Age 17
“Date le offerte a Lei poiche’ lei e’ la bellezza del bosco verde e la luce della luna fra le stelle ed il mistero che vi da vita, chiamate sempre noi e venite insieme nel sou nome. Fate che le vostre adorazioni a lei seguno I modi dentro il vostro cuore, poiche’ tutti gli atti di amore e gioie sono come I riti alla dea, ma tutti quelli che cercano Lei, sanna che cercando e desiderando non saranno compensiti fino a che realizano il regreto. Perchi tutto che cercate non potete travarlo se non e’ dentro di voi non la travete mai fuori di voi. Lei e’ stata con voi da quando l’avete sequita e vi aspettra’ fino alviggio della vostra fine!”
She lifted a huge sword up above her head and the wind picked up to its climax. A primal scream ripped out from her body and the spirits around her leapt and moaned her name. Another howl and they dispersed to do her bidding. Her face fell slowly to the floor, the sword dropped.
“Witches all, our night is ended.
The Spirits are departed into their strange lands…
The power about the circle are being drawn
Into the Abyss even as we watch.
To bend to my Will!
So be it.”
The child-witch dropped to her knees. The winds slowed and died and the howling of the spirits became only echoes. Now, the only sound was the girls breathing and Uncle Dattelo’s slow clapping.
“Almost good enough child.”
Wide eyes flickered up, near to the breathless speaker. “Almost?” Her form collapsed forward to hands and knees, defeated.
In a movement too fast for her mere mortal eyes, the girl’s uncle scooped her up into the air, her bare feet kicking the emptiness once before she knew where she was. “I push you because I care about you my sweet.” His dark eyes peered deep into her and a slow smile spread across his thick lips. “Can I put you down?”
She hesitated, instantly regretting it because then he knew he’d won her over again. “Yes Uncle…”
“How old will you be?”
“I’ll turn 18 next week Uncle.”
“Than you’ll be near old enough for the Last Kiss.”
“Yes Uncle.” Her heart started to pound.
“It excites you?” A strange expression of pleasure passed his cool features.
“You excite me uncle.” It wasn’t a lie. His looks were, perfect. His speech was, perfect. So why was it that everyone else in the family looked frightened when he was even mentioned in conversation she often wondered.
He laughed. “Of course I do. I enchanted you with my wickedness. Now… Tell me what was wrong with your Rite girl?”
The girl sighed long-labored and shrugged. “I miss pronounced the third name of the second watcher of the east. My voice didn’t inflect just enough when declaring the secret location of the home of Lares. I forgot the correct stance to hold during the final summoning. I’m just not very good at this. I’ve failed you again Uncle.”
He moved beside her again and put his huge hand to her cheek. “It’s only because I love you Bella Strega…” He smiled slowly again. “When you begin to work with real Wraiths, you will need to be stronger. You can not falter or they will consume you.”
She thought. “Like you consume me Uncle?”
He laughed once more. “Yes dear. Only, without the sex.” At that, a shutter ran through her. That night, Uncle Dattelo made love to little Modistina for the last time as a mortal.
Childhood
It wasn’t like they made it out to be in movies. For Modistina, it was never horrifying flashes in the dark. It was never veiled images of the grotesque that would vanish as soon as she got a good look at them. The Lares, as Mamma taught her to call them, were always there. Sometimes she would see them passing through rooms and people going about their chores. Sometimes they would stop her on the streets and beg her for help. They weren’t always horrible, continually wearing the mask of death. Sometimes they looked just like everyone else. It was only Servants that tended to look very mangled, and they never talked to Modistina, so she didn’t have to worry much about it.
The only ones that ever really bothered her were the children. Sometimes, Modistina would be out playing in the gardens of the estate. Pretending to summon the Lares like Uncle Datello had showed her. It was mostly then that the little ancestors would come; wondering glassy eyed through bushes and stonewalls.
