The second floor had four bedrooms with a full bath in every room. The third floor was just one huge open room with a bed sitting next to a cathedral window with a window seat in it. At the other end of the room was a bathroom with a built in bath tub that could hold three, maybe four people. There were five stacks of bath towels that looked like beach towels. I thought this room was very strange because it was not a normal bath room. There was no toilet or sink.
When Amy found me in this room she rushed me out and told me I was to never go in that room again or the fourth floor.
“What’s on the fourth floor, Aunt Amy?” I asked.
“Nothing for you to be concerned about, my child,” she chided.
She took me back down to the second floor and told me I was allowed to pick out any bedroom I would like, except the one at the end of the hall. That one was hers.
“Bionca, whichever room you choose we will decorate it however you wish. I think we will get along just splendid if you promise to abide by my rules and please, never ever go to the third or fourth floors again.”
I smiled at her and said “yes, Aunt Amy I promise.”
She left me to choose my room. I went to the first room and opened the door. It was dark with just very few lights and I saw some huge spider webs. Aunt Amy must not come in here much, I thought to myself.
The second room was about the same. In fact, when I started looking around, the whole house was dimly lit. I thought nothing of it and headed to the third bedroom. I opened the door and immediately knew this one would be mine. One wall was nothing but windows and there were velvet purple curtains hanging around them. The bed was a four poster bed with the same purple velvet hanging over the top and down the sides. I walked into the bathroom and it had a claw foot bathtub with a satin purple curtain around it and above the sink was a stained glass window that had a strange picture in the middle.
I headed back downstairs to tell Amy what room I wanted. She was sitting in the living room with three other women. I started to enter the room when I heard them mention my name.
“Amethyst, do you think she's the one”
“Amelia, I’m not sure. She’s only been here a couple of hours. I’ll have to watch her closely and see,” Aunt Amy said.
“If she is the one, Amethyst, you have a big burden to carry for the next twelve years.” the other lady said. She seemed to be the leader of the three.
“Yes, Helga, I know this.” Amy said as she looked down at her feet. “I will do my best to train her and have her ready.”
“When she turns, thirteen the first real sign should appear.” Helga said. “But, in the meantime, you must do the training as if you already know for sure.”
“Yes, Helga.” Amy said. I made one more step closer but the baseboard’s creaked and they stopped talking.
“Bionca, please come in here. I would like for you to meet my two best friends.”
I walked into the room and all three ladies stood as I went over to them and Amy introduced me. They were all looking at me like they expected flames to burst out of my face or something. I felt very uneasy. Helga walked over to me and shook my hand and told me she was sorry to hear about my parents. She then turned my hand over and pulled my sleeve up and inspected my wrist. I pulled my arm from her grasp and she quickly turned and grabbed her coat.
“Remember, Amethyst, about the training.” and with that said she was out the door and half way down the sidewalk with Amelia right behind.
“What was that about?” I asked Amy
“Just ignore her. She’s just being over pretentious. Now what would you like for supper?”
On my thirteenth birthday I awoke with a searing pain on my left wrist. I turned my wrist over and I could see the outline of what looked like a tattoo forming but only half of it was there. I could smell pancakes cooking so I put on my robe and went downstairs to see what Aunt Amy was doing. When I got downstairs she had fixed all my favorite breakfast foods. I looked around the kitchen but didn’t see any dirty dishes or pots or pans. Whenever she cooked I never saw any pots or pans. I thought it odd but I never said anything.
“Good morning, beautiful! Happy Birthday!” She had a grin on her face that went from ear to ear. “I have many things planned for you today. First off, you’re not going to school because we’re going to hang out and do a day of nothing.”
“That sounds like fun.” I said.
“What’s wrong? You sound downhearted.”
“I just miss my parents and…..well…..I had this strange place to come up on my wrist and it burns bad.” I held out my wrist and Amy dropped the spatula she was holding and grabbed my wrist.
“I was afraid of this.” she said somberly. “Looks like the stars have something different planned than I did for your birthday.
I started to ask her what she meant but there was a knock on the front door. It was Aunt Amy’s best friends, Amelia and Helga. I heard them whispering to each other and they kept looking my way. Suddenly Helga came rushing over towards me and grabbed my wrist and inspected my new tattoo. I tried to jerk my arm from her grip but she held on tight. She let go of my hand and walked back to Amy and more whispering was heard then they left.
“What was that about?’ I asked
“Bionca, I’m afraid the time has come to tell you the truth.” she sighed heavily. “Come my child, we must talk.” We went in to the living room and sat. I could tell what she was going to tell me was troubling, but I didn’t know how troubling it was. “I guess you’ve always known our family was different. The truth is, we are actually witches. We don’t tell people this because we are not accepted in their culture, so you must never speak of this to anyone.” She took a deep breath and sighed “Bionca, your parents were killed because your mom was a witch also. Your father tried to protect you from the high council and your mother rebuked to being a witch and the high council saw them as a threat and had them killed. I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. We were never sure if you would carry on the tradition, as some don’t, until you turned thirteen and received the first signs of your tattoo. However, since you were born on September 22nd you are even more special than previous thought.”
“What does my being born on the 22nd have anything to do with making me more special?” I asked quizzically
“September 22nd is known as the Autumn Eqinox. It’s when daylight and night time are the exact same lengths. For people like us, Witches, we offer sacrifices to our demon god.
“What does that have to do with me?” I asked
“Because of the tattoo that showed up on your wrist. It means you are the sacrifice.”
“I’mmmm, wait, what? I’m the sacrifice? What does that mean? I don’t want to die. I don’t want to be a sacrifice.” I started crying so hard Amy didn’t understand what else I was saying. She pulled me close to her and tried to calm me.
“Shhhhh, my child, it’s okay. It’s not as bad as what you think. You are the first one in two hundred years that have borne the true tattoo. What that means is you will be prepared on your eighteenth birthday for Abaddon. My friends and I will prepare the ritual and summon him and he will come to you and you will bare his child.” Amy grabbed my shoulders and pushed me off her and put both her hands on my face. “I promise it will be ok. We have five years until that day comes.”
Five years passed faster that I thought it would. During this time Amy prepared me for the night of my eighteenth birthday. I was nervous all day and distracted. Amy kept trying to reassure me that everything would be fine and that she would be there with me the whole time. As nighttime fell I knew it was time for me to go get prepared. I went upstairs to my bedroom; Amy had laid a gown on my bed for me to wear. I walked over and picked it up. It was completely see through.
“You’ll look gorgeous. Just remember to relax and try not to fight anything.” she said. “I’m so proud of you, Bionca. I know I’ve never showed you much physical love but I love you like a daughter. Your parents would be so proud of you too.
