The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) (17 page)

“Yeah that’s right, you deaf or something? I married your mother’s older sister Julii. So I guess that makes me your uncle, now doesn’t it?” Garmir said with a wolfish grin. I thought you came to see the old woman, not waste my time with stupid questions. I’m busy, be off with you boy.”

The man was obviously not busy doing anything but drinking ale and lolling about. From the looks of things when they approached the farmhouse, there were plenty of things the man could be doing. Jak decided right then he didn’t like this man.

Jak turned and teetered down the hallway to the back bedroom. He stood there staring at the closed door for a moment, before finally knocking softly on the door.

“What do you want?” a woman’s voice barked from inside.

“I – My name is Jak. I’m here to see….” The door flung open before Jak had a chance to finish. A woman of middling years and portly build stood threateningly before him in the doorway. Jak assumed it was his Aunt Julii, but it was strange that his mother had never spoken of having a sister. Jak had not even known her name before now. Even stranger was the fact that this woman looked to be younger than Jak’s mother, but she was much larger and harsh looking, not to mention there was not much family resemblance that Jak could see.

The woman’s perturbed expression and hand on one hip, spurred Jak to speak quickly. “I’m Jak, Martia’s son. I came to see grandmother. Is she here?”

The woman had the same disbelieving and suspicious look on her face as her husband had given Jak. She stood there for several uncomfortable moments, studying Jak through squinted eyes and pursed lips. Finally she said, “I guess it won’t do no harm…. but no good either. She’s got the forgetting sickness. Can’t remember hardly nothing anymore. Sometimes she don’t even know who I am, let alone who she is.”

Something wasn’t right here, but Jak wasn’t sure exactly what it was. These people had a way of talking unlike anyone in Elsdon. Jak’s mother had lectured her children on the importance of speaking properly, and not sounding brazen. She would get after Jak often enough for it. Jak’s grandparents had been well spoken, at least from what he remembered of their visit six years ago. It was strange that these people spoke in this manner. It occurred to Jak, that both his
aunt
and
uncle
sounded….well, they sounded gritty and tawdry. He couldn’t believe his grandparents, who were both proper in manners and well spoken, would tolerate this way of speaking from one of their children, let alone the slovenly appearance and behavior. It made Jak uneasy and nervous about the whole situation.

The large woman only stepped aside slightly, making it necessary for Jak to squeeze past her sideways into the room, before she closed the door behind him loudly. The bedroom was a mess and smelled awful. Jak could see bedpans lying about that needed changing, and soiled bed sheets piled in a heap in the corner of the room. The sight and smell gripped Jak’s stomach like a vise, and he felt decidedly ill.
This was completely unacceptable!

Jak’s grandmother was sitting placidly in a chair with her head lolled to one side, staring blankly out the window. Her hair wasn’t even brushed, looking matted and in need of washing. The dress she was wearing was askew, stained, and badly wrinkled. She looked much older than Jak remembered. As he approached, she slowly turned her head to stare at him with a blank, unknowing look.

“Grandmother,” Jak said softly, “it’s me Jak. I’m Martia’s son from Elsdon. I’m your grandson.”

The old woman stared in bewilderment, not speaking a word.

“I told you. She don’t remember nothin’ most of the time,” Julii said disgustedly. “Ain’t good for nothin’ neither, just takes all my time to feed her and clean up after her.”

Jak gave the other woman a baleful glance, which she ignored. He didn’t like the way this woman spoke of his grandmother. It might be
her
mother, but the woman had no right to treat her own mother like this. Jak realized then, that he had changed his mind about leaving Gin here. There was no way he would leave her with these horrible people.

Jak felt the old woman’s cold wrinkled hand grasp his own, and he turned back to his grandmother. Her eyes seemed a little clearer and more focused than they had a moment ago. “Jak, oh yes, Jak, how are you dear? My, you have grown since the last time I saw you. What was it, five or six years ago? You were just a little lad then.”

