Chapter 1: Martha’s Magnificent Wares

CW - Depression, slight dysphoria, mention of death

 

Chapter I - Martha's Magnificent Wares

“Do you ever wonder what the point of it all is?”

The question was intended to stroke the inner workings of Sam’s mind. He stared at the speaker. A mousy boy in round glasses stared back. The question was meant to have a response.

Sam thought for a second. What was the point of it all?

Was it to do something tremendous? Safe? To just live? How could a person answer that type of question?

“Sam!”

Shaken out of the spiral, Sam looked up at Nathan.

“Are you gonna answer?”

The two were sitting on the floor at the end of Nathan’s bed. The dark blue comforter was hanging off, doubling as a pillow for the two boys. The unkempt room was a small window into the owner’s mind. Bits of trash thrown about. Clothes laying in various places. The amount of dishes could fill a restaurant. But there were two clearly defined spaces. The end of Nathan’s bed and a little pathway to his computer.

“Um, yeah,” Sam finally spoke up. “I just don’t know what to say. I was trying to give you a real answer.”

Nathan nodded and looked down. It was clear the boy was going through a difficult time. His sister had just died and the two were as close as siblings can be. She was his rock through difficult times and his best friend when no one was around. It had only been a week since the funeral and Nathan was experiencing the worst of grief; the moment it became clear the person’s not coming back.

Sam had been coming over daily. He’d try to help clean up a little, but it would just go back to the same way by a day or two because he couldn’t do much on his own. His family had been making Nathan’s dinner to help ease the burden.

Trying to calm the boy’s tension, Sam reached up and pulled Nathan into a hug. The small whimper of crying was obvious as Nathan’s face buried into Sam’s chest. Sam reached up and stroked the back of Nathan’s head. His hand glided through the chestnut brown hair that ended at the boy’s shoulders. It was getting knotted up with how little he was showering.

“The point of it is to just keep going to experience every little bit of joy you can.”

The sudden choice to talk silenced Nathan’s cries. He pulled back his face and looked up at Sam.

“What?”

“Joy. I guess that’s what I meant.” Sam muttered looking past Nathan to avoid his eyes. He shut his eyes hoping Nathan would fill the silence. When he didn’t, Sam chose to continue, “I think that’s the point of ‘it all.’ Joy. We all want to get to those points all the time, but it’s the courage to keep going through the toughest parts that lets us enjoy the good parts.”

Nathan seemed satisfied and just nodded his head. Sam looked down, hoping to see the happy friend he’d come to know over the last 19 years. Instead, he saw a shell.

Jenny had been Nathan’s twin and her accident was impossible to predict. The two were basically conjoined at the hip. It absolutely destroyed any happiness Nathan had.

Saddened by his friend’s clear distress, Sam pulled Nathan into a tighter hug.

“Hey,” Sam whispered the words, “how about we get you out of the house tomorrow? Stephanie told me about this cool shop downtown. Apparently they have witchy stuff. Maybe you could get something to remind you of Jenny.”

Suggesting to go somewhere was an everyday occurrence and, usually, Nathan just shrugged. Today, however, he seemed to stiffen. Sam cringed at the thought that he’d gone too far by mentioning Jenny’s hobby of witchcraft. Nathan pulled out of the hug and looked right up at Sam. Oddly, the boy had a smile on his face. Feeling like he’d just found the needle in the haystack, Sam just stared. Nathan nodded up and down.

“I think I do want to do that. Promise me you’ll be here tomorrow at 11? I want to go to sleep now.”

Totally confused, Sam spoke up, “um yeah, ok. That sounds good.” The two stood up together with Sam being a little quicker. “Any reason you’re more interested today?”

“I’ve been wanting to get something for Jenny for a bit, but I haven’t been up to it.”

“Fair enough,” Sam shrugged. “Text me if you need me to come earlier, ok?”

“Yeah, yeah. Get out of here,” Nathan snuffled, emphasizing he’d just cried heavily.

“Ok, have a good night.”

“I will.”

Sam carefully walked out of Nathan’s room then made his way down the stairs. Nathan put his ear up to the door to hear if Sam made it out. Waiting for him to say goodbye to his parents felt like it took years. Eventually he heard the heavy door open and shut and, finally, Sam’s car started up. As it drove off, Nathan locked the door

“Alone at last,” Nathan breathed out. 

It felt like a weight was crushing him every time he saw how sad he made those around him. It didn’t feel like anyone else was taking his sister’s death as hard as he was and his existence was making everyone feel worse. That was the only reason he even asked Sam that stupid question. His answer was nice though. It made Nathan feel less like an empty box that somebody stole the contents out of. Less like he had no meaning.

