Chapter 6

Gene brushed the angry tears from her eyes as the she rode hard upon her horse. The wind whipped her flowing raven hair behind her and Disturbance, glad to finally be out of the barn, ran harder than he had ever run before.

She was tired of people using her. She was tired of being trod upon as if she had no feelings. It seemed the harder she tried to please people, the harder her own disappointment.

She leaned even closer to Disturbance's neck and inhaled deeply of his earthy, horse smell. It had always soothed her before, to run at this kind of breakneck speed with the pounding of the horse's gait vibrating through her body. If she closed her eyes and concentrated on feeling the wind swooshing past, she could almost pretend like she was flying.

She did that now, letting Disturbance pick the way, and pretended briefly that she was a bird. Perhaps a red-breasted robin or a white-spotted starling, some little bird free to fly away into the heavens whenever she chose. Gene wished she could be that free, to do as she pleased, to go where the wind took her. But it seemed her destiny was not meant to be that free-spirited. She had few choices in her life, and it had always seemed easier to just make the best of whatever life dealt her.

So she would do that. She would free Popo from the curse, maybe Leah as well, if she could be reasoned with. She would help them and leave them to deal with their lives; and perhaps they, in their gratitude, would promise to leave her be.

When she opened her eyes again she noticed that she was coming to the line of trees that marked the beginning of the forest. The wind had carried the last of her tears away and she pulled on the reigns to slow Disturbance down.

Having been there not too long ago, Disturbance was more than aware of the path they were headed for. With a light spring in his step, he jauntily made his way into the cool wall of shade inside the forest. Without stopping at the spot where the spring seemed to bubble up from an up cropping of rocks, he followed his nose to the little oasis they had visited the last time. The horse mind may be a simple mind, but it was more than capable of remembering where the sweetest new grasses he had ever tasted were.

Gene let him have his way, as he seemed to know where he was going. She instead concentrated on getting out of the way of any overhanging branches that may have been before her on the path.

When they reached their destination, Gene jumped off Disturbance and began walking up the hidden pathway where she had first come upon the enchanted gnome. Disturbance, for his part, left his mistress to her own devices as there seemed to be even more sweet grasses than the day before.

With the adrenaline from their ride rushing through them, neither noticed the deathly quiet that seemed to settle about them like a deep and dense fog; neither noticed that the squawking, singing birds and chipmunks and squirrels were strangely absent from the sheltered little glen.

When Gene got to the large moss covered tree that had once contained an upsidedown gnome on a magical string, she spun around looking for any sign that Leah might be near. Finding nothing but trees and bushes as her companions, she let out a frustrated sigh and plopped herself down under the shady branches of the tree.

'What am I going to do now?' she wondered. 'How am I supposed to find a witch in a forest that is easily the biggest in all the land?'

"Hello!!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Cupping her hands around her mouth for more projection, she tried again: "HELLLOO!!"

Nothing.

Lifting her legs up so that she could wrap her arms around them, she leaned forward and hugged her knees to her chest. She leaned forward so she could lay her head upon her knees and decided to just take a moment to relax and enjoy the silence.

Had she stayed close to Disturbance she probably would have been warned. Instead, her beast lifted his head from his tasty snack, snorted, and stomped his massive hooves in fear. His eyes rolled up into his head and he gave a low whinny trying to warn the mistress he could no longer see.

"What's the matter my dear?" asked a rusty and cracking voice next to her ear. Gene looked up and gasped in shock as she looked into the milky white eyes of the Crone. The witch was sitting right next to her, almost touching her.

Gene's body was paralyzed in fear! She could do nothing but gulp past the lump in her throat as the crone reached up and gently began caressing her head.

The texture of the old witch's hand was dry and crackled; as a result of this, a few strands of Gene's silky hair seemed to cling to the cracks in the flesh of the crone's palms. Back and forth she stroked, in an oddly soothing manner.

"What's the matter my dear?" she asked again. This wasn't the sweet voice of a doting grandmother. This was the sound of worn vocal cords attempting to pass air into some semblance of coherent sound; it was scratchy and rough and low, as if it had not been used in a really long time. It was the sound of worn death, and it sent chills down Gene's spine.

Back and forth the crone continued to stroke.

Gene swallowed hard again past the lump in her throat and attempted to make some sort of response. It was eerie how the crone seemed to be looking right into her very eyes, but the pupils were clouded over in blindness; it was the sensation of evil looking into her very soul.

But she was confused. The crone was doing nothing to warrant such fear from her. In fact she seemed to be trying to sooth her in some odd manner. Shaking herself free off creepy sensations running up and down her spine, she cleared her throat loudly and managed to croak out, "nn-... noo."

"Tsk, Tsk," replied the crone in her cackling rough voice, as she continued to stroke Gene's hair. "Shouldn't be yelling like that in the woods, don't know what you might call to you."

Gene couldn't tear her eyes away from the blind stare of the crone. She was starting to feel an odd pull from the witch, as if she was losing control of a little bit of herself. "I... I w-waas... Ahem... I was looking for you, Leah", she managed to get out of her paralyzed vocal cords.

"HAHAKAKAKA!" Cackled the crone in laughter. "Why would you, such a young and pretty thing, be looking for such trouble?"

Gene could understand what the witch was saying. The words were going right to her mind and she was becoming more frightened by the second. But for some reason her body seemed to be relaxing despite her paralyzing fear. She felt like she was melting into the white milky pools of the crone's eyes.

"Did you really kill your baby in exchange for magic, Leah?" Gene sighed. The words were easier now as she felt her body melt into the liquid white pools of Leah's blindness; she had an overwhelming urge to let herself go and fall asleep here in the arms of the witch.

