Protector of the Enchanted

Halloween house seems to be a mild way to describe the sight that greets us as we venture deeper into the pumpkin patch. There are pumpkins everywhere, and I mean everywhere. On top of wagons, wound around pillars, near water fountains, and imbedded into the very walls of the cottage at the end of the path. The path is generally free of pumpkins, which somehow makes it feel even eerier. Where in the world is this?

 

Coming to the end of the path, it becomes very clear that something strange happened to the cottage. For starters, it can hardly be called a cottage at all as all of the walls have partially caved in on themselves, the roof left in tatters. There’s a gigantic vine sprouting from the centre of the cottage, leading to somewhere further into the pumpkin patch. The vine seems to be a larger version of what’s attached to the pumpkins surrounding the cottage, an observation supported by the equally enormous pumpkin crushing the furniture inside the cottage.

 

Somehow, we come to an unspoken agreement not to go inside the cottage, it just doesn’t seem the right place to look.

 

“Since the writing mentioned patches,” I begin, “Maybe what we’re looking for is in the pumpkin patches.”

 

“I’m surprised you remember that.” Gem smiles as I shrug. “But you’re probably right.”

 

“But there’s so many pumpkins, how are we going to find the right one?” We all turn to look at Cylen.

 

“What makes you think it’s in a pumpkin?” Ryan questions.

 

“It would make sense wouldn’t it?” Cylen answers, “Why else would there be so many pumpkins?”

 

“That’s true…” Gem mutters, “But how would we find the right pumpkin?”

 

At her question, I find my eyes drawn back to the gigantic pumpkin vine, it can’t just be coincidental. “Maybe…” I let my eyes roam its length, “By following the vine leading into the patches like you would follow a rainbow to gold.”

 

“Seems a little too coincidental.” Ryan states shaking his head.

 

“Maybe, but what so far hasn’t been coincidental?”

 

“Touché.” He smiles slightly.

 

“Alright.” Gem grins, “Let’s follow the vine. It’s a start at least.”

 

In a manor in the woods, there sat a woman with a crown on her head, looking gleefully at the treasure in her hands. She’d done it! She had finally been able to acquire the tool that would change her fate. It had already done so once before, when that witch had helped her get to the ball like a fairy godmother.

 

The satisfaction she had felt when her stepfamily was locked behind bars for mistreatment was still there even after all these years. She had heard that her sisters were let go of on the account that they were proven to be innocent, but that was off little consequence. Honestly, she hadn’t even done anything to bring about the arrest. The foolish prince that she called husband had taken one look at their living state and jumped to absurd conclusions, not giving her a chance to speak.

 

Do not misunderstand, she did care for him. After all, you cannot stay married for so long and not grow some affection for the person, but he truly was a fool. As soon as they had received that message about a treasure that could help the kingdom, he had jumped at the chance to find it, even being willing to team up with others looking for the same treasure. Or rather, a treasure like theirs, there were seven of them after all.

 

However, as soon as they’d had it in their grasps, he’d confined himself in the castle, overflowing with guilt. He just couldn’t accept his own greed and the actions that took place in that moment. She felt it too, the guilt, but it was overshadowed by the joy she felt when she looked at the wand in her hand.

 

Somewhere in her mind she knew that what they had done was not right. But human nature rarely allows one to care for the fate of others until it’s too late. She’d admit one thing though, they should have done more for the ones willing to help.

 

Oh well. What was done had already been done, no time for regrets. Not when she had the fairy godmother’s wand, a tool even more powerful than the one that had changed her fate. She stretched herself in her seat, satisfaction making her body languid, only to sit upright as the roof shattered above her head. A massive pumpkin dropped to the middle of the room, almost crushing her with its weight.

 

She had managed to narrowly avoid that fate, but the wand had flown out of her hand in the panic. It glimmered in mid-air, a bright light illuminating the room as the walls of the manor changed. She watched in horror as the manor changed to a cottage, the pumpkin growing even larger.

 

The walls started collapsing in on themselves with a speed that left no chance to dodge. The wand stopped shining only to fly out the window, taking her with it. The last sight she saw was all her material possessions changing into pumpkins as she fell to her death.

 

“All these pumpkins remind me of Halloween.” The vine is a lot more expansive than I realised.

 

“What’s Halloween?” Right. Different world, different holidays.

 

“It’s a festival where people dress up and go out looking for candy.”

 

“What does that have to do with pumpkins?”

 

“Well, many people carve pumpkins and use them to decorate their homes.” Well at least from what I’d seen, there weren’t really that many opportunities for me to join the festivities.

 

“Did you ever do that?” Cylen asks, curiosity evident in his eyes.

 

I smile, “Once in a while.”

 

Using my sword, I cut the larger vines covering our path, Cylen moving them out of the way with his spear. He’d pulled it out when it became obvious that we weren’t going to be able to get through the pumpkin patches unless we had something to hold them back. I’ve honestly just given up on being surprised when I see evidence of magic, so that’s a win. God this is such a long walk.

 

We arrive at the end of the pumpkin vine only to find ourselves being faced with more pumpkins. My hand immediately goes to the bridge of my nose before I sigh and turn to the others, “Now what?”

 

“Maybe we should look inside each of the pumpkins…” Cylen once again suggests.

 

I nod, before going up to one of the pumpkins and slicing it in half with my sword. This action gets a muffled scream from Cylen, wide-eyed shock from Gem, and a face-palm accompanied with a chuckle from Ryan.

 

“What?” I give them an innocent look before continuing to slice the pumpkins, “This is the easiest way to search.”

 

“What…” Gem sighs, “What if the treasure is broken because of you cutting it in half?”

