and then turned his face to look at her. “Yes, it’s just; I’m not use to everything moving in my body again.” Anna wearily smiled, and said. “I’m sorry about Garret, he was just scared.” He seemed to think for a moment before understanding. “Its alright, I would have done the same thing too.” Victor then put his elbow behind him and pushed himself up. He sat up when he looked at Anna in the face; she looked back at him for a moment.
He hugged on tightly to her for support, she got up. Then tired to help him out of the bed, then standing, she realized he was very tall. The top of her head was right below his chin, and then he spoke as he stretched his legs out. “I would imagine this is all very strange to you.” Anna nodded, then he said. “We haven’t been properly introduced, I am Victor Blackwood.” He bowed his head, unable to bow his
body. Anna did a quick curtsy before saying. “Anna Raventail, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Properly of course.” With that he finally took some steps, getting use to his body again. He walked with lots of muscle weighting down on him; he had wide shoulders and small waist. Victor turned around, his hands placed on his hips. Then he looked at Anna, wondering what was to be done next. Then he remembered, he stood straight and said. “Was it my father who sent you?” Anna then remembered, she folded her hands in front of her. “Mr. Blackwood, do you know how long you’ve be asleep?” Victor thought for a moment, and then answered. “A week maybe.” Anna didn’t wish to be the bearer of bad news, but she said.
“Mr. Blackwood, your father, he has passed on. It has been fifty years since, you’ve been asleep.” She saw his face fill with despair; he pulled on an old wooden chair. Victor sat bent over and barred his face in his hands. Anna then remembered, there may be one person he knows. “Um do you remember a woman by the name of Eva?” Victor looked up and smiled, then he said. “Yes, she was quite a funny woman. Why do you ask?”
“Because I’m her granddaughter, she’s still alive. She was the one who saw you stabbed. She warned your father, but it was too late. She herself tired everything to help you and your father. She told me that story of what happened that night. Every Sunday, she told me you were kind, but fierce, gentle, but frightening. I use you listen to those stories as a little girl, and I always wondered what had become of you. That is why I came here tonight, to see if the stories of Victor Blackwood were true. And tonight, that legend has proven itself.” Anna said, Victor looked at her, a weary smile formed on his lips.
“I would like to yet again meet Eva, one of these days.”
“I am sure she would love to meet you as well. But I think we both need to rest first.” Victor shot up from the chair and said. “I have rested long enough, I’m sore not tired. But I image you are, hopefully the manor hasn’t fallen in complete ruins. Let us find a room for you; I am sure we can find something. Or we can try and sneak you back into town with your family.” Victor offered, Anna thought for a moment. “No, by the time we reach town it would be the afternoon of tomorrow. And besides I’m sure Garret would love to tell Eva and my father. That I was here, no doubt we’ll being seeing my father one of this days. And of course Eva, heck, once she hears about this. She’ll drive a horse here herself if she has too.” Anna said giggling imaging Eva on a small skinny horse, with her white hair flying the wind.
“I imagine she would, she was a very independent woman. Very fun to be around.” Anna didn’t want to press the question then why didn’t you choose her instead of Marry Beth? But Anna kept it to herself; Anna noticed Victor no longer needed any help. As they made their way down the stairs. It was quiet both tired to bring up a conversation. But each sentence ended in awkward silence. When they reached the bottom of the tower, Anna pulled out the umbrella. When she opened it, Victor gently took if from her. They walked outside and to the front entrance of the manor.
Anna didn’t look up in fear of the rain hitting her eyes. Victor found the door locked and grumbled to him. Then he got close to the door, he whispered something so quiet Anna barely noticed. Then the door flung open, Victor walked in with Anna behind him. Anna gazed in amazement, it must have been magic. For inside the manor, matched nothing at all to the inside of the manor. The inside of the manor didn’t look like it aged a day. But Anna’s horror as she looked away from the beautiful painting and many glass chandeliers hanging on the ceiling. She looked to the ground to see stone statues
of people. They all looked as if they were staff, but they all wore horrified glances. She looked to Victor for an answer. He shook his head and frowned, and then he took her hand and said. “Come, we must go somewhere first. Something is wrong, all these statues, they represent all of my staff.”
Anna knew it; some kind of curse had befallen the manor. As they walked past each statue they looked as if they were running for the door, but none made it. Victor started with a fast walk, urging to get to where ever he needed to get. “Don’t let go of my hand, you may not be protected from the spell. In till we find you something to block the curse from you.” Anna didn’t want to turn into stone, and forever be stuck. Anna gripped his hand tighter, she wasn’t going to let go of his hand for anything.
Rushing down golden and crystal plated halls, where lights and chandlers of great beauty danced. Anna swore, some of the paintings as they passed, waved to either Victor or her. They soon arrived to red and golden traced doors. With a big stone lock on it, Victor then whispered something again. The lock fell off, Victor turned the handle, and they were inside.
