Part 2
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/zbbsgn/the_daughters_of_perdition_part_2/
Part 3
https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/zd9mjz/the_daughters_of_perdition_part_3/
I work at a construction company and we are renovating this old monastery into a library. The last of the monks decided to sell the building for money and the state of Tennessee bought it make it a heritage site. There is still going to be a library and in addition to adding a bunch of books they are keeping all the ones that were originally here. While renovating the building I found a book with a bunch of stories about how certain monks had come to this monastery. After reading it I found this story particularly fascinating and wanted to share it.
RIP Dora Dunnwood, 1599- 1666 read the tombstone. The undertaker leaned up against the tombstone and winked.
“Your mother has already handled payment lad. Pity not the dead, for they have rejoined our lord in heaven.” he said with a sly smile and a wink before turning away and leaving.
As I carted the tombstone around back I remembered back to Sunday at church service. My grandmother had been scheduled to talk that Sunday. She was going to give a sermon about love and about how that relates to honor thy mother and father. other than my mother and my sister, no one could stand that awful hag, myself included, but those two couldn’t stop talking about how much they loved her. But on Sunday right before her sermon, when she was saying the lords prayer to start, she suddenly burst into flames. She ran down the aisle, screaming at the top of her lungs, and then fell in a heap at the entrance.
We had a large family. I’m Jon 12 and my sister is Jackie, I’m 12 she is 9. Then we had the twins, Jack and Jill, who were both less than a year old. My mother and sister were both distraught, even lost , without their matriarch. My father appeared to have gone senile from the stress. He was never a talkative fellow but his brain just seemed broken.
. My mother was a hag, just like her mother. Both of them had been accused of witchcraft and granny Dora had even been tried a few years back when the inquisition came to town. I remember being upset when they let her go. The New England inquisitions weren’t very thorough, nothing like the Spanish ones.
After the old witch burst into flames people around town had been talking about how god had done the inquisitions work for them, and that she must have been guilty of some unknown, unspeakable treachery. There were even people now asking for my mother to give a sermon at church, to see if the same thing happens. I was in agreement because I knew how close my mother and Dora had been.
I left the tombstone on the ground and went into the house where my mother was standing over a cauldron of soup making very sudden, bug like movements.
“The tombstone is here, and I put it around back like you asked. So what now? Are you going too bury the urn full of ashes?” I asked.
She grimaced and starred at me disapprovingly. “If Dora were still here would you question her? Look at your poor sister, she is distraught. Just because you are a heartless monster doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t mourn in our own way.” She snapped.
Jackie stepped out of the shadows holding a frying pan with some eggs. “Yeah Jon. Don’t you care at all? She loved you and Jack the most! How can you be so heartless?”
This was a bold faced lie as far as I was concerned. The old bat had pretended to love me, but behind the scenes I felt like she was sucking away my life force. Every interaction I remember with her had been like biting into chocolate coated shit. One time when I was sick she had told me about how she would take care of me, but every time I called for anything she was nowhere to be found. The actions and the words just never lined up. And on top of this, I still felt my mother was doing the exact same thing.
Just then my father stepped out of the shadows and spoke “Your mother loves you!”
It was three on one and I didn’t really feel like arguing about something I didn’t care about. They could send the ashes back to the church to be investigated for all cared. So I changed the subject. “Is lunch almost ready? I’m starving.”
My mother responded, oozing fake sweetness. “Yes dear, why don’t you come and have some lunch? Make sure to eat up deary.”
I actually was hungry so I grabbed a bowl of soup some bread and eggs and went to the table and started eating. My father grabbed some food too and sat at the table where the twins were sucking on their bottles. My mother walked up behind me and stood there, I could see her making weird faces in the reflection on the glass. I would have said something but my mouth was full of food.
Jackie walked up behind jack and spoke “Me and mom have already eaten.”
Then my mother responded from behind me inquisitively, “Yes. Jon, after your done eating go get the ranch hand, Eddie, and tell him to leave for the day. Even he may need to mourn Dora in his own way. We are going to take the twins out back to get some some fresh air.”
I turned and looked at her, the expression on her face reminded me almost of a wasp. “We still have stuff to do, why does Eddie get to go home early?”
“Jon what have I told you about talking back to me? I’m your mother! Do as I say.” She said
Jackie chimed in “Jon’s going to get grounded again! Jon’s going to get grounded again!”