 

“Shouldn’t be that breakable.” I shrug, hearing another muffled chuckle from Ryan, his eyes turning into shining sapphires.

 

Eventually there’s only one pumpkin left, when I go to slice that one, it begins to glow. Cylen immediately pulls out his spear, looking like he’s expecting it to explode, Gem just facepalming beside him. When what I’m assuming is another ghost starts to manifest, I feel another presence next to me, his body once again tense.

 

This time the ghost screams as it takes in our faces, making me tilt my head as I look at the woman in front of me. At my look and the bewilderment that makes Cylen lower the spear, she clears her throat and somewhat tries to regain her composure. Although, her wide eyes and shaking hands aren’t going to fool anyone.

 

“You cannot take the treasure until you have heard my story, as it is key.”

 

“What?” Two confused voices behind me ask. Right. They weren’t there for the other creep.

 

With a sigh I shake my head, “Alright, we’re listening.”

 

My eyes go to the man beside me before I instinctively take his hand in an effort decrease the tension in his muscles. I don’t entirely understand why, but it hurts to see him like this.

 

The woman nods her head shakily before opening her mouth, “My story begins in…”

 

Deep in the woods, there was a manor home to a long line of merchants. For the past few centuries, its inhabitants had lived a peaceful life filled with joy and happiness. However, the current generation changed that, you see the master of the house was always away on what he said was a work trip, only coming home to his wife and daughter on rare occasions. He brought back gifts every time he came back, but everyone knew that these were only to assuage his own guilt.

 

He thought that no one would know what he was truly doing, underestimating the rumour mill of the town. His wife heard everything about his affair and how most of his ‘work trips’ were so long because he spent the time with another woman. It broke her heart but the love she had for him made her blind herself to this, trying for their daughter. She tried to shield her from this news as long as she could, but alas her growing ailments eventually made it difficult for to continue doing so.

 

Resentment grew in their daughter’s heart as her mother’s health weakened and her father was nowhere to be found. Her mother’s last wish for her to be happy slowly died because of that rage. It consumed her very being until there wasn’t any room for anything else.

 

She could not forgive her father. Not when only days after her mother’s death he married his mistress and legitimised their daughters. The dark emotions grew so strong that she attempted to poison her stepmother, only to find it was her father who drank the poison.

 

Poverty made those emotions grow stronger as the indifference her stepmother showed, and the pitying glances of her sisters made her more resentful. She had to clean her own home, sure the rest of the family had to as well, but it still added to the resentment.

 

The ball was a welcome change for all of them, a chance to escape from their everyday lives and revel in luxury. Yet she didn’t initially want to go. It was only when she saw the joy and anticipation on her sisters’ faces that she decided she would. If it was something that could bring such happiness, it was something worth going to.  

 

So, she tricked a wandering witch into helping her turn a pumpkin into a ride and change her clothing into ones befitting a princess. She danced the night away with the foolish prince before rushing home to gloat her victory. The prince came the next day and assumed the worst, she had told him her name and her address in their conversation.

 

He locked up her stepfamily and asked her to marry him, whisking her away to the palace. For a time, her mother’s wish for her to be happy came true and she her affections for the prince grew. However, it wasn’t enough.

 

Carrying so many dark emotions meant that there was no room for happiness. Not for long. Distance from her stepfamily had made her feel emptiness, the resentment gone with their misery. The hollowness left room for regret and guilt, it was her fault that they had come to a miserable end, and for what? The actions of one man.

 

Regrettably, the girl was too proud to give into these emotions, instead turning to power to squash them down. If there was no room for forgiveness, there was no room for guilt.

 

A quest sent by a messenger gave her the excuse she needed, her husband more than happy to go on a venture benefitting his kingdom. On that trip with six others, she found the power she was looking for at the expense of someone else. She ran home satisfied that she wouldn’t have to pay the price. Not knowing, in the end she’d have to pay it anyway.

 

Her prized manor turned into a cottage, overrun with pumpkins, and falling to death in the very place she held dear. In the end she lost everything and all that was left was the guilt. Now free from its entrapment, returning to swallow her whole.

 

In her last moments, she knew she would never be able to move on. A voice told her that unless she repaid her debt, she would forever be a ghost haunting her childhood home. She had repaid indifference with resentment, and now she needed to repay the kindness shown by strangers, in order to go back once again to the girl her mother called Ella.

 

As the ghost finishes her story, the speechlessness continues. I don’t have to look back at Gem and Cylen to know what they’re thinking. I imagine it’s much the same as what I am. Horror and disgust.

 

At who is still out for judgement. I don’t condone cheating but, as the saying goes, two wrongs don’t make a right. It was her own decisions that ultimately led her to her fate. The consequences of your actions aren’t something you can simply run from.

 

Even as we stand in silence, the ghost woman lingers, her body shaking with sobs. She looks us right in the eyes and bows her head, the sobs becoming more violent as she begins to speak.

 

“I do not believe I’ll ever be able to compensate the price of my sins.” She whispers, “However, I am willing to bow my head to whatever my fate is, for I know that I have deserved whatever it may be. A thousand years is a long time to drown in your emotions, yet I feel my apology is too little a payment for what I’ve done.”

 

She looks towards Ryan, or maybe it’s both of us, and falls to her ghostly knees. Almost instantly, a shimmer surrounds her body taking her to wherever it is she deserves to be. Most likely, a fiery pit.

 

Heaven, even when thought of as a concept, is no place for such wretched people. No place for someone who’d throw their family to the wolves for their own gain, when they’ve done nothing to harm her. I just hope she’s learned her lesson, or she’ll be in those pits for a long time.