Eugene kissed Loren goodbye. She did not kiss him back and he may as well have been kissing a statue.
Loren was a shadow of the woman she had once been. She had descended into hatred and depression since Erin had disappeared.
Eugene and Loren had made a trip one fine day to visit Horton and Erin at their house. They had not found Erin or Horton initially. A search of the property had led to the discovery of two bodies. The search had been widened to the nearby forest where Horton and a fourth body had been found.
Eugene had been livid and had ordered the surrounding forest searched. He blamed Lark and claimed it was revenge. He offered a reward for the arrest of Lark but no-one found Lark and no-one thought to search the forest near the witch’s cabin.
Loren on the other hand had blamed Eugene.
“If you never cursed the boy, he would never have taken revenge!” she screamed at him time and again. “It’s all your fault! The
In the days that followed Eugene was left to himself. He couldn’t forget the image of the wolves eating Eugene alive and he cringed at the thought that he had been the one who had created that situation.Yet, he had wanted Eugene to suffer for all he had done. The curse, Erin, and her death, marrying her to Horton and destroying so many lives. He had wanted Eugene’s death to serve as justice for all that he had done and even though Lark cringed at the thought of how brutal he had been, he was satisfied that justice had been served.He turned his thoughts to the future. He had no idea how long he would have to wait for Erin to be reborn, he had no idea even how he would know if she had been reborn and even if he did know when she had been reborn, he would never know where to find her. His initial hope was that her next life would be in this same area and not some other place in the world. If her next life was not here, hopes of finding her were almost an imp
The next day Lark was almost taken by surprise. He had expected that Emma would arrive with Lendra or Justin to report for her first day’s work. Instead, she arrived alone riding a horse.Lark was still indoors when the transformation began.He sat still in shock as he watched the fur appear on his hands. As he tried to understand what was happening, he incanted the spell he had learned. His transformation did not cease and he felt his blood run cold as he cringed waiting for a scream that would tell him the spell had failed.He stood and walked to a window of his house which was when he spotted her.He was amazed at how she looked just like Erin. His heart skipped a beat as he looked at her through the window. She sat on her horse studying the house.Lark finally opened the door and stepped out hesitantly waiting for the scream, that would tell him the spell had failed.Instead, she smiled when she saw him.“Good day sir,
Lark told Emma the tale of their love from her previous life. He did not at first make it clear that the tale was about them. Emma listened, fascinated by the tale. When Lark had finished, Emma seemed lost in thought.“Is that a true story?” she asked at last.“It is,” Lark said looking at Emma.“It is such a beautiful and yet sad story,” Emma said.“It is exactly that,” Lark replied.“How do you know about it?” Emma asked.“You would not believe me if I told you,” Lark said.“I could not say if I would believe you if you told me unless you tell me,” Emma said smiling.Lark laughed softly, “You are just like…” He trailed off as he realized what he was about to say.“Just like…?” she echoed waiting for him to finish.Lark hesitated and then decided to push through. He had come this far. He had i
Lark was not convinced that Justin was satisfied with their conversation. He turned and entered the house, closing the door behind him.Emma stood in the far corner of the kitchen.Lark stood by the door. He wanted to give her as much distance as he could. “I’m sorry,” he said at last. “I was afraid you would react like that. At least you know that even though I become that… that thing when I am near you, I have never tried to lay a hand on you. You have always been safe with me.”“I… I know…,” Emma replied uncomfortably unable to meet Lark’s gaze.Lark made a decision. “I’m sorry Emma. I really am. I only wanted to be honest with you yesterday. I thought it was only fair that you should know the truth. At least from my side, my conscience is clear. However, if you prefer not to work here anymore, I can take you home. I can only ask that you don’t tell anyone about me.&
Lark had given up on Emma in this lifetime. It was but the second lifetime since the curse had been cast on him but there were too many similarities between this life and her last life. All the obstacles were the same and the last thing he wanted was that Emma would suffer the same fate as she had before.Lark continued life on the farm without Emma. He missed her tremendously but there was no point in her being there. She had become hesitant to kiss him after he told her all about her past. He told himself he had been a fool to tell her anything. He had worked so hard to create the illusion that permitted him to get close to her and then he had torn it down when he had finally managed to get close to her. And where had it gotten him? Nowhere.Lark continued working the farm himself. He completed the plowing and planting and turned his focus to the buildings that needed repair.One afternoon as the sun neared the horizon, Lark spotted the cloud of
Present DayCould we be so foolish as to expect that magic would become extinct, that it would become something only written about in books and seen in movies? How would it be possible for a curse to continue through the ages if magic itself became extinct?No, the magic continued as it always had but at some point, for no explainable reason, it became a thing hidden in the shadows again. Almost as if those that practiced it feared persecution like the times of old when witches were burned. Despite all magic not being evil, even those that walked the line between good and evil magic and those that practiced only good magic took to the shadows. There were ways to find the practitioners of magic though as long as one knew how.Lark had now lived for many centuries. He had long ago given up on Emma and any other incarnation of her. The hair she had given him when he had last seen her alive had again turned
Lark walked along the cold winter sidewalk. It was late November and winter had arrived in full force. Snow fell heavily landing on his beanie and the jacket he wore over his hoodie as he walked. He passed shops but did not stop to look into them. His gloved hands were thrust deep into his pockets and he was hardly recognizable from all the clothes he wore.He crossed the entrance to an alley and stopped. He listened and then heard it again.“Help,” came a woman’s soft cry. “Help me. Someone, please.”Lark turned and glanced into the alley.“Help, please,” he heard again. He hesitated, looked around quickly and then, seeing no-one else, he stepped into the alley.“Help me please,” the woman begged again. He could not see her but he was sure she could see him. He advanced slowly into the alley looking behind him occasionally to be sure that no-one was creeping up on him from behind.As he
As much as Lark resolved to stay away, he found himself making his way to the hospital the next day. The young woman had successfully been operated on and Lark was permitted to see her.He entered her ward and was shown to her bed by a nurse. The young woman was asleep and he decided not to wake her. He placed the bouquet he had brought for her on the table at the bottom of her bed along with a box of chocolates.He looked at her for a long moment, studying her. Her face was beautiful but nothing like Emma’s. Her hair was raven black and her cheeks were sprinkled with freckles. The freckles were the only similarity.He finally turned and began making his way to the door. He was almost at the door when a small voice said, “Excuse me, Sir?”Lark paused and turned. The young woman had woken up and was looking at him sleepily. Lark slowly retraced his steps to the young woman’s bedside.“Good day,” he said softly loo