The Apprentice

The grimy block looked much like all the rest in Queens. Soot streaked red brick, decorated with a cacophony of tags and graffiti. Cathy approached the metal panel of names and glanced once again at the folded tear of newspaper.

MM, the owner of the ad wasn’t much to go on.

Could this be it? She took a breath and pressed the button.

Nothing.

She pressed it again - longer.

A red light appeared above the board next to a speaker grate.

“What do you want?” came an annoyed, distorted voice.

“Ah, I saw your ad in the newspaper.” Cathy replied with a nervous tilt.

Silence.

“Your ad… The one about gothic origami?”

“That was weeks ago. Go away!” more annoyed.

“I brought you something.” Cathy finally offered.

A long pause.

“Ah,...Hello?” Cathy nudged carefully.

“I'm still here.” still short, but a subtle curiosity had crept in behind the words.

“I want to show you I’m serious, so I brought a,... ahm,... a sacrifice.” Cathy whispered the last word. She screwed up her face at how it sounded.

Miriam stepped away from the intercom panel and moved in front of the large mirror in her entry hall.

…We need this,...

…but we despise visitors,...

…but the potion,...

…fuck the potion.

She grimaced at herself in the mirror.

…Fine! We’ll see what the cat’s dragged in then, but if she is anything like the last one, I will eat her for dinner!

Back at the intercom panel, “Use the stairs. Twelfth floor.” and she buzzed Cathy in.

-

Following the gentle knock, the door violently jerked open, sucking Cathy bodily in from the hall. The door slammed shut behind her.

Miriam stood calmly, hands folded into her sleeves held at her waist. A deep scowl drew her brows tightly together hooding her sharp eyes in shadow. In a rapid movement, she was sudden right up close in Cathy’s space, she stuck her nose into the hair gathered in the crook of her neck, and sniffed deeply. Cathy froze. Miriam then stepped back and screwed up her long hooked nose in tempered disapproval.

Looking down now, “What’s in the bag?” Miriam prodded.

“Ah,... this is for you…” Cathy removed the strap from her shoulder and passed the bag over. “...I’ve been studying wicca and witchcraft for years,...” started Cathy with mounting effervescence. Miriam ignored her and looked in the bag. Inside curled, as if asleep was a dead cat. Miriam reached in and lifted it out by the tail. A drop of blood dripped out of its mouth onto the floor. Miriam’s interest piqued. “...so that’s how I knew what your ad meant,... and I’ve been tr….” Miriam caught the next drip on her finger and licked it. Cathy stopped mid sentence, her peeked plump cheeks dropped and her eyes widened while Miriam’s eyelids fluttered as she savoured its tang. That's when Cathy noticed something else disturbing. The hand tightly clenching the tail. One of Miriam’s fingers was not quite human, more like a raptor talon.

Miriam snapped back to her scowl, “This cat is nothing to you. If you’d really studied, you’d know love is the most powerful magic. This is simply a dead cat!” Miriam’s eyes bored into Cathy with ridicule. “Now,... if it were your own beloved pet, then,...” She let the idea hang with the hint of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Miriam spun on her heel and strode down the hall swinging the cat, carelessly launching a few more red droplets against the wall. Cathy, still upended by the strange greeting tentatively followed. In the kitchenette, Miriam pulled out a pot, and dropped it under the tap to fill. While the water ran, she mumbled some incantation under her breath, flicked her neck with a finger, loudly snorted up some juicy phlegm from deep in her lungs, and spat it into the pot, then unceremoniously threw the cat in. She brought it all over to the gas cooker which sprang to life on its own, and plonked it down.

Cathy began looking about at the eclectic decorations in Miriam’s dim dark hovel. Dark musty curtains snuffed out much of the crisp autumn rays with the odd dazzling stabs sneaking past, piercing the dank space, harshly illuminating lazy swirls of dust and the odd ancient strand of spider's web floating in the air. A damp smell, mixed with other odd unpleasantnesses made Cathy screw up her nose. She then boldly turned to Miriam and pronounced bombastically: “So I can be your apprentice then? Ah,... That’s what your ad was about, wasn't it?”

