VIGNETTE 5. A SPELL.

The dusk was dyeing all around me in a red color. The night was near, and I was still following the petal path. Sometimes I couldn't see but a few petals on the floor, other times I had to trust my gut because I couldn't see a single one. Many of those times I had to change my way and start from the beginning.

I was starting to lose hope. I called his name from time to time, but nothing answered me. The desperation and tiredness made me almost give up. I was preparing a place to rest when I saw something a few feet apart from me. It was a book: Caleb's book. I recognized it instantly because of the calligraphy inside. I was looking for possible clues in there and then I saw it: one sentence, a phrase that petrified me and left me frozen. It was the beginning of something that I once heard. I started running, leaving the refuge behind. I knew where I was going.

***

The door of my room was half-opened. Outside, in the monastery corridors, everything was in silence. I was trying to craft my first dagger, but I couldn't get the handle shape I wanted. I was sculpting the wood as well as I could, sanding every imperfection; they weren't the problem, though, the design was awful.

'It would be easier if Mom was here', I said frustrated.

My red face was wrinkled because of the effort. The knife was dull. I had forged it myself. I asked for help from the local blacksmith, and he taught me and let me use his forge. He said it was a very well-done first blade. I didn't believe him. It truly was awful. I tried to join the handle and the blade, but nothing fitted, so I started hitting both parts.

'Ugh. I wished my mother or my father helped me', I said in anger.

I heard footsteps in the corridor. I knew whose footsteps they were: Caleb's. He was probably going to his room, but what surprised me was that the sound started next to my bedroom door, not from the chapel or the entrance hall. He must have been waiting right at my door. What was he doing there? Was he spying on me? If not, why was he outside without even coming in? I decided not to give it that importance and continued crafting my dagger.

A few minutes after, I was busy making a special glue with some plants and materials I had found in my room when I heard a murmur. Was Caleb talking alone? Whatever he was saying it was somehow making me feel uncomfortable. It was monotone, a rigid tone, and I couldn't hear the exact words, but even his voice changed slightly. It was like an adult's voice. I waited to see if he stopped, but the murmurs continued.

'Caleb, I'm trying to focus here'.

Nothing. The murmurs continued. Now that I think of it, they were similar to the ones I heard whenever the clerics prayed. Like a buzz, an insect noise.

I went out to the corridor and tried to listen to what he was saying, but the words were softened by the walls.

'Caleb? C'mon, I really need to focus, could you please stop?'.

He continued murmuring.

'Are you praying?', I asked walking to his room.

An echo became clearer when I approached his door. It was like someone repeating the words after him. Was it a woman's voice? I couldn't identify it. But I could barely understand a thing that he was saying, nor determine the source of that duplicated sound. It seemed to come from him as well.

'Caleb?'.

I approached the door and put my ear against it.

'By three they come, by Three thy way opens…[1]'.

I opened the door slowly, making it squeak, and instantly saw him suspended in the air, in a standing position. His eyes were white as snow and his head looking at the ceiling. There was something like an aura around him. It looked almost transparent, but a purple color delineated his body. From his mouth, yellow saliva splashed everywhere while he spoke in a demonic voice. He was holding a knife tightly.

'… by the blood of the willing…[2]', He continued.

Caleb took the knife and cut his hand. Blood dripped on the floor.

'Caleb!', I yelled afraid 'What the hell are you doing?'.

He didn't respond to me, as if I wasn't there.

'Caleb!', I shouted again.

I came closer to him. Pull him towards the floor. Nothing. I tried to stop him saying those things, but I couldn't. He was in a trance.

I hit him to wake him up. Nothing.

'Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!', I yelled without result.

I looked around. A book was resting on his bed. His Spell Book as he liked to call it. It was opened on a page that talked about Lilith. The memories ran through my head, and a tear came out of my eye.

'What are you doing?!', I said horrified. 'What does this mean?!'.

I thought that maybe if I closed the book, he would stop saying those things. And I was right, but at the exact moment I shut the book, the aura exploded, pushing me to the wall. My head hit it and I fell to the floor. A blood puddle grew staining the wood beneath my temple.

The last thing I could see was my brother's eyes, all red, looking at me worried. He was okay, that's what mattered. A black screen covered everything, and I closed my eyes.

[1] Blizzard Entertainment sentence from the story launch trailer.

[2] Blizzard Entertainment sentence from the story launch trailer.