Palindrome
The s

The man stopped singing and lifted his head in slow motion, almost like he was very tired or cold. His eyes – Natan`s eyes, were dull, lacking life. He made a grimace, almost a sneer.

“What do you have in store for me now? Fucking misfits, just leave me alone. If you haven’t broken me yet, you never will. Just kill me.”

The sound of his voice hit my heart like an axe, slicing it in two, leaving it bleeding all over. It was him, but it wasn’t him. He seemed hollowed out, I couldn’t imagine all the horrors he must have been through. I got closer to the gap, getting on my toes. How could I convince him it was me, and not another trick from the Adamson`s?

“Natan?” I swallowed and tried again with a stronger voice.

“Natan, it`s me, it`s Hannah.”

He lifted his head and looked at me with a grim smile around his mouth.

“Oh, getting creative now, are we? How did you replace out about Hannah?”

Tears rolled down my cheeks, “Natan, it`s really me. The song you were singing, Come Josephine, you sang it to me the day we were out on the swing, and I wanted you to push me so I could pretend I was flying. Remember?”

It broke my heart when I saw he struggled to kill the hope that lighted up in his eyes, like a man in the desert seeing a Fata Morgana too many times. Natan shook his head fiercely and closed his eyes, holding his hands over his ears. Could I continue without breaking him? Could I even get him out of here? I examined the door; it was locked of course. I needed a key, and George wouldn’t just leave it hanging down here, he probably had it with him. None of my spells would work, and the door was too thick for me to even consider breaking it down. I needed to get out and get help. The thought of leaving Natan now that I`d found him was soul-shattering, but there was no other way. I put my hand on the bars, “Natan, I have to get help. I PROMISE I will get you out, I PROMISE I`m coming back.”

His blank eyes stared my way, but there was no sign of recognition. He was blocking me out, probably the same way he`d blocked out all the previous attempts of torture.

A chill wandered over my body when he finally spoke.

“Oh, I know you`ll be back, You always come back.”

He leaned back and once again I heard the song.

Come Josephine, in your flying machine…

I took a hesitant step back, I had to push all emotions aside. I had to save him, but first I had to save myself. When I got out, I could get help from more witches, and get Natan out of the dungeon.

Did William know about this? I had kept the thought a bay, but now it forced it`s way in. He must, mustn`t he? A memory flashed before my eyes, me getting dressed after our first night together, and William touching my tattoo – wondering what the sigil meant. His silence when I explained it stood for safekeeping of family spoke volumes now. Right, forget that now. It helped me end up here, so I could replace Natan, I had to forget about the rest.

Which way out? I tried another door, stressed by the sound of Natan`s singing in the background. Locked. Another one, locked. Should I go back to the room I came from? I was nearly at the end of the corridor when I saw an opening without a door, the black square appearing out of nowhere in the badly lit end. I held out my torch and saw stairs going up, the steps made of roughly cut stone. The Goddess was silent, or her voice didn’t reach down here, all I had was myself, I hadn`t realised how much I`d grown accustomed to her guiding me. I concluded that I didn’t have a choice, I needed to get out and this looked like a way bad as any. I took a deep breath and cast a painful last look down the hall to where I knew Natan was. I was going to save him, I had to.

The way up was long, I had to be deep below the ground. There was an echo, making me flinch every now and then when it sounded like someone else was coming up or down the stairs. I stopped and listened, but it was only me. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I reached the top. There was a small landing, with one door in front of me. Good, saved me the agony of having to choose. It was first now that I`d reached a warmer place I noticed how cold I`d been, my feet hurt when they started to thaw. The white dress they had put me in was thin, almost see through, shaped like a night gown. Was it some kind of ceremonial dress? I was aware I was stalling, dreading what was on the other side of the door. Would I be walking right back into Jafet`s cold, dry hands? I leaned silently forward to peep into the keyhole, there wasn’t much to see, a chair and a table, some bookshelves. There had to be some light in the room, since I could see inside. Was he waiting for me? Did I have a plan? I tightened my grip on the torch, wishing it was a sword instead. What if the door was locked? I shook all worries off me and blinked fast three times. I knew by experience that I could use spells in the rooms in the mansion, meaning the Goddess could help me on the other side of the door. I had to trust her, and myself.

I put my hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly. There was a small click, and the door opened towards me. My whole body was in highest alert, waiting for someone to jump through the door and attack me, but no one came. The only sound was the crackling from the open fireplace warming the room. I had to move fast; my luck wouldn’t last all night. I sighed when the warmth from the fire hit me, making my numb body tingle when the blood warmed up. I was reciting a protection spell in my head, now that the black obsidian wasn’t hindering my magic.

“So, there you are. The lovely Hannah. So nice to finally meet you awake.”

I dropped the torch, the strange voice crackled of old age. In a deep chair in the corner sat a very old man, with long, grey beard and bald head. He held a cane in his hands, made from a piece of odd-looking wood. The man stood slowly, the joints complaining, he leaned heavily on the cane. My body was frozen in a whole different way, panic hit me. The man was taller than it had seemed when he was sitting, the beard reaching him to the knees – the woollen, grey robe swinging softly around his legs.

I fought the urge to curtsy, and straightened my back instead, screaming for help in my mind. The power from this Beast was blasting towards me, making my skin itch.

Just stand still. He feeds off fear.

My knees weakened by relief. She was back.

Let him talk, do not respond to anything. You need help.

The man took a step closer, he smelled like dust and iron. What did she mean by “You need help”? Who was going to help me here? My heart tightened by the thought of William, what if he walked through the door and swiped me away? No place for romantic daydreaming now, I focused on the things I knew were real.

“Hannah, I have been waiting for you. You know, we are actually related, way back of course. I can see some of grandmother Eve in you, she and Lil looked so much alike. There aren’t many of your bloodline anymore, a rare treat for me to have you walking into my arms.”

Noah.

I opened my mouth to speak but recalled the warning from the Goddess and closed it again. His words had stirred something in my mind. Lil. I was going to invoke her, to ask for help, before all this happened. Could I manage an invocation here? I had never done it without massive preparations, but I had done the meditation, and the fasting without planning on it, since I was kidnapped. I knew the words, but I had to do it without casting a circle, the number one rule to doing safe magic. But did I have any choice? If I could invoke her, make her tell the old patriarch that she didn’t have a spell, then this should all be good, right?

Noah put a warm hand against my chin, closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his big nose. He let out a sound of pure bliss, “Ah, the smell of undiluted magic.” His eyes popped open and met mine, the craziness in them shining through. “Do you want to know a secret?” He didn’t wait for my reply, I stood frozen as he sniffed my neck like a wolf waiting to tear into his prey. “I was planning on leaving the torture of you to William, but now that I`ve seen you myself, I think I`ll keep you. He can watch.”

I spoke, despite the Goddess’ words.

“Then you can just kill me right away, because I don’t know the spell. There ISN`T a spell, you have been obsessing over something that doesn’t exist.”

I spat out the words, but Noah just kept on smiling in an unsettling way.

“Oh, Hannah, I wish I could do that. But I can`t.”

The smile vanished and his eyes darkened. “The blood of the whore, and the magic behind your names protects you. We have never managed to kill one of the Palindromes and believe me when I say we have tried.”

¤¤¤