The Makings of Evil

Part Eleven

Collinsport, Maine, September 1760 ~

Summer had gone far too quickly and already the first golden leaves of autumn were falling to the ground from the trees surrounding the garden at the back of the house. Luckily for me, there was a gardener so that was one chore I didn't have to do. As promised, every night my parents would teach me a little magic from the dusty old spell book. They were proud of my progress and how far I had come in such a short space of time. They never taught me of any ways that I could possibly harm anyone, that was being saved until I was old enough to deal with the consequences of the them. So far I knew how to mend clothes and things to make my current life a little easier. My parents were still worried that we would one day be caught but then we were always so careful and I always made sure that I was alone when I tried anything. I wished very much to show Barnabas the things that I knew, I thought it unfair to keep secrets from him but I knew I could never tell him.

On one particularly cold morning I went down stairs for breakfast. I noticed there was an empty seat in the table all the maids would sit at. It was Mary Morgan, the young maid who always seemed to fall downstairs or walk into doors. Mrs. Allard must has seen me stare at the empty space and immediately she began to fuss around me with food as a distraction.

"Where is Mary?" I asked cautiously. Mrs Allard frowned hard and had an expression on her face that she was trying to give a reason that was not the truth.

"Mary took a nasty fall, she had to go away for a little while to get well again. She will be back soon I'm sure, child." I looked around the other maids who all avoided my eyes and kept their eyes on their plates. I felt very uneasy.
"How did she fall?" Again, Mrs Allard tried to think of something.

"She ... fell down the stairs," she said quickly. I looked around the others again and they still avoided my eyes. I didn't believe them but I didn't want to push it further. I knew something else had happened and I would just need to find out myself.

After breakfast, I began my chores as usual. I was upstairs dusting the books in the library. They always seemed to gather dust. I had began to think that old books just must attract it or something. As I worked I began to sing gently to myself and even pulled out a few book to look at but each time I opened one I kept choking on the dust. A few moments later I heard a muffled scream coming from behind one of the bookcases. I walked over curiously and saw a small gap. It was a door behind the books and behind it was a stone, spiral staircase that lead up into a high tower. I walked up slowly trying not to make a sound on the stairs. The door at the top was slightly open and I looked in and I saw Mary, the young maid who was always hurting herself and was missing from breakfast this morning. She was laying on the floor, her body battered and bruised. I just managed to withhold a gasp as Joshua became visible in the room. He drank deeply from a goblet of ale and dropped a walking cane on the ground next to Mary. He finished the ale and began to walk towards the door. I ran down the stairs again as quickly as I could and hit behind one of the chairs in the library, begging in my head for him not to find me. He entered the library from the secret passage and came to the chair I was hiding behind and sat down. The smell of ale was strong and I covered my mouth so I didn't make a sound. A few minutes later I heard him snore and I took my chance and ran out the library as quietly as possible. I was breathless by the time I reached the kitchens and ran right into Mrs Allard. As soon as she turned round to me, I burst into tears.

"Where are my Mama and Papa!? Where are they!?" Mrs Allard looked shocked by the state I was in.

"My child, what the matter?" She pulled me close and tried to calm me. I was frightened and just wanted my parents. I couldn't even find the words to tell her but from her tense stance and pathetic attempt to lie this morning at breakfast I think she already knew. Without any answer I ran out of her arms and into the garden at the back of the house where I saw my mother hanging out laundry to dry and my father was by her side, dirty from tending to a few plants. I ran straight at them and into my father's arms.

"Papa!" That was all I was able to say and I was shaking. They both looked just as shocked as Mrs Allard had been but I finally managed to choke out words this time. "Mr Collins! He had Mary in a secret place and he hurt her! He hit her and she is not moving! Please, Papa, you must help her!" Over in another part of the garden Barnabas was out with his governess and looked over when he heard the tone in my voice. He hadn't heard what I had said of course and even if he had it would have made no difference. I was in such a state that I forgot to speak in English and had been speaking at my parents in French instead but he could tell I was very distressed. He started to walk over but his governess pulled him back and gave him the talk I was often given about class division. My father's eyes went wide and his face was filled with disbelief that a master that had seemed so kind would do that.

