Palindrome

Belinda took a deep breath while she tried to wrap her head around the fact she was leading a witch to save another witch. She, a mighty Beast, whom all should fear. Belinda had been raised with the beliefs that they were superior, that witches needed to burn if they weren`t talking, but she had always had this nagging suspicion that the Fathers had been, if not wrong, then a little bit off track. The last century had opened up the world in a way never seen before, and it was so many wonderful things out there, but Belinda had to follow her Fathers command, doing things the way they had done it since the beginning – leaving Belinda bitter.

The only times she`d felt like she was free to be herself was the few stolen minutes with the man in the dungeon. Hannah`s brother… The knowledge made her stomach turn. It had been several weeks before he spoke to her, his rusty voice had made her jump, making him laugh in turn. Or not laugh, but the mouth curved at the ends and the skin by the eyes crinkled. In her head, she could hear laughter.

A small hand touched her gently on the arm, getting Belinda back to the place she was now –the cold passage underground, used by Beasts back in the days to sneak into the dungeon. George had grown accustomed to the comfortable life in the 21st century, and used the newer entrance, linked straight to the house. To use the way they were coming now, they had to break into the old shed, and know the combination on the safety-lock, something they had figured out years ago.

“Don`t be afraid. He`s smart enough to know the difference between you and your Fathers.” The mellow voice soothed Belinda in a weird way, freaking her out simultaneously. How could the tiny witch know Belinda was worrying about Natan finding out exactly what and who Belinda was? Maybe he was as open-minded as his sister? She`d jumped fast enough into William`s arms, but then again – she hadn`t been held captive in their cellar the last three years.

Benjamin gave an impatient grunt, “The coast is clear, I can`t smell anybody. They must all be in the Great Hall, just like we wanted.” Belinda nodded firmly, guiding them along the dark passage, the witch between them since she was the only one who didn’t see in the dark. It was maybe 60 metres from the shed to the door leading into the dungeon, but it felt like much longer know. Belinda knew the way like the back of her hand, sneaking down here to talk to Natan every chance she got. She always brought food and watched him eat with a twisted fascination. How was it that something mundane could be so interesting?

The door was suddenly in front of them, making Belinda realise she was not so alert as she should be. She bent down and flicked her right hand, turning it so the claws appeared, using the long nail on the index-finger to turn the old lock. The small click seemed to echo through the hall, stopping their breaths for a few second. The door opened on well-oiled hinges; Belinda had fixed them the second night she came down here. The torches burned like they always did, and she could hear no sound. The witch, Bridget, Belinda reminded herself, popped through, eyes wide. Benjamin had been down there, but it was years ago. Instead of telling, she just gave the direction with a short flick of her head, indicating the door.

Bridget started scratching her arms, a manic look in her eyes. It was the muted feeling of no magic, Belinda realised, so now it was her turn to put her hand on Bridget, calming her down. Benjamin had reached the door and looked inside.

“He`s sleeping.”

Usually, Belinda had a key she “borrowed” from her Father, but that had been deemed to dangerous now, so they had to break down the door – the locks on these doors being newer than the one to the passage. “Should we wake him?” Benjamin kept his voice down, and Bridget answered the same way. “Yes, or else he will attack us, don`t you think? Belinda should be the one to wake him, and to get inside, and then I will work on him outside of this dreadful no magic prison. It`s like someone is feeding on my energy, drawing it all out.”

Belinda walked over to the door and watched the sleeping man. He was so beautiful, even dirty and scrawny.

“Natan?”

Too late Belinda remembered he hadn`t told her his name, but it didn’t seem like he noticed.

“Natan!” She whispered loudly. “Wake up, it`s me!”

He stirred gently, he must be tired, he usually woke pretty fast since he always was on the alert for her Fathers. At last, he turned in the narrow bed and opened his eyes, tired slits trying to get a grip on the situation.

“Belinda!” His voice was rusty, like he`d been crying. Belinda watched as he struggled to get up but managed to get out of bed at last. “Why aren’t you coming inside? Did you forget the key?”

Belinda sighed, starting on her explanation when Benjamin popped in behind her.

“Hurry up, sis.”

Natan froze and she could see his eyes turn cold, convinced she had ratted him out. Belinda reached through the bars, fingers yearning to touch him. “No, calm down, it isn’t what you think. We`re here to get you out, back to your sister. This is my brother, Benjamin. I don’t have the key, so we have to break down the door. Please, Natan, listen to me.”

He just stared at her; she didn’t know if the words got through at all.

“I dreamed about my sister. How did you know I had a sister?”

“Because it was her ass that sent us down here, now move.”

Benjamin was getting restless, and Belinda understood, someone could come down any minute. She turned again to Natan.

“Please, trust me. We have one of you with us, she can tell you we mean no harm, but we NEED to get you out NOW.”

Natan`s eyes flicked around the small cell and then back to hers. He seemed to drown in them, reading something in them that made him bite his lips together and nod, while stepping back.

Although Belinda was powerful, she knew Benjamin was stronger than her, so she stood back and let him do his magic. With one single blow he had the door open, making the little witch glare at him with stars in her eyes. The boom was certain to alert anybody in close proximity that something was up, so Belinda wasted no time in running over to Natan, letting her hands glide over him to make sure he was ok. She met his eyes for a brief second, them too his hand.

“Come.”

Natan wasn’t in good shape, even though Belinda had fed him, he hadn`t gotten enough to maintain his muscles. They`d reached halfway when Belinda had to support him, and she soon had to carry him, secretly enjoying the feel of him so close.