“Where am I?” They would ask. “Where’s my mama? Where’s my papa?” Over and over till their little nonexistent voices rose to a cacophony. “I want my mama!” They would shriek, until Modistina would cover her her ears and run into the house and hide in one of the warded rooms. And even then, sometimes, she could hear their cries of “I’m lost” well into the night, until of the true Giovanni would go out into the yard and get rid of them.
Respect the Lares. Mama always told her. And put them out of their misery when there’s nothing else you can do with them.
Age 13
Tina tugged up on the ripped sleeve of her school uniform and ran the rest of the way up to the door of the estate.
“Strega!” They shrieked at her. “Malandanta!” A rock hit the dust by her feet hard. “We know what you did to Mike! We know you gave him the chicken pox! Strega!” Another few rocks flew from the crowd of school children and either hit her or hit close enough to her to frighten her terribly. None of the children were strong enough to throw a rock hard enough to hurt much more than her pride. However, to a Giovanni, the pride was a very dangerous thing to hurt. She whirled on them and suddenly the rocks stopped.
“How dare you!” Her little finger jutted out at the other children like a loaded gun. Her arm never wavered as she glared at them. “If I wanted to hurt Michael Geintano, don’t you think he’d be dead by now? How dare you come and beg me for help one minute and throw rocks at me the next! You!” Her finger cast its shadow across Sophia, a little blonde from the village. “Who removed your wart last month?” The finger moved again and it’s shadow fell over Don, his green eyes going wide. “And you! You wanted love oils for the dance next week? Forget it!” She waved her finger across the whole group of them. “I’ve done nothing but try to help all of you. I’ve never done anything to hurt any of you. For shame! A shame on you and your whole families. I will see to it, you mark my words; you will never again know aid from my family or me. I will remember you, and your children, and your children’s children. None of you will ever receive my help again. I hope you all get what’s coming to you.”
The whole crowd, acting as one child, backed up and ran away crying. Modistina, for her part, watched them go, then eventually collapsed to her knees and cried herself. In time, her mother stepped out and picked her up off the ground.
“I hate them Mama. I hate those stupid little people.”
Her mother sighed, cleaning the blood from her daughter temple where a rock had grazed her. “They hate you because you’re different. Someday, maybe, they’ll understand how really different you are. Then, you will own them. Come on bambino, I wash you up. I think Uncle will be around tonight.”
Age 14
“Lean forward Tina.” The girl did just as her mother instructed. She shifted forward in the bathtub, wrapping her arms tighter around her knees so her mother could look more closely at the criss-cross wounds etched into such young flesh. “Some of this will have to be stitched.” Her mother motioned to a cousin who waited quietly in the doorway to the bath. “Go and get me needle and thread, and let some light in here, please. I cannot do this in the dark.”
“I’m sorry mama.”
Her mother sighed low and shrugged. “He didn’t kill you. For that we must all be thankful.”
“I’m just not good enough.” Little sobs broke through the stonewall the girl had erected to seem strong.
“Shush… Now don’t be silly little one. You have a gift like this family hasn’t seen in three hundred years. Your Uncle is right to train you so young.” She paused and added. “I only wish he wouldn’t beat you quiet so much.” Her mother glanced around once after saying it.
“We’re alone Mama. For now anyway.” The girl drew in sharply as her mother cleaned the fresh wounds. “Why is everyone so afraid of Uncle?”
Her mother shook her head. “I don’t know. Every family must have a patron. For the Giovanni of Naples, he is it. Maybe that’s it.”
Modistina frowned for a while and gripped her legs harder. Her mother started the slow process of stitching closed the wounds that would scar too badly if left as they were. “It is more than that I think. Even the older family. The ones who have been around forever. They frown when people talk about him.”
Her mother tugged on the string and nipped it off with sewing sheers. “You ask too many questions. That’s why you get beat. You go and behave, sleep on your stomach tonight. I don’t want to hear another word about all that.”
“Yes Mama.”
