Death in the Family
Callina could feel Him encroaching. The people in her town were surprisingly well-acquainted with Death. She was no exception, but Callina made no mention of his passing, besides a small nod and pulling her coat tighter. She knew who had died: Matron Mazelda. Matron Mazelda was well-known in her town. She had raised all Callina's siblings, but not her. Callina's parents had kept her, for no reason other than her gift. She flexed her hand now, feeling the primal magic surge through her veins. Her hand lit on fire, and, as she struggled to put it out, Death came closer to her. "Mazelda wants to see you," He said in a raspy voice.
"I don't understand why she wants me; I don't ever know her!" Callina whispered as she struggled to escape his iron grip. She could feel her arm growing colder and losing feeling. "You're hurting me." Callina tried to be forceful in that sentence, but it came out as a whimper.
"It is not your time, I apologize," He said, as he opened a ghostly black door that had appeared in the middle of the street. "Enter." Callina stepped inside, looking about at black, smoky walls, and black, smoky furniture. A white, ghostly figure sat on a black couch.
"How are you, Callina?" Matron Mazelda said, her voice carrying the same power it did in life, just ten times softer.
"I am confused. I don't know what is happening and I request that you tell me what is happening," she said.
"I called you here over your siblings, who I knew much better. What makes you so special?" Callina flexed her hand, letting a blaze of light cover it and feeling water flowing into a puddle on the floor. Her magic had become almost reflex by now. "Not your powers, though they are very unique. It is your heart and your lack of involvement in the matter that makes you the particular candidate. My house is haunted, as it always has been, by ghosts. In this way, and this way only, it is like the rest of the houses of the town. The 'keynote ghost' of this town is inside my house. If you can convince this spirit to leave, then the town will be free of the pallor of Death, and the haunting presences. It is the ghost of Rachel Mallard, a girl who could not accept Death or this town. She will try to reject both as long as she can. I have one warning: My house is very dangerous. It is a kind of maze to people who do not know what their lot in life is. You have not figured out your path, Callina, and it will try to distract you from your mission. My house will not be kind to you, and not all the obstacles are illusions. Please be careful, but remember Death needs to be released. The only people in this world who are dying are the people in this town, and we are dying at an accelerated rate. Death cannot escape until either Rachel gives up her hold, or all the people in this town are dead. Thank you, Callina," she whispered as she disappeared. Callina suddenly noticed that at some point during Mazelda's speech, the stream of water had stopped flowing down her leg.
Callina headed out to Matron Mazelda's house, noticing as she went that spirits were appearing behind her, and disappearing just as fast after they had each dropped a single white rose. These people were imprisoned by Rachel, too, and they wanted to escape. Callina started to run farther and farther from the center of town until she reached Matron Mazelda's house. There she stopped and gathered her courage before going in. The entryway looked fairly normal, aside from the massive collection of dead cats atop the mantelpiece. Callina hung her coat neatly on the hook and stepped towards the door to leave the hall. Suddenly, all the dead cats sprang to life and jumped between her and the door. I have to make it through this somehow because my mission lies on the other side. I could burn the cats with my fire magic, but I might set the house ablaze. I could ask the cats to move. If they knew who I was, they might recognize the importance of my mission. I could also leave, but then I will lose everything and everyone I love. That isn't really an option. Callina decided to talk to the cats because she was not confident that she could control her fire. "Hello, cats. I'm Callina." At those words, they jumped back and Callina ran through the door, in case they changed their minds. On the other side was something more horrible: a thirty-foot chasm filled with lava, and just wide enough that she couldn't jump. She pitched her high heels into the lava because she hated them, and they were only hindering her in this situation. Callina called up her air magic. She was confident she could control this. Callina walked across the chasm, trusting that she would be able to keep herself in the air.
Three grisly, gruesome, grimy, and terrifying hours later Callina stood in front of the last door. She was covered in dirt, blood, and grimy bits of dead animals. Callina was not in the mood to deal with a crazy ghost. She opened the door and found a young girl sitting cross-legged on the floor. She looked surprisingly like Callina, just cleaner and slightly younger. She looked up and they said, "Hello, Rachel," in unison. Callina took a scared step back. The ghost of Rachel Mallard smiled, the light touching her eyes.
"I suppose you know I'm Rachel Mallard, judging by your earlier comment. But, I'm not fully sure I know who you are. Introduce yourself, but first, please sit."
Callina sat, a bit confused about the situation and spoke, "I am Callina de La Vista, and all of my siblings lived here with Matron Mazelda. I have powers I don't know how to use, and I just fought my way through this wretched house, but I believe you can explain that."
"I can. I died on this site, about a hundred year ago today. I tried to bargain with Death to save my sister, and I ended up burning the town, the entire town, to the ground. I am stuck in this very spot and Death is stuck within the circumference of my fire for all eternity. No one can die outside of my fire, and everyone inside dies too quickly. I was also born with powers I could not, and still, cannot control. But, I can help you with your problem. Put your hand in mine." Callina did as Rachel said, and could feel her power flowing through her. "You are a reincarnation of me, which is why I called you Rachel when you walked in. Well, you aren't really a reincarnation, more an image of myself I created out of desperation. I want to leave, I want to go home, and my sister deserves to as well, not to mention all of these people here. Death can't even do his job properly, so I created you. A person with my ideal name, ideal traits, ideal family, and upbringing. I was a troubled person, I see that now. I would not ever give anyone the life I gave to you. I was young and stupid, but Matron Mazelda made me see my wrongs. You should be in touch with the center of your being: me. What you need to do is wash the land I burned, all those years ago, with your water. I have to tell you this: when you wash the land, all the ghosts and spirits will leave, Death will be released, I will go home, and you will die. You are created of me, a person who was never supposed to exist. You will wash away with the rest of my sins. I'm sorry, I'm so terribly sorry that I did this to you." Rachel started sobbing, and Callina released her powers, driven by the incredible sadness and fear she could sense in this broken girl. She was drowning, drowning, and all she could see was black water rushing past her face. Then, Callina let go.