Chapter Thirty-One: Sadness and Sorrow
"You are strong, Maria. You are a DiPotere," said Miss Emmy.
Maria grunted. "A lot of good that did the rest of my family. My sister's dead, my mother lost the love of her life, people keep disappearing...what kind of a legacy is that?"
Emmy looked upon Maria with patience. "It's your legacy," she said softly. "The reason these horrible things keep happening is because of your power. Bella is destroying everything just to get her hands on the residue of that power."
"Oh, Miss Emmy," said Maria with a roll of her eyes. "Here we go again with powers and legacies and curses. Well, I don't want it. She can have it!"
"No, Maria," said Miss Emmy. "It's not yours to give away. Bella will never have your power, she can only cling onto a tiny shimmering bit of it. The DiPoteres are a strong family, they always have been. I'm sure that's why Bella hunted you down in the first place..."
Emmy had just turned to walk away when she heard Maria's voice in the tiniest whisper say, "That's where you'd be wrong." With a start, Miss Emmy spun around to face her young charge.
"What? What did you say?"
"I said that's where you'd be wrong, Miss Emmy. I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be rude, but this curse doesn't have anything to do with female power or great family legacies or any of that. It's just about revenge."
Emmy faced Maria, a look of disbelief just beginning to form. "How do you know that, Maria?"
"Bella told me a lot of things. I don't know now what was true and what was not, but why would she lie? She was going to kill me anyway."
"Bella would lie because that's what evil does, often for no reason at all. All evil is well versed in the art of deception, Maria," said Miss Emmy.
Maria paused for a moment and looked at Miss Emmy. "Well, this story was true," she said at last. "I could just tell. I know a lot of what Bella talked about was...well...made up to suit her own twisted ideas about things, but it all stemmed from one story, and that story is as real as anything I've ever heard."
Miss Emmy looked carefully at Maria. A strange distortion had come over the young woman's face. Emmy tried to read it, but the emotion kept slipping away. It was...it was fear. The young woman in front of her was terrified. "You'll tell me the story then," she asked.
"No," said Maria.
Emmy thought for a moment and sighed. Maria wasn't ready. She was still too afraid of Bella, too traumatized by all that had happened in her young life to think of anyone but herself. And in that moment, Emmy wouldn't ask more of her. The girl will be ready, Emmy thought, but only in her own time.
"I'm so sorry," said Maria, easily reading the hurt and frustration on Miss Emmy's face. "I love you and I trust you, but I'm just not ready to talk about all that's happened yet."
"Then I must go," said Emmy.
"What?" said Maria. "You're leaving? How can you leave me now? You know Bella's after me!"
"She won't harm you here, Maria. Whatever she told you on the phone was a lie. This place is sacred. Besides, someone is on his way to help you, to keep you safe."
"I don't want a stranger, Miss Emmy. I want you!"
Emmy could see Maria was beside herself with guilt, with grief, and with fear. Not pleasant emotions to have to come to grips with. She put her hand gently upon Maria's tiny shoulder. "Maria, you will get through this. I know you have it in you. I'm so sorry to leave now, but I've done all that I can do here, at least for now. I have other charges to attend to. I promise I will return, and soon."
Maria tried to smile through her sadness. "I know Miss Emmy," she said. "It's just...I'm so scared."
"Bella can't hurt you here," said Emmy. "I've made sure of that."
The heavy tension of sadness hung in the air as Maria walked Miss Emmy to her waiting taxi. The goodbyes were done and now there was nothing left to say. Maria knew there was nothing she could do to keep Emmy from getting in that taxi. The old Maria, Bella's Maria, would have found a spell to make Emmy stay, but that Maria was gone.
This Maria could only watch as Emmy walked away. Maria hung her head as the weight of her grief grew and grew. How will I ever get through this, she thought. How will I ever survive? Maria stood, motionless.
But even through the depths of her sadness, Maria could feel the sudden presence behind her. It was like a rush of energy sweeping into a too small space. Maria looked cautiously over her shoulder. An odd looking man approached, smiling and whistling.
"Hello?"
Tha man smiled, and Maria felt better, in spite of herself. "Hi," the man said. "Emmy sent me. You can call me Red."
"Okay," said Maria. "Well. Red." She sighed deeply. "I suppose I've stood out here long enough."
With that, Maria unceremoniously turned and walked away from Red, back toward Emmy's small shack. Red smiled, and followed.
(for some reason the prev * next links aren't working well, so on to Chapter Thirty-Two)
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