Miriam remained silent letting her boldness drift in the air along with the dust. Cathy’s nerve broke first. She began to look about the place again, finally approaching an ancient timber cabinet filled with curious oddities. A jar of eyeballs floating in a thick liquid caught her morbid curiosity. She leaned in for a closer look. All the eyes suddenly turned to stare back at her. She jumped, and Miriam let her amusement tickle the corners of her eyes.

…She is a nosy and bold one isn't she?....

…She's a pain in the neck,...

…but her daring is interesting - delicious,...

…yeah - for lunch,...

…what about for the potion?...

…hmmm.

“You! What do they call you,... out there?” Miriam pointed her hooked finger the outside world as if it was an alien planet.

“Oh yeah, totally forgot. I’m called Cathy, - out there...” she answered cheerily “... and you?”

“Cathy, hmm?...” Miriam tested its sound and screwed up her nose.She looked her up and down once, then continued, “...yes,... that won’t do.”

…Yes, yes, take her down there,...

…shut up!...

…she would make a sturdy surrogate,...

…I was thinking more of a nice plump Cathy burrito (Miriam smiled at her own joke),... …you know you will,...

…well you knew I wasn’t sure, so now you’ve cornered me with no choice,...

…I know,...

…you know I hate you most when you do that!...

…But you still love me,...

…that too, I hate you!

Miriam turned suddenly and stepped up to a large closet. Without turning “Well are you coming?” Miriam snapped. It took Cathay a moment to comprehend, then she bounced up to stand right next to Miriam with a smile on her face. Miriam reached up and impaled her palm on a nasty looking hook. As the blood ran, with the same hand she grabbed the door handle and turned. Cathy noticed the hook and the handle were caked with dried blood. The door creaked but resisted, then a dull green glow leaked out from under it. Miriam put her shoulder to it now and it reluctantly yawned open with a screeching squeal. She retrieved a candle stub from her grubby bathrobe which spontaneously lit up in her hands, stepped into the closet and vanished into the darkness.

Cathay gingerly stepped in and saw Miriam striding purposefully downwards, her weak candle, the only tiny island of light in this strange void. Inky blackness surrounded her as she tested the first wet slippery step. Her silly designer runners were a poor match for the slick worn stone. She stretched her hand out for support but they groped thin air, stealing her breath away. She managed a few more excruciatingly careful steps while Miriam was shrinking rapidly into the black distance.

“So why, why a witch?” echoed Miriam’s question in the void.

“Ahm,... I,...” Cathy began, struggling to concentrate on her feet, “...I was always like,... ahm,... interested in like the occult,... and ah,... stuff.” She stumbled, scraping her knee and just managed to catch herself on the edge of a stair. Her panic multiplied as Miriam’s silhouette vanished in the darkness. She dared a glance back but there was no sign of the portal.

“I can’t hear you!” came Miriam’s reply from somewhere far away. Cathy gripped her wits and began to descend more boldly.

She was sweating profusely when she almost ran into Miriam's back. The candlelight had waned so much, she could hardly see Miriam’s outline standing there on the very last tread surrounded by endless nothing.

“We’re here…” she declared. “... May as well give you a taste now.” Miriam made room for Cathy to take the lead. Drenched in fearful sweat, she nervously shuffled onto the last step.

“Just reach out.” She instructed. Cathy timidly stretched her hand out until it touched something scorchingly hot. She violently recoiled with a yelp. Miriam giggled.

“Thats not funny.” snorted Cathy, licking her trembling fingertips and blowing on them, but when she looked back up, she quailed. Miriam's mirth had been replaced by unrestrained rebuke, animated by the weak flickering candlelight. “Magic is indeed not funny,... not funny at all!... it’s painful, excruciatingly at times,... and it’s exhausting,... It extracts a savage toll on a witch….” as the orange glow threw hideous shadows across Miriam's gaunt face, she peered past Cathy’s anxious eyes and saw with satisfaction the sharp edge of a fearful regret begin to grip her soul.

