The Mesmer-Ring

The ring was beautiful. I'd never seen anything quite like it. It was a shimmering display of opalescent lines that danced in the dark with a slight warmth. When I first saw it, I'd brought it into the light, hoping it would brandish an even more mystical brilliance there. But, as soon as I did this, the ring reverted to a dull pewter finish with no more brilliance or seeming significance than some cheap ring I might have gotten out of a child's vending machine.

I'd worried that it was somehow broken, that the ring was some device and in my usually clunky manner I'd damaged it. But, low and behold, the shadows restored it just as easily as the light had dulled it. Over several hours, in the dark of my cousin’s kitchen, I repeated the experiment many times, into light, then shadow, and back to the light. Each time it was brought into any light it would dull, and each time it was returned to the dark it would come to life. I was so captivated by the shining of the ring and its unique properties that I'd lost all awareness of the hour.

“What are you doing?” Morgan asked as they flipped on the kitchen light.

As soon as the light came on the ring dulled again and I quickly closed my hand around it. It was almost as if I moved to keep it hidden, but I didn't know why I wanted to hide it.

“I’m sorry?” I replied. By now, there were flashlights strewn across the kitchen table in the dark that I'd used to test the ring. Thinking about it, it must have looked… odd. Of course, I’m sure my cousin expects nothing less of me than odd ever since I’d come to live with them.

“Why is all of this out, it's 4 am, have you gone to bed yet, Elliot?”

“No, not yet,” my thoughts swam back to me as if I'd broken a spell. Suddenly I could smell the gentle remnants of our spaghetti diner, I could hear the hum of the distant highway, and I felt the cold draft of the kitchen realizing that I was in bedclothes. “I was trying to go to bed, then something happened.”

“What? Did you hear something in the dark?” Morgan scoffed as they picked up and tossed a small flashlight across the table. “This is strange behavior, even for you.”

“I know, I just…” my words trailed off as I felt the ring, clutched and hidden in my hand. It drew my focus to it dulling my senses once more. I wasn’t sure if I should tell Morgan, but I was glad they couldn’t see it.

“Just what? Why are you up so late?”

“You see, I was in bed, I promise. I was going to get a full night of rest, just like you suggested. Then, before I had a chance to fall asleep, I saw something blinking outside my window.”

“What was it?” Morgan asked.

“That's what I asked, to myself at least. So, I went to investigate.”

Morgan pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down to listen. They were wearing pajamas with a thin robe that looked much warmer than my outfit. They seemed annoyed, but they didn’t protest. Resting their elbow on the table to support their head they motioned for me to continue. “Go on,” Morgan prompted with a wave of their hand.

I mirrored Morgan, trying not to be rude. The ring remained hidden, clutched in my hand. It almost felt like it was pulsing as I held it like it wanted me to do something. I did my best to continue my story.

“When I got downstairs, the same color of blinking light was outside of the front door.” I pointed with my opposite hand so as not to give away that I still held the ring. The door to the house could be seen clearly from the kitchen table and, to my dismay, I realized that I’d left it open.

“You opened the door I see,” Morgan said. They let out a sigh and got up from their seat passing from the kitchen to the front door. “Do you mind making sure to close and lock the door when you open it in the middle of the night? I can’t imagine what someone might have done had they come across an open door at this hour, probably someone up to no good too.” Morgan shut the door and twisted both turn pieces for the locks.

“Oh, yes, sorry. I should have closed it right away.”

“It's fine, just don’t let it happen again,” Morgan said as they returned to their seat. “Well? What was it then?”

“What was what?” I asked. The ring had surely pulsed or moved when Morgan sat down again. I'd begun rotating it in my closed fist trying to sense something, it was quite distracting.

“The lights, why you left our front door open? Seriously, are you ok, Elliot?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I said as I tightened my grip to near-painful measures on the mystic ring and sat up straight. “The door, right, I opened it and saw the blinking red and green lights, just like I'd seen from my window. They belonged to a quiet thing with propellers that was floating above the ground.”

“What do you mean floating?” Morgan asked the look of concern on her face became frustratingly evident.

“You know, the things that fly and people can control them with remotes.”

“A drone?”

“YES! That's it. It was a drone, with-

My words caught in my throat and my hand tightened so firmly over the ring that I thought I would either crush it or it would break my hand. Then, everything went blank.

“Elliot, ELLIOT! Are you ok?” Morgan was snapping their fingers in front of my face, trying to get my attention.

