Episode 3

I blinked, unsure if my eyes were deceiving me. The fear in me knew no bounds. Then, like in a trance, my eyes were drawn again to the beautiful lady standing behind me.

The bewitching lady continued, just as if she didn’t see my transformation, “And, for years I have waited for a chance to take a sip of your blood, for I have seen you enter my garden, and stare at me for hours. I could sense a need in you, to pluck me off my stem, but you never did, did you? Did you feel guilty trying to pluck the white rose? Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

She laughed, though this time her laugh was humanely tolerable. She didn’t shriek like the last time. However, underneath the sinuous laughter, I could detect a tinge of maliciousness.

I started screaming hysterically at my reflection in the water. I touched my face and it felt saggy and wrinkled. I looked down at my hands and it was just like that of the old woman. And, instead of my beautiful pastel pink dress, I was wearing the old woman’s black garb. Through my screams, I heard White Rose laughing.

“Ha, ha, ha, well, it is your turn to wallow in captivity. I shall curse you to a life of a diseased plant that only blooms once every thousand years. And when it does, and you are lucky enough to drink from the nectar of its flower, then you shall be free. Or, if by chance you drink the blood of a sweet maiden just as I did, then, you shall be freed. Until such time, you shall remain the captive of the most beautiful sorcerer in all of creation.”

I started shouting to be set free, “Let me go, you wicked witch. Let me go!!” I suddenly realized that my voice had turned hoarse and crackled when I spoke. Something caught in my throat, and I couldn’t speak as I normally did anymore.

My bones were aching and as I arched to get up from the rock, I felt my whole body stiffen and my shoulders become hunched. My finger nails were hideous and claw-like. I tried to hold on to the rock to steady myself but kept slipping into the water. I couldn’t walk properly. I looked down at my feet, and they were webbed with only three toes on my feet.

Totally flabbergasted, I turned to look at White Rose who by this time had disappeared somewhere deep into the forest. I felt choked once more. The lump in my throat started aching. When I touched my throat, the sagging skin made me shudder with dread and I could imagine how bizarre I looked at that moment.

I couldn’t cry anymore. Any sound that came off me sounded like the howl of the wolves in the forest. I went inside the garden to look at the rose bush, only to find that the white rose plant had withered and died. Its petals looked discolored and lay shriveled on the ground. Even the leaves of the plant looked jaded and droopy. The stem of the plant looked diseased. There were black spots on it, and the whole rose plant smelled of rotting flesh. No more was it the sensation that it was when it ruled as the beauty of the kingdom of the forested garden.

My insipid mind thought about what my grandmother said. She warned me about the sorcerer that lived within that rose bush. I wanted so badly to go back to my mansion, but surely it would terrify my grandmother to see me in this condition. She wouldn’t recognize me for a start, and she would probably die of seizure seeing the repugnant appearance that had taken my form.

I knew that she would be frantic by now, since I hadn’t returned home. There would surely be a search party, and even if they were within close vicinity, I couldn’t show myself to them, could I? They might kill me thinking that I was the sorcerer instead. Well, I might look like her, but, I didn’t have the capacity to cast dark magic or spells.

I felt hopeless and walked about aimlessly. Nothing made sense to me at this juncture. I plucked some leaves off the stocky trees and ate some seeds, and then went into hiding in some bushes nearby the creek. I fell fast asleep, and at some point, I heard myself growling, then, went back to a restless sleep. I don’t know what made me growl, but I felt vicious eyes upon me. Too tired to be concerned about it, I fell asleep again.

I woke up to the sounds of people calling out for me. The search party had finally arrived. I looked between the bushes to see my grandmother and a few uncles, together with some policemen scouting the area. My grandmother looked frantic, and my uncles had worried frowns on their faces. Some tears fell off my eyes, but, dried just as quickly.

What was I to do? I wondered. The curse of the bewitching White Rose had me fuming like a wild animal. There was smoke coming out of my nostrils. I climbed atop a nearby tree and hid myself between its thick branches, my heart aching to run to my grandmother, to tell her that it was me, that the evil sorcerer, White Rose, had cast her wicked curse on me.

