“It’s colder out here!” Janice complained, but kept walking towards the meadow. Henry was keeping close to her, looking around the forest. “Don’t you feel like the temperature dropped since we entered the forest?” Janice continued.
“I guess so” Henry shrugged, “it could be because these paths are always in the shadows.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Janice agreed, as she took the first step into the meadow.
It was early afternoon, the April sun heating up the small clearing. They both stopped and looked up towards the light.
“This is nice” Henry murmured, closing his eyes.
“It still feels a bit cold…”
“You’ll be fine, the sun will warm you up, you’ll see! Now, where should we put the blanket?”
“Over there, next to that tree?” Janice asked pointing towards an old and thick tree, the only one that seemed to disrupt the circular shape of the clearing by being slightly inside it.
“Is that a Moroccan cypress?” Henry asked, dropping his bag on the grass and looking at the tree, mesmerized. “This is an endangered species, meant to be only in North Berwick park, how did it get all the way up on this hill?”
Janice shrugged, she wasn’t that interested in trees. She knew Henry was studying horticulture at Edinbugh University, but she didn’t pay too much attention whenever he started talking about trees, plants and flowers. They were meeting in that clearing for one thing, and one thing only, and it wasn’t to talk about trees. She rolled her eyes, as she started to pull the blanket out of Henry’s bag and lay it gently on the fresh grass next to the tree. As she sat down, she heard the branches shuffle, like the wind just hit them. She waited to feel the breeze - bracing herself in case it was cold - but nothing came. Henry sat next to her, still looking up at the tree.
“Nice,” he murmured with a smile on his face.
“You think that is nice?” Janice asked, fed up. Henry’s eyes finally moved on to the girl he came there with. “Wait ‘till you see something better!” she continued smiling, getting up on her knees and opening her light blue cardigan.
Henry’s eyes were on Janice now, no more talk about trees, or even looking at them. As she discarded her cardigan and took off her shirt, the branches of the tree above them shuffled once again. No breeze, still - Janice thought, grateful. Her bra wouldn’t be enough to keep her warm if there was a breeze. Just as Henry was reaching towards her, she felt a shadow cover her from above, making her shiver.
“What the-?” she started looking up. From where she was sitting it looked like the tree, the Moroccan cypress Henry admired just a minute ago, was bending over her, sheltering her from the sun.
“Watch out!” Henry’s shout startled a few birds from the trees nearby. As they took off flying away, silence fell over the meadow.
Janice’s mouth was wide open in shock, her bottom lip trembling. Her left eye wide open was staring right at Henry. As he got up and started to fumble, trying to find a way to help her, her right eyeball fell on the blanket. It seemed intact, like the branch that hit the back of Janice’s skull and came out through the eye socket merely pushed it, without actually puncturing it.
Janice’s scream disrupted the silence in the meadow. Then her left eye rolled back, and she melted on towards the blanket, the branch retracting from the skull, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.
“What the fuck?” Henry shouted, trying to lift Janice up. “Stay with me Jan, I’ll call for help, we’ll get you to the hospital!” his voice was raised, trying to keep his friend awake. But Janice’s left eye was now closed with no sign it will ever open again. Henry hugged the lifeless body between sobs. The branches above him shuffled again, this time louder, almost like the tree was mocking him. Henry looked up at the leaves, angry, as he laid Janice on the blanket and pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket.
“No signal, fucking great!” he exclaimed, looking up at the tree again. It kept shuffling, the noise getting louder now. There was no breeze, so how did the tree do that - Henry thought, feeling a shiver down his spine. The way the branches were clanking onto each other, it sounded like footsteps. Henry turned around to face the same way the old tree was facing. A group of cloaked figures were now aligned on the edge of the meadow, in the shadows. Henry jumped up.
“Help! My friend” he looked down at the lifeless body dressed just in a bra and jeans ”needs to get to the hospital!” he shouted, despite the short distance between him and the group. “The wind...the wind pushed the branches and it hit her!” Henry said, baffled by what had happened. “...I think.” he added, still in shock.
The cloaked figures started walking at a painfully slow speed towards him. Henry could hear a faint murmur coming from the group, it sounded like a prayer they were chanting in hushed voices.