“What was I going to say?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but something isn’t right,” Morgan said as they picked up a flashlight and shined it into each of my eyes. I cringed at the brightness, but I didn’t protest. I allowed Morgan to conduct the inspection.

“Ok, so,” Morgan began as they stood over me. “You saw a light, you went to investigate, then you saw a drone as the source of the light. Next, you get all the candles and flashlights and pile them up here in the dark, am I missing something?”

“It was…” my mouth felt dry, and my words barely rose above a whisper. “The package, the drone dropped it on the porch and flew away.”

I lifted my closed hand to my chest, trembling. I wanted to tell Morgan about it, to show her how beautiful it was in the dark and how it changed to a normal cheap hunk of metal in the light. But, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. The words to describe it felt like poison, and I dared not speak them.

“What have you got there? What is it?” Morgan asked.

“AHHHHH,” I cried out as a pulse of pain shot through my arm. It hurt like I was on fire like my skin was burning and popping.

“WHAT'S WRONG!” Morgan shouted as they gripped me tightly. “WHAT IS HAPPENING?”

Morgan laid me down as I convulsed. Then they saw the box, though I don’t think they noticed that I'd noticed how their expression changed when they saw it. I’d been so careless and just left it out. After the drone had dropped it on the front porch and I retrieved it, I opened it in the kitchen and once the ring began to dance with color in the dark, I let the box fall to the ground. Morgan’s expression shifted and their tone changed as they regarded me coldly after seeing it.

“What was in the box,” Morgan asked. “Where is it?” The cold tone with which they spoke seemed to soothe the pain. It was as if their words had a purpose, a power that I cannot explain.

“I need you to tell me where you put it, then I can help you,” Morgan said.

Through gritted teeth I struggled, convulsing and writhing under Morgan’s surprisingly strong grip. I wanted to tell them, to show the ring. It was beautiful, why wouldn’t I want to share it? I wanted them to see it and love it as I first loved it all those… has it been minutes or hours?

-------------

A large gentleman sat poised behind a glass wall. He ruffled at the question and set down his notepad. “I’m sorry dear, minutes or hours since when?”

“Since I found the ring,” Elliot said. She was sitting restrained in a chair in a simple plain white dress and no shoes.

“What do you think?” the man responded.

“It feels like an eternity. Like the ring and I were made from the same elements forged within stars,” Elliot said, then she paused thoughtfully. “Where is it? I would very much like to show you.”

“I think that is all for today Elliot,” the man said dismissively. “We’ll go over things again in tomorrow’s interview. Now if you’ll excuse me.” The man stood from behind the window and gathered up the few items he had.

“Wait, you mustn’t leave before telling me, where is it? I will get it myself, please,” Elliot said. When the man didn't pause or respond, she began to scream. “WAIT, DON’T GO, I WANT TO TALK!” The man turned and flipped a switch shifting the see-through glass to an opaque silver. “NO, YOU BASTARD, I'LL MURDER YOU AND I'LL DANCE IN YOUR BLOOD!”

Shutting the door behind him, most of the screams were drowned out, but the man knew she wouldn’t stop for a while. For the past week, they had done the same song and dance routine of sweetly recounting the events of the night in question, before devolving into screaming fits. He had been mostly quiet, probing her mind in various ways trying to lift the madness cursed upon it. Although, dancing in his blood was a completely new twist to an old threat that made the edges of his mouth turn up at a slight smile. Progress, he thought. He looked up to see Morgan standing in his office just outside of the observation room.

“So, how was it, Hugo?” Morgan asked. They were no longer clad in pajamas, but rather, they looked to be wearing a uniform of some kind. It was a deep purple color, almost black, with a badge and various decorative pins that denoted rank and prestige. On the badge in sharp letters were the words Ministerium Mortalium et Magicae, meaning The Ministry of Mortals and Magics.

“Your cousin is making progress, though it is slow,” Hugo replied. “I’ve been able to probe her mind further each time and I’ve gotten to a root emotion that is linked to the curse.”

“Good,” Morgan said. They turned towards a monitor and watched a silent video of Elliot screaming as she jerked against her restraints. “She's a good kid, just been through a lot. I’m afraid the measures we took to eliminate the memories of her family when I took custody of her have left her susceptible to this condition. Tell me,” Morgan said as they turned back towards Hugo. “With your abilities to probe minds, do you think she will ever recover?”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Hugo said as he strode across the room toward his desk. “She'd be dead without your intervention. As to whether or not she will recover, minds are tricky. They're both strong and delicate, easily broken and masterfully resilient. I cannot say for certain.”

