Abigail turned to leave the small cell but simply couldn't turn away from him. She knelt down beside the bed and pulled the blanket up and tucked it around Willie's shoulders. She folded one arm on the bed and stared into his face as she brushed the blonde sweeps of hair over his forehead, loosing herself in depressed thought as she stared into his face. She wondered how many nights he would be left down here and how long they would both be forced apart from one another. Subconsciously she again began to pull at the locket.
This wasn't anything she could have ever imagined possible. The absurdity of their situation simply increased her sinking feeling. She looked at Willie intently and her heart swelled into her throat when she saw small tears running from his eyes and down his unconscious cheeks. She knew even in his sedated sleep he was being tortured. The darkest places in his mind were taking over and she was unable to provide him an ounce of relief. Abigail continued to entwine her fingers gently through his hair while she wiped the tears from his face and pressed her forehead against his.
She never heard Barnabas enter.
"Mrs. Chilton please. You must leave. Now!" Barnabas refastened the cuff that he had undone prior to Abigail first coming down to the cell. The metal snap sent a shudder through Abigail.
"I can't. I can't leave him…I won't leave him." Abigail continued to cradle Willie's head.
"Ms. Chilton I am afraid you don't have a choice."
"I don't care! I will not leave him down here alone for another second!" Her voice was getting louder but was filled more with despair than anger.
Barnabas reached around Abigail's waist with his long arm and yanked her up and away from Willie. Abigail yelled and tried to pull away from him to get back to Willie's side.
"No. No! Let me go! Please! Let me just stay with him! PLEASE!" Barnabas pulled her away kicking and fighting against him. He dragged her away from the small cot and pushed her out of the cell, more harshly than he had intended, and quickly locked the cell.
"You bastard! You're as bad as she is!" Abigail rushed at him and began to throw wild punches and shoves against him. Barnabas wrapped his arms around her tightly, drawing her into his chest and immobilizing her against his body. She continued to yell but the yells were getting mixed with sobs and her violent arms settled until she was simply sobbing into his chest.
"Abigail, if she found you here like that she would punish him…not you. It is Willie that will suffer any disobedience that you display. Certainly you do not wish for that?"
After a short pause she looked up at him with her tear stained cheeks. "I want to go home."
Angelique stood at the top of the stairs watching as Barnabas pulled Abigail from the cell. She watched as Abigail threw her childish tantrum and grew irritated at the young woman's unrelenting passion to be with the young man. The witch knew what it felt like to want to be near someone so badly, but in her case the second party wanted nothing to do with her. It made her furious with jealousy towards Abigail and fueled the actions to follow.
"Abigail!" The witch yelled at her as she quickly approached and at the same time thrust Barnabas backwards and away from the girl. Angelique gripped Abigail's wrist and without another word dragged her harshly up the basement stairs. Abigail tried to resist but with no results.
Abigail was dragged into the kitchen and forced to sit in one of the hard wooden chairs. She went to stand up when Angelique produced the odd little doll from her dress pocket and pulled a hair pin out from her hair. "I suggest you sit still!" Angelique roared.
Abigail quickly returned to the siting position. Barnabas was now standing by her side.
"I know what you did." Angelique picked up the beautiful knife that was sitting at one end of the table and started pointing it at him. "I know you allowed her to tend to the boy. It makes no difference. He may as well be cleaned up. The smell from the cell was becoming foul anyway."
Abigail sat frozen in the chair. She was afraid to move. Angelique slowly moved towards her and grabbed her wrist. "It's time to begin this process. This will hurt a bit Abigail, but do try and sit still." Angelique took the knife and slowly pressed it against Abigail's wrist. Abigail instantly started to flinch and try and pull away instinctively.
"No! What are you doing!?"
"Barnabas make yourself useful and hold her down on the chair." Barnabas obeyed and placed a hand on either shoulder pressing her down into the chair.