“Grandma, you won’t find me until this curse is lifted. Please be brave, and pray Grandma, to be strong willed to face my disappearance.” I whispered in my heart.

The search party looked and looked for me, while I was sometimes only inches away. I felt helpless that their search would be in vain.

I heard my grandmother repeat, “She is always here, never ventures anywhere else in the forest. Please look for her once more.”

Then, she started crying loudly when she saw the white rose plant, all obliterated and stinking. Its stench was so nauseous, when at one time its lovely scent perfumed the gardens.

I think she suspected that the evil sorcerer had killed me because she said, “Look, look at the white rose bush. It was the one that enchanted her the most. I warned her about going near it!”

One of my uncles took her hand in his and guided her out of the garden. “Let’s go,” he said to the rest. “It will be dark soon. Let’s hope and pray that our girl returns home safe and sound. We will come back again at the first dawn of daylight.”

I heard my grandmother sobbing and felt my heart go cold. I regretted staying out so long in the forest. Long enough for the sorcerer to find me and cast her spell on me.

After they had gone, I climbed down the tree. With my hunched shoulders and my shriveled form, it was difficult for me to be fast in my steps. I felt like a huge animal in a small body, and limped terribly while taking my steps.

I stood looking at their receding backs, still hidden from view, in case one of them heard me and returned to look for me again. I growled and gnarled; a disgruntled animal in a human body.

Darkness soon fell and the forest showed the other side of its facade, unlike in the daytime when it was so fresh and alive.

There were eerie sounds coming from the bushes and trees. I could hear animals prowling the area, looking for fresh meat, and shuddered. I climbed up the same tree to hide yet again, hoping fervently that it would be morning soon.

The owls hooted and one flew and sat on the branch next to me. I jumped when I saw its large glowing eyes in the dark. Bats swam the area. The air was freezing cold, and I suddenly felt hair growing on my arms and legs. They looked like the fur on wild animals. I thought about a chameleon then, how it changed with the surroundings. I mustered that when it was cold, I grew fur all over my body to keep me warm.

The owl stared at me and hooted a couple of times. Almost like it was a call to the bats, a few flew to perch upside down on the branches in my tree. I was so shaken and frightened in my human heart. There were no tears this time. I wondered if the animals thought that I was an animal just like them.

Then, I heard her voice ring loud, singing to the wild animals. It was like a mating call, and suddenly the whole forest was pulsating with clatter and commotion. The birds flew about crazily, their wings flapping wildly, the waters of creek, gentle as it was in the daytime, now rushed like the wild seas, splashing its hurried waters on the rocks nearby, and the animals were disgruntled and disturbed.

Fear seized me yet again. Was this how the animals and birds felt when they heard her song? I covered my face with the hood, and closed my ugly eyes.

However, she found me. She was standing at the foot of the tree, looking up at me. I saw that her beautiful face lighted up the whole garden. Beautiful face? Hmmph!! She had the ugliest heart any one could ever imagine.

A few of the bats flew away, but, the owl with the scary eyes looked first at her, and then at me. Then, as if tired with all the unwarranted drama, it hooted a couple of times, and closed it eyes to sleep.

White Rose smiled the most angelic smile, and beckoned me to get down the tree. At first, I refused to do her bidding, but, when she said, “Come down, before I send a wild beast up the tree and maul you down.” I became terrified, and slowly climbed down the tree. She had moved away and stood in the center of the garden.

I had never seen beauty such as hers. Flawless, she reminded of the angels that caroused the heavens on lyres and harps. Her dark hair shone in the moonlight, and she looked graceful and composed.

I limped to where she stood. “Take this curse off me, I say. How dare you? You have destroyed me by this wicked spell you have cast upon me. Lift this curse off me, right now!!”

White Rose started laughing, first cynically, then, in ridicule. “What, you dare stand there in that form and demand your release? Don’t you know that I can curse you for another thousand years, and turn you into a wild beast with no turning back?

