Silver and Vine

The clock read just past nine as we pulled up to the abandoned church near the edge of town. It was a mostly clear night sky, which I would have admired if I were at home. Instead, Ash, Julia, Rocco, and I received an urgent call from Cristela to meet. She isn’t what we would call a ‘friend’ since we only met her three months ago through Gabriel, our fellow witch enthusiast. We haven’t seen him all week, so the fact that she reached out to us suddenly must not be a good sign.

Exiting the vehicle, I notice Ash tucking his handgun in his pants behind his back.

“Oh, come on, Ash,” I said, rolling my eyes at his paranoia. “Cristela isn’t that scary.”

“No, but she is weird, Dana. And you know it,” he said in an aggressive but quiet tone.

The four of us approached the large wood and iron doors, feeling slightly intimidated by the scale and scarcity of it all.

“How the hell did she even get into this place? It’s been locked up for decades.” Julia asked.

“I’m telling y’all she’s a witch.”

“Dear God, Ash,” Rocco said annoyingly. “With how much time we spend in that damn shop, don’t you think we would have seen something?”

Rocco and I gave the doors a push, but to no avail until we realized we had to pull. This made a ton of noise, so the element of surprise was no longer an option. Only a few spider webs and random puddles as we walked closer to the pulpit; the church benches were scattered around as if a stampede had come through. The eerie quiet was interrupted by our own footsteps until the sound of heels hitting the stone floor grew louder in our direction. A dark figure stood near the first step of the pulpit, only to be illuminated by the moon in full glow through the broken church windows. It was Cristela, dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt, skirt, and boots.

“Friends…thank you for coming so soon,” she said with her hands together in an over/under position.

“Not your friends,” Ash snapped back. “Now, tell us why you brought us into this empty ministry to cast a spell on us.”

“I’m not here for games. I’m here for Gabriel. I think he is in trouble.”

Julia stepped forward. “What kind of trouble?”

“What do any of you know about the Curse of Claudia and the Master?” Cristela asked us.

I knew everything about this curse. It was Gabriel and my favorite story. Long ago in this region lived a wealthy duke of no name from England. He left his homeland to build a manor in the original thirteen colonies. He brought many possessions across the ocean, but his most useful possession was his servant, Claudia. She worked for the duke since she was a little girl. He cared for her like a sister, but she was deeply in love with him.

The obsession and jealousy Claudia had over the duke grew over time. Any chance he fancied another, that potential lover would somehow disappear or decline any further interaction from him. There was one woman, however, who caught his eye and didn’t fall for her threats. Claudia knew that if the duke were to marry her, she would surely be fired or replaced soon after. So she searched deep in the forest one day for a rumored witch who was known for cursing men. A bracelet of silver and vine was given to her, with the instructions that whoever she gave it to, along with a kiss, would fall madly and violently in love with her.

This was perfect in her eyes, and sure enough, months later, the woman and the duke were to be wed. On the day of, Claudia went to his room where he got ready and gave him the bracelet of silver and vine, kissed him on the cheek, and walked away. Shortly after, the duke emerged wearing it and kissed her passionately. His bride-to-be saw and confronted them with tears and rage radiating out of her dress. Then suddenly, the duke grew enraged and turned into a ferocious black canine beast. He slaughtered his bride limb from limb.

This drew the attention of guests in attendance who were horrified by the sight and sounds, but they could not escape the bloody, violent beast, which killed every single one of them. The bracelet he wore slipped off his wrist, and he reverted to his normal self. As the duke witnessed what he had done, Claudia came to comfort him, but he had figured out who was really responsible. His anger made him choke the life out of her, but not before she put the bracelet back on him. The duke reverted to the ferocious canine beast and escaped into the forest, embodying the living curse.

The superstition of the curse, as it is known in the present, goes as follows:

Any man who wears the bracelet of silver and vine will become the black canine beast and hunt any female that he comes across or is attracted to. He can only be freed if he is killed or if the bracelet is removed from his body.

Any woman who comes in contact with the bracelet will become obsessed and loyal to any male they has strong feelings for. The male will then be cursed to become the black canine beast, and the female his servant to assist him in the hunt. She can only be freed if the male is killed or the bracelet removed.

Now, just because I knew this story doesn’t mean I was going to admit my full knowledge of it. I've been nice to Cristela, but I still didn’t know how weird she actually was til now.