The shed was small and cluttered, but they managed to put him down on the floor, Benjamin running over to get some water from the hose in the corner.

Bridget sat down on her knees beside him and shook her hands, making them glow softly in the dark. The blue tint seemed to pulsate as she hoovered her hands above his skin, following his every contour, finishing over his eyes. She moved her shaking hands and sat back, closing her eyes, tired.

“Oh my Goddess, so much pain.”

Natan opened his eyes and coughed before he sat up.

“What the fuck is happening?”

Belinda breathed out in relief but was interrupted just as she opened her mouth to answer.

“I`d like to know that as well.”

You could hear a pin drop, and Belinda didn’t dare turn around, she knew the voice. Although she didn’t have anything to fear physically, she knew their plan was heading straight to hell.

Benjamin straightened.

“Mother.”

The woman stepped inside the shed, carefully because of her Louboutin’s.

“Oh, don’t “mother” me. What are you doing here with the witch?”

Belinda frowned and glanced quickly around; Bridget was nowhere to be seen.

“Father asked us to bring him.”

Ben sounded confident, and Belinda prayed she would believe them. Their stepmother, 23rd in line, glided in and raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing the man on the floor before she kicked him.

“I remember this one. I`m surprised he`s lasted so long. His parents didn’t.”

Belinda`s heart exploded, what did she mean? Had Hannah gotten it wrong when she said the Palindromes couldn’t be killed? Natan got up, antagonising slow, until he stood in front of Henrietta.

“What did you just say?”

Belinda and Benjamin couldn’t move, Henrietta had always scared them in a way, even though she was mere human. It seemed she needed to be extra evil to make up for the lack of super-humanity.

Henrietta let one finger glide over Natan`s chest, the bloodred nail black in the shadows.

“I knew he wanted your mother… I could see him look at her, fighting between the need to kill her and to take her. But she was so in love with your father, it was almost sickening.” She shrugged and spun around, like a ballet-dancer. “So when I saw you getting in the car, the three of you leaving the diner. The oil spill was so easy to arrange, just an accident waiting to happen.”

Natan looked confused. “You… You killed my parents?”

Henrietta smiled, “No, I didn’t kill them, it was just an accident. I figured out the way around the stupid spell. And for that, Noah promised me one of the first drops of the life-elixir.” Her eyes glowed with a mad light, and she reached for Natan. “He won`t forgive me if you escape, but maybe you will slip in the stairs?”

The door banged open and a wild gust of air coming from inside the shed knocked out the window. A voice screamed.

“RUN! I will handle her…”

Belinda grabbed Natan, but he struggled against her, wanting to revenge his parents. Henrietta screamed in the wind, holding on her hair blowing all around.

“Please, come with me, Natan, I beg you. We need to get to your sister, remember Hannah?” Her name woke him a up, and he looked at Belinda who nodded wildly, “She is inside the house now, surrounded by all the other Beasts.” Natan took one last look at Henrietta but moved when Bridget screamed again.

They`d gotten five metres from the shed when they heard more screaming and the roaring sound of wind behind them. Belinda risked a glance and she saw the shed being ripped to pieces by a small tornado, and the body of her stepmother flew through the air and landed in a heap to their right. The left leg was in an unnatural position, but she didn’t say a word. The tornado was gone as soon as it came, the only thing left was a crying Bridget.

“I had to, sweet Lilith, I had to. So much evil…”

Belinda couldn’t decide what to do, she looked at Natan, still in shock, Ben was staring at their presumable dead stepmother, and Bridget was howling to the sky. Belinda almost howled as well when she heard a voice calling from the road.

“HELLO? Are you alright? What in Heavens name was that; it came from clear sky.” The old lady shocked over to them, Belinda recognised her as the chef from the café. Mary maybe? Ben held out a hand to stop her, but it was already too late; she`d seen the lifeless body on the grass.

She gasped and smacked a hand over her mouth.

“Oh my, is that…? Is she… dead?”

Belinda just wanted to get away, but how could they do that now?

Ben sank together, “We think so.” The old lady put her hands on her hips, “Well, you better go over and check. Come on.” They felt like schoolchildren, chastised by their teacher. The closer they got, the more evident it became that she couldn’t be alive, bones were sticking out and her head was almost turned completely around. Mary paled and gasped. “OK, I guess she is dead. Don’t look, children, you don’t need to see this.” She put her arm around Belinda, the first gentle touch Belinda ever had received from a human since her birthmother, affecting her more than she wanted. Ben was already on the way back, but Natan stood still, staring at the crumpled body. Belinda called softly after him, “Natan?” He didn’t respond. “Natan?” She saw Mary widen her eyes when she realised who he was, but Natan still didn’t look up.

“There`s something wrong here.”

Benjamin snorted, “Yeah, go figure.” Bridget had calmed down and took a hold of Natan.

“We need to get away, I can feel it too. There`s something wrong.”

Natan and Bridget walked towards them, but now Belinda had something else to worry about.

“What in the actual fuck?” Benjamin whispered loudly, not believing his eyes. Belinda had to blink twice; she was sure she was hallucinating. They had seen so many fucked up things in their life, but nothing close to this. Mary turned her neck to see what they were staring at, her screams filled the air by the sight of the woman in one Louboutin and a dirty Gucci suit. Her head was dangling from the neck and pipes of bone were sticking out from her thigh. They all started screaming as she half dragged herself towards them, her mouth opening and closing like she wanted to speak, but her throat was so damaged nothing came out. Henrietta, who had been a bag of broken bones not a minute ago, was back from the dead.

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