Rose

Nine

Sarah's eyes were so wide they bulged as the witch approached her. She could do nothing, however, as Rose repeated her disembowelling ritual. Adam looked on, equally helpless, watching his sister being taken apart piece by living piece. Once she was finished, Rose looked at them both, smiling broadly.

"All done!" she said. "See how easy that was? And you managed to behave yourselves for all that time. There's hope for you yet!"

"What's that? You have a question?" she asked, leaning towards Sarah, touching her forehead.

Sarah suddenly found she could move her head and her mouth. She opened it and let out a piercing scream which made her brother wince. Rose was unmoved. She touched Sarah's head once more, causing it to freeze, the mouth contorted into the now silent shriek.

"Now, now. I give you a chance and that's how you repay me. Just the same as all the rest." The witch crouched down between the children and smiled. "It will be all right now. One little spell and you can be on your way. I've washed all your nastiness and cruelty away in the blood of the boys and girls who have paid me visits. It means I've made you kind and good and the sort of children who won't ridicule or push or provoke poor ladies who can't defend themselves."

She stood and reached out, laying a hand on each of their heads. She closed her eyes and started to speak:

"When the dark winds blow

When dark things prey

When the shadows..."

She paused and opened her eyes, looking around.

"Something's wrong. The blood should be boiling. You two should be glowing."

The witch walked over to the bowl and dipped her finger in.

"Well, it's warm," she said. "Not quite what I expected. Oh well." She turned to Adam and Sarah. "I have to be careful, you know. A spell can only be said once, and it has to be said right or anything can happen. I've waited a long, long time to do this. It's got to be right first time."

She returned to her spot between them and rested her hands on their heads again.

"Try again," she said, closing her eyes.

"When the dark winds blow

When dark things pray

When the shadows walk

When all things Fey

Become the night

And forget the day

I'll come for you

And take you away"

When she was finished, the witch lowered her hands and opened her eyes. The bowl of blood had begun to bubble and steam. A faint glow was surrounding each child. She clapped her hands triumphantly.

"It's working! Now you are all nice and normal and you can bring me lots of other children to cleanse!"

She touched the children in turn, releasing them from their paralysis. They dropped to their knees, their bodies momentarily forgetting how to control themselves. Adam and Sarah stared at each other from eyes rapidly turning red. They could feel their bodies changing. Fingers became claws. Teeth elongated and sharpened. Spines split through the skin, barbs appearing along the vertebrae. Tongues became forked and limbs thickened.

Rose backed away, horror masking her face. She hit the table and stopped, unable to go further.

"What's happening? What's gone wrong? It should have worked!"

Sarah looked up at the witch and smiled, a snarling twist of her mouth.

"The spell has already been used!" she hissed.

"What? How? Impossible!"

It was Adam's turn to smile, his being a vicious rupture of hate.

"You shouldn't leave your old books lying around in attics, witch!"

Rose gasped. She would have spoken, questioning, invoking, insisting, but the children, or whatever they were becoming, leapt on her. Her throat was torn out, her head crushed. Her stomach had been ripped apart.

When they had finished and the witch was no longer twitching, Adam and Sarah left, the door splintering as they crashed through it. They lifted their heads to smell the breeze and then loped off into the forest. They had children to find.

Children to feast upon.