Blood Spell

Yolie:
When I woke up in my bed, in my room, in my little house here in Havana, at first I thought that it had all been a dream.
I got up, hysterical, from the bed, it was almost six am. I ran to the bathroom mirror and knew it hadn’t all been my imagination. I hadn't dreamed all of that. My hair was shorter and still straight thanks to the treatment Kira applied to it. I had brought from Greece what I was wearing, the contact lenses, the red dress with which I performed Alex's "liberation ritual" and the strange Áspid platform shoes.
Also on my neck hung the necklace with the star stone. I took it in the palm of my hand and looked at it in surprise. The ruby had turned completely black, it also had a visible crack inside.
That seemed like a bad omen. Black... like my destiny, broken... like my poor heart.

0000
—It’s time.- I muttered filling up with courage and extending my hand to trick,who quickly handed me the knife.
—What is required?- Alex asked.
I made a face.
—I was hoping I didn’t have to do this.- I whispered, opening a fairly large gash on the palm of my hand. The pain was unbelievable! Letting out a sob while encircling the ruby with my bloody palm.
Offered the knife to Alex with my hand.
—You do the same.- I ordered.
Alex cut his palm quickly and we two interlocked the fingers of our bleeding hands. The knife had fallen to the ground. I closed my eyes and the floor started to shake, the entire village seemed to shake.
Between our intertwined fingers a red fire riseed. The entire world seemed shaken by a force that threatened to destroy reality. In seconds the fire began to engulf us both completely.
Alex growled and I sobed, the fire was really burning us alive. Patrick moved nervously towards us but I stopped him.
—Don’t come closer Patrick, or it’ll kill the three of us!
—Master?- he asked to Alex.
—Do as you’re told.- Alex commanded between clenched teeth.
—Give me your other hand, Alex, quickly!
We interlock the fingers of our other hands and stare into each other’s eyes.

—**With blood and fire I Thee release …With blood and fire I Thee release…**- the chant that come out of my mouth seem to have an echo, reverberating around us.
—**With blood and fire I Thee send …With blood and fire I Thee send …**
—**To the place where you belong… Where you belong…**
—**Hoping that my future bends …**

Shooting stars fell, they descended like raging balls of fire. The world convulsed, the walls of the Villa seem to close in on us, thunder, lightning and sparks rained down on us, Alex and I writhed in pain as the fire was replaced by a blinding red glow.
—Sé agapó mikrí mou mágissa . – I hear Alex whisper and my vision blurEd.
In an instant all the lights go out, the universe seemed to have gone dark.

000
Six months have passed since that night in Spiros. I went back to work and three months later I had to ask for a license. The dizziness spells tormented me and I was unable to feed myself properly due to constant vomiting.
My suspicions were confirmed with an obstetric ultrasound.
* Am I pregnant? Yes.*
*Is the baby Alex's? Yes.*
* Am I happy? Rather, I'm scared shitless.*

The invocation ceremony, under the full moon, in Villa Philipides' garden not only caused Yoleandra's spirit to possess my body, it also made me pregnant.
My baby is a boy, I don't really know what to expect, but for now all the exams are within normal parameters and I have faith that my little one will be born healthy. After that mommy will see to it that he grows up a happy child.
Kira found me on Facebook. She sent me a friendship request and we write to each other on WhatsApp from time to time. Thanks to Kira's initiative in finding me, I learned that the council members chose Patrick as the new Mégas, by almost unanimous vote and that Cleo's punishment consisted of freeing the members of her private harem, the vampiress enjoyed the attentions of twenty human men. I don't even want to imagine the dynamics of those relationships. A neighbor of mine saw how I was kidnapped that afternoon and put away my work bag with everything it contained, as soon as
I didn't take the criticism badly, people sometimes don't understand how hurtful those careless comments about the physical appearance of others can be, I really don't care, I have maintained the ideal weight during these months of pregnancy and that is more than enough for me. Kira and Patrick's relationship, on the other hand, is going from strength to strength. Last week she let me know that they are engaged to be married next year.
I decided not to tell them about my little spring roll. I don't want the vampire council to get into discord over my son. Some might consider him the true heir of his father and that could trigger conflicts.
No. We will live a quiet life, away from all that drama.
I'm sitting on Havanas' Malecon . I've come to watch the waves crash. Right in front of me is the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro. Doing a bit of... historical harassment, I discovered that Alexander O 'Reilly was here in Cuba in 1763. At the head of a detachment whose mission was to recover various military positions on the island.
Without delay, he concentrated his first efforts on reconquering the fortress of La Cabaña, culminating a brilliant military operation thanks to the collaboration of his chief of engineers, Silvestre de la Abarca.
The castle of the Three Kings of Morro here in Havana and of San Pedro de la Roca in Santiago de Cuba, hadn't been modernized for almost 200 years before and since Alexander had an immense talent for the design of military fortresses, that talent was put into practice when designing numerous works of improvement in the defensive fortifications mentioned above.
I contemplate the Morro-Cabaña complex with a smile on my lips.

*Our... lives were meant to intersect, little witch. I was looking for you without knowing it was you who I would find...*

His words seem to resonate through time and space. Yes, fate is a strange thing.
I think about him frequently, sometimes when it rains, sometimes when the sky is clear and so very blue, sometimes when a smell or a taste makes me remember the time we spent together those months in Greece, and I always, always remember him when I feel my baby move in my belly.
—Sé agapó mikri mou magissa .
Those were the last words I heard him say, after that everything went black and I woke up back here, in Cuba.
At first I thought he was asking me for forgiveness again for the stupid things he did to me, but then, prey to curiosity, I looked up the phrase in a translator on the Internet and my soul fell to the ground. What he said to me means "I love you my little witch." Arrrggg. That man was contradictory to the end. He said he loved me but didn't have the courage to try to stay with me.
I was never able to understand him, really.
When my little one grows up and asks me about his father, I've no idea what to say to him. I couldn't even keep the photograph I took of us together, during our walk through the Acropolis, it was stored in the cell phone I had in Greece and I don't dare ask Kira to send it to me.
My son moves restlessly inside me, I caress my belly with a hand. He is a real sweet tooth, he isn't born yet but is addicted to vanilla ice cream already, without a cone of course. I laugh. I'm the only one capable of understanding my own jokes. I take off my sandals and walk barefoot in search of a bicitaxy to take me back home. My flowing dress and my waist-length hair sway in the wind.
I 'm convinced that my child won't be a vampire and even less a sorcerer, he may not be entirely human, but in any case he will be the most wonderful little person in the world, to me.
I like to believe that Yoleandra wasn't wrong, she just didn't tell the whole truth. It is possible I will never feel that blind and overwhelming passion that Alex unleashed in me for another man, but I hope to know within very soon another type of love, a more sublime and wonderful one: the love of a mother.
Oh my little Alejandro, mommy is eager to meet you.

**Help, I lost myself again but I remember you...**