Age 15
Franky was two and one half years older then Modistina. He had been Uncle Datello’s student a year before she started. He worked hard for Uncle, however from the beginning of her trainning, it was clear there would be a rivalry between the two children for many years.
Franky was as handsome as Modistina was akward. Franky was as graceful as Modistina was stumbling. He was as smooth of tongue as she was stuttering and incompotent.
Fate has a sense of humor in these sorts of situation though, as Fate saw to it that Modistina was the better necromancer by leaps and bounds.
Age 16
“I don’t know what Uncle sees in you.” Modistina hissed at Frank as she got up to clear the table. Their Uncle had arranged dinner between the two of them. Modistina would have rather eaten ash than share supper with Frank, however what ever Datello wanted, Datello got.
“My charming good looks? The older boy grinned at her over his glass of wine.
“You must be drunk, you never smile at me.”
“No, your just not as ugly as you used to be.” He reached his hand out to her postierior, which she side stepped and hissed at him. “And not as graceless too.” He rose and took the plates from her hands.
“You don’t intrest me Frank. Back off, Dattelo would be enraged if he caught you behaving like this.”
“You really are an idiot.” Frank grinned and stepped forward, backing her agenst a wall. “Nieve little shut in trapped all the way up here in the mountains with only family to talk too? You’ve never seen the world. You’ve never seen anything at all. Datello brings me with him around the world. Datello lets me do what ever I want.” His hand lifted and open palm slapped into the wall by her face. “What ever it is I want.”
What he did next wouldn’t nessarly be classified as a kiss. Classicly, kissing involved some emotion, even if it was just lust or even hate. In this case, he pushed his lips slopply agenst hers just to see if he could. As it turned out, he could, and so he decided rather consiously to see how far he could go. He grinned agenst her lips and started to fuss at the buttons of her blouse. Her body reacted rather before her brain did. Her knee jerked up sharply and landed square in the place most gentleman prefer not to be struck. He recoiled back howling.
“You bitch!” His fist balled and struck her across the jaw with the expert of a boxer. Modistina crumpled to the floor, holding her broken jaw with one hand. “I’ll show you respect.” He undid his belt with one hand and snapped it out of it’s loops.
Someone caught the end and yanked back, causing Frank to skitter back across the floor. Dattelo’s form loomed in the door way, holding Frank’s belt in one hand. “You were stupid to try such a thing at night little boy.” Datello jerked back on the belt, pulling Frank twords him. He grabbed the boys hand and forced it into a ball. “Let’s see..” He examined the fist, easily dragging Frank across the floor twords where Modistina sat on the floor With a swift kick to the back of the boy’s knee, Franky was kneeling infront of Modistina. “Hmmm. Yes, looks like it fits.” Holding the fist up by the growing red welt on Modistina’s jaw. “That means you have struck her, doesn’t it?” Dattelo rose smiling.
“But Uncle, she kneed me in the…”
“It means you have struck her, doesn’t it!” It wasn’t a question this time. Frank shrunk back away from his master. “You have hit my Bella Strega.”
“You said I could do what ever I wanted! You told me to take what ever I wanted. You take her all the time, why can’t I?”
Modistina looked away so she didn’t see the blow that sent Frank flying across the room into a far wall. “That’s right, I do take her all the time. Which means she belongs to me.” Uncle shook his head, grimicing so that his teeth bared.
Modistina looked away again as she saw Dattelo’s fangs extend. This was going to be messy. “I had hoped you had some brains, Frank. I had hoped you could think for yourself. I had hoped you could understand things even when they are not said. Obviously, you can’t.”
Datello had crossed the room, lifting Frank up off the ground with one hand. “Pity I wasted so much time on you. I would have been better to raise a dog, at least a dog licks your hand when it humps you leg.”
There was a sick wet sound, Frank screamed for a long long time. When Modistina finally looked up, Uncle was tossing the empty body away like a used tissue and wiped his lips. “Are you alright? Did he rape you?”
