Chapter 21
Ben was awake and had fixed coffee when he heard Emma moving. She opened her eyes and watched as he bustled around the hotplate.
"What are you fixing?"
He smiled, "I think that you and Susan need something hot for breakfast. I had some oatmeal in the cabinet. I put some slices of apple and some cinnamon in it. I think that if I put a lot of sugar and milk in it, I can get Susan to eat it. If she won't, I'll fix her some eggs."
She patted the bed; " Susan won't be awake for a while. Put the oatmeal on the side for a while and talk to me."
He went over and sat on the bed. Emma looked at him for a long while before she spoke.
"I need you to tell me what it is that bothers you in the night and wakes you up so often during the night. You have to talk about it. You can't keep something that big bottled up or it will kill you."
He looked done at his hands, ashamed, "You wouldn't understand and even more you wouldn't believe it. You couldn't understand the things I've seen and had to do."
She looked at him defiantly, "Tell me about Ager."
He jumped up and he became so afraid that he couldn't talk. He went to the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of water. After he drank the water he continued to cling to the counter top. He did not trust his legs to hold him up.
She called him and motioned for him to come to her.
He sat on the bed, "He didn't come into your dreams last night did he?"
"No. You were arguing with him in your sleep. You were telling him to leave Susan and me alone. Who is Ager? Are we in danger?"
He took her hand, "His name is Ahgur, not Ager. I don't think he has any power over you and Susan. He was given to me as my demon. The curse is mine."
He started to get up. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him back on the bed.
"You have to tell me. I don't know why, but I know that this is something that you have been carrying around for a long time. You're a good man. Why this problem has been put on your shoulders, I don't know. I have a feeling that you have never told anyone about this. Am I right?'
He nodded his head. He had never told anyone about the curse. He knew that no one would believe him. He looked at her and he saw she was waiting for him to talk. Something in him knew that it was time to talk about the curse.
He got up and started into the kitchen area of the room. He got a sharp knife out of the drawer and went back to the bed and sat down.
"I want you to see something. I'm going to cut my arm. I won't be hurt, just watch the cut. Don't take your eyes off of it."
He told her what he was going to do because he was afraid that she would scream when he sliced his arm open. He got a few paper towels from the counter top and sat down on the bed again. He put the towels under his arm and put his arm in his lap. He drew the blade across his forearm. He put pressure on the knife and his arm was sliced very deep.
"My god, Ben you're going to bleed to death. Get a towel quick. Why did you do that?"
"Quiet, watch the cut. Don't take your eyes off of it."
She watched as the cut bled for a few seconds and then the wound pulled itself together and the healing process started. After about a minute and a half there was no sign that there had ever been a cut on his arm. She looked at him strangely, trying to understand what she had just seen.
"Emma, there are forces in this world that you do not know exist. What I am going to tell you will take some getting used to. If you don't believe me, I'll understand. If you feel that you have to get out of here right now, after I finish, I'll take you wherever you want to go. I was born in 1458 in England. I had an estate and I was a soldier for the King. My father was the head counselor to the King."
She put her hand on his arm, "Are you telling me you're over five hundred years old?"
"I'm five hundred and forty-four. I was not a nice person in my youth. My mother died in childbirth and nannies and my father's mistresses raised me. My nannies taught me about sex at a very young age. It was a different time; they thought that it would help them keep their job. If the nobles disliked you or were angry with you, you lost your job and your family starved. Because I had never been around decent women, I developed disrespect for all women. I used every woman that I could."
He told her everything that had happened leading up to the curse and everything since the curse was put on him. He left nothing out. Several times she gasped at the more horrible things that he had gone through. When he got to the curse, he stopped. He did not know if she could handle the description of the Master Of The Dark Shadows and the wizard's curse.
"What about the curse you said was put on you?"
"Emma, I don't know if you can handle that. I really don't expect you to believe what I have told you this far."
She traced where the cut had been, "After what I saw when you cut your arm open, how could I not believe you?'
"The wizard put a curse on me that he was not supposed to use. When he came to me in jail and put the curse on me, a horrible creature came to us and he cursed the wizard for using the spell on me. The spell is so powerful that it had never been used on anyone."
"What about the creature that put the curse on the wizard? Was that Satan?"
He paused, "I don't know. The wizard called him the Master of The Dark Shadows. I have often tried to figure out if it was Satan or not. I really don't know. I have never seen the creature again, although the wizard visits me every night.
"Ben, you didn't tell me about the spell. Do you come back every so often or what?"
"No, I have lived on this earth every day since the curse was put on me. My curse is that I can never die. If I am wounded or injured, I feel the pain that anyone would feel, but I heal almost immediately. That is why I have to live as I do. I can't call attention to myself. As soon as people notice that I do not age, they start asking questions. I cannot have friends. Many people have died because I befriended them or stayed too long in one place. The demon ordered the wizard to travel through time with me. He has no form. He is only a thought that bedevils me constantly. He has been with me since 1492."
He saw her looking at him thoughtfully. He was surprised that she was not trying to run out the door in fear. Apparently she either believed what he had told her or she thought that she would wait and have him committed to an insane asylum.
"Can't the curse be broken? All of the fairy tales tell about curses being broken."
"The wizard told me that there was a way to break the curse. He didn't tell me how it could be broken. I've tried over the years to train my mind, thinking that maybe there was a way to become stronger than the curse. That's why you saw the plate spinning. Sometimes when I get mad things start to move. I can get into your head. I can't read your thoughts, but I can sense when you're near. I can make some people feel pain, but it doesn't work on everyone."
"You really can't get old? You won't get gray hair or anything?"
"You've been here almost two days. I haven't shaved since you've been here. If you'll notice, there's no shaving equipment in the bathroom. Feel my face. I never grow a beard." She felt his face, "My God, if you have children, they'll pass you and grow old while you remain young."
He turned away from her, "I figured that out right away. I haven't been with a woman since the curse was put on me. If my children grew older and I remained thirty-four, there's no way I could remain invisible. I can't call attention to myself."
She dropped to the bed as if someone had dropped her from the ceiling. He knew that her mind was racing. He wondered if she really believed him.
"How can you exist on the little bit of sleep that you get? Just that should age you faster than if you led a normal life."
"You have no idea what I feel. Each day the fatigue grows. There is never any rest for me. I never thought that it was possible to be this tired."
She was quiet for a long time, just looking at the ceiling.
"Emma, I've told you the truth. I have never told anyone what I've told you and I don't know why I even told you. I have to know if you believe me, its important to me that you do."
She turned on her side, "How could I doubt you after what I saw when you cut your arm?"
She moved to the far side of the bed, "Lay on the bed awhile and don't say anything. I have to digest what I've seen and heard today."
He climbed into bed beside her. He stared at the ceiling. She was
turned away from him and was silent for a long time. After a long time
she turned to him and put her arm over him. She hugged him to her.
After a while, she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Trying to digest
what he had told her had exhausted her.