To Fall From Grace

Rain drummed steadily against the window.  The woods outside my little cottage were completely shrouded by a thick curtain of droplets against a backdrop of dark grey pierced with strange, twilight orange as somewhere beyond the clouds, the sun was setting.

Inside, the single-room cottage was cozy, lit by a small iron stove; the flames within dancing lazily upon glowing embers. The cold of the ouside weather was banished by the inviting warmth. The bed was hidden behind a small alcove; the bathroom just beyond it (clearly a modern addition). I stood in the kitchen, the washing machine rumbling under the kitchen bench as I stared at the cardboard box in front of me.

One hand idly flicked through the stacked papers within as the other reached for the gently steaming cup of tea beside me. Without breaking my gaze, I lifted it to my lips, taking a sip as something caught my eye. Pulling it out, I stepped back to study the paper;



My eyes widened, my breath catching in my lungs. Placing my cup of tea back onto the bench, I scanned the words on the page, staring in disbelief. Those were my grandparent's names. They'd used to talk about a trip they had taken to Romania when my mother and Aunt Cass were little, but... could it be?

As I re-read the page over and over, I could feel my jaw clench. My hackles were raised as something uncomfortable settled deep in my gut. Although as yet, I couldn't tell what or why, something about this revelation made me uncomfortable. With a furrowed brow, I lifted a few old encyclopedias on herbalism and slipped the certificate back into the box, out of sight.

That box was the last of my grandmother's things to go, and it now sat starkly out-of-place in the otherwise tidy little room. Suddenly I wanted it gone. The urge to simply open the door and put it out into the rain swept over me like a gust of wind, but just as I reached up to clutch at the talisman around my neck, my door bell chimed.

Although a little put-out at the interruption to my solitude, I was grateful for the distraction from my thoughts. Walking over to the door, I pulled it open to reveal a silhouette standing against the ever-darkening sky. I recognised it even before she stepped into the warm, yellow light of the kitchen,

"Aunt Cass!"

"Hi baby!"

Aunt Cass swept me up in a big hug, the warmth from her 6'2" frame cancelling out the cold from the rain that clung to her shawl. I hugged her back tightly, as the sweet, nostalgic aroma of her caramel perfume flowed around me. For a few moments, I simply melted into the hug, letting it banish all my fears and worries, just as they had done for years.

Finally, though, I stepped back and gestured for her to come inside.

"Where's Uncle Mortimer?" I asked, peeking around behind her to the darkness beyond the front door, "Is he here too?"

My Aunt shook her head as she moved inside, making herself at home on one of the stools at the counter.

"Not today, honey." She replied, as I closed the door and turned to join her, "He's at a retreat up in Colorado for another two months."

As I sat down opposite her, I noticed her bright emerald eyes briefly take in the box sitting to one side, and an expression I didn't recognise twisted her features for a moment. At the same time, the talisman around my neck grew uncomfortably warm, an unpleasant tingling began to prickle in my chest.

"Colorado? That's a ways away." I answered, struggling to make conversation as I began to feel myself grow distant from the world around me. I seemed to zero-in on my Aunt as she sat in front of me, that easy smile on her rosy lips becoming more sinister and fake the longer I focused. I could sense... something in the air, like a warning, as though someone were squeezing the back of my neck, forcing me to pay close attention to the words behind her words.

"After spending 6 months in an RV with him, not far enough, I think." She joked back.

Although with the growing prickling in my chest, and the distant echo around me, the joke sounded... hollow, false even.

Clearing my throat, I shook my head, forcing myself out of the strange tunnel-vision as she turned her attention to the box. Her bracelets jangled as she pulled it over, flicking through the old books and knicknacks.

"Cleaning out the old memories?"

I nodded,

"That's the last box. I can't believe mom used to collect butterflies. She's so..."

"Destructive? Yeah, she wasn't always like that."

A silence fell over us for a moment, just long enough to settle uncomfortably on my shoulders before my Aunt pulled out the very document I'd just been looking at. Instantly I went cold, a knot of dread tightening in my stomach. My chest felt as though it was on fire, my veins icy with panic. I had no idea why, but something inside me felt very wrong about her bringing it up.

"Seen this yet?" She asked, innocently enough.

My blood ran cold.

At first, I didn't know why. The question was entirely innocent, and the woman's tone of voice was similarly merry and pleasant. However, I felt as if the dark, cold night outside had rushed into the little kitchen, hanging over the pair of us.

"Not yet." I lied, hiding behind the tea cup as I lifted it to my lips. God, my chest was killing me.

Aunt Cass didn't reply immediately. Rather, she paused there, adoption certificate in hand, studying me. I felt like some lab rat under the gaze as she perhaps tried to decide if I was telling the truth. What was going on? We were so close, normally! Why did everything feel so wrong?

"I remember it like it was yesterday." She turned her eyes from me to the certificate, continuing as though nothing was wrong,

"Your mother and her parents - your grandparents - came over to Romania to meet me. I was only four at the time. They came in the winter. So strange, who comes to Romania in the winter? I think the whole time they were there, we went outside once, on a silly little trip to get something from the market."

She trailed off. I didn't know what to say, taking a sip from my mug to buy time to let my thoughts settle.

"That would explain why you're so much taller than mom and grandma." It was a weak joke, and Cass didn't chuckle.

Instead, she ignored me, her eyes darting up towards me and then trailing down to the talisman around my neck. Her eyes seemed to burn into it, causing me to protectively wrap one hand around it reflexively.

"I see you found it." she stated.

"I guess I did. Although I'm not even entirely sure what it is."

She scoffed. It was a cruel sound, mocking, almost.

"Wasted. It's all fucking wasted on you and your blood. It was ME who revealed your family's history and power. It should be ME who wields it, not your whore mother, not your sister, and certainly not you."

With that, she lunged at me, hands outstretched like talons.