Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 47

Ursula led Lainey inside Benjamin's hideout and past a group of people who seemed to be frozen solid.

One of them, Joseph.

Nicole's murderer.

A burning rage erupted in Lainey's chest.

Why the hell is he still here?

"Wh-Who are they?" Lainey said. "What happened to them?"

"You needn't worry about them. This way, girl," the witch quickly whispered, as she headed down a hallway and into a room.

Lainey followed her into the room. It was adorned with many candles, on the floor, bed, window seal and dresser, and smelled of herbs and wood. The room was dark, the only source of light from the candles, as the window curtains were closed. There was a small table and two chairs on opposite sides in the center of the room. An assortment of flower petals, leaves, stems and other items like acorns and tree bark laid scattered across the bed in the room. The witch hastily grabbed what Lainey could only describe as a bunch of leaves tied in wire or rubber bands and lit it by compressing her thumb and fingers at the tip.

"This will protect us," she said, waving the smoky leaves around the room. "Namely you."

"Protect us?" Lainey said, turning to face the closed bedroom door as she stepped closer to the witch. "Protect us from what?"

The witch continued to wave the burning leaves around the room as if Lainey had not said a word. She hadn't realized until that moment that she had just witnessed magic with her own two eyes. Ursula had ignited a bunch of leaves using only the tips of her fingers. There was no mistaking it -- magic is real. And Ursula really is a witch.

Ursula finally came to a halt. She threw the burned leaves on the bed with the other items.

"Wh-What did you just do?" Lainey asked.

"It's sage," Ursula said. "Burning it offers protection against evil. You will be safe in here."

"Safe? . . . From what?"

She turned to Lainey.

"The undead."

"The undead?"

"Those fine people out there," Ursula said, pointing to the bedroom door, "they're all dead walkers."

Lainey's breath caught in her throat.

"Wh-What?"

"And one of them in particular, Natalie, has an uncontrollable hunger for human flesh. And according to the information I've gathered, she's been a victim of her curse for a long time."

"Wait a minute . . . her name's Natalie?"

"That's what I said," the witch said, making her way over to a corner of the room to pick up a large sack.

"And she's staying here? . . .With Benjamin?"

The witch carried the sack over to the center of the room and dropped it on the table. She looked at Lainey. And smiled.

"It amuses me that Natalie is a potential threat to your life, yet, the only thing you seem to be concerned about is her possibly coming between you and Benjamin."

"Wh-What? Wait--no--you've got it all wrong. All wrong--"

"Elaine . . . you don't know who you're talking to."

Lainey nodded.

"Right. You're a witch . . . who can apparently read minds."

"True enough," Ursula said as she pulled a small plastic bag filled with a red powdery substance from her sack. "But I didn't read your mind, girl." She grinned and shook her head. "Seems Benjamin is still popular with the ladies."

"What do you mean?" Lainey breathed.

"Well, before you and Natalie, there was another girl. Isabella."

"Isabella . . . ," Lainey echoed. "He mentioned her once. But he never said anything about a . . . romance."

Ursula cackled.

"Oh, Isabella was smitten by Benjamin. I'd even go as far as to say she was in love with him." She pulled a small bowl and bottle of water from the sack. "She was the one who turned him, you know."

"Were Benjamin and Isabella ever a . . . thing?" Lainey said.

"No," Ursula said, pouring the water into the bowl. "Their flame extinguished before it fully ignited."

"What happened?"

The witch waved away Lainey's question.

"It matters not. It was a long time ago." She poured the red powdery substance into the bowl of water and stirred it with a long, bony finger. "So . . . how much did Benjamin tell you about Natalie?" Ursula asked, her eyes on the bowl of water as she stirred.

Lainey shrugged.

"Not much," she said as she watched the magenta liquid in the wooden bowl. "But the way he talked about her it was obvious he had strong feelings for her . . ."

Ursula pulled a small pocketknife from her robes.

"You think so? Anything else you remember?"

"Um . . . ," Lainey said, carefully keeping an eye on the small knife. "He . . . he seems to think I'm Natalie's descendant. Which I found completely absurd."

"Why do you believe he thinks that?"

Lainey shrugged again.

"Because of my mom's ruby necklace. He says it's the same necklace Natalie used to wear. He's crazy."

Ursula finally stopped stirring and sat down at the table.

"Have a seat," she said, stretching an arm to the chair opposite her own. "We have much to talk about."

Lainey slowly made her way to the small table and sat down.

"Like what?" she asked.

"How about I start from the very beginning? With the man who's really responsible for the birth of the undead. The sorcerer Demetrius."

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To be continued in Chapter 48...