“Yesssss, you will come to rue this moment, my little,.. plump,.. pidgeon.”

In the void, an ancient wooden door, set in a rough stone wall which stretched infinitely in all directions, shimmered into view.

“Well, lets go” urged Miriam. Cathy gingerly reached for the lever, but found it only uncomfortably warm. The door swung easily open revealing a large cluttered space framed with with low beamed ceilings and a flagstone floor. A multitude of candles set in countless nooks and crannies sprung to life casting delicious rays at the menagerie of mysteries in every direction.

Miriam rudely pushed past her and strode directly to a large table crowded with flasks and tubes of unimaginable liquids. In some floated strangely sinister organic miasma, and others pulsated with glowing viscera of unspeakable grotesqueness. She began to inspect and adjust this and that as bubbles burbled and phosphorescent smoke languidly twisted in the torpid humidity. Behind her propped up on three stone dragon claws, an enormous iron cauldron rested. A lazy flame ticked its underside while a swirling blue broth stirred within. Cathy’s eyes fell onto it, capturing her complete attention. She approached the cauldron and stared transfixed at the living brew.

…See, she is the one,...

…She is a stupid fat girl who wants to cast silly spells and show off to her school friends,...

…Look at her staring at our potion, make her taste it!...

…Stop it, you’re being stupid. I should just throw her in and see what happens,...

…And waste such a robust fertile body. Just look at her’s! it’ll do superbly.

“Whats this?” pondered Cathy out aloud.

“Every witch has one….” Miriam came up and stood next to Cathy. “... her potion…. her brew,.......... her elixir of immortality…” Miriam mussed, staring at the fluid.

Her new tone gave Cathy pause. Miriam reached up and unhooked a long pewter spoon, dipped it into the simmering liquid, gave it a swirl and scooped some out.

“Try it.” Miriam insisted, pushing the spoon toward Cathy’s mouth. She turned away but when she caught a glint in Miriam’s eye, she reluctantly faced the spoon.

As soon as her lips began to parted, Miriam shoved the spoon in. Cathy gagged and Miriam quickly pushed under her chin with her other hand and ripped out the spoon.

“Dont let any spill girl!” she warned.

Cathy’s cheeks puffed out and she fell to the ground. After a laboured swallow, she burst into a fit coughing and spluttering. Tremors began to ripple down her back and legs.

“Aarrg,... what’s happen,...ing,... to meeee…?” she stammered between cramps.

…See, I told you! She’s not the one,...

…Wait, wait,...

…As soon as she’s dead I’m cutting that plump leg off and tossing it in the oven to slow roast for dinner,...

Wait,......... wait…..

Cathy’s convulsions became weaker and more regular. She now struggled to her hands and knees. A large lump was beginning to rise out of her back and move about under her clothes. She pitifully groaned in pain as it began to rise toward her shoulders. Then in one almighty spasm, Cathy’s mouth yawned wide open and she threw up a large furry blob covered in oozing mucus.

Miriam’s eyes widened in surprise, and Cathy backed up in slack-jawed shock, while sticky strings of bloody viscera wobbled off of her lips. The blob jerked about a few times, untangled itself from its clinging caul and stood on four shaky legs. It was a little malformed, but clearly feline.

“Oh, it's a kitten!” cooed Cathy in a hoarse voice, her ordeal clearly forgotten. She picked it up and held it to her chest. It gasped its first tiny breath and let out a desperate meow. Cathy then shocked Miriam a second time by pulling down her top, exposing one of her plump breasts and offered her nipple to the tiny beast. It latched on greedily and suckled. Cathy’s face burst with the deepest loving motherly smile Miriam had ever seen.

“A new mother’s love, a magical power with no peer!” Whispered Miriam in awe.

Their eyes met. Cathy’s reflected fathomless bliss, while Miriam’s: desperately trying to hide a dilemma raging within. Of all reactions, this was the one she least expected, and deep in the pit of her shriveled stomach, she knew she must act fast.

