closed starter for @notsonormalhouse
It had been a restless night. Maybe it was the exhaustion from the moving, carrying boxes up and down staircases, cleaning the attic and all the effort that had put her body in some sort of tiredness trance and kept it from relaxing completely. But that letter kept coming to her, in her dreams. A hidden chant, “for you to read it out loud”, the picture of a man in his thirties, maybe forties. How long had that thing been forgotten in one of those dusty boxes? Even to a witch that sounded like someone’s joke to try and scare new tenants. Still, the imagine of the envelope kept appearing in her dreams, the feeling of the thick paper on her fingertips. Marinna woke up with a soft gasp, breathless as she had been about to open the envelope again in a dream haze. They remained there, envelope, letter and picture, all resting against her lamp on her nightstand.
The witch moved slowly, stretching her legs first and then her arms, widely, until they bumped onto something. Someone. Marinna’s neck snapped just in time to see a man laying her to next on her bed. “Oh sweet baby Hercules.” She never jumped off of bed as fast in her entire life, nearly crossing the room as she stood against the wall staring at the strange figure in her bed. “Who the hell are you and get out of my bed before I curse your sorry ass, sir.” Absolutely lame threats, of course, but the shock was much too great to help her think of anything better at the moment.
he had been bold back in his time, reckless, too proud to listen to his friends and family, to their pleads that getting involved with such a powerful witch would only bring him misfortunes. the whole town was scared of the woman who lived on the hill and her magnificent house but mateo had been drawn to it since the first moment his eyes laid of the bizarre architecture. he had been equally enamored by its owner, with her long dark hair and matching eyes and that smile that seemed to stop time. he knew, because he had heard the whispers, that he wasn’t the only one fascinated by the female. but she was different, didn’t follow the rules and therefore was outcasted, pushed away and warned to stay on her part of the town, to not mess with the villagers. then the whispers started, some said they had seen her performing strange rituals at night, others claimed that she had a black cat that talked... and in no time the word witch was associated with her. back then mateo had thought it was just old wives’ tales. antigona had been nothing but nice to him and soon he fell for her spell. but it wasn’t until he moved in that the woman started showing her true nature. she was cruel. brutal. had little to no regard for others. and the illusion that had been clogging mateo’s mind slowly vanished. but he was trapped. antigona wanted him and she always got what she wanted. it took him months of captivity to finally come up with a plan; the witch wanted an heir and he was there to provide with it all he had to do was spill one of her potions into her drink and wait. by the time she woke up, he would be long gone. but antigona found out and driven by rage cursed him to stay the house he so loaded for the rest of eternity unless someone were to free him. all he could do before being taken into the picture was to write the quick letter.
he had lost hope anyone would find it a couple centuries ago. no one seemed to stay long enough to check the old antiquities on the attic. mateo had accepted he would spend the rest of eternity locked in a picture when he saw her, the blonde woman with kind eyes. excitement running through his veins, he silently begged her to read out loud. and she did. she freed him. it felt so weird having a body again.
“my apologies,” he began, jumping off of bed just as quick as she had. “it was not my intention to scare you but i’m afraid two centuries of confinement leave you extremely tired. and i couldn’t find any other place to rest. i apologize if my audacity has offended you but i swear for my life i meant no harm.”