“Hello grandmother. It’s good to see you again. I’m sorry about grandfather,” Jak said diffidently.

“Whatever do you mean?” she asked, as her eyes seemed to haze over, and become distant again. “Where is Edard?” the old woman looked around puzzled, then at Julii with a question in her eye.

“He’s DEAD!! Old woman, you already know that. We’ve been through this over and over. He died goin’ on nine months now. Why can’t you get that through your thick head?”

“Wh - What?” tears welling up in the old woman’s eyes. “My Edard is….. dead? OOOh No! I miss him so much, my sweet Edard. Why did he leave me?” With the last words, the old woman broke down into sobs.

“Now see what you gone and done?” Julii said with exasperation. “Now I’ll have to listen to this blubbering for hours. You just need to get out.”

Jak ignored Julii, and turned back to his grandmother. Gently he took her hands in his and gazed intently into her eyes.
“I know you are in there grandmother. Come back to me,”
he said wordlessly, not knowing if what had worked on Frog and the wolves would even work on a person.

The old woman’s sobs subsided, and her eyes became sharp and clear once again. “Jak! I didn’t know you were here, my word, you have grown since I last saw you. You were nine or ten weren’t you?” Her face turned serious, “Did you hear the sad news about grandfather?”

“Yes, I did,” Jak answered with a lump in his throat. It was hard to see his grandmother like this. He wished there was something he could do for her.

“It’s alright Jak. Edard had a good long life. He was a good man,” she said proudly.

“How have you been Jak? How are your parents? How are Martia and Karl? Good I hope. Did they come with you? I would dearly like to see them again.”

Jak couldn’t bring himself to tell her that they were all dead. Besides, she probably wouldn’t remember it for long anyways. If she did, it would be like with the memory of her husband, having to relive it over and over each day, with the pain and sorrow of the loss returning anew each time. Jak would not do that to her. “They are fine. Everyone is fine,” he lied. “They didn’t come this time.”

Jak hated himself for what he was about to do next, but there was no escaping it. “Do – Do you have any spare horses we can borrow?” The strange power he had gained somehow, did seem to work to some degree on people, as well as dogs, but he didn’t like using his grandmother like this. In any case, it was more of a suggestion than a command. He didn’t think commands would work as well on a person as they did with Frog.

“Well certainly Jak. With Papa gone we don’t have much need for horses and such. Julii here takes care of me.” She said the name Julii awkwardly and gave the younger woman a strange puzzled look before she turned back to Jak.

“The little mare is out in the stables, as well as Papa’s plow horse. The little mare isn’t much good for anything. But Papa just didn’t have the heart to give her up. You are welcome to them if you can use them. Just take good care of them,” she said with a smile. “You will take good care of them, won’t you Jak? Papa loved that little mare.”

“Yes grandmother, I will take very good care of them.”

A faint burgeoning feeling began to creep up on Jak, as if he was overlooking something that was right in front of his face. He knew what he was doing with his grandmother was taking effort, even though he did not understand fully what it was. But at the same time, he could feel a struggling within the old woman, almost like a hatchling struggling to break free of its shell. He bent close and whispered, at the same time exerting more force of will, “Are they taking good care of you grandmother?”

“Who?” The old woman whispered intently, her eyes alert and focused.

“Julii, your daughter, and Garmir? Are they taking good care of you?”

“Julii? Garmir?” she spoke the names with bewilderment, wearing a confounded look.

“Jak, your mother is my only daughter still living. Her name is Martia; you know that. My only other daughter Nani, died when she was only six years of age. We don’t speak of her much anymore. It was a sad thing; she was overcome with the fever. But that was long ago. I seem to recall that one of your mother’s childhood friends was named Julii, but….”

The backhanded slap that buzzed past Jak’s ear and caught the old woman across the face was as much of a shock to Jak, as it was to his grandmother. The astonishment of it staggered Jak so much he took a step backwards. The old woman’s eyes glazed over again, and she began to cry. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?” she said, looking dejectedly up at the younger woman who had delivered the slap.

