A Hereditary Curse

Trigger Warning: Discussions about suicide.

I was alone in my room when the voices began again. I couldn’t make out where they were coming from, but I knew someone was there. They were just invisible.

“Who’s there? Stop whispering in my ear!”

I must’ve yelled too loud, because my mom stepped into my room not two seconds later. “Lea, did you forget your medicine?”

“I know I’m not just hearing things, mom. Someone’s really here.”

“Lea, this is normal with your condition, but you need to take your medicine to get better.”

“I already took them, mom!”

“Maybe we need to see your therapist again. I’ll make an appointment for tomorrow.”

My hands began to shake; I couldn’t listen to her anymore. “Whatever,” I said, turning around and facing the wall.

“You know I’m only looking out for you, right, hon?”

“I know… I just wish you’d believe me for once.”

Mom sighed and left the room. Both she and my therapist thought that losing dad was the reason behind the voices. Only three months had passed since his death, but what I was hearing was nothing related to him. And the voices were so persistent—they wouldn’t even let me sleep on most nights. Ada, my therapist, was surprised to hear that even switching my meds for a second time did not work. She increased my dosage and told me to let her know if the voices persist.

After we arrived home, mom made sure I took my meds. I couldn’t blame her, though, since she lost both her mother and her twin sister to suicide. She never opened up to me about it. I asked her about it again that night and she finally agreed to tell me. She made me promise first that I’d never go down that road first. I assured her that it would never happen.

Mom said that her mom took her own life when she was just ten years old. Afterwards, her sister had begun talking to an invisible friend. She said that oftentimes, she heard her laugh and even argue with that friend. However, this had continued even when she was in highschool, and the discussions she had with her invisible friend had become more and more argumentative. Therapy had not worked, so she had been admitted to an institution. However, not a month had passed by before they found her dead in her room.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was it simply a hereditary mental illness or were my grandma and aunt also visited by some kind of unseen presence? I decided to try something new. I remembered that there was a witch doctor living close by, although I couldn’t recall how I had come across that information. However, something told me I should seek her help, so I decided to make an appointment. It took forever to convince my mom to agree to it, but she caved in eventually. The appointment was in two days.

On the day of the appointment, as the witch doctor chanted, I felt a strange presence. It wasn’t just voices anymore—I could actually sense an otherworldly being approaching us.

“Get away from her!” I heard a voice next to me. I looked to my left and saw a dark figure take form, as if a shadowy mist had come to life.

I got off my seat at once, but as I did, the witch doctor stood as well. “No, you’re not going anywhere!”

Before I could even react, the shadow next to me moved forward faster than my eyes could follow, volleying the witch doctor across the room. The lady got back to her feet and stretched out her hand. “Curse that Mary. Even in death, she mocks me.”

I was confused. Mary was my grandmother’s name; how was all this connected to her? The witch doctor tried to chant, but the shadow spread forth and covered the entire half of the room she was in. I could hear her muffled screams from within the shadows; it lasted for some seconds before the dark mist finally dissipated and took a more humanoid form. I wanted to move—I wanted to run—but my body was frozen.

“Don’t be frightened. I was merely here to protect you and destroy the dark witch.”

“Wh— What are you?”

“I’m a guardian familiar. Your grandmother created me right before the dark witch’s curse made her take her own life. She made me to stop history from repeating itself once more magic-wielders were born to the family.”

“Then it was you who was in my room.”

“Yes. Your powers aren’t developed enough for you to properly comprehend what I was saying; it just got lost in the noise of the dark witch’s own malicious projections. The only way to make you hear me was to bring you to the source of the curse, herself. It was a risk, but one I had to take lest I failed again, like with your aunt.”

The familiar told me that my aunt had exceptional magical awareness as a child; it was the only reason she had been able to converse with him even at the age of ten. He said that even though he was able to talk to her, the dark witch’s curse only grew stronger with time, and that there was nothing he could do. I also learned that the dark witch’s plan had been to absorb the magical power and life force of each consecutive witch from my bloodline.

After that day, the curse was lifted. I could no longer hear strange voices, except for that of the familiar. He promised to help me harness my full potential as a witch.