RENOVARE CORPUS MEUM

“Una globus ignaviae, tres elixir viles, o cineres exsurgo, fortius semper et hoc ictu levandi te infige, iterum nobis eris! O surgite, o surgite, o surgite de favilla, glorificamus te oriri!” we all chanted in chorus.

A ball of energy stroked the windows. Glass fragments propelled around the barn. I dared not scream, as it was improper to do so, but I felt my entire body shake, with a mixture of excitement and fear.

The lifeless body lay flat on a mound of hay they had built for him. I peered from under the dark hood, covering most of my face, the fire had caught upon the bedding and was now swallowing the barn whole. I panicked. My heartbeat racing at a million miles per hour, against my black robes, that reached the floor. No one else was reacting, while the fire rose higher like a dragon from the ashes.

The man lying on his back, suddenly breathed in a cloud of smoke, coughing and spluttering. It was only then, the mother of the coven, stepped inside the circle very calmly, to stop the raging fire.

“Desine simul!” She bellowed above the noise of the flames, holding both hands up in front of her.

At that moment, the flames that filled the barn stopped, and no remnants of the fire could be seen. The barn fell eerily silent. Every single witch in the coven turned to face him. He was lanky and grey looking, his grey hair looked like frayed rope. His eyes like large saucers, sunk deep into his skull and the smell he left behind was noxious.

Trying not to cough or choke was extremely difficult. I drew in a deep breath, and closed my mind full of senses, this was the first lesson Mother had taught me. She wasn’t my actual mother; she was long dead. This mother was the leader, the one who collects lost souls from the streets, feeling they had “The Gift.” I was her latest experiment, to mould into who she wanted me to be, and being the youngest in the coven, she had me completely under her spell.

Mother hesitated but walked towards the naked man. He was confused and dazed, gawking at the women around him, dressed in black.

“Take it slow now.” Mother whispered, crouching to her knees so that she was in direct eye contact with him.

His deep sunken eyes turned to Mother, his entire body trembling. “Where am I?” He hissed into her ear.

Mother smiled carefully taking the man’s hands and holding them tightly within her own.

“You’re somewhere precious, somewhere where miracles have happened.”

Judging by the look on his face, I could tell he was still bewildered by it all.

“My name is John and…”

Mother waited on his every word, as if something exciting was about to occur, then the oddest thing did happen. The naked man rose from his bed of hay and stumbled to his feet. Mother held her arms out, as if to a child walking to its mother, but the man was preoccupied by someone else… Me.

He reached his skinny arms out over his head, while I stood rigid in my spot. My mind was racing, I had no idea what was happening, or what was going to happen next. He stood directly staring at me, with his decaying eyes.

“John…” Mother called out to him from the centre of the room. “John, I am here, your wife!” When she spoke, her words were shaking.

John didn’t seem interested in his widow that he came back to reunite with, but seemed more and more intrigued by me, lifting his arms above his head he called out:

“You do not believe.” He said simply with little expression.

With that, John burst into dust right in front of my eyes, leaving nothing behind but ash upon the ground. The coven gasped in unison, startled by what they had witnessed. All eyes were now transfixed on me, glaring at me like I was on trial.

“Are we reacting now?” I said to fill the deathly silence filling the barn. “You are stupid, stupid girl.” I told myself. “What now?”

Still in a state of shock, I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. Mother, darted towards me, unnaturally, like a shark hunting its prey, and pressed her nails into my chin gripping it tightly.

“What did he mean, you do not believe?” She was desperate and turning into a grieving woman once more.

“I have no idea…” I panicked. I could feel her essence on my skin. Mossy, green death was the only thing that could describe her smell.

“Your mother!” She said quickly “We’ll use your mother.”

Mother released her grip upon me and I was able to move freely.

“I don’t understand. You can’t mean... you can see it doesn’t work; it’s dangerous!”

One of the more experienced members, lifted her hood off her head.

“You dare talk back to our gracious mother and leader?” She snapped, her body shaking with anger.