“Don’t you be tellin’ your stories no more old woman. You know better than that. Besides, you know they ain’t true.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again,” the old woman slipped away into weeping again.

The blood in Jak’s veins boiled with rage. How dare this woman treat his grandmother this way? How dare she strike her like that? This woman wasn’t even her daughter, just some freeloaders taking advantage of an old woman who couldn’t remember.

Jak’s closed fist connecting with the woman’s nose, was even more surprising to both of them. It knocked Julii backwards, landing on her backside near the wall. The blow dazed her, and she sat there for a moment before realizing what had happened.

She drew the back of her hand across her nose, which was now streaming blood. It smeared the fresh blood across her face in a bright read streak. When she noticed the blood on her hand, she became enraged.

Before Jak could stop himself, he darted across the room and grasped the woman with one hand around her neck, lifting her up until she stood on her toes, then slammed her hard against the wall.

The woman let out a shrill cry before the air was forced from her lungs from the impact with the wall. Outrage painted the woman’s face, and her eyes bulged with anger as she struggled to speak. “How dare you lay your hands on me?” she managed to choke out through Jak’s clasped hand on her neck.

Her outraged expression quickly changed to one of wild-eyed horror when she glimpsed the look in Jak’s eyes. The thirst was upon him, mingled with his disgust and anger at the mistreatment of his grandmother. Jak desperately tried to fight it down, but it had gone too far, and it was too late to stop now.

Leaning close to the woman, he could smell the fresh sweet blood running a bright red stream down her face and smeared across her cheek. Exultation poured over him as he bent close and slowly licked the fresh blood from the woman’s cheek, savoring the moment.

The taste of it was wonderful. It filled him with …..
life
. The woman rolled her eyes in sheer terror, and she squirmed desperately in his grip.

Jak felt alive….. more alive than he ever felt before. The blood was invigorating, delicious, how could anything taste that incredibly good, and be so satisfying?

Grasping the woman’s hair in one hand, Jak wrenched her head to one side roughly. He could feel her blood throbbing rapidly just below the surface of her skin, he could smell it, taste it on his tongue. He could feel the terrified woman shaking in his grasp, but he paid no mind to her futile struggle. He bent towards her neck to satiate his unbearable thirst……..

The door to the bedroom flung open, crashing loudly against the wall. The man Garmir, had heard the commotion and was standing there with a look of perplexity and anger on his face.

“What’s going on in here?” He said angrily, before he noticed that Jak was holding his wife while blood streaming from her nose.

“What are you doing with my wife? Take your hands off of her!” He cried in a rage.

Jak willed himself to release his grip on the woman and step back. The man rounded on Jak, grabbing him by the front of the shirt, and attempting to shove him backwards. To the man’s astonishment, Jak did not budge at all. Instead, Jak took hold of the bigger man, and easily flung him across the room to slam into the wall next to Julii. Jak stepped slowly towards the two, like a predator stalking his prey. Both the man and the woman could see the look in his eyes, and they were frozen in place unable to move. A small yellow puddle began to form at the feet of the man. It disgusted Jak, how could this man be so cowardly. These people disgusted him; they deserved to die.

Jak stopped immediately in front of the two, but far enough so both could see him clearly. He wanted to kill them, to satisfy his thirst, and gorge himself on their sweet blood. It was a fierce, primitive struggle inside him to maintain control, and not loose himself to the thirst. The struggle raged inside him like a burning hot furnace, but he would not give in. He could not give into the passionate desire that beckoned to him so intensely.

Leaning close, Jak eyed them both in turn, as he deliberately spoke, biting off each word. “You
will
take care of my grandmother properly, with respect and kindness, in whatever she needs. You pretend to be her children, so then you
will
act like grateful children that love their mother.”