Nathan kicked the shoes and trash out of his way and slumped onto his bed. The only light was from the lamp by his bedside and he quickly turned it off. The dark was his friend these days. Everything felt weird without Jenny. She always lit up the room. Nathan thought back to the time she tried to cast a spell with him.

She had made it a point to arrange five white candles into a pentagram. Lit and ready, she made Nathan sit in the middle. After chanting a few words in some dead language, the spell was supposed to reveal what Nathan was going to be in the future. Jenny had said it was easy and would help her practice her witchcraft. Nathan had told her it was stupid, but felt even more validated when he saw what the sticky note said. It was clearly Jenny’s handwriting and it didn’t even make any sense. It had just said “Girl.” Like what did that even mean. Not a career or emotion. Just “Girl.”

Feeling a bit happier at the funny memory, Nathan began to slightly smile. In mere seconds, his whole mood seemed to sour as he remembered that would be his last funny memory with Jenny. He’d been getting more and more depressed in recent years, especially around 14, but Jenny was always there to make him feel better. Without her, it was already becoming unbearable. At least he had Sam though. He wasn’t sure he’d have made it even a few days after Jenny died without Sam.

Sam had been Nathan’s best friend since middle school. Sam always played baseball so, as the year went on, he had less and less time for Nathan. Sam was tall, athletic, blonde, and handsome. The two hadn’t talked in about two months because Sam was playing college baseball and constantly had practice. After hearing about Jenny, he’d talked to the coach and was taking a few weeks off to help take care of Nathan and his family.

Nathan was extremely appreciative of Sam, but he felt like he didn’t deserve it. Somebody was giving up their dream for him. Sure, he’d loved the support, but he felt terrible for making Sam miss out on practice and games. Resigning to his sadness, Nathan continued to circle good things into bad things for hours until he eventually fell asleep.

***

Nathan woke up to silence. No birds, no sunshine, nothingness. It seemed like even the world was mourning the loss of his sister. Pushing the quick thought out of his head, he pushed toward the end of the bed, taking the comforter with him. It fell on the ground and he shuffled through the mess towards the hallway to go to the bathroom. It wasn’t early, but he still made a point to be quiet so no one would notice him.

The door creaked open and he made his way towards the bathroom, revelling in how the cool wood floor felt. A buzzing sound pulled his attention away from the bathroom and he looked back into his room. It sounded like someone was calling him and he quickly made his way back to the bedside table. Pulling the charging cord from the port, he slid his finger across the screen to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey man! I’m about to head over. You ready to go soon or should I just chill with your parents?”

It was Sam. Of course it was. No one else really called Nathan. Not anymore at least.

“Um, yeah. You can head over, but I think I want to shower first so just sit with my parents if that’s cool?”

“Ok! Cool! Don’t forget to brush your hair! See you soon!”

“See ya.”

With an abrupt click, the phone was silent again. Checking the time, it was around 12:30 PM meaning he probably had about 10 minutes before Sam got here. Putting his phone in his pocket, he made his way back to the door and out to the bathroom.

Once the door was shut and locked, Nathan peeled his shirt off. He hadn’t taken a shower in a week. The smell was getting to him, hell, everything was getting to him. The mirror looked off and he couldn’t bring himself to look at it. He made his way to the shower and twisted the lever to hot water. The stream was slow at first but quickly picked up the pace. Steam slowly started to fill the room. Sighing, Nathan slowly began to take the rest of his clothes off, avoiding looking down like he did everyday. As soon as he was nude, he stepped into the shower and sat down. The water was washing over him and made him feel serene. It was like he could finally stop thinking about everything and just disappear into the heat.

Sitting like that for quite a while, it was like he was in a trance until he heard a soft knock.

“Nathan, sweetie? Are you okay?”

It was his mom’s kind voice. She looked like an older version of Jenny and less witchy, so Nathan had been avoiding her because he couldn’t help but remember his sister when he looked at her. Pulling himself into an upright standing position, he responded.

“Um, yeah. I just kinda got caught up in the heat and not thinking.”

“Ok. Let me know if there’s anything I can get for you. I’m going to the store with your father and Sam’s waiting for you down stairs.”

“Ok.”

With Sam waiting for him, he quickened his pace. He grabbed the soap and squirted a little onto his hand. Feeling like it was too much to both wash his hair and body, he soaped himself up and then threw some of the excess on his head. He quickly brushed through his hair with his hands and then rinsed himself off.

