Nighttime Servitude

Flying has always been a pleasure. The feeling of freedom it gives is the most beautiful thing I have ever felt. I just sometimes wish I would have chosen to be able to do this on my own. But of course not. My family had to be cursed into a life of servitude. Being a horny teenager can sometimes come with a huge cost.

My name is Benji, and I guard the homes and fields of innocent farmers from the plague ridden mice and rats that were descended from the original black plague rats. It’s not an easy life at all. Not only do we catch the mice or rats, but in order to actually save the families we guard, we have to eat them. Ugh, it’s such a horrible thing. I grew up eating steaks, caviar, lobster, you know… All the good stuff. Now, my favorites are the black rats. I don’t know why, but for some reason they have the least amount of hair. After we digest the meat and everything, the second part of our curse comes into play. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. Gagging up an entire skeleton, wrapped in a big wad of hair is just horrible.

It all began about seven hundred years ago. I think… It’s been so long that every day just blends together anymore. Anyway, the time doesn’t matter. What matters is this, don’t be a dick to the local Gypsy. You’ll end up either dead, or worse. Unfortunately for me, I got the short end of the stick. And my family constantly reminds me of that. But you don’t want to hear me complaining about them. You want to hear about the curse don’t you? That’s what they all want. Fine, buckle up. It’s not exactly fun to relive, so I’m just giving you the short story.

“Benji, will you please just go and help Agatha?” Mother asks as I try and sneak back upstairs. “She’s an older lady and can’t move around her garden anymore. But she needs that garden in order to eat.”

I stop and groan.

“Why can’t someone else do it?” I asked. “That woman is so gross. Her hair is always matted, and she smells horrible.”

“Stop that right now Benji.” My mother scolds, turning around and pinning me against the wall with a single finger. “You know better than that. We help the elders in our lives, even if we don’t like something about them. They’ve paid their debt to society. Now it’s your turn to help. I’ve already helped her bathe the other day, and the gods know how disgusting that is. Your sister has helped wash her clothes, that’s not exactly a fun task either. Since you’re a boy you get the lucky pick of the tasks and help with the easier items.”

“She hasn’t done anything to help me.” I complain.

“Just do it. I don’t want to hear anything more on the matter.” My mother said, giving me her famous evil eye.

“Fine!” I huff, stomping out the door to go to Agatha’s house.

Arriving at the old woman's door, I knock and then enter, knowing that she can’t really come to the door fast enough.

“Agatha? It’s Benji.” I call out, trying to see where she is. “My mom asked me to come help you with some of your garden.”

Not hearing anything I go to the sink and grab the bucket from underneath. Stopping when I see the bottle of rat poison sitting nearby. I looked over my shoulders, then stuffed it in my pocket before walking out the side door into the garden.

Sighing, I set the bucket down by the tomatoes and rolled up my sleeves.

“How hard is it to pick a few tomatoes?” I mutter to myself. “This woman is just lazy, I don’t care if people think she needs help because of her age.”

I picked a few of the tomatoes, then walked over to the corn and picked a couple. After another ten minutes of picking, I set the bucket down and wiped my forehead with my handkerchief. The hot summer sun beating down on me was making even just this simple task unbearable. I bent down and picked up the bucket again, then turned to take it back inside, then nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Agatha standing right behind me.

“Holy damnation, you mumblecrust!” I spat out, dropping the bucket and watching as all the vegetables dropped into the slop trough. “Look what you made me do. Now I have to go back through and get more.”

“That is no way to speak to my grandmother Benji.” A petite voice called out from the doorway.

I looked over to the house and saw the silky smooth blonde head of Hellen poking out the door, giving me a sour look.

“I’m sorry Hellen, she just gave me a start is all. Want me to help you back in Agatha?” I asked the little old woman.

She gave me a toothless grin and a small cackle before she turned and limped back inside, leaning heavily on her cane. Then I heard her mumble,

“You’ll never have my granddaughter Benji, not over my cold dead body.”