"Do this cooperatively Abigail or I will be forced to do unpleasant things to that young man downstairs." Angelique again gripped her wrist and took the point of the knife and punctured a hole into Abigail's wrist. Abigail yelped out in pain.
The witch pulled Abigail's wrist out and away from her and then picked up the strange metal cup and squeezed her wrist allowing the crimson liquid to flow from Abigail's wrist into the small ornate container. It was several minutes before the witch was satisfied. During this time Abigail was horrified and her eyes were wide with fear as she watched her blood drain out of her body and into the cup.
Angelique then dropped Abigail's arm down and attended to the small cup. She corked it shut with a matching metal top and wiped the blood from the knife with the apron she was wearing over her dress.
"Was that so difficult?" Angelique patted Abigail on the head. "I must leave but I'll be back shortly. Barnabas please tend to her wound. I will be repeating this process tomorrow and for several evenings to come."
The witch left the room and Abigail pushed against Barnabas to stand up from the chair. She looked at her wrist and it continued to bleed, however it was a slow trickle now.
"Wh-what is she going to do? Where is she going?" Abigail was confused and overwhelmed.
"I don't know."
He was warm, warmer than he had been in weeks, and he felt groggy and slightly lightheaded. His nose itched and he instinctively pulled his head down to his waist to scratch it but something was in the way. He opened his eyes slowly and he knew instantly where he was. He hadn't forgotten, but something was different. He looked down at his body and saw a sea of red lying over him. Whaa? A blanket? Our blanket.
Willie recognized it instantly and it was then he found that movement of his arms had been given back to him. He pulled the blanket over and saw that he was now in a fresh pair of pants and a clean sweater. The small room smelled considerably better and so did he. He pulled his hand through his hair and it felt soft. He was confused and tried to pull back his last memory. It took several minutes of searching when he finally remembered Barnabas forcing him to drink something. What'd he say before that? A curse…somethin' 'bout a curse.
"Abigail" he sighed out loud. He turned and looked at the small table and found the candies on top. He picked one up and his fingers played with the ends of the wrappers. He twisted it open and put it into his mouth. She was here…she did this…she loves me…she is still there. A sense of relief swept over Willie with the realization that she was still there and that she still loved him. He knew it. He could feel it. He pulled the blanket up and could smell her perfume and for a moment he got lost in it.
Willie stood up and walked towards the door when he was stopped short by the cuff on his ankle.
"Shit!" He turned and sat down and inspected the cuff more intently. The cuff seemed to make a complete circle around his ankle and he could barely detect a seam where the cuff closed shut. There was a small key hole next to the seam. The cuff was thick. It was half an inch at least and it was heavy. He was happy for the socks that now separated his skin from the cold metal. Willie followed the heavy chain to the corner of the room and looked at where it was cemented into the ground. He tried to pull at it again but he knew deep down that he would not be able to escape it, not without a key or pin of some kind, and even if he did he was still locked within the cell.
Willie returned to the cot and sat there wondering if it was night or day. He had lost all sense of time and he didn't know how long he had been down there. Minutes seemed like hours when all that was around you was silence. Eventually he lay back down and pulled the blanket over him and he waited until she finally returned.
Abigail had a tray of food and was headed down to the cellar. Barnabas was close behind her following the instructions he was given. He was no longer to allow Abigail to be alone with the young man.
Barnabas opened the cell door and Willie quickly sat up. He ignored the site of the dark suit and focused on the beautiful exhausted looking girl behind him.
"Abigail…I know…I know it was you. I know you were here. I know what Angelique did."
"She isn't capable of answering you Willie. She cannot look at you or get anywhere near you while you are awake."
Willie looked at Barnabas bewildered. "What is making her like this?"
"The locket." Barnabas answered as he pulled her hair away revealing a chain around her neck, along with a horrible red sore that circled her skin. It was raw and Willie could tell that it was bleeding.
"Is it…Is it hurting her? Oh Abby does it hurt?" Willie asked, now standing and stretched as far out as he could get to reach her.