Semi-clean for the first time in a week, he grabbed a towel and dried off. He pulled the brush out and made some quick rounds through his long brown hair, only because Sam had told him to. Grumbling to himself that this was taking too long, he put the brush down and glanced at the toothbrush.

I’ve gone this long without brushing my teeth, what’s another day? He thought

He opened the door only to run right into Sam.

“Oh, uh, hey. Sorry!”

With no idea what was going on, Nathan almost completely dropped his towel and had to scramble to keep it pulled up.

“Holy shit! What are you doing right at the door?”

“Sorry! I was just coming to see if you were fine.”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Nathan spat the words out and made his way towards his room. Finally, he snapped, “You all know I don’t need you to constantly look out for me! I’m a grown fucking adult dealing with fucked up shit! I’m allowed to be sad without everyone fucking checking on me every fucking second!” His chest was heaving up and down. Sam looked away, his cheeks going red with embarrassment. 

“I get it. I’m sorry. I just don’t want to see you hurt so badly and I want to make sure you’re ok,” Sam almost whispered the words. He didn’t want Nathan to get any more upset and really just wanted to calm him down.

Seeing that Sam wasn’t going to respond with anger, Nathan turned away and huffed. He quickly walked to his room and slammed the door.

Sam felt pain realizing that what he was doing was having the opposite effect on Nathan. He slowly made his way down the stairs to wait in the living room. He wasn’t even sure Nathan would want to go to the shop anymore.

Leaning against his door, Nathan was crying. He felt terrible for yelling at Sam, but he just couldn’t take the coddling anymore. He might feel like shit, but that wasn’t a reason to always have a person watching over him. He cried for a few more minutes until he eventually pulled himself together and made his way over to the dresser.

Throwing an oversized t-shirt and some shorts on, he grabbed his shoes and opened the door. He made his way down the stairs, slightly agitated. His feet stomped on the wood. What was cool and refreshing, now felt hard and unwelcoming.

He turned to the side and saw Sam sitting on the couch waiting for him.

“You still want to go to the shop?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, you ready?”

“Yeah.”

The two walked silently towards the door. It was clear neither wanted to talk about what had just happened and chose to not say anything. Sam made his way to the car to turn it on, while Nathan stayed back and locked the door.

You are reading story Child of Eris at novel35.com

The overcast skies were still too bright for Nathan. After spending weeks at home in his dark bedroom, it was no surprise. He made his way towards Sam’s grey sedan and sat in the passenger side. It took a second for the air to turn on and the two sat in muggy heat. Music played softly in the background while Sam pulled the car into reverse beginning the journey into town.

The grassy hills and farmland passed them by as they kept going. Nathan didn’t want to speak and Sam respected that by keeping his eyes on the road. The music was enough to keep the ride pleasant along with the normal view. Nathan stared out the window saddened that Jenny would never get to see this view again. He had to bite back a sob as they made there way to the shop.

***

Pulling into a parking spot, Nathan opened his door after Sam turned the car off. He got his first look at the shop.

Martha’s Magnificent Wares adorned the old timey looking sign. Nathan couldn’t tell whether it was the owner’s way of committing to a theme or it was the real deal. Jenny would have been able to tell.

He looked over at Sam and saw him admiring the items in the window. They were a little creepy looking. A skull that looked a little too real. A bracelet that seemed to be emitting a light glow. A box filled with chalice that felt wrong to look at. The other items seemed to feel magical, but less notable.

The rest of the structure seemed to morph into the surrounding building. There were dark stained wooden beams that highlighted the shop sign and velvety carpet lining the windows. It was a dark purple velvet with rivets pushed in. It gave it a sort of regal feeling.

Done admiring the entrance, Nathan walked over to Sam and pulled him away from what he was staring at.

“Dude. Are we gonna go in or are we just gonna sit outside and stare and things the whole time.”

Sam shook his head. “Huh? Oh yeah. Let's go in.” Grabbing Sam by the arm, Nathan pulled him into the old timey door. The bell signalled their arrival. They barely had time to look at anything before a beautiful woman in an apron seemingly appeared next to them.

“Hello! How can I help you today?”

Nathan looked up at her. She was a good inch taller than his 5’7 stature. She wore all black, probably something to do with a uniform of the place, and had her blonde hair tied up in pigtails. The ends of her hair were dyed black and she wore heavy eyeliner shaped into a dramatic wing. The makeup made her look intimidating, yet approachable.

Realizing he was staring and not answering her question, Nathan got ready to speak.