…She’s the one, She’s the one! I told you so,... you dumb cow!...

…Transmigratio Animarum. It’s not a sign, not a definite one anyway,...

…Yes it is, you're just too stubborn to see,...

…But if she refuses, then she and that abomination must return to the source, and fast,... …she won’t refuse, look at her,... impossible,...

…and what of the Pactum Partis,...

…She will do it! You watch. She will do it for her love!

“You said you wanted to be my apprentice. Well?” dropped Miriam. Cathy stared back, confused at the question.

“Ahm,... can I keep her?” she looked down at her tiny furry child.

“That depends.”

Cathy looked confused and a little horrified, “Ahm,... on what?”

“On whether you agree.”

“Agree to be, ah,... your apprentice?”

Miriam nodded once. Her eyes bore into Cathy again trying to read behind them, but all she could sense was turmoil.

Now Cathy wore dilemma in her eyes. She looked down at her furry bundle and a fresh wave of love overcame her reason. She would do anything to make it last forever.

“Yes,...... yes I will.” she murmured as if from a deep trance.

Miriam grabbed her by the arm and roughly pulled her to her table. She recovered an ornate wooden box covered in dust and cobwebs from a shelf and inserted her taloned fingernail into the keyhole. The lid jumped open and inside, on red velvet bedding, lay two identical ornate metal devices.

“We must be fast now. Give me your hand.” Miriam did not wait for Cathy’s befuddled mind to comprehend. She pulled her free hand open and rested the implement in her palm. A crescent shaped blade neatly fit around the base of her middle finger. The other end formed a graceful curve that nestled perfectly in the base of her palm. Miriam folded her fingers over into a tight fist and took the other knife in hers.

“There can be no hesitation. Your commitment must be absolute. You forfeit your heart finger to sanctify your oath,... to me, to her,...” looking down at the kitten, “... and to yourself!”

Cathy’s eyes slowly widened with dawning comprehension as the sharp blade was already biting into her skin. Blood beginning to ooze from between her plump digits.

“Aaah,... I’m not so sure.” Cathy furrowed her brows in nervous hesitation. “... what if I,... can’t do it.” she squeaked.

“Its already too late! Walking out of here is no longer an option. Your fate was placed in the balance when you disturbed my peace with your dead cat, and you sealed it shut when you birthed that,...” glancing at her baby. “…. The die is now cast, and my potion demands a sacrifice,... NOW!”

…Do it, do it, NOW!

…If she pulls back, I’ll be left with no choice,...

…I know, but she’ll do it,... she must!...

…if she resists she must be cast in with that thing!... And she doesn't look like an easy one to cast,.. anywhere!...

…She’ll do it, she’ll do it, do it now! Do it fast!

A glimmer of inevitability flashed in Cathy’s gaze which was all Miriam needed.

She grabbed Cathy’s fist and locked her knuckles to her own, and with one powerful jerk forced them together. The blades sliced effortlessly through flesh and bone till they met and locked together. The two digits fell to the ground.

Cathy roared in pain and mashed her hand into her blouse to staunch the bleeding. Miriam quickly retrieved them and tossed them into the cauldron. The liquid immediately bubbled and a new cloud of vapour rose from its depths. Miriam leaned over and deeply inhaled.

When she arose, something had dramatically changed. Cathy recoiled in fear holding her baby close. Miriam stretched her hands out and began to giggle manically. Her hair stood straight out, the end of each strand glowing and sizzling. The whites of Miriam’s eyes gave way to her growing irides which morphed to a pale glowing alabaster with pupils that pulsated with an ominous rhythm. The skin of her face rippled and the veins of her neck thumped in time with her heart. She slowly dropped her gaze till it met Cathy’s with a hungry intensity.

Cathy held up her hand. “My finger!”

“Fear not my young apprentice. We will teach you to grow a new one because I do believe the gods have taken a special interest in our union.” Miriam boomed with a new and invigorated tone.