"Angelique, are you sure? Are you positive that is what you saw?"
"Yes, Papa! I am sure! I saw it and I ran away! He is still in the library asleep. Please help Mary!" My father looked at my mother and he took my hand and led us to the library. He looked into the library and saw Joshua where I had left him, still snoring. I led the way to the secret door behind the bookcase and up the stone steps, the whole time praying Joshua wouldn't wake up and find us. Mary was still on the floor where he had left her. My father immediately went to her side and looked up at my mother.

"She is still alive but very injured. She has been badly beaten." My mother went and knelt on her other side and stroked her hair. Both my parents then placed their hands over her and a gentle white light appeared as they did their best to heal some of her worst wounds to give her a better chance of survival. It was clear, even from where I was that she had a broken leg and arm. My mother straightened out her leg as carefully as possible and the same light appeared to heal her bones. A moment later I felt a strong hand slide round my neck from behind and felt breath in my ear that stank of ale. I stood rigid, unable to move or speak.
"Well well, what's going on up here?" he whispered softly but threateningly in a tone I had never heard anyone use before. My parents both looked up and in that second their faces were totally drained of colour from fear and just like me, they were unable to move. "Do not ... move" he whispered to my parents as he slowly bent down for the cane. Once he had it in his hand he raised it high, about to bring it down and strike me. Within a split second my father was on his feet. He raised his hand and sent Joshua flying backwards into the wall. Joshua slide down it as I ran to my mother. His eyes slowly opened and there was a look of such vengeful hatred on his face that I hid behind my mother. He slowly rose to his feet and ran at my mother and I, grabbing my hair and dragging me out. When my father dove to save me, Joshua brought the cane down on the back of his head and knocked him unconscious then looked up at my mother with a grin of pure insanity on his face. From his pocket he took out a small knife and held it to my throat. I bit my lip so hard that it bled and stood very tense.

"Now..." he whispered softly to my mother, "go down those stairs in front of me and if you try to run I'll slit her throat and not think twice about it." My mother's eyes filled with tears as she let her gaze drop to where my father was laying with a small pool of blood round his head. She looked back at Joshua and nodded and headed to the stairs, walking down them slowly. Silent tears streamed down my cheeks as I closed my eyes so I couldn't see the blood. Before they closed, I saw him twitch a finger, so I knew he was still alive. Joshua began to force me down after my mother and just before we reached the bottom he raised the cane again and struck her on the back of her head knocking her out too.

"Mama!" I tried to move forward to her but felt the knife scratch my throat and I held back and instead I cried loudly. I remember back to when we were fleeing Martinique and how frightened I was. That could not compare to the fear I felt in this moment, my heart was beating so fast I thought it would give out and stop. Joshua shut the door to the passage and locked it before dragging me down to the wine cellar. In one swift movement he threw me down the steps and I lay at the bottom as pain shot through my body. He made his way down slowly with a smirk.
"I suppose that makes you one too. A witch, a disgusting little rat from hell that does not deserve the life it holds within it. A venous viper put on earth to corrupt..." He took hold of my chin and looked over my face. "Still, an undeniable beauty, not only here to corrupt but to put temptation into men, make them desire you ..." His voice trailed off and his eyes scanned over me. I closed my eyes tightly again and then he pulled my to my feet and into the corner of the cellar where he bound my wrists tightly with rope and then my ankles. Without another word he walked away and back up the steps, closing and locking the door and plunging me into complete darkness. I could see nothing, and all I could here were the sounds of rats pattering across the floor and the sound of my heart beating fast and hard in my chest. My cries had turned silent again, yet the tears still poured down my cheeks as I sat there thinking of what was happening to my parents, praying they were safe. I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes again hoping that once I opened them I would find I was dreaming, but no matter how many times I closed and opened my eyes I was still here in the cellar, my heart was still pounding, my body still ached and my fear never lessened.