“I’m here to–”

“I’m gonna go look around.” Sam interrupted Nathan and pulled his arm free. It was never a question of strength, considering one was an athlete and the other was a homebody. Looking slightly annoyed and confused at Sam’s rudeness, Nathan turned back towards the worker.

“Sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

“No worries!” the woman smiled. “That’s actually pretty common with certain men who come into this shop. Curious how nothing happened to you though.” She seemed to have a glimmer in her eye.

“O–kay,” Nathan said the word slowly and eyed the woman suspiciously. “I’m actually here to find something to remind me of my sister. Her name was Jenny.” Sobered by the realization of why he was here, Nathan looked down and began to feel the sadness well up inside of him.

“Oh, I see.” The woman seemed pensive, then turned back to him. “You said her name was Jenny right?”

I nodded.

“Okay, I’m gonna need you to follow me then. I think I have the perfect thing for you. I think we should grab your friend first. Are you attached to him?”

“What?” The question caught Nathan off guard. What exactly did this random woman mean?

“Are you attached to him?” She repeated the question slowly, almost like she thought Nathan was stupid. “Like, would you be sad if you could never see him again?”

“What kind of invasive question is that? Of course I’d be sad if I could never see him again!”

“Ok then, but you are going to have to help him adjust because he’s clearly not like you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Listen kid, do you want the perfect gift or not?”

Nathan thought for a minute. What was going on? Could he trust this random woman given how weird her questions were? It seemed like she was implying something, but this was something he’d have to figure out as he went. Jenny had been obsessed with witchcraft and it wasn’t like this lady was about to kill him, right? He could just go to another shop, but this felt exactly like something Jenny would have encouraged him to experience. Real life magic. Maybe he could do something to bring Jenny back.

Finally, he looked at the woman and nodded his head.

“Okay! Perfect!” She seemed a little too excited, but she grabbed his hand. She quickly guided him over to Sam. He was staring at something that looked similar to the bracelet that was shown in the window. The worker tapped him on the shoulders in some sort of pattern and grabbed the boy’s hand. He seemed to become more alert and looked toward Nathan.

“What the hell?” seeing Nathan he relaxed, “Oh. Hey! Did you find anything?”

“No, this lady said she knew the perfect thing.”

“This lady has a name.” She huffed out as she continued to drag the two through the aisle towards the counter. Her black skirt hit Nathan a few times annoyingly.

“Well, what is it? Are you gonna say it?” Nathan asked, clearly annoyed.

“Thank you for asking. It’s Eris,” she looked over her shoulder as she spoke the name, almost like she was looking to see our reaction.

“Uh cool. Hi Eris. I’m Nathan and this is Sam,” he gestured with his free hand toward Sam.

She seemed annoyed at Nathan’s response, but their conversation came to an abrupt end as they made it to the backroom door. She released them and began to speak.

“Ok. This is your last chance to back out and not receive the gift. What do you say?”

“Whatever, just let me see the damn thing and quit with the theatrics.”

“Ooh, feisty. I like that,” she cooed. “Well, alright then in you–”

“Wait, don’t I get a say in this? This lady is kinda creepy Nathan,” Sam spoke up at last.

Eris seemed to be burning with anger at being interrupted.

“You are not involved. You’re lucky you're even here. It was only because of her,” she said pointing at Nathan, “that you are standing next to me and about to receive my gift.”

“Her?” Nathan and Sam spoke together.

“Ahh, whatever.” Eris was clearly annoyed and just opened the door, feeling that the dramatic reveal was ruined. “There you go, happy now? Just go inside, the both of you.” She rolled her eyes.

Both of the boys peaked their heads in to get a better view of the room. It was relatively small with a beautiful table taking up the middle. There were two seats and two hand mirrors. The table seemed to mirror the wood and velvet mix design of the shop. The chairs were similar. The two were clearly a set and meant to never be separated.

Confused, Nathan stepped in and made his way over to the table. Sam reluctantly followed. As soon as the boys crossed the threshold, Eris jumped inside and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. It was clear that she had just locked them all into the room. The fluorescent lights shined down, almost emphasizing how tiny the room was.

“What the hell?” Nathan screamed out and jumped to hide behind Sam. Sam puffed out his chest and looked at Eris.

“Now look lady, I don’t know what you’ve been saying to Nathan, but there’s no need to hurt us or lock us in here,” Sam spoke confidently. He was trying to flex to emphasize that he was a threat. He felt the need to protect Nathan.

“Relax you overzealous mortal. I’m not going to hurt either of you.” She spoke with a clear accent that wasn’t there a minute ago. She sounded old. “I’m going to set that one free,” she said, pointing at Nathan for the second time.

