EPT“Go on.”
“The first time I saw her, I saw an angel standing on a flight of stairs. Ten feet above where I knelt, a glint of white visible beneath her skirt, I stared captivated, couldn’t help it. Brown eyes, black hair, grey sweater, plaid skirt, high stockings,”
“And lacy white underwear,” cackled the witch as she stirred the cauldron. It bubbled of purple-violet fumes made of manganese oxide, cobalt, cadmium, frog liver, sediment of the boy’s tears, and garments the girl once use to wear. “How long have you wanted her?”
“Since eighth grade I’ve loved her. I spoke her name when I slept, when I dreamed, when I woke, when I prayed every Sunday for a future, together. Witch, do not mistake my love for lust.”
“Oh I would never,” spoke the witch. “What a lucky little girl you have there. If only in my life, there had been one like you. I do wish I could’ve been loved by a boy so in love as you. May I ask though, what should happen when your angel grows old? Develops a wort on her nose? Nails stained with yellow? Teeth chipped with holes? When her voice, a flute, becomes a cackle? Will you then still want her, when your precious turns haggard, into a creature like me?
“My love is eternal.”
“Is it?” laughed the witch. “Then press your hands into the cauldron and let it take your blood. Think of her as you bleed. Let me ask, what makes her happy?”
“She loves to sing. Loves to smile.”
“Then hear her singing. See her smiling. Quick! Don’t let it slip away. Chain that happiness to your bleeding. Multiply each second by a year, how long will you endure? Does it hurt, child? The bleeding of your hands? The burning of your soul?”
“I’ve hurt worse. When she dated others, when they kissed, when they broke up, I hurt, each time deeper, each time longer. When she came to me crying, I consoled her, made her happy, and all the while, I hurt. But this time, it will be me. I will not hurt her.”
“Indeed, I think you will do far worse.”
“Witch, I will love her forever.”
Magic left the witch’s lips and mixed with the cauldron. The boy watched transfixed as she distilled the contents, reduced the swirling colors down to nothing but a liquid suddenly the color of water, and captured it within a transparent vial.
“Inside this vial, is your elixir of love. My goodness, look how much you made. Child, have her take a droplet a day, that and no more. It will last you fifty years.”
“Only fifty years?”
“Fifty seconds you endured, fifty years you made. If in fifty years, you still love her as you do today, return to me and we shall make more.”
“Thank you.”
“Every day, ask her to sing. Every day, make her smile. Force your love into her. Force her to remember the person her happiness revolves around. Let every song, every smile, enslave her further. Let her happiness be the chains that bind her. And boy, never forget. Your elixir of love. Sneak it, feed it, do what you must, to have her imbibe it, a droplet every day.”
“What happens otherwise?”
“The spell will break. She will wonder why she ever loved you as her mind grows clear. Every shared memory won’t be recognized as dream or reality. It will drive her to madness as she wonders what you are to her, angel or demon, lover, manipulator, thief or creator, it will kill her. Do you still wish to do this to her?
“I love her.”
“Very well. You love her, you love her, you have made this clear.”
“What do I owe you?”
“Will you love her forever and ever?”
“Yes.”
“Then,” smiled the witch. “Break those words and that will be payment enough.”
“Witch, I hope to never see you again.”
“Child, do you think this is my first time? I shall be seeing you in five years.”
* * *
Any idea how to continue?
Need a way for the boy and the girl's relation to like start falling apart or something.
