“If I use this you’ll be able to trace where I am. Nice try Ethan, but I don’t think so.”
He doesn’t put it back in his wallet though, he continues holding it out to me. “You can take it all out in cash at the ATM before you leave, then I won’t be able to trace you.” His voice is a little sad when he says this.
Hesitantly, I take the card from him and put it in my bag. What can I say, it’s the easier option than going home and facing my father. It also means I can book a flight immediately and get as far away from Antonia as possible. Ethan waits with his hands on the steering wheel for me to decide where I want him to take me.
“Could you bring me to Rita’s house before we go to the airport?” I ask. “There’s one last thing I need to ask her to do.”
“That is on the other side of the river,” says Ethan.
“I know. But I need to see her. Please, I’ll be eternally grateful.”
He doesn’t say anything, but instead puts the car in gear and starts the engine. After we are driving for about two minutes he asks. “How grateful?” Ah, I see the old Ethan hasn’t disappeared then.
I smile and lean over to place a light peck on his cheek. “This grateful,” I say to him.
“Hmm, I think you can do better than that,” he chides in good humour.
“You’re driving,” is all I say in reply.
“I can pull over,” he answers smartly. I give him a look that says, don’t even think about it. We are silent after that until we get to Rita’s, Ethan seems pensive as he stares blankly out at the road ahead of him. I undo my seat belt, grab my bag, and tell him I’ll be back in fifteen minutes at the most. I knock on the door and pray that she’s in. A minute later her mum answers and brings me into the living room where Rita is sprawled out on the couch wearing a pair of fleecy wool pyjamas and some fluffy slippers. I stifle a laugh at how out of place she looks. Her mum leaves us alone, closing the door over behind her.
“What? I’ve had a long day,” says Rita in response to my laughter.
“Of course you have,” I tease and go to sit down beside her. “I need you to do something for me,” I say to her after a pause.
She sits up straight now. “Have I not done enough for you yet? Because I think that banishing a Sorcerer to a hell dimension is quite a lot for a day’s work.”
I place my hand on hers. “You have done so much for me Rita, you’re amazing. But I do need one more favour.”
She sighs. “I guess one more can’t hurt eh, so what do you want me to do?”
I pull my bag up onto my lap and take out the piece of folded up tissue containing Antonia’s hair. “I need to know if there’s anything you can do with this.” I hold it out to her and she takes it from me.
“What is it?” he asks, the opened tissue spread out in her hand. The single thread of white hair barely visible lying upon it.
“It’s hair,” I answer. “Antonia’s to be exact.”
“And what do you want me to do with it?” Rita continues with her questioning.
I breathe deeply before answering, “You don’t know this about me, but a couple of months ago my boyfriend Matthew committed suicide. The other night when I was going through his things I discovered the reason why he’d killed himself. Antonia had been feeding from him against his will and it had all gotten so much that he’d decided he’d rather die than continuing to be her victim.”
Rita puts a hand to her mouth in shock, and I continue. “So, I don’t have it in me to let her get away with what she did to him. I saw this hair on her coat tonight and took it because I wanted to have something of hers so that you could put a spell on her. I don’t want her to die, I want her to suffer.”
Rita stares at me for a long moment before she says anything. “You’re sure you want to do this?” she asks.
“Positive.” I reply.
“Well – there is something I can do,” she grins. “How clever you are to think to keep this,” she says, speaking of the piece of hair. “You?
??re becoming a good little student. I’ll make a witch out of you yet. Anyway I know a spell, actually it’s more of a curse. It’s supposed to make bad people suffer for their sins. Like a guilt curse. The person you put it on feels the guilt of every single crime they’ve committed for the rest of their lives. If I curse Antonia then she’ll suffer for every life she’s ever destroyed. Including Matthew’s.”
“You really are a genius,” I tell her. “Okay, can we do this now, I’m sort of in a bit of a hurry.”
Rita doesn’t ask me why, instead she rises from the couch and leaves the room to get what she needs. When she returns she sets up the components of the curse quite quickly before taking the piece of hair and tossing it into her magical bowl. Three minutes later it is done, and the air around me feels different, like something I needed to release has been set free. Had doing this meant that I have now finally escaped my grief over Matthew? Somehow I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. But making sure the catalyst for his self-destruction is now going to pay the price for her horrible deeds, well, it sort of heals up one of the many wounds in my soul.
I hug Rita now, and I can tell it takes her by surprise. She jolts away a little at the contact but then settles into my embrace.
“Tegan,” she begins. “Why exactly are you in such a hurry to get this done?”