"That's an old story girl. No I didn't kill my child in exchange for magic," replied the cackling crone. She continued to stroke the girl's hair, back and forth, back and forth; its soothing motions hypnotized the girl into a deeper and deeper trance.

Gene smiled a weak and relieved smile at the words of the crone. Maybe, the fairy tale was true and the crone was just as much a prisoner of the curse as Popo. Maybe she wasn't as bad as the "little prince" made the witch out to be. Gene, even in her befuddled state was warmed at the notion that perhaps Leah would let her help them both from the curse.

"No. I gave my virginity to the Lord of the Demons long before I ever had that mewling brat, in exchange for magic, girl. The boy, 'cause it was a boy, I killed for vengeance against that bastard Patrick; I did it because he managed to escape before I could talk him into marrying me. He didn't know it girl, but he was going to be King, the Demon Lord himself told me so!"

Gene tensed up as the crone's word's hit her sluggish brain! 'What?' she thought to herself. But she was unable to resist the pull of crone's eyes and her body quickly relaxed again as she was pulled further and further into her trance.

"Tell me girl," asked the crone in her evil croaking voice. "Why did you seek me out?"

"For Popo," she sighed.

"Who?" cackled the crone.

"Popo, Patrick." Gene replied as her head fell forward almost smashing into the crone's bony lap.

As for the crone, she continued to stroke the girl's head thinking about what that statement meant. When she heard the girl moan as if she were trying to shake herself out of her stupor, the crone leaned down and whispered in the girl's ear, "somnus parvulus", which was "sleep child" in Latin.

The words were the last thing Gene heard before she lost consciousness.

When Gene went limp, the crone pulled the girl up so she was lying face up in her lap. She searched through one of her deep pockets, past her found treasures of shoe's and stalkings, and found the blade she kept there.

She reached with her other hand and felt for the stays of Gene's dress. Yanking them loose, she pulled the gaping front of her gown down until the girl's breast's were exposed. She could feel the soft and supple skin on the girl's chest, and she briefly remembered a time when her own scrawny, wrinkled and sagging chest had not resembled empty balloons.

The brush of the cracked and rough skin of the witch's hand, combined with cool air of the shady forest, was enough for Gene's nipples to pucker up into hard little pebbles.

The Crone tweaked them once, enjoying the sensation of young firm skin beneath her hand. Then she took the blade and ran the sharp edge down the valley formed between Gene's breasts. It was a deadly little caress that did not break the skin. Yet.

The crone felt with the little knife for the moment when she reached a portion of skin that was not barred by the underlying bones of the girl's ribs. Then without thinking twice about it, she lifted her wrist and brought it down again, stabbing the unconscious girl once in her soft belly.

Gene, despite being unconscious, grunted in pain.

Lifting the little blade up till it was close to her face she sniffed it, noting the sweet and tangy smell of the girl's blood, virgin blood. She decided to give into temptation and taste it. What was the harm now, she figured.

Closing her eyes and placing the flat of the knife on her tongue, she wiped off the blood there in one wipe.

The moment the sweet coppery fluid touched her tongue Leah felt a tingle curse through her body. She instantly felt some of the tension ease from her worn and old body.

When she opened her eyes she found that the world before her was clear once more! She could see!!

She gasped and looked at the girl in her lap. She saw for the first time the raven locks and pretty tanned face, the red pouting lips and cute little nose, the slightly freckled skin of her chest and pink protruding nipples.

"What the-?" even her voice sounded younger!

Looking down at her hands she noticed that her skin looked slightly fuller and just a touch less crackled.

Leah quickly pressed her hand to the little wound she had inflicted and rubbed until her hand was covered in blood. Then she brought it back to her mouth and proceeded lick it clean.

Every taste, every drop of blood that cursed through her body seemed to bring a spark of life back into her withered and aged body! This could only mean one thing!! The girl sitting there across her lap was in love with that bastard!! And she was a virgin

"How the hell did that little fucking gnome get a girl to love him?" she asked herself.

Quickly shoving the unconscious girl off her lap she sat up and kneeled so she was sitting beside the girl's entranced form. It was a gift from the King of the Demons himself!!

Not wanting to kill the girl until she could be used as bait against Patrick, she set out to draw as much of the magic blood as she might from the little cut on the girl's stomach. Leah happily slurped and sucked, growing younger and stronger every passing second!

Popo was panting by the time he reached the edge of the forest. He didn't have much time left. Darting through the tree's he was momentarily startled when disturbance came crashing in his direction, without it's mistress.

Popo changed to a gnome and called to Disturbance. The beast was frantic and all it could repeat, in its horse tongue was "evil, the girl, evil, trouble!"

Popo tried to ease Disturbance as best he could, which was certainly difficult considering he was frantic with worry for its mistress.

"Stop you beast and listen to me. I'm weak, but we need to find her so I can help her!" he finally yelled at the top of his lungs.

Disturbance shook his head, but understood. Coming close to Popo it clumsily began to kneel on his front legs, the back legs following suit when he could kneel no further on just the front legs, so that he was low enough for the gnome to climb on his back.

Popo smiled in gratitude and the horse's consideration, and said, "thank you beastie, thank you!"

When he was settled atop the horse, Disturbance stood back up, shook his mane and began running back towards the clearing. Not knowing where to go, he stopped and waited to for the gnome to give him a direction.

"Straight ahead... there by the fallen log, beastie", directed Popo.

Together they crashed into the hidden path until they came unto the most unusual sight; there, in the middle of the path, were a couple of entwined female bodies. It almost looked as if they were having a little Sapphic fun, except that one of those figures was the partially nude, and fully unconscious, body of Gene!