Cursed

By the time her father came home that day he almost went into a state of shock. When he asked her what happened to her mother, Merope went into hysterics. "I…..saw blood….and mommy…..oh mommy!" She couldn't finish nor could she explain what she saw. Even in the world of magic, there were some things in this world that can't be explained. Her father didn't push her any further, he had an idea what had happened but, now wasn't the time to tell her about the curse that runs in the family. "It's doesn't matter, dear…now come on let's clean this up." Without another word, Merope and her father went about cleaning the blood off the floor, walls, even the ceiling which was clean by nightfall.

The story was that Mrs. Gaunt had 'disappeared' during the night. Rumors were that she ran off, that she finally came to her senses that the family was crazy. Another was she ran off with another man. Some even suspect that Marvolo Gaunt murdered his wife and buried her in garden or to make the story even creepier, he served her up for dinner. No matter how many stories were told about Mrs. Gaunt only Merope knew what happened. The question was why?

As Merope grew older her father discovered she wasn't doing 'well'. Of course she can weald magic but, it was weak. The only thing she could do was lift things but, that was it. When he took her to the doctor to have the little girl examined, of all the things he dreaded the most was when the doctor came out shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Gaunt…..your daughter is a squib." Since then he has looked at his daughter as a lesser, weaker child. It was also the day he told the story about her family curse.

Once they got home, Marvolo sighed in despair. He looked at his daughter, she was ten almost close to eleven. Merope was sitting on the ground trying to levitate a stick. It was only an inch from the ground. "Merope," he said, sitting on the chair. She turned her attention toward her father, "Yes, papa?" He didn't speak for a moment which made Merope more uncomfortable. When ever something got this silent it usually ended in violence. During the years she was growing up without her mother, her father had the tendency to lose his temper, mostly on his own son.

"Merope…..I was hoping I would save this dreadful story when you got older but, since finding out about your….condition…..I think I need to tell you about the curse."

"Curse, papa?"

"Yes…Merope a curse worse then finding out you're a squib." After another moments of silence, Marvolo straightened up in his chair. "It all started with our ancestor, Salazar Slythrin. He was a great man in many ways but, there was a flaw in his character, his pride. One day he was out on the road when a stranger in black came along. I don't know what he did but, he angered the stranger whom he later discovered was the Devil himself.

"Before he was about to marry his bride he heard a scream coming from her room. He found she was being violated by a monster on top of her. Once he was finished with her, he turned to our ancestor and sealed our fate by saying this: 'By insulting my wishes I will be the one to deflower your brides.'"

"Deflower?" asked Merope

"He took their virginity, Merope….they were forced to have sex with the monster before their day of happiness," said Marvolo, looking worried. Merope stared at her father, hoping this was only a story. As she was about to ask if this was some sort of fable, her father told her to come to the basement. Merope never went down to the basement for a good reason, it was pitch black.

Going down the basement with her father, Merope began to feel the old chill down her spine when she was younger. Traveling down her imagination grew wild. She imagined monsters of twisted abnormalities, of nightmarish demons but, mostly those red eyes. She imagined those demonic eyes were glowing in the darkness. Never did she thought to really see them up close when her father lit up a lamp.

She jumped back in terror only to find out it was an oiled painting. The painting was of the demon in all its terrible glory. It was a man about six feet tall or higher. He was pale like the snow, his hair was black as the night. At his feet was a women wearing a ripped wedding gown screaming in silent terror as the demon was about to attack her. The painting was terrifying but at the same time it was a beautiful painting.

It was also the first time she ever got that strange ache between her legs. She was fascinated by this handsome demon. His bare physique was muscular; it was almost as if the angels sculpted his body. The black hair stopped at his waist but, didn't cover the main attraction: his manhood. By looking at him, he was about a good eight inches maybe more. She must have been staring at it for maybe two minutes until her father began speaking again.

"This was painted after my brother died. He began painting this after the rape incident before he married his wife." Merope was trying so hard not to look at the picture, not because of the horror but, out of embarrassment. She didn't want her father to catch her oogling at the demon's erection. "I tell you this Merope because I know you're going to be a lot more vulnerable….you might even die before you even get to the alter." It was the first and only time she ever saw tears in his eyes. As he hugged her, she looked back at the painting….she could have sworn the eyes were looking straight into her soul.