“You know that he didn’t. You were watching the whole time.” Her voice was tight as she had to hold her jaw together still. With a little effort, Modistina used some of her Uncle’s borrowed blood to heal the bones.
“No.” His words were a whisper, he knelt in front of her brushing fingers by her jaw. “I didn’t know. I didn’t think that he would hurt you. I would never let anyone hurt you Bella.” She watched a trail of red run from the corner of his eye and down his cheek.
“No one but you Uncle.” She lifted her chin, untouched by his tear anymore than she’d been touched by the attack.
“You do not cry? You no longer fear me? Have I made you so cold little one?”
Modistina looked down. “You didn’t have to kill him, Uncle, he was valuble to the family. There was no need.”
Dattelo grimiced, rising. “I kill who I like. Tell me, would you have let him rape you? Would you have let him abuse you so because of me?”
“Family is everything Uncle. You taught me that.”
The elder vampire turned and put his fist through a wall. “Never that! Never ever that! No one should touch who don’t want you too. You must kill anyone who touches you without your permission. Do you understand me?”
This did cause Modistina to shrink, the rage in her Uncle’s voice was a new and terrifying thing to her. “I’m sorry Uncle.”
He growled, flinging the containts of the table with a sweep of his arm. “Don’t!” He stumbled away and let in a low breath. “Don’t be sorry.” He stumbled a few steps farther. “Go and clean up, I won’t see you tonight. I have to go kill some animals or something until I feel better.”
Modistina didn’t see her Uncle again for a month. Frank had no funeral.
Age 18
“To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silent.
Are the Four Words of the Strega
In order to Dare, you must Know.
In order to Will, you must Dare.
We must will to possess Empire
To reign, we must Keep Silent.”
She kept those words close to her heart as she passed the hallways of school that Monday. Not long till final graduation. Not long till she could leave these pitiful little creatures in the dust.
Something hit her in the back of the head.
A match. A lit match.
She paused in her footsteps, taking the burning match in one hand. Anger boiled up in her uncontrollably. She couldn’t stop herself. Couldn’t not show at least one boy how strong the Blood made her. She’d promised Uncle she would behave. But now, it was as if something else inside her moved her. As if she couldn’t stop herself from becoming a monster.
Leo only looked up at her trying not to laugh as she approached him. He was a waste to the gene pool and beyond redemption. With out a second thought, she lifted him up off the floor where he stood.
“Vorte tu apro Osa datea Lupercus! Orphae il athe daie aldus ayeo kae aeto. Nigla gai kiel nada omnae, arae il athe okri maedeta. Doma akaes lae il ba!” He didn’t have time to react before she tossed him like a doll down a set of stairs. She followed slowly after him, slowly as there was no rush. There at the base of the steps he lay unconscious. She reached into his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes and placed one in his mouth.
“Io anima mettere questo fuaco!” With those words, Leo went up in flames.
He got a whole page in the yearbook.
Whelpdom
Quietly, she whispered words of love out against her Sire’s bare chest.
“It’s lovely. You're lovely. The night does you well Bella Strega.”
She sighed, a week since the Embrace and she was still on fire.
“You know I will have to leave you soon?”
She bowed her head, pulling away from him. “I thought something as such when I heard you ordering me a car.
“I’m sending you to a little collage a friend of mine has his fingers in. You’ll continue your mortal education there at night. In between playing with the Kindred there of course.”
Her voice drooped against her will. “Yes, of course Uncle.” Neither one of them could deny it. The Embrace had changed her. Her feeding had changed her. She wasn’t cold enough any more. She wasn’t…. Cruel enough any more. “Your in danger, aren’t you Uncle.”
He glanced away, and then back to her. “Yes, I am.”
“Why? Because of me?”
He laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself. No. Because the others hate me.”
“Because your different from them? Because their jealous?”
“No, innocent child. Because I’m the evil they haven’t the courage to be.”
Her mind wanted to breath in sharply, her corpse could not. “Your not evil Uncle! Your kind enough to me.”