It was the largest liberty Anna had ever seen in her entire life. The fire place, which somehow still burned, tall and bright. Tall statue of women playing interments were on the side frame of, one a harp, one a flute. “Are they supposed to be there?” Anna asked, Victor didn’t let go of her hand and said. “Yes, don’t fret; they are none of my staff. Hold on a minute, I think I remember where it…….Found it!” In a spilt minute, Victor pulled out a locket. Attach to a thin golden chain, Victor placed the long golden chain and locket around Anna’s neck. He let go of her hand suddenly, he waited for something to happen but when nothing did, he relaxed.
“Anna you must never take that off while you are inside the manor, even within the square gardens.” Anna understood and nodded; she pulled her long hair from under the chain and asked. “What’s going on, I thought the manor would be ruins within?” Victor shook his head and busied himself at a rather large desk, full of drawings, papers, mountains of books. Victor stopped at one picture; he pulled it from the desk and gave it an intense look. Anna went behind his shoulder, finally taking off her mask. She looked at it, and recognized it to be the dagger. Two sides of it, but only half drawn dagger. Victor looked back at her for a moment. His face blank finally able to see Anna’s face, he stared for a minute before Anna spoke. “What’s that?” Victor shook himself from Anna and said. “It’s a picture of the dagger, written in a different language difficult to understand. Only those who were born with its tongue or practice speaking nothing but this language. Can understand it context, looks like my father was trying to translate the words on the dagger.”
Anna thought for a minute then said. “He must have found something useful on there. Eva use to say after weeks your father went mad. He ran around town claiming that he had figured out a way to awaken you. That the ‘one’ must pull the dagger from the cursed one’s chest. He had almost every women and girl in town try. Put on was able to, I see now your father was not mad.”
Victor thought for a moment, then he continued to look around the papers. Anna crossed her arms, then let him be. He pulled out a rather large book leather book. Anna recognized the writing to be Egyptian. Victor walked over to the rather fluffy rug, and sat down. Anna flowed and looked over his shoulder. “You read Egyptian writing?” Anna asked over his shoulder, he turned his head. “Yes, come listen to this.” He said, his eyes went back to trailing the page. Anna took off her gloves, and headwear. She sat on the floor next to Victor, then she waited for him to say something.
r /> “I think my father was studying how to free me from the curse, because look at this.” He placed the large book down, where there seemed to be Egyptian style art telling a story. At first it showed a man and women, who seemed to be holding each.
Then Victor read aloud. “When the Nile followed, and crops grew, the peaceful Pharaoh Auke. Looked for wife after his rule, at the time of his decision a women appeared. She was beautiful, he loved her for all she was.” Anna and Victor turned their head to next page, this time it was a picture of the women in a crouch position. “The women, one moon had a nightmare. They nightmare so great it seemed to had taken over her soul. A sickness of the mind grew within her, and soon she began to believe. Her beloved Pharaoh had betrayed her.”
Anna this time flipped the page, she wanted to hear the end of the story. The next picture was of the man and women, who looked like they were fighting each other. “But the women’s mind grew so sick, she no longer trusted her partner to be. On the day of the wedding, is when the sickness took its toll upon the women.” Anna looked on the next page to see the women stab the man with a dagger. The dagger looked exactly like the one in Victor’s room. The man seemed to fall back, with red flying from his chest. “The women then killed her lover that day. But yet he was not dead, the people called this curse, The Sleeping Dead. When the pharaoh was curse, the land began to die, and so along with its people. The people feared the palace, for all of the pharaoh’s servants along with him. For ever slept…”
Anna turned the page, to see stone statues of people that ran along both pages. “Their bodies turned to stone, waiting for the day their master would call upon them again.”
Victor this time flipped the page this time, and on one page. A different woman, with a light auras and halos were painted around her. “But not all was dark, soon a young woman came. Claiming she would be the one to pull the blade from the pharaoh’s chest. Her beauty was beyond compare in all the land.”
On the next page it revealed the beautiful women pulling the blade from the pharaoh. They flipped the page, to see… Nothing. The pages were ripped out, Victor seemed frustrated, and where was the rest of story? Anna picked up along the story it was an exact event of what was happening to Blackwood now.
Victor got up suddenly, threw the book on the chair and continued to go through his father’s papers. “What does it mean!? Why did Marry Beth curse me, to be this thing!?” He shouted banging his fists on the table, Anna jumped in her own lap. Anna slowly got up, she gingerly brushed herself off. Anna didn’t understand what he meant by ‘thing’? But Anna didn’t want to get to close, so many things were happening for him all at once.
Anna wanted to comfort him, he hung his head. And was still stuck in a stiff position. She heard angry grow in his voice again, then he pounded his fists on the table. Making the flames of the fire place fly from the fire. Anna fell back as a reaction, he got up from the desk. He paced angrily around the room, speaking to himself, asking himself questions. And all the while, books and wind in the room grew crazy. Books threw themselves from the shelves, the wind whirled around Anna. She gripped her shoulder to try and protect herself from the cold breezes, she didn’t want to upset him more. Anna then soon realized the notation. He was a wizard, Anna was told that wizards and mages. Used emotions to fuel their magic.
Anna needed to find a way to calm him