"If she would stop trying to pull it off it wouldn't. She pulls at it constantly trying to tear it off."
"Then YOU take it off of her! Why don't you take it off?" Willie was horrified at the thought of Abigail nearly choking herself to death to remove it.
"I can't. Only one person can remove it." Barnabas' words grabbed the interest of Willie as well as Abigail. She was facing Willie but her eyes were focused on the ground. She could not bring herself to look at him in the least.
"W-who? WHO?!" Willie begged.
"You Willie. Only the one person she cannot get close to is the one that can remove it."
Willie stared at Abigail and saw that that the cement underneath her gaze was slowly being dripped on.
"Abby…honey don't cry. Please don't cry. I'll figure out a way. I swear! I'm…I'm okay. Please…"
The next few days were the same. During the day nothing eventful happened. Many times Abigail would simply go to the cell door and sit against it and listen to Willie through the door. It was frustrating to listen to him, hearing him pull at the chains and swear in fits of rage. Other times she would hear muffled sobs. She could take no more of this and it was time for her to figure out what was next. He would certainly go crazy down there and she would unravel as well.
This evening would be different. Abigail no longer fought the witch as her most precious blood was stolen from her veins. Tonight, however, she planned to find out exactly what the witch did with it. Shortly after the witch left the house Abigail followed leaving Barnabas protesting and warning her not to go.
Abigail quickly realized this would be a difficult task, she had already lost sight of Angelique. The last sight of her was through the gardens and out towards the river.
The night air was cool but you could tell that spring was soon on its way. The smell of dirt and forest surrounded Abigail and she was thankful that the moon was providing enough light to see the path through the dense woods. Abigail continued to walk through the woods and found her way to the riverbank. It wasn't a forgiving river. The water was frigid and it rushed down the banks eventually spilling into the ocean somewhere.
Abigail felt as though she had been searching forever and gave up hope of finding the witch until she heard a faint voice. She looked down the riverbank and saw a stone bridge connecting one bank to the other. Atop it was a beautiful blonde haired women whose reflection bounced off the water in the moonlight. It was Angelique.
Abigail slowly made her way closer and closer to the bridge, careful to stay out of site. She sat almost at the base of the stone pillar that held up the decrepit bridge. Quietly she started to listen.
"Do as I say and revenge will be yours. You must trust me."
Abigail flinched when she saw something drop from the bridge. She knew what it was as it dropped. It was the odd silver cup but it had something red tied to it. The red thing floated for a moment and then the river swirled around it and pulled it and the silver cup that contained her blood down and under water. It a second was gone.
The beautiful young girl sat at the edge of the river and waited. Her swollen belly was visible in the bright moonlight sky. Every night since the voices began she waited to collect the odd silver cup that would mysteriously pop up. Suddenly the red ball appeared and the girl clambered down the side of the bank and quickly snatched the red ball, pulling up the silver cup attached to it.
She carefully pulled the cork out of the cup and poured the crimson liquid into a small glass bottle. She replaced the cork back in the silver cup then crawled back up the bank and stood atop the bridge. She then threw it back into the river. She watched as the water swirled like a whirlpool and sucked the cup down under the water.
Quickly she retreated. She had her instructions.
Abigail sat there and continued to watch as Angelique stared over the bridge. Panic set in when the witch began to move and head off of the bridge and down towards the opposite bank. Abigail crept deeper into the shadows wondering what she was doing.
Angelique hovered over the water and then, after ten or fifteen minutes of waiting there, the red ball popped out of the water. Abigail was stunned. What the hell? Angelique snatched up the red ball and pulled up the metal cup. She undid the cork and tipped the bottle upside down. An evil grin flashed across her face when not a single drop exited the inverted container.
What? What the hell just happened?
Abigail was thoroughly confused but aware enough of herself to get back to the house before Angelique did. She didn't waste time. Quietly she crawled away from the banks and once clear ran at full speed back to the house.