“Is it better that she suffers now?” Morgan asked. “Maybe we shouldn't have intervened, you know I'm not her actual cousin. I just couldn't allow her potential to be wasted.”

Hugo brought himself up behind his desk and sat down. “I'll do what I can for her. But, that aside, we have an opportunity. I saw the drone in her thoughts and the package it dropped. This was no mistake. It was, I believe, an attempt to kill or curse you, an officer of the ministry. Whoever did this, if they think it worked, may assume you're out of the picture. We have to move carefully.”

“My mind isn't so easily broken that it would have crumbled as hers did,” Morgan said. “I should have been the one to find the ring.”

“You don’t know that. Besides, it was a very powerful Mesmer-Ring.”

“A Mesmer-Ring?”

“Yes, that's what we're calling it,” Hugo said proudly. “I came up with the name myself.”

“Could there be more of them?”

Hugo let out a sigh and sat back in his chair. “I don’t know.”

“What if she had put it on, what would have happened?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“What do we know?”

“The ring isn't meant for mortals to wield, as we can see. Perhaps the existing cracks in Elliot's mind prevented them from being fully controlled by it. For all we know, if it had worked, she could have been your assassin. Lord knows she has threatened my life a few dozen times in our interviews.”

“Very well,” Morgan said, assuming a more professional tone. “I trust I will have your report soon.”

“Certainly,” Hugo said as he sat upright.

“Thank you,” Morgan said as they turned to leave before stopping at the door. “One more thing,” Morgan said.

“What is it?”

“Can you be delicate with the nature of her threats? The Ministry might not fully understand the curse or what Elliot has been through. They may see certain things and assume.”

“Understood,” Hugo said with a nod.

“Thank you, again.” Morgan opened the door and slipped into the hallway.

Hugo prepared to flood the chamber with a sedative gas so that Elliot could be transferred to her cell. He glanced up at the monitor and shot out of his chair. The small girl in the white dress was gone. Elliot had somehow managed to free herself and couldn’t be seen on the surveillance camera. The sound of breaking glass made Hugo burst through the door into the observation area.

“But how,” he muttered under his breath as he saw the broken divider and no sign of the girl. “Where is she?”

The stinging pain sent Hugo’s eyes rolling back as Elliot fell upon him striking him from above. She had wanted to rush out and get away, but the voice had told her to wait. It told her to grab the lamp in the room and to climb up above the door to wait. Looking over the still body of the man she took a moment to pause before whispering, “I told you I'd kill you.”

For good measure, and to fulfill a promise, Elliot struck the unconscious man twice more until his blood poured out and pooled on the floor. She stood up and kicked her bare feet through the puddle with a short rhythm. Then she paused, a voice speaking in her head.

We should have asked him questions first.

“Oh, sorry,” Elliot said softly.

Don't worry, it was well done. Now come to me.

Elliot nodded and went into Hugo’s office. Her feet left bright blood-red prints as she moved to the outer door and gripped the knob. A shock of recognition shot through her. The image of Morgan standing there holding the same doorknob flashed into her mind.

I told you, she isn't your kin.

“I know,” Elliot said weakly. “But you've also shown me my blood, and Morgan was kinder than they ever were.”

Then we will forgive Morgan.

"Yes."

Now, come to me.

“Yes,” Elliot said with a smile as she slipped out the door and into the hall. A pulse made Elliot’s hand ache and seemed to almost pull her forward towards a window.

In there, the voice said.

Breaking through the window into what appeared to be a labratory, Elliot set an alarm blaring. The noise gave her a slight pause before she heaved herself through the broken glass, cutting her arms as she did so. Bloodied in her white dress, she strode carelessly through the glass on the floor, further cutting herself and renewing her crimson footprints.

“The light dulls you,” Elliot said as she looked adoringly at the ring suspended in the center of the room.

Put me on, and I can take us beautifully into the dark.

Guards rushed forward, shouting at Elliot to stop, but she didn't hear them, her focus belonged to the ring.

“Ok,” Elliot said as she plucked the ring from where it was held and slipped it on.

There was an explosion of dark all around Elliot that seemed to consume the yelling guards and the labratory all at once. In a flash, she was gone from the Ministry compound and shrouded in darkness.

-------------

“What a surprise,” a voice from the dark spoke.

“Who’s there?” Elliot asked shakily. She turned setting her blood-sticky feet on cold stone as she did.

Don’t be afraid, it’s the one who sent me.

“You’re hurt, poor thing. Come let me heal you.” A hand revealed itself, standing apart from the darkness around Elliot. Then, a smiling face appeared. “I’m so glad you’re here.”