Chapter Five

The drops of blood actually sizzled as they hit the top of the silver box. The fires around the clearing leapt with new life, though no one moved to add fuel. They burned high and bright, lighting the entire area with an unearthly glow. The wind howled around the dais, but stirred not one remaining leaf on any tree nearby, nor ruffled one hood of the followers. Vapor began to rise around the silver box as the water beneath it boiled.

"Pandora, mistress of the treasure and keeper of the box, we beseech thee to come forth!" the old woman commanded even louder.

Carissa held her breath as she saw a figure appear among the mist rising above the box. She felt the hands clasping hers on either side squeeze tighter and knew they too could see the apparition. A woman of beauty, with abundant red hair, and wrapped in diaphanous silver robes became more tangible, fully visible to all who gathered.

"I am here," the ghostly figure of the woman, answered. "It is time," she proclaimed, and then reached down a wispy hand from where she hovered, to reverently touch the box. "The treasure loosed this night will make man regret having been born. You seek Pandora to bless the box and confirm the seal before returning it to the chamber for another millennium. I am here in her stead. I am Anne, imprisoned unjustly in the Underworld eons ago. Now this accursed planet will weep before the next true blue moon arrives. I demand it as payment for the innocents who have suffered, the children who have died—for the tears of the loved ones shed because of the wars, the disease, and the evils forced on the Earth by mankind. So be it!"

Lady Sophia screamed, "No, please! This isn't the way. We must do no harm..." She sobbed into her hands, calling out to the Old Ones for help, as her appeal was ignored, even laughed at, by Anne.

Cackling fiercely, the apparition's beautiful countenance changed into the face of a snarling, long-toothed, shadowy demon with horns. Then flames curled about her as she faded into the disappearing mist. Suddenly, a strong wind swirled in from nowhere and the silver box flew from the dais. It fell to the ground, the lid bursting open.

Lady Sophia lurched forward, fighting against the increasing force of the windy gusts, reaching out in an effort to close the box, to stop what would happen. As she made contact, the flesh of her hand melted away from the bone. She screamed in agony and writhed on the ground as first her arm and then the rest of her body dissolved, leaving behind only a cleanly bleached skeleton, mouth hole open in a parody of an agonized cry.

Screams of terror and anguish filled the clearing. At first, too horrified by the events they witnessed to move, the group remained still. But now, the initial horror was waning. Almost as one, the group broke and fled, fear feeding their flight, removing all vestiges of common sense and judgment.

* * * * *

Carissa hid her face behind her hands. How could the ceremony have gone so wrong? The second part of her quest would have been to wait until Pandora blessed the box and sealed it. Then she would have returned it to the secret chamber to remain until the next ceremony was needed. Too late for that now, a voice within mocked.

But what had been in the box? Carissa saw nothing, not one thing—no dust, no particles, not even a small insect. The sight of the bleached skeleton of her coven leader and mentor lying near the stone dais and the still open box reminded her that something had most definitely been unleashed. The night of the blue moon had turned into a night of horror for Carissa and the followers...and possibly for the entire world if the apparition's curse came to pass.