“I know.” He sounded… Upset. “You bring out the good in me Bella Strega.”
A smile crossed her lips. “I do?”
“Yes. Which is all the more reason to make you go away. You make me good, yes, but that makes me weak.” He smiled too, though not with the warmth she had.
Modistina bowed her head, a sob, than another followed. “Will I never see you again my beloved Uncle?”
It was now his turn to pull away. He rose and stood before an open window. His bare skin nearly glowing white in the moonlight. “Maybe when I’ve time to be good. Or perhaps, when you’ve turned away from it.”
“Must I long for you until then?”
“No. You must mix and mingle and have as many other lovers as you may. Mostly, you must never let a soul know how you feel for me. If they were to know of your love Bella Strega, they would brand you and hunt you as they will hunt me.”
She pulled the blankets up around herself. “Do you love me Dattelo?” For the first time, she spoke to him as a woman.
He turned to look at her. His eyes were forever black in his ashen face. “If I can love Modistina, it would be you.” In the movements she still couldn’t follow, he was gone and out of the room.
Age 2
“Souls upon the wind do ride.
Both good and bad from the other side
Take care to keep your mortal mind
Or on your own soul they may dine!”
The innocent little coven of witches cheered as she flung her hands up before her and the moaning stopped. The wind stopped, though this time not by magic as much as by luck. She smiled and they crowded closer to touch her, shake her hand. Each girl was proud to have such a beautiful and wise High Priestess. So pleased in fact, that none questioned why she could only be reached at night. No one wondered why they only saw her in the evening classes. In fact, no one ever asked why she never ate. They were far too much caught up in her spell.
They called her Bella Strega. She only cried a little inwardly by now when she heard the words.
Age 3
Modistina stood and wiped dirt from her mouth. There had to be easier ways to get her hands on bodies than lowly grave robbing. She climbed out of the grave and got her crow bar. With a little bit of work, she pulled up the lid of the redwood coffin and counted her blessings that she no longer had to breath. The release of gas from bodily decay was actualy visable in the night’s mist. As it happened, most of the flesh had rotted away. He must have been a health food nut, Modistina mused. Most peoples diet here in the states was so full of preservatives that decay took a much longer time. She decided in future, to take a closer look at the lifestyle of the people she was… borrowing…. From. This evening, however, she didn’t need flesh. The man’s hand bone would do. With a quick snap, she broke the hand off, stuffed it into a black plastic bag and went about her work cleaning up her mess.
If she was careful about it, and either chose fresh barials or the long long dead, she could dig up and reburrie as many bodies as she needed for her experiments.
Age 4
The buzzing of the cranial drill shut off sharply and Modistina stared down at body part she’d grinned through.
It was best not to think too deeply about what it was she did now. The number of souless bodies she’d torn apart in the hopes of some discovery. The amount of time she spent alone with the silent dead. Wraiths did not linger near her anymore. Even they felt uncomfortable around her now.
It was no matter though. She leaned in to start chizling out symbols and incantations onto the bone. She felt she was close, very very close Very close to branching out her studies to a new path of necromancy. The melding of dead flesh to living or at least animate flesh. Reanimation was only the first step. With just a little more work she was sure she could do it. She imagined armies of zombies with the ability to fly because of newly attached wings. Giovanni gifted, thanks to her, with extra arms, tails, anything they wanted without the use of damndable Vissisitude.
And of course, that wasn’t including the more magical aspect. Stories told of witches and sorcerers of antiquity who could implant the tongue of a long dead lier into the mouth of a new person and give them supernatural glibness. A hundred or more other stories attributed such talents to anchent necromancers. If the anchents believed the necromancers of old, who’s to say they were wrong? Modistina didn’t believe it was possible so many stories could be baseless.
She was determined to unlock these secrets. She had to for the Giavonni. She had to for Dattelo. After all, if she could prove herself this way, he had to take her back. She would once again feel his arms around her. She would maybe even feel his protection.
All she needed was more bodies and maybe a better place to work.
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