Hours went by, so many I lost all sense of time that I had no idea how long I had been down here for. I was still in the same spot and my wrists and ankles were burning from the rough rope that bound them. I heard the door click and unlock. Seconds after that, a light shone down. It was someone holding an oil lamp with not much light behind them so I knew it had to be night time. Joshua's heavy footsteps descended the stairs and grabbed the top of my arm and pulled me up. He never spoke a word but instead just pulled me up the stairs and through the house to the front door. Outside was a horse and carriage and surrounding it were a few of Joshua's friends, all with grins on their faces. I looked over each face and each one looked back at me. I didn't even dare ask where my parents were. Joshua lifted me up and put me in the carriage and it drove off. His friends came behind on horseback. For a long while Joshua just looked at me with the same smile his friends had had on their faces.
"Tonight, we will show you what happens to people like you and your parents. I will tear you down and tame you. I am going to take everything ..." I looked up fearfully, having no idea what he meant about that. By this time we were approaching a forest and out the window I could see the place the Collins family were planning on building Collinwood and I could hear the cheers of many more men. On hearing this, Joshua's smile grew even wider and once we were deeper into the forest, and the voices were at their loudest, the carriage stopped. The door was opened and Joshua pushed me out. I landed on my side on the ground. My hair was in my face so I was unable to make out what was going on but I saw the light of many torches and outlines of men. Once again, I was pulled to my feet and I twisted my head to the side to flick my hair away. Just ahead of me I saw that two bonfires had been built up made of many pieces of wood of all sizes and a large stake came up through the top of both of them and on each one a figure was bound securely with a sack over each of their heads. A moment later the sacks were removed, revealing the faces of my parents, both currently unconscious and both severely beaten. My eyes widened and I screamed and tried to rush towards them.

"Mama! Papa!" I was pulled back immediately by Joshua who simply laughed. One hearing my screams my parents slowly opened their eyes. They were both very weak. When my mother saw me there she started to cry and I cried with her, desperately trying to get to her.

"Angelique," she whispered " Do not look ... do not watch ..." Her tears fell fast as mine as our blue eyes met each other. I looked to my father to see tears on his cheeks too. He nodded in agreement with my mother. The lights from the torches reflected in Joshua's eyes and along with his grin he looked like a demon straight from the pits of hell. He grabbed my hair and jerked my head to the side and whispered softly right into my ear.

"Do not be sad, Angelique. I'm sending them back to where they belong. Be grateful I am not sending you with them. You are mine, all mine now. Never forget that...". He let go of my hair and held my arm. He nodded once to the men with torches and they all started cheering again, each one throwing his torch down to light the wood beneath my parents. It took a few seconds for each fire to grow but as it gradually got bigger the men became louder. They were so loud that my screams of absolute terror and pain went completely unheard. My parents started to choke on the smoke and my mother cried harder. I couldn't look away from them. They started to speak but I couldn't hear what they said. I could just make out their lips say "we love you...we love you" over and over. At one point I tried to look away and Joshua pulled my head back and forced me to watch. Within minutes, their bodies were engulfed in flames and their mouths open in screams no one could hear but I felt them in my chest. I looked into my mother's eyes and then my father's one last time before their heads fell forward and their screams stopped. I fell to my knees and screamed louder than I had ever thought possible. I felt my heart being ripped to shreds and the skin all over my body cracked and the men looked at me, all suddenly scared of what they saw. Joshua covered his ears this time then struck me so hard I fell to the side and everything went blurry. He hit me again and again as hard as he could until I finally lost consciousness.

