-
Mother, That man took my soul away
Father, How could you ever treat me this way
Brother, Don't ever let him do this again
-
Chapter Three
-
TangledRibbons
-
As soon as their mother was back on her chores, Jane went to her bed and pulled something out from under it. She brought the small chest she'd retrieved over to Alec, and passed it to him. Although he'd seen this before, Alec inspected it carefully every time. It was a small box made of cheap wood. On it was carved pictures of wild faeries, nasty gnomes, hideous elves, and beautiful pixies. The bottom of the box was sighed: T. R. Hooy. Jane had used her fingernail to inscribe her own name onto the box, and had drawn her own crude pictures. The lid to the box was latched on poorly, and it shrieked when it was open.
Alec opened the box, smiling as he did so. This was where Jane kept her treasures, and it always made him very happy to know of his privilege; he was the only person on the plant allowed to see inside. Inside, was a smooth stone, a leaf, a stale piece of bread, the tooth from a child Jane had knocked out for him, and a mass of tangled ribbons.
The ribbons were blood red and smooth as silk, with frayed ends, and dirty with soil. Alec cautiously lifted the bundle out, glancing curiously at it. The last time he had seen these ribbons, they had been separate and clean. "What have you done to them?" Alec asked his sister, his mock horror evident in his tone.
Jane giggled and brushed it off. "I was bored one evening last month and took the ribbons out. I played around with them, and was left with this knot." Alec tugged on one of the ribbon ends, and found that it was knotted securely. "I gave you the box so that you could help me untie them." Jane explained.
Alec sighed and raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Why do I need to help you clean up your mess?" He looked closer at the knot and came to the conclusion that it would be impossible to untie, and therefore stupid to attempt.
Jane plucked it from his fingers and smiled at her brother. "Because I want to use one of these ribbons in my hair."
Alec snatched the ribbons from Jane and began randomly tugging at the ends. One his seventh attempt, Alec passed it back to Jane and announced, "It is not working."
Rolling her eyes, Jane started pulling at the knot, and eventually she had it lose. "Well, it's a miracle," Jane said sarcastically.
Alec took it back and carefully worked the ribbons through his fingers. In a few minutes, he had two of the ribbons free, and only had three left that he had to tug apart. Before this could be done, the shutting of the front door and a gravely voice suggested that their father was home. Jane sighed theoretically and took the ribbons from her brother, put them back in her chest, and placed it under her bed. Jane sat calmly on her bed, trying to appear apathetic. Alec sat under the window, looking just as he felt: blasé.
Their bedroom door opened without any notice, and Benito stomped in. He grabbed Alec by the hair and sat him next to his sister. Jane squeezed his hand, trying not to giggle. Alec looked down to his lap to suppress his own smile. Their father paced the room, then moved to Alec's bed and dragged it out of the room. Their mother ran into the room as the twins began to protest and covered their mouths, holding her very small children firmly.
Benito came back for the rest of Alec's things, and then took him from his mother, dragging him from his room and into Harold's. Jane was kicking furiously at her mother, and bit down on her hand. Madiline took no notice. Jane felt sad for one of the first times in her life; her brother was being moved away from her. Jane knew better than to use her powers on her father, but she did it anyway.
Alec's father was just pushing him on his bed - now in Harold's room along with the rest of his belongings - when he whimpered and dropped to his knees. It felt the same as when he'd burned his hand years ago; but this time the pain ripped through his entire body. Benito had heard the rumors, he'd believed they were false, now he knew they were true. His daughter is a witch.
It was rather funny to see his father on the floor like such, because of how cruel and overpowering he'd been before. Alec watched his father gasp in pain with a smile on his face. He kicked his legs, happy to know his sister loved him. Harold, on the other hand, was still reeling with disgust and shock over Alec beginning moved in. It scared him, though, to see his father in so much pain, so he ran up to him, and placed a hand on his cheek. "Stop whatever it is that you are doing!" Harold commanded his little brother.
Alec looked to Harold innocently and shrugged. "I'm not doing anything."
Madiline had no idea that her husband was in pain. She couldn't do anything about it, even if she'd wanted too, because of Jane. Her fidgeting was getting worse, and she cursed Benito for leaving the door open. Her only clue to somebody being in trouble was Harold's frantic crying. As he began to shout for help, Madiline let go of Jane and sprinted into Harold and Alec's room.
She found Benito laying peacefully still on the floor. Madiline looked around curiously, confused as to why Harold was crying and why Benito was laying on the floor. Just as she was about to speak, Jane ran in, her hands full of something red. She jumped next to her brother on the bed, and sighed theoretically.
Benito got up then, and glared around wildly. His eyes landed on the twins and he hissed out, "Witches."
Madiline was appalled to hear such things from her family - she'd gotten used to the gossip of the town - and glowered at her husband. "Our children are not witches," she said sternly.
Shaking his head, Benito pointed to Jane. "She put me through this pain..." he shuddered and waved his finger at Alec. "He made me lose my senses. I couldn't feel, smell, or see. All I could do was think." Benito placed his hands on his wifes' shoulders. "They're witches, I'm sorry to say."
"No they are not," Madiline countered. "They could not have done that; magic is not real and they are only four." She glared sharply at her husband and then Jane. "Jane needs to go to her room so her father can discuss to her what happened today."
Jane looked defiantly at her parents and said, "I already know what happened today, and I am in my room." Slyly, she passed the knotted ribbons to her brother.
Benito would have none of it. He hauled his daughter off of the bed, and dragged her into her room. They were going to need to talk first. Benito didn't like the idea of being alone with his witch-daughter, but he saw no choice. He shut the door to her room and turned to Jane, who was sitting on her bed, an wicked expression on her face.