I watched her walk inside, smiled and waved at Hellen then turned around and picked up the bucket.

“Ya, we’ll see about that you old crone.” I said as I pulled out the bottle of rat poison and dumped the contents in. “You want to be dead for me to have her? You’ll get your wish.”

I finished picking the vegetables again, making sure each one got coated evenly with the poison before I dumped the remaining liquid in the refuse pile in the back. Then walked back to the house and put it in the cellar. Letting Hellen know I was done and leaving.

Later that night, I offered to make dinner for Agatha, to make sure she got a nice big dose of the poison. I watched as Hellen left, thanking me for caring for her grandmother's needs. I went to the little kitchen and made a small salad, cut each of the vegetables up into small pieces and dumped them all in, tossing it all so that any poison that came off would coat the salad leaves as well. Then set it in front of Agatha and sat across from her, making sure she ate as much as possible. Once she was done, I stood up and offered to clean everything up for her, then walked her to bed.

Getting home, I kicked off my boots and went up to the loft to finally pass out and tried to come up with some surprised expressions and words for when I heard of her death in the morning. I drifted off with a little smile on my face.

I shot up, cold sweat covering my body. Looking around, I tried to find the source of what woke me, but couldn’t see anything around my bed or the ladder going back down to the main floor. Shrugging it off, I decided it had to have been a bad dream. I slumped back down into bed and rolled over, then jumped back, seeing Hellen laying beside me.

“Hellen? What are you doing here?” I asked shakily.

“Did I frighten you?” She asked shyly. “I thought you would have liked me to join you in bed.”

“Well of course I would. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” I said as I crawled back into bed beside her. “I’ve dreamed about having you for years.”

“Oh I know, Benji.” She said softly, “I’ve been watching you for years as well. I thought you were the kindest, most considerate man in this town. I finally couldn’t help myself and decided that I must have you, right now.”

“Right now? My family is just down the ladder. They might hear.” I said.

“Don’t worry about them. They won’t catch us having our little fun.” Hellen said, biting her lower lip. “I promise.”

She pushed me down onto the bed and swung her leg over, straddling me so she could look down. She pulled her blouse off and let it fall behind her. Then she leaned down and cupped my face with her hands, raising it up to kiss gently before she moved me down to her breasts and moaned. I wrapped my arms around her back, pulling her to me so I could feel her even more. Her moaning stopped and she whispered something, stopping I pulled back to look up at her.

“What?” I asked.

“I said, ‘te blestem pe tine și familia ta până la viața veșnică ca exterminatori de rozătoare, pentru totdeauna în robie pentru a proteja inocenții, pentru totdeauna o creatură de noapte’.” She said, her eyes seeming to glow in the low light from the moon outside.

“Wha-, wait a minute. You’re a blasted gypsy!” I shouted, pushing her from me. “What did you say!?”

“I curse you and your family to eternal life as rodent exterminators, forever in servitude to protect the innocent, forever a night creature.” She said, this time I could see her eyes actually were glowing a silvery color.

“What in damnation is going on Hellen?” I asked her.

“You didn’t really think you could kill my grandmother and then have me, did you?” She asked in an icy tone. “You should have done some research you fool child. You’re lucky my grandmother already tried to kill herself with rat poison many times before. She knew what you had done, she already had the potion made to throw it up before it could damage her.”

“No, wait. I-” I pleaded.

“Shut it.” Hellen said, “It’s too late, Benji. I really did like you. Such a shame that you’re now trapped to a life eating the very rodents that poison was made for. Have fun when you eat some that really are poisoned.”

I heard screams coming up from the main floor, then felt the pain deep in my body as feathers sprouted from every pore in my body. My elbows snapped and bent the opposite direction, making me howl in pain. I glanced in the mirror after the pain finally subsided, and saw a barn owl staring back at me.