When I awoke, the fires were out and the bodies we gone and the piles of wood and the stakes were completely burned to ashes now. My parents now lay side by side in sacks. The smell that lingered was one that I would never forget. I tried to move, but the pain shot threw my body and I lay still. I heard Joshua say to dump the bodies in a thicket of old branches, bushes and other plants and long grass where they would not be found. My eyes followed the men as they dragged the sacks away and put them nearby. Joshua crouched next to me with a smirk and just shoot his head as our eyes met. He then stood up and walked away from me with the other men. They got back on their horses and he got back inside the carriage and went away, leaving me there on the ground. For the next little while I drifted in and out of consciousness until the moonlight landed on my face and I opened my eyes. I looked and saw that the roped had been removed from my wrists and ankles. With great effort I pushed myself up. The pain was so intense I thought I would pass out again but I managed not to. I made my way over to where the men had dumped my parents bodies looked down at them. The tears returned to my eyes. There was no way I could just leave them like that. I took hold of the end of one of the sacks and pulled. It as heavy as I thought, I doubted there was much that remained so I grabbed the other sack and pulled them both out the thicket. For a long while I walked deeper and deeper into the forest. I was numb but the flow of tears never once stopped. After many hours of just walking and dragging the sacks I saw the sun through the trees and before me was one of the most beautiful scenes I had ever seen. There were tall trees all around me with thin trunks. Instead of the broken leaves and rocks I had been walking on all night, there was grass, completely covered with purple wildflowers that temporarily took the smell of burning from my nose. It was stunning, especially with the sunrise shining through the trees. Dotted all around, there were ponds of all different sizes. I dragged the two sacks to one not too far off and I looked at my reflection. My face was bruised and covered in blood. I now also had blisters on my hands from dragging the sacks. I knelt by the water and drank some, not realising how thirsty I was. I then washed my face and sat back looking at the water. It was very clear and I could see the bottom. It was deep but not too deep and it gave me an idea. I remembered the spell my parents had taught me the time I had managed to spill a whole bucket of water over the floor. It was a spell to dry it up. I placed my hand in the water and quietly said the words they had taught me and the water began to disappear and even dried out the soil at the bottom. I took hold of the first sack and pulled it in and laid it out, followed by the other. I put them as close together as possible and climbed back out the drained pond and looked down at them. I didn't have the strength to cry anymore and so I sobbed quietly.

"I love you Mama. I love you Papa ...," I whispered quietly, my voice shaking through my cries. I had a necklace that I had worn for as long as I could remember. I never too it off. This was the first time I ever had. I reached down and carefully placed it with my parents in between them at their heads. I took a step back and held my hand over the hole and slowly more earth began to appear slowly cover their bodies, the reality that I would never see them again starting to hit me. Once the hole was filled, new grass appeared over the top but I kept it clear of the purple flowers. Instead I made a small a few small pink flowers grow over them just like the ones we used to look at in the grounds of the Montadon manor back in Martinique. After a quick look around I found 2 large stones and a smaller one and began to carve onto them. On one I carved 'Mama' and on the other I carved 'Papa'. Then I carved the year on each one and I lay them both over where their heads were. I felt a gentle gust of wind and just for a second, I could feel them. I looked around quickly and began to cry hard again as I desperately searched for them.

"Mama, Papa?! Do not go! You promised you would not leave me! I want to go too!" I knew they were gone. Whatever was left of my heart tore apart. I looked at the grave one last time before finally turning round and walking back through the forest and was very soon the furthest away from my parents I had ever been in my life.

It took more hours of walking to get back out the forest. The sun was now high in the sky. I stood right at the edge of the forest and looked all the way across the bay and could see the house where I knew I would have to return to. I suddenly remember the book in my room and the magic circle. I remembered what my parents had told me. The circle would keep me safe and where ever they were they would come to me and find me. I took off into a run towards the house despite my pain from the beating and all the walking. Once inside the house I ran upstairs and found the book. I quickly flipped to the page about the circle and took the piece of chalk out that my father had given me. I went to the corner and there on the bare floorboards I drew it exactly while muttering the spell. I went and got my two bears and sat in the centre of the circle and waited hopefully for my parents to find me again. I waited and waited and soon dusk fell and the orange and pink clouds were visible from my window as the sun began to set. I lowered my head and cried. My parents never came, they never found me. In my head I knew the truth. No magic could bring back the dead, the love we have for them cannot bring them back and no magic circle would either. I lay down in the circle and stared at the wall opposite me. Now I knew I was alone and I had no idea what life had in store for me or what would be in my future in this house with that man who had taken away everything from me.