“Everyone in town knows the story,” Rocco answered. “Teens scared each other when they heard someone had a crush on someone else. What does this have to do with Gabriel?”

Cristela stepped closer to us. “I think he may have been cursed.”

“HA!” Ash couldn’t keep in his laughter. “See, I told you guys she's crazy.”

She stepped closer again. We could see that her eyes seemed dilated, which sweetened Ash’s allegations.

“I’m serious, friends. The last time I saw him and all this week, he has been acting differently.”

“We haven’t seen him either,” I said. “We all assumed he was spending his time with you.”

Cristela tilted her head at me with a speed I’ve only seen in horror movies. I could see the others flinch at her action, too.

“Dana’s right. You two have spent a lot of time together since you got introduced to us.” Julia said with a suspicious look.

“You two did start looking serious as time went on. I’m pretty sure y’all were already fuc…”

“What we do in private is none of your business!” Cristela snaps at Ash, cutting him off. Her voice bounced off the walls of the church.

“Cristela, we’re not trying to start…” Rocco tried to de-escalate the situation, but her glare towards him paused him.

“Not trying to start what, Rocco?” asked Cristela. “Trouble? The trouble is you four. In his life. Holding him back.”

All of our faces grew more fearful than when we arrived. Her instant change from calling us friends was unsettling. She continued angrily.

“I’ve seen all of you for who you are these past months. You all are selfish, cruel, and don’t deserve the title of ‘friend’ to Gabriel. Ash, you sweat brute. All those high school athletic activities, and you end up working as a grocery store bag boy. Julia, you deceiving harlot. You claim to be devoted to your religion, but we all know your knees work double duty on the weekends. And Rocco, daddy’s favorite worker. You had every opportunity to leave this hellhole, and you coward out with the excuse of being there for your father.”

There was utter silence from all of us before she turned to me.

“Dana, Gabriel actually likes you,” Cristela said as her jaw clenched at the words. “That’s sweet and all, but…I can’t accept that, unfortunately.”

She walked back into the moonlight as we all just looked at each other. I wondered if we all thought of ways to kill this girl.

“Well, do y’all agree with me now?” Ash asked, pulling out his handgun. “Funny how you were so concerned with his whereabouts just seconds ago.”

“Yeah, girl, seeing that we aren’t friends anymore, you trying to fight in front of God or outside?” Julia stepped forward and began taking off her earrings.

A quiet childish laugh came from Cristela as she rolled up her sleeves, revealing the bracelet of silver and vine on her right wrist. I couldn’t believe it. Not only was the story real, but this bitch had it on.

“Well, one, I guess I could have tried harder with the deception. And two, I’m not actually a fighter.” She said in a sweet voice. “But he is. Right, Gabriel?”

Just then, a large shadowy figure appeared from behind Cristela. Its eyes were devilish red, and as it entered the moonlight, we could see its huge wolf-like claws. It growled from the base of its throat the longer it looked at us. This was truly the beast, and even worse, it was our friend.

“This isn’t possible. Dana?” Rocco’s voice was shaking. “This can’t be real?”

“It’s us, Gabriel.” Julia pleaded.

“There’s no point in begging.” Cristela sassily said. “I think all four of you should be wondering how you didn’t see this coming. Y’all really should have paid more attention to your ‘friend’.”

Ash fired a shot at the beast with no hesitation. That just pissed it off, but it didn’t charge. Cristela stroked his mane, shhing to calm him down.

“It’s okay, my love. I know you’re hungry. Dana, out of respect for your friendship with Gabriel, I’ll give you a ten-second head start. The rest of you, do not make it too hard for him.”

“You can’t just keep him like your pet!” I yelled at her, which met with a growl from the beast. “I’ll go to the…”

“To whom…the cops? The creepy witch store owner? No one will believe you.”

An overpowering roar shook the old church as we all ran to the door. Ash shot what I can only assume was the entire clip of his gun before horrific screams came from his mouth. I was the first to make it to the door when the screams from Julia joined the sound of munching and feral breathing. With all my might and the running shoulder from Rocco, we got the door open. We full sprinted to the car when I realized Ash was the one who drove. In a split-second decision, I darted in the direction of town, not looking back at where Rocco was. I heard a loud thud against the car, followed by the sound of the beast feasting. The wind rushed past my ears, and tears streamed down my face as everything became a blur as I waited to become his next victim.