“Thank God you guys are here! I’ve got no signal at all, I don’t know how there’s no coverage here, my phone should work just fine considering there’s an antenna just a few miles away from here.” he rambled, as the group arrived in front of the blanket.
The murmur continued. Nobody acknowledged what Henry said, nor did they look in his way either. They seemed to be focused only on Janice. Two people approached the dead body and started stuffing Janice’s pockets and bra with a mix of herbs. A third person pushed Henry off the blanket, while another one lit a match and threw it on the girl’s body.
“What the fuck are you doing!” Henry shouted, trying to get to the person who lit the match. Before he knew it he was surrounded by the cloaked figures, three of them holding him in place, while the rest of them watched the fire, continuing their praying. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Henry shouted, struggling to set himself free but with no success. “Let me go, psychos!”
Held in place by three of the largest figures in the group, Henry had no choice but to watch his dead friend turn to ashes right before his eyes. He tried screaming for help, but that only made things worse, as two people from the group came and gagged him to stop him from alerting any other people that might be wandering the forest. He struggled for what seemed like ages, tears flowing down his cheeks, but nothing seemed to convince the group to release him. The smoke coming from the fire had a mesmerizing red shade to it, and the cloaks seemed hypnotized by it. They kept chanting, their murmurs now turning into full-on singing, a song that filled the meadow and made all the hairs on Henry’s body stand. He shivered between sobs - they were singing in latin, he thought.
After what seemed like hours to Henry, but were just forty minutes, as the fire was about to die down, one of the cloaked figures pulled out a small shovel from an inside pocket and started digging a hole at the root of the tree. Another one was now gathering Janice’s ashes. All was done in complete silence, Henry being gagged could only let out small moans, trying to communicate with them but being ignored completely.
“O, great Majella, we bring you another offering!” one of the cloaks shouted, looking up at the tree. Henry could still not make out his face, as he kept it covered. All he knew was that the deep voice he heard could only belong to a man. “May the spilled blood of your enemies bring you happiness, joy, and hopefully, one day, bring you back with us!” the man continued, taking the ashes that were gathered and spilling them into the freshly dug hole. The tree shuffled again, looking pleased. Henry froze when he realized that one of the branches started pointing out at him.
“What do you want us to do with the witness, o mighty Majella?” a woman’s voice erupted from the group. The branch gently caressed Henry’s cheek, making him shiver.
“We could make another offering.” another man spoke, shrugging.
“No, he’s not part of any lineage worth offering.” the man with the deep voice answered, looking right at Henry. “But, there is something we could try and do with him, that could bring Majella back…” he continued, rubbing his chin through the cloak.
“Who’s Majella?” Henry barely made out through his gag. The two people that were holding him finally let go, pushing him. As he fell on his knees on the grass, one of them pulled the gag off his head.
“What’s your name, young one?” the woman asked.
“Henry. And who the fuck are you?”
“We’re Majella’s followers.” the deep voice man answered simply.
“Who?” Henry asked again.
“Have you ever heard about the witch trials that took place in North Berwick?” the man asked, while pulling his hood off. He looked rough, with a reddish beard and a scar on his right temple. Instead of hair, his scalp was riddled with intricate tattoos of various symbols. Henry nodded, studying his tattoos. “Well, Majella was one of the greatest witches to have ever lived on these lands. She was probably the only real witch King James VI ever caught - the rest were innocent, only confessed because they were tortured. '' the man continued, looking at the cloaks behind him. “She was caught and brought up here, to be burned at the stake,” the man said, caressing the trunk of the tree. “With her last breath, the great Majella, incantated probably one of the best spells one has ever done, and instead of dying, her soul was put into that stake, which survived the burning and grew roots.” the man caressed the trunk again. “You’re looking at it.” he said, looking up at the leaves. Henry looked up too, not believing what he was hearing.
“Majella was wrongly accused of black magic, she was a good witch, protector of this forest and the animals that lived in it. She would even calm the seas whenever there was a storm so that fishermen could return home safely. But she was persecuted, and found her end in here, the same forest she protected and loved so much” the man said with a bitter smile on his face. “So since the witch trials in the 1590's she’s been luring to these woods the descendants of the people who persecuted her and killing them one by one. Your little girlfriend there was one of the last of the lot.” the man said, nodding towards Janice’s ashes.
