Aunt Rosemary

Aunty Rosemary watches the two boys sitting in the living room suspiciously. They are sitting peacefully on the couch, their heads are leaned backwards so that the view of the ceiling is clearer to them. I follow their amazed gaze and realize immediately what has captured their attention. The entire ceiling has been turned into a night sky, with small stars sculpted on the surface. There are different shapes of stars, different sizes and different styles of them. I look at her and see a proud smile. 

"My son's work. He is an artist." 

Inside the house, the walls are covered with photographs. Aunty Rosemary lives here with her wife Keyy, and her children. Her elder son Mark is nineteen, younger son Kit is sixteen. I observe the photographs to find similarities between them and Aunty Rosemary. I find none.

"They are my cousins," I comment absent-mindedly. If Aunty Rosemary had not left the house, we'd have grown up together. 

If she had not left the house these two boys would never be even born, I remind myself. 

"They'd love you. Too bad, I cannot allow them to meet you. I hope you understand," she says gently. I see a silent apology in her saddened expression. I nod. 

"You believe in the curse." 

"Of course I do. When I found out that they were preparing me as the next maîtresse de maison, I started studying the family history. They guessed what I was planning to do and hid the books away. By that time, I knew what I needed to do." 

Aunty Rosemary serves meals for two people. I eye the plates and cutleries on the table and ask her in an almost inaudible voice, "What about them?" 

She shakes her head and says, "They won't eat with us." 

Heat creeps up in my cheeks. I don't find their company enjoyable either, but humiliating the guests in such a crude manner is against my ethics. She watches me and explains, "It's not me, it's them. Even if I serve them they wouldn't eat. They cannot eat or take any service from me."

"What do you mean?" 

"It's a role of the maîtresse de maison. Or, something they are bound to do. They are the only ones who can serve them or help them. You will learn more about it. Now, eat." 

I like the way she speaks. She is as tall as I am, but she has the glow of health and happiness around her. Her face is round, and her cheeks are pink. She looks a lot like my mother. When I say that, she shares, "We looked similar. Many people told that to us. Probably because we shared the same blood." 

My mother was a distant cousin of my father. My grandparents claimed that it was not an illegal wedding; that they had checked the lineage and they had done blood tests and all. I have trust issues, so I don't think that was the case. My father's obsession with my mother is a hot topic in my family, even after all these years. 

We eat silently. 

Suddenly it comes to my mind. "They said that I am her kin, Aunt Josette. What was that about?" 

Aunty Rosemary doesn't show any sign of shock or surprise. She takes her time to chew her rice. I take some more of the chicken stew and wait for an answer. After two minutes, she asks me another question, "How did you get away?" 

"What?" 

She looks straight into my eyes and says, "They were supposed to take you for the purification before the actual ritual. They are pretty great at their job." 

I consider what to say. Truth be told, I still have not come up with any rational excuse for that. I have dodged it with my cousins, but Aunty Rosemary gives me a look that tells me I cannot dodge her question. I look away and focus on the stew. 

"Somebody saved you that night, but you cannot tell about that person," she says in a voice, only loud enough for me to hear. The spoon falls from my hand, the clank makes me shiver. I look up to see her eating again, focused completely on her food. I glance sideways to catch a glimpse of the two, utterly bored men sitting on the couch like statues. 

"They cannot hear me, only you can."

I see it now. Her lips are not moving. The rice and stew in my mouth refuse to go down my throat. I start coughing. My eyes burn. Aunt Rosemary gives me a glass of water and says, "You should not react much. You don't want them to find out about it yet." 

Felix and Art rush inside the room without showing any courtesy or decency. Felix bares his teeth and says, "What's wrong with her?" 

"She choked on her food. It's pretty common among us." Aunty Rosemary gives him side eyes and focuses on me again. She gently pats on my back until I stop coughing. 

"Are you okay, Fran?" Art asks. I see the concern on his face. It looks genuine. I nod. 

They stand over me like my bodyguards, occasionally giving nasty looks to Aunty Rosemary. 

"Can you wait outside? I want to talk to her."

My tone is commanding, but my volume doesn't reach to the point of yelling. It is a skill I have learnt from Aunt Josette. They leave begrudgingly, making it very obvious that their attention is still fixated on me. 

"What are they?" I ask Aunty Rosemary once they are out of earshot. 

"They used to be humans once upon a time. I don't know what they are now," she says. In my head, I hear the rest of it. "They are devoted to you. No matter what happens, or what you do to them, they are yours, and you are theirs." 

"Sounds ominous," I say. I want to ask her how is she doing it, but when I frame the question inside my head it sounds silly and naive. I skip that question and ask the other, pressing one. "What was the ritual about?" 

"The women are taken somewhere, to someone. I don't know what happens there, but the women serve some purpose. In exchange, they get the power to hold the family, and it's not just materialistic or earthly powers. They get powers inconceivable to others. Why do you think the family has never refused to this system?" 

"Is it like human sacrifice?" 

"They do sacrifice something, but not the way you're imagining. I don't know for sure, so I can't tell you any more." 

"Why did they call me Aunt Josette's kin?" I ask the second time, with a dead serious look on my face to make it very clear that I don't want to hear another riddle.

"Because you are her direct descendent." She speaks up in my head, "You have the same blood as hers, even the same beauty as hers. you have never noticed because you are too engrossed in your own world."  

I look outside and grimace. Felix and Art are watching me like I am a prisoner. God knows how much they have heard. What if they have inhuman hearing capability? Wait... what if they are something like—

Aunty Rosemary starts laughing. She shakes her head and says, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but they are not vampires, dearie."

You heard me? 

Of course. Your thoughts are too loud.

If not vampires, then what are they? Why did you say they are mine, and I am theirs?

Her face turns grim momentarily. The next words do not take long to create an image in my mind. A vision. 

No, it is a memory. 

I went inside the pool alone, without telling any of the elders in the family. Lucy and the others had been teasing me for a while. I was too proud to tell anyone that I did not know swimming. When they teased me again, I didn't say anything to them, just went inside the pool. How difficult it could be? I just had to throw my hands and legs in the water in order to gain some momentum and move forward. 

Although the science was somewhat correct, I miscalculated the force of the water and the strength of my small hands. I was only twelve, and I was a little thinner than I should have been. Before I knew it, the force of the water was pushing me down. I had lost all the air in my lungs to the force and I was drowning, like a discarded doll. 

A pair of strong hands pulled me out. A woman was sitting there, beside the pool. "Don't worry, little one. You're safe now."

My hands start shaking as I recollect that memory. The woman was not a complete stranger. I had met her once before, even though she never told me who she was. 

But how? I ask, not sure whom the question is directed towards. Myself, Aunty Rosemary, or someone else. 

That was how we knew you were the next maîtresse de maison. Everybody showed some kind of freak energy or power before they were selected, in your case, you had an alter ego.

I can't think of anything anymore. I finish eating silently and help her clean up the plates. Wiping my hands in a handtowel, I ask my last question, "Can I get out of this?" 

"Seeing those two outside, I would say, no. They have already done their part of the ritual and bound themselves to you. Wherever you go, they will follow you." 

"That was why you were so cool about them coming here with me." I nod in realization. 

"Now that they have you, they will not focus on others. I am safe, and so is my family." 

"I don't think I can trust them. One of them has already threatened me." 

"I can't give you all the answers. You have to find them yourself. I can only say this to you, if you need someone to trust, those seven men are the ones you should look for. Not even your family members, definitely not the adults of the family, including myself. Trust them because their lives are entwined with yours."