryce and Ajali both stared at the darkened screen.

“She was on TV,” Kali said, her voice quivering. “But she wasn't on a regular channel.”

“The TV's turned off, princess. You must have had a nightmare,” her father rationalized.

“At first, I was asleep but a noise woke me up. The TV popped on. The picture was blurry and the sound was real scratchy.”

Ajali frowned. “Like the sound of static?”

“Uh-huh. I sat up, wondering if I'd accidentally left the remote in bed. But it was on top of the table. I got the remote and tried to turn the TV off, but it wouldn't work.” She swallowed hard. “The TV came on by itself, Mommy.”

“Do you think you might have programmed it by mistake?” Bryce proposed.

Kali shook her head. “Why don't you believe me, Daddy? I didn't program the TV.”

“Bryce! You're upsetting her.” Ajali glared at her husband. She reached over and pulled her daughter into her arms; hoisting Kali on her hip, Ajali caressed the back of her hair as she held her child's head to her bosom.

“Tell Mommy what the mean lady looks like.” Nervous, Ajali looked over at Bryce. The muscles in his jaw contracted.

Kali raised her head and faced her mother, her tiny mouth opening and closing in panic as she tried to find words to describe what she'd seen. “She looked just like she did that day in the parlor, when I saw her in the mirror.”

“What is she talking about?” Bryce demanded.

Ajali glanced away from Bryce. She'd never discussed the incident in the parlor, and had never explained the reason she'd gotten rid of the mirror.

Drawing in a deep breath, Ajali responded wearily, “A few weeks ago, right after we put up the Halloween decorations, Kali said she saw a woman's face in the parlor mirror.”

“Is that why you cancelled her Halloween party?”

Ajali nodded. “She's terrified of anything associated with Halloween. That's why I took down the decorations. I donated her costume to charity; she's not going out trick-or-treating this year.”

“Why'd you keep this from me, Aj?”

“I didn't want to believe Kali really saw anything in the mirror. I thought the decorations were spooking her, and I didn't want to upset you needlessly.” She returned her attention to Kali. “The witch can't come back. The mirror's gone.”

“She doesn't need the mirror anymore. She can use the TV. This time I could hear her voice. She called me names—”

“What kind of names?” Bryce tilted his head, the muscles working angrily in his jaw.

Hearing that her child had been called vile names brought a pained expression to Ajali's face. She tried to keep calm, but couldn't. Bitter words escaped through clenched teeth. “What did that venomous creature say to you?” Ajali could feel Bryce's eyes on her, and could imagine his disapproving expression.

But she wouldn't acknowledge his gaze. She wanted to hear what kind of threats that a cursed demon had made against her child.

“Um…she said I was a little snot-nose rascal…” Kali looked up. “Um…and she said I stole her beautiful trinkets and jewelry. And um….” Kali's eyes clouded. “She said I'm disgusting Stovall spawn. What's a Stovall spawn, Mommy?”

Ajali shot Bryce a look of alarm.
Stovall spawn!
That sounded exactly like the type of hateful language Eris would use. But how could she? Eris was dead. Ajali had killed her. With the help of her daughter's namesake, the goddess Kali, Ajali had destroyed Eris with purifying white fire.

She'd witnessed with her own eyes as the blazing flames devoured the evil demon. She watched as Eris screamed in outrage as her wicked spirit was cast back to the hellish place where she should still remain. Was it possible that Eris had escaped the bowels of hell?

“And, Mommy,” Kali said urgently, frowning as she remembered more. “At first, I only saw her face on the TV screen—”

“Describe her! I want you to tell me exactly what you saw,” Ajali interrupted. Ajali was in a panic, but tried to keep her voice calm.

“Dark skin. Blue eyes with lights that she can turn on.” Kali inhaled. “She tried to sting me with those blue lights.”

Ajali gasped. Perspiration broke out on her forehead. Eyes filled with horror locked on her husband's face.

Though Bryce had only a few traces of memory of the time he'd been tormented by Eris and her fiends, Ajali could tell from his expression that he vividly recalled Eris's burning blue eyes.

Kali pointed to the foot of her bed. There was a trailing dark spot on her pink blanket. “Did she hurt you?”

“No, she didn't get a chance to sting me. I jumped out of bed.”

Enraged, Ajali could feel her face growing hot. She didn't want Kali to witness her fury, but unable to get a grip on her temper, she shouted, “That's it, Bryce. I want every piece of that jewelry out of this house. I don't care how much money those damned jewels are worth. That creature is trying to harm my daughter. I won't let that happen. I swear, I'll give up my life on this earth and claw my way into the burning fire of hell and wage a battle against that depraved demon once again!”

“Calm down, Aj.”

“That demon is back; she's threatening our child. I can't calm down!”

“Do demons look like regular people?” Kali asked.

“I guess. Yes, sometimes they do,” Ajali answered in a quieter voice.

“The witch lady looks like a regular person, only she's really mean and her eyes have those shiny lights that can hurt. But there were monsters and all kinds of wild creatures in that smoky place where she lives.”

Ajali recoiled in dread. “I thought you only saw the woman's face.”

“That's all I saw at first. Then I saw her whole body. She was naked.” Embarrassed, Kali lowered her eyes. “The creatures—”

“What kind of creatures, sweetie? Were there animals roaming around?” Bryce asked.

Kali shrugged. “Sort of. They were like…part human and part animal. Their hands had claws and they were fighting and scratching each other. Screaming and using curse words. There was broken glass and thick black ashes all over the ground. That place was spooky. Real dark and smoky. That witch lady said if she gets her hands around my neck, she's going to choke the life out of me.”

“Oh, my God, Bryce. Eris gave our daughter a glimpse of hell.”

“Who's Eris? Do you know her, Mommy?”

Ajali cupped Kali's face. “Yes, I know her. She's my worst enemy and Mommy has to make sure that she stays where she is and doesn't harm you. Now, I know you're a big girl, but I don't want you sleeping in this room alone. From now on, you're sleeping in the bed with Mommy and Daddy. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mommy,” Kali agreed, nodding her head as her father carried her to the safety of his and Ajali's bedroom.

E
ris was delighted that she had spooked the Stovall child. That moving picture box, a link to the other world, gave her unlimited access to the little bandit. Until she broke out of this hellish penitentiary, she'd have to use that picture box to terrorize the brat. She'd only singed the bed covers, but next time her blue light would burn through, searing the child's feet and legs.

Her plan of revenge was so thrilling, her sexual region visibly writhed and oozed, sending off an arousing scent that summoned a horde of lewd and libidinous creatures.

She took them on, two at a time, copulating with a few and sending some running into the shadows, howling in pain with their appendage ripped off and munched on by Eris as an extra treat to appease her ravenous sexual appetite.

Responding to a silent call, she pushed a thrusting ghoul off her and rose to her feet. Its phallus, pulsing and unsatisfied, the fiendish creature she'd been copulating with in the soot, snarled and lunged for her, intending to force Eris to finish the sex act she'd initiated. Eris shot a burning indigo glare at the beast. The fiend cowered, shielding its face with a fur-covered arm.