“But...Janice was half american.” Henry muttered, confused.
“She was american, from her father’s side.” the woman said, startling Henry. “But her mother was a direct descendant of the man who lit the fire over Majella’s body. The lineage of that family ends with her, since she has no siblings and her mother has entered menopause now, so she can’t have any more children.” Henry could tell the woman was smiling as she said that. How could a person be so happy over somebody dying?
“Then...who are you?” Henry asked, still confused.
“We’re just mere followers of Majella.” the man with the deep voice replied. “We hope one day to help her regain a human form and rule this forest once again, as she did when she was alive.”
“Aye!” the whole group exclaimed, supporting the bald man.
The branch caressed Henry’s cheek again.
“And I think we finally found a well-suited body for Majella,” the man continued, his gaze fixed on Henry. As he spoke those words, three cloaks flanked him, grabbing his arms and keeping him imobile. The bald man approached Henry, while studying him from the head all the way down to his feet. “Yes,” he said, pleased at what he was seeing, “how did I not think of this? A man’s body, especially a young and strong one like you would be better fitted for Majella!” he said, feeling Henry’s biceps. “You workout?” he asked, studying his face. Henry didn’t reply.
“O, great Majella,” the man now turned to the tree, “we want to offer you this young body to inhabit, to be able to once again walk the streets of North Berwick! Please guide us, so we can please you!”
“Is this a cult?” Henry muttered to himself. One of the men keeping him in place elbowed him in the ribs. Henry winced and kept his mouth shut, watching the tree. It seemed pleased with the idea of inhabiting his body - its branches started shuffling again, some making their way towards him, feeling his face, his chest, arms, going down his body, like the tree was making sure he was a right fit. With all the shuffling, Henry almost didn’t notice the whispers. He looked around, but the noise didn’t seem to come from any of the hooded figures - they were all busy looking up at the tree. The whispers got louder and louder, as the branches enveloped Henry and lifted him up. The cloaks who were holding him let go immediately and kneeled, their heads bowed. The rest of the group followed them, all bowing with respect. As Henry was lifted higher and higher a shiver went down his spine again - the tree was the place where the whispers were coming from! The closer he was being pulled towards the tree’s centre, the louder the voice, a woman’s voice whispering in what sounded like Latin.
“Let me go!” Henry whispered to the tree, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Let me go and I will not tell a single soul what happened here.” he continued pleading. “I promise!” he yelled as one of the branches went right through his heart.
He wished he would have died on the spot, but instead he felt all his limbs go numb. It was like his blood was being drained from his body, all while he was wide awake and seeing everything. He didn’t want to close his eyes, didn’t want to miss a thing. The cloaked figures underneath him started chanting, praising Majella. Henry struggled to keep his eyes open, all while the branch that perforated his chest kept twisting in his heart. He felt no pain, but rather sleepy. He fought for as long as he could, but his eyes closed involuntarily, and everything went dark. Just for a moment. A short second. Then light hit his eyes. But they didn’t feel like eyes anymore, although he was well able to see what was happening around him.
What happened? Henry tried to ask, but no sound came out. He felt weird in his body.
A person was standing in front of him, it was a man. He made eye contact and smiled. He had the same hair, same face, same shirt, and same jeans as Henry. But his eyes were golden, like honey, and his smile looked malevolent, compared to the kind smile Henry always used to show the world. The person standing in front of him was Henry, but at the same time it wasn’t. It was just his body, but with Majella’s soul inside it. Henry tried to scream, but no sound came out, instead he could hear the branches above him shuffle. Majella smiled, patting her brand new body that her soul was living in now.
“Thank you, kind Henry, for your great sacrifice. I love this body!” a woman’s voice erupted from Henry’s body.
All the cloaks knelt once again, in awe.
“Get up” Majella said to the group, “we have lots of work to do!” she continued, turning her back on Henry and strolling away. The group followed her, leaving him behind.
Henry tried to scream once more, but all he could do was shuffle the branches of the tree he was now cursed to live in for the rest of his days.

© diana.b
#fiction #mystery #horror #horrorstory #fiction