Dark Keys of Uncomplacency

Chapter 22: What Doesn't Kill You

"These markings. What did you think they would do?", Allison held her right wrist.

"Compel you to become Heinrich, of course. A soul without a body is just enough to keep me strong enough to possess another mortal, but it doesn't do my vitality any good. The markings were a gateway for Heinrich to find his way into your body and fall right back into the habitual killing. The kind that reveals my true form".

Allison smiled at the old woman, no longer seeing her as a threat. "This was a gateway. And for a time I was Heinrich and I was Cedric. But Heinrich—the innocent side—told me exactly what you are. Y-you're a Samodiva, a slayer of men. Beautiful and irresistible in your true form, he told me". She gulped down hard and continued. "He also told me how to stop you. Something he would've taken advantage of himself if it wasn't for his sinister alter ego. Samodivas are afraid of their own reflection, he said. And when he told me, it all made sense. Why you lived out in the forests of Strasbourg centuries ago. Why you showed up as a bloody-mouthed old lady in black in the front door reflection. Why Ruth Marley doesn't have a single mirror in this entire house—not even in the bathroom. Until now".

Once more the Samodiva inside Ruth tried to stand up, pressing Julian's face back into the wood frills. With uncontrollable strength she pulled and pried at the belt holding her down. Until she heard it. A loud thud from the other room, followed by a hissing noise. Again, thud, hiss, thud, hiss, until the shiny gold edge of the frame peaked through the doorway to the living room. The woman's pulling and prying was reduced to trembling. Trembling like Connor's forearms as he swung the 6-ft mirror around to reveal the gold-encrusted glass that seemed to reflect the sun and all its rays. The light had quite literally been shed on Ruth in that moment. In that moment Elsa had been cast out, unable to control Ruth Marley any longer.

Julian stared wide-eyed at the mirror from behind the couch, at the old woman in black, the soul of an elegant Samodiva turned inside out. The blood dripping from her toothless mouth seemed to streak down the mirror itself, before pooling at the bottom edge.

"It's ashamed, something so beautiful cursed never to see their own reflection". Allison felt the marking fade from her skins like the fuzzy sensation you get after your arm falls asleep. She looked down at the spot on her wrist where the riddles and symbols would reveal themselves. The symbols through which Heinrich and even Ruth herself had warned her about the monster behind the 'Steiff-ling Slasher'.

"As long as his soul remains here on Earth I cannot die". Elsa's voice was reduced to a whisper. Her reflection had indeed voided her of all her power. "Heinrich, Cedric—they're mine for eternity. Until I find a worthy replacement, that is. Another crazy, gifted with musical talent and dual—".

The belt sagged and fell to Ruth's lap. She was out cold, with barely a rise in her chest. "W-what happened?"asked Julian, still gripping the belt from behind the couch. Before he could say what he was about to say next Allison walked up and looked into the mirror herself. The bloody mouthed old woman in black was gone, leaving behind an unconscious Ruth Marley. She pressed her right hand to the glass pane and noticed that the markings on her wrist too had faded away. The curse had been lifted. But how?

All three of them stood silently around Mrs. Marley who was still out, though she was breathing normally. When she woke she may be surprised to find three kids and a large mirror staring back at her. But Allison knew that somehow she would remember and thank them for giving her her life back.

"What happened to her—the Samodiva inside her?", asked Allison.

Connor shrugged looking as shocked as the other two, but when the sound of sirens came blaring around the corner outside, he smiled. A smile too indicative of a perfectly executed "plan B".