Part Two: Chapter Eight

Part Two: The Tiger

“Get down here, you lazy lot!” Eve shrieked. After waiting several seconds, Eve called out again. Her voice reminded Chuck of a banshee, shrill and cold. “Down here!”

Chuck slipped out of the living room, dust tangled in her hair and her hands sticky with a spider web from scrubbing the top of the radiator in one of Eve’s pointless tasks for her. Hastily, Chuck shook the spider web from her fingers.

“Would you stop twitching?” Eve snapped. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Chuck looked to her shoes as she mumbled, “There was a web on my fingers,” she explained embarrassed. As the web fluttered to the floor, her mind raced back to the DiRagno’s; she shuddered.

“I’m sure even you idiots noticed it’s been hot lately, so since you’ve all been decent, I thought a day at the pool in town would be nice.”

“Half of it is pee.” Danny protested. A grimace formed on his face.

Eve met his gaze. “Daniel, for Christ’s sake, you’re all going swimming.”

“Ms. Lane…” Chuck interrupted. “I, uh, my leg…I can’t really swim with it…”

“Then you can work on your tan. You look like a f*****g ghost,” She snarled with a hard slap.

“I’m Scottish. I don’t tan. I burn. And…I don’t have a swimsuit.”

Cheerily, she pulled out a bag. “That’s why I bought you one. I bought you all a new swimsuit.” She handed a large purple one-piece with ruffles to Lauren who glared in response, swimming briefs to Nat and Horton, the twins.

Eve gave Danny a pair of jammers, which looked a bit too small for him. Elise, the younger girl whose name Chuck finally learned, already had one and was exempt from Eve’s purposefully terrible choices. Greg, the youngest boy, only about nine was given a pair of pink swimming trunks. Eve leered down at Chuck. “I’m sure it’ll be perfect.” She pulled out a red bikini, several sizes too small. “Now you can show everything you want to, s**t.” She slapped Chuck. Then she snapped, “Go on. Get ready!”

“Ms. Lane, I won’t wear this.” Chuck verbalized what they were all thinking.

She turned to her. Her voice was deathly quiet, “Excuse me?”

“I’m not going to wear this. It’s not the right size.”

Quickly, Eve clutched Chuck’s throat. “Maybe if you don’t eat for the next week, it’ll fit better. Now go put that goddamn swimsuit on before I make sure that you can’t.”

“No! I’m so sick of you trying to make an idiot of me! I-I’m not afraid of you!” Chuck yelled pointing her finger accusingly at Eve. She shoved her off of her neck. “Why do you hate me so much? I tried to please you, but hell, you just have it out for me!”

Eve punched her in the gut. “You stupid little witch! Why do I hate you so much? Why? You want to know so bad?” She grasped her arm. “I hate you because you disgust me. You’re arrogant, filthy…” He voice trailed off as she threw Chuck to the ground. She stomped on her stomach.

Chuck tossed her glasses into the soft-carpeted living room as Eve smashed her face with her foot. She gripped her stomach hoping to ease the pain.

“You f*****g cripple! I should’ve never taken you in! Welcoming an ungrateful b***h like you into my home was a mistake from the start! Sorry to the rest of you, but Charlotte ruined another fun day.”

No one complained. In fact, they even looked grateful.

“You and I are going on a trip, Charlotte. Do you like auctions?” She pulled her up and gripped her hair. She pulled out a book and dropped it in front of the girl. “Which chapter was that again? Perhaps, twelve. Ah, here we are. Portals. Read it. Then open one.” She shoved Chuck’s face toward the book.

“What book is this?” Chuck started to read.

“The Witch’s Guide to Guiding Witches by Fergus Montgomery. See, your dear old grandfather wanted you to go. Now shut up and keep reading.”

Charlotte’s eyes watered a bit thinking of her grandfather. “Where is it that you want to go?” She asked, voice hoarse with held-in tears.

“You’re taking me to Dorshire. Now hurry up!”

“Syvat Porte a...Dorshire…” Chuck tried with the pronunciations.

When nothing happened, Eve slapped her across the face. “Try again, damn it!”

“Syvat Porte a Dorshire.” Chuck repeated; Eve clutched her arm tightly and together they fell through the portal.

Everything swirled. Light faded and danced in a purple haze, as Chuck felt compressed. Chuck felt unbelievably queasy. As soon as she smashed into the ground, she heaved, dry empty hacks. “What’s going on?”

“Get up, idiot.” Eve tugged her up by a painful yank on her hair. “We have an auction to go to.”

“Where are we? Where did you take me?” Chuck wondered as Eve pulled her through the crowded streets by her arm.

It looked like a renaissance fair, like the one her parents brought her to when she was six except it was even creepier as people stared at her hungrily.

“Excuse me, ma’am, are you looking to sell that?” The man pointed to Chuck. “It’s magnificent!” He tilted her chin up delicately. “The brighter the eyes, the more power. I’ll give you two hundred thousand for it.”

“Back off. It’s not for sale…yet.” Eve grinned at Charlotte. “Ready to see your first auction? It could be your last if you learn to listen to me.” Jostling her way to the front of the crowd, Eve found a place to stand with a tight grip on the girl.

Chuck hoped that two men would drag antiques on the stage, but in the still unsettled pit of her stomach, she knew that wasn’t the case.

“So we have a lovely seer up for sale. She’s ten years old and has a vision at least once a day if you can provoke it. Usually electricity works. Life expectancy, seventy-five. Let’s start at six thousand.” The man held an iron grip on the dirty girl.

Her eyes were full of tears. Her dress was stained and grimy. Her blonde hair was matted. Blood oozed from a gash in her leg. She looked ready to fall over.

Even without her glasses, Chuck recognized the girl’s struggle. She fidgeted, trying to break loose of Eve’s hold.

“You say anything and you’ll be up there next,” Eve hissed in Charlotte’s ear. “Now, stay still.” She slapped her; Charlotte’s cheek stung with all of Eve’s smacks.

The man shouted next, “We’ve got a very special treat today. A Wicca, perfect condition. Long life ahead of him. Only twenty years old. Beautiful specimen.” He rattled the young man’s chains. “But how can you appreciate this man if you don’t see all of him?”

Chuck looked to the ground as the crowd laughed and jeered at the witch. As Eve had instructed her to, she did nothing, but clench her teeth at their cruelty.

For hours, Charlotte was forced to watch each person sold off one by one. Some were humiliated on stage. Some off stage. She saw their cuts, burns, and lashings. Anger swelled inside of her.

“Finally ready to go? Have you seen enough, b***h?” Eve asked her.

Chuck nodded. Eve dragged her back toward an open area, Charlotte saw the witch from earlier on the ground. For a moment, she broke Eve’s grasp and bent down to where he lay on the ground, already beaten. “I’ll make this up to you.” She whispered before Eve dragged her back away toward home.

Author's Note

Enjoy. Thanks for reading.