“Everyone calm down.” Mother spoke to the coven. Then she turned back to me. “We need to reanimate your mother, if it is connected to you, this could be only solution to master the art of Necromancy.”

I had no choice in the matter. I had no one except my coven and didn’t want to think of the prospect of being cast aside, to be preyed upon by witches for eternity. I was led to the graveyard against my will. Pulled like a dog on a leash, my black dress and cloak dragging behind me. Mother knew exactly where to look, after all, she was the one who had buried her.

The air was foggy and misty, the ground frozen underneath. Winter was just around the corner and on this night, it was plain to see.

The witches crowded around the gravestone, the flowers on the side shrivelled up in a pile. I collapsed to my knees; shattered and feeling emotionally drained.

“There must be another way!” I pleaded staring up at my coven.

Many women in hoods and cloaks stood looking down at me, not doing anything. They barely blinked.

“She was a bad person; you know this more than most.” I directed my request to Mother.

All she did was shake her head.

“If it is connected to you, it must be someone related to you.”

The coven did not need spades to dig, their spells were enough to do what they wanted, and together they were indestructible. I knew I had to join in their chorus. I rose from the ground and dusted myself off, humming alongside the others.

“Cadaver solve unde venit! Solve, quaeso, corpus hoc e vinculis!”

Within seconds the ground began to rumble, like an earthquake about to erupt. My feet shook with the vibrations, feeling as though an explosive would arise from the ground. Dirt and mud flew up into the sky, the ground shook and began to crack, as something flew high in the air. I dreaded what would happen next, watching the thing fall to the floor right in front of me.

Silence. I peered at the body carefully, trying not to get too close. The corpse was slightly decaying now, her skin pale and grey like rubble, her lips blue and rotten. This was definitely my mother, but a decomposing version of what she once was, in some ways it was an improvement!

“Get her body back to the barn!” Mother called out.

Just like that, the coven gathered around my mother, all grabbing one piece of her to drag away, using their magic to lift each part of her from the ground.

“Mother…?” One of the witches said with a puzzled look on her face.

“Yes?” I could tell she was beginning to get irritated by the nonsense.

“We cannot lift her.” She replied. The others nodded all staring at the body in confusion.

“What?” Mother marched back over to where the body was lying and tried using her magic to lift her. No such luck. She tried once more… the same again.

Mother raced for my neck, wrapping her hand around my windpipe, her breath again on my skin. “What are you doing?” She demanded.

I tried to answer her, even though her nails were digging into my throat. “It’s not me! I promise!” She would not let go of me; her grip tightening around my throat.

“Mother…” One of the witches behind her cried, her voice quivering.

“What is it now Cath…” She turned slowly behind her.

Right in front of me, the corpse of my mother was floating upright. Her long-matted hair electrifying, her sunken eyes wide like glass ovals. There was anger written upon her wrinkled face. As she lifted her arms upright in front of her, lightening shot from her fingernails, burning a fire upon her gravestone.

“Get. Off. Her.” She cried out, her voice croaking and deep, as though she had been smoking all her life.

Just as my mother had commanded, the coven mother released her grip from my windpipe so I could finally breathe.

“How?” Was the only word she could mutter, terrified by the monster in front of her.

My mother didn’t answer. One wave from her fingertips and lightening appeared, striking Mother where she stood. Nothing of her remained, only dust and granules of sand.

With that everything around the graveyard was destroyed in moments. The other witches died horrible deaths, crying out to be saved. I didn’t know what path I was now on, perhaps I was just as evil as them, as my own mother, as I watched them all die slowly. She turned to me. She did not smile or hold my hand, she simply nodded and I nodded back, her reanimated body crashing to the ground, lifeless…

That night went down in history as the most destructive. The night the coven collapsed. No one could explain what happened that night and no one could really know if it was even true. Did Witches really gather that winter night? Did the reanimating of corpses really occur? No one can know for certain, well nobody except perhaps me…