“What the hell does that mean?!” Nathan shouted the question, clearly in distress.

“Oh well I could explain it very clearly, but that wouldn’t be very on brand for me,” she said the last bit while biting on her long black fingernail with a clear smile.

“Who even are you that you have a brand?” Sam asked, relaxing a bit after realizing he wasn’t going to have a physical altercation.

She seemed positively annoyed every time Sam spoke. “I, you utter imbecile, am Eris. Goddess of strife and discord.” She looked at the two with a smug smile.

“What?” Nathan looked at her. The sheer absurdity of the situation began to get to him and he started to laugh hysterically. “Oh my god, my sister dies and now I’m stuck with some lunatic who thinks she’s a goddess. Real fantastic plan here, Eris.” He hissed her name.

She seemed slightly annoyed, but clearly less than when Sam spoke. “Listen my child, it is okay that you don’t believe me, but how about you just humor me? Sit down, both you and your friend. If you still don’t believe I’m a goddess, then you’ll both be free to go. How about it?”

Sam looked toward Nathan utterly confused, but clearly waiting for an answer. Nathan looked at him, still with a goofy hysterical grin, and spoke.

“Whatever Eris, if that is even your name, we’ll sit down and you can do your light show. I just want to go home at this point.” He started walking toward the velvet chair. 

Sam followed quickly behind. It was clear that Sam had little to do when it came to helping in this situation. It was apparent that Eris hated him for some reason. He chose to just follow Nathan’s lead.

Nathan pulled the chair out and plopped down. He crossed his arms and looked up towards Eris.

“What now?”

Sam was still struggling to fit into the tiny chair, it was almost like the chair was sentient and didn’t want him sitting in it. Finally, he won the battle and sat down.

Eris giggled. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” she said, eyeing Sam. “Ok, just grab the mirror, look into it, and wait.”

Nathan rolled his eyes, but grabbed the handle of the hand mirror. It was ornate and made of some time of opaque material that seemed to sparkle. It was a soft gold and had flowery designs all over it. The end of the handle was shaped into a clear apple. He glanced over towards Sam to find him at the same point of pinking the mirror up. He locked eyes with Sam and the two nodded in understanding. Understanding that they needed to placate the woman then they could leave.

As Nathan turned back towards the mirror, he could feel Eris’ eyes on him. He ignored the odd feeling and, finally, looked at his reflection. He was saddened by what he saw. His normal clean shaven appearance was replaced by a mess of his normal self. It was obvious he hadn’t shaved in a while and he hated the way he looked. His hair was messy and his glasses hung in a weird manner. Eventually, he locked into a staring contest with himself and his jade colored eyes. It was almost like he couldn’t look away.

“No, no, no. No peeking, missy.” It was Eris who spoke and she was clearly right next to Nathan. There was a large flash and then silence. “Ok, now that your friend is fixed, she’s waiting for you, but I wanted to talk to you.”

Nathan was absolutely terrified. He tried to speak up to voice his confusion and absolute concern, but he couldn’t move his eyes from his own reflection of them.

“You don’t have to worry about talking and, please, don’t be scared. I know this seems weird, but trust me, you’ll be better off,” she spoke assuredly, leaning over and hugging Nathan’s frame. “You’ve been through so much pain and it’s time for me to throw a wrench in whoever cooked up that plan. I’ll be with you when you really need me, just call for me and, if it's not frivolous, I’ll try to be there,” she seemed to pet his shoulder. “Ok, now off you go!”

With that, there was a sudden flash. Nathan’s reflection seemed to swirl and his eyes stayed locked on the image. It felt like he was falling into the mirror and he was finally able to shut his eyes. Rapidly, he felt his body shut down and he fell into darkness. The darkness seemed to go on forever and he couldn’t see anything. Looking down he saw nothing. He was simply just existing.

He floated for quite some time. It was serene and tranquil. No real thoughts formed, there was just pure peace. Suddenly, there was a light that sparked up some distance away. Seemingly floating towards it, Nathan tried to get there as fast as he could. His peace was interrupted by something and he had to figure out what it was. It didn’t take long and he found the disturbance, a tiny orb of light. Intrigued, he reached out with what he thought was his hand, but still saw nothing. The second he felt the ball of light, it exploded and all of his senses were dulled.

He kept trying to blink, until finally his vision returned to him. It wasn’t the room he was just in. It was some sort of infirmary. He could tell by the hospital-like bed and the old timey nurse next to him. At least he thought it was a nurse, until he saw the dark black and red horns, wings, and spade tail. The demon turned around and Nathan was flabbergasted.

“Jenny?”