Walking about the garden, she suddenly said with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Well, I thought hard about letting the wild beasts eat you. However, I decided that I shall keep you alive so that in the event I need some of your blood again, I can always take it anytime I want, so in a nutshell, I need you to be alive.”

She started laughing hysterically once more. “You never know if the old sorcerer who cursed me might come back to haunt me again!”

My heart cringed at her hideous words. I scampered away, frightened, and sat under the tree. I saw her looking at me taking painful steps, knowing that she would be elated by my misery.

She smiled sweetly again. “Tired, are you? Well, get some rest, and I shall see you in the morning. Why don’t we become friends? That might make you less miserable.” Her laughter rang loud and vibrated with the winds of the forest.

There was a sudden strong draft as I saw her disappearing into the bushes and trees. The vicious eyes that watched out for her followed her, and I thought I heard that lone wolf around me again.

I closed my eyelids, as they felt heavy with sleep, but sleep didn’t come as quickly. My whole body started aching so badly that I twisted and turned in that hideous form.

At around midnight, when the moon hid behind the clouds, and darkness covered the whole of the forest, I started howling like a wolf. I still sat under the tree. I felt a small animal run over my feet and scamper into a hole in a tree nearby. I jumped and started howling.

My howl was that of a tortured animal and I couldn’t stop the mournful cry escaping my blistered mouth.

Suddenly the shape of my face took on that of a wolf. My eyes stretched across my face, and I felt my form turn into that of a big burly animal.

My furred webbed feet started scratching the ground until I made a deep depression in the soil. The black hood fell off my head and dropped onto my shoulders, and I felt the black garb that I was wearing turn into long, thick hair that stretched across my hunched body.

The moon appeared yet again, and I roamed the garden looking for food to eat. I was famished and I hungered for blood and meat. I howled louder this time. It amplified my urges to appease hunger.

I saw a small four legged animal come out of the shadows of the bushes nearby, like in answer to my hunger call. I ran towards it with the speed of a lightning, caught it in between my sharp fangs, and devoured it, meat, blood and organs. It tasted so good that except for the splattered blood on the ground, there was nothing else left of the little animal.

Having satisfied my hunger pangs, I walked out of the garden to where the creek was. I stood on top of a high rock, and howled at the moon.

The moon shined brightly once again. I howled at it as its rays shimmered in the gentle waters, and when I saw my reflection in that light, I became so scared and started scratching the surface of the rock frantically, then; I jumped down from the rock and ran back into the garden.

My eyes craned for the tree that had been my hiding place when the search party came looking for me.

But, the tree was no more. It had fallen, crumbled to the ground and its branches were strewn all over the garden.

The owl was missing and the bats had flown someplace else. The whole atmosphere was frighteningly quiet, and I sensed that I was alone in the garden.

A strong gust of wind blew and I felt my long furry hair stand on its ends. The air was freezing cold. I looked at my arms, and it looked like what a scared animal would look like when chased for the kill - stiff and spiky.

Where were the rest of the animals, the birds and the other creatures that was in the garden just hours earlier? Where had they disappeared to? What happened to the tree?

I looked around and shivered. The atmosphere was eerily quiet. Shadowy images reflected under the moonlight, and figures of unknown creatures lurked from behind the bushes and trees.

The animal instinct in me braced for a sudden attack, or something equally horrific about to take place. I paced the garden, unsure of what to do. I didn’t feel like going back to the creek. I was too afraid to run out of the garden, so I stayed rooted to the spot I was on.

The moon was slowly disappearing into the clouds once more. Darkness was beginning to envelope the forest again.

I sat down in the middle of the garden, where earlier White Rose had been standing.

The exhaustion of the day was seeping into my human body. I yawned, but, I was too afraid to lie down or close my eyes.

I wasn’t sure if I could sleep anytime during the night. I had to stay awake in case something happened.

I sensed something strange about to take place. I was bracing myself for the worst.

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