“Alright I’ll tell Eddie he gets to go home early, but don’t expect me to do his work.”
My mother and Jackie then took the twins and me and my father sat alone. “Your mother loves you know.”
I was speechless and finished my dinner in disgust. When I was done I went and found Eddie. We always offered him lunch, but he preferred to bring a sandwich and avoid my mother. I envied his ability to be able to get away from her at the end of the day.
“The old lady says you can go early.” I paused. “Take some time and mourn Dora in your own way.” We looked at each other and both started laughing hysterically.
“Alright, I’ll see you bright and early on Thursday then. Dora-“ He then cut off. “Eh wouldn’t want her to haunt me. I don’t envy you living in that house with her ghost” he said with repressed laughter. “Well I guess I’ll be off then.” and with that he left.
I felt so alone. My mother scared me, my sister was a tool, and my father was broken. I shuddered at the idea of Dora’s ghost being present in the home. I felt hopeless and alone that afternoon and just sat there in silent melancholy. I was at a total loss. It felt like even my family was against me behind the scenes.
The barn cat came out of a bush and sat looking at me. He looked disturbed, like he had seen or heard something awful.
I sat there and all seemed calm, there was no wind at all. Then I thought I heard the beating of wings. It was far off, it sounded like an absolutely massive humming bird. I thought I was just hearing things until I saw the cats ears follow the noise. It looked terrified. We both listened and the sound stopped. I listened closely but couldn’t hear anything.
I had almost let myself believe I was hearing things when I heard Jack scream at the top of his lungs. He sounded anguished, I felt the pain down to my soul. I grabbed a hoe for self defense and ran to the source of the scream. What I saw will haunt me to the day I die.
As I rounded the house and everyone came into view I couldn’t believe me eyes. Both Jack and Jill were atop the tombstone. And atop jack was a black wasp the size of a raven crawling all over him and doing something. My mother sat right beside the two holding the urn of her mothers ashes, throwing them on the twins and whispering.
I screamed “Hit that wasp! Get it away from Jack!”
She turned and looked at me all bug eyed. “Is that any way to speak to your grandmother?”
The wasp jumped to the ground and started to dance around. It made a sound like a young girl in pain, and fell on its back. Its stinger pointed towards the sky grotesque pulsating.
“Give your grandmother a hug Jon. She missed you while she was away” My mother said as the wasp moved towards me on its back. It made sounds like a horny woman.
I had never been more disgusted in my whole life. I swung the hoe in an arch and brought it crashing down between the wasp’s abdomen on thorax and pinned the awful beast to the ground. It suddenly shrieked like a banshee and started struggling. With all my might I held the wasp to the ground and looked around for help. My mother starred at me bug eyed, Jackie lay in the fetal position behind the bush, and my father was nowhere to be found.
“Jackie hold this! I’ll go into town and get the inquisition!” I yelled in a panic.
“I’ll hold it deary” my mother said sweetly and came over holding the hoe and pinning the wasp. I wasn’t going to ask any questions and ran down the road to town. It wasn’t far and when I got there talking about a raven sized black wasp the inquisitors were quick to respond. We returned in what felt like no time at all. I rode on the back of one of the horses as they charged around back. There was no one there. The horses formed a semi circle around the back of the house.
Lance, the captain then yelled “The inquisition is here, have no fear! Where is the culprit, the wasp of unfathomable proportions?”
My mother came running out the back door and yelled “The devil child is lying! He took these mushroom and started hallucinating! Its all a lie!” She held out her hands, and they were full of bright red mushrooms with white spots.
Lance looked at them suspiciously and then his eyes fulled with light and happiness. “ I recognize amanita muscaria anywhere! Here lad, its ok. I too have on occasion tasted the bitter flesh of the most magic of all mushroom. Its not real, just enjoy the feeling lad.”
I was dumbfounded by what had happened. Before I could speak Jackie stepped out of the bushes and said “I saw him eat the mushrooms before lunch this morning. Silly boy. He’s still affected, don’t pay him any mind”
I was about to call her a liar when my father stepped in from the bushes and chimed in “Jon you know your mother loves you.”
I stood there unable to find my voice for a second. When I found it and was about to speak one of the Inquisitors beat me too it. “Hey lady? You selling? I’ll give you 15 shillings for a bucket?”
My mother got that bug eyed wasp look on her face, then regained her sweet old lady composure. “Why that’s a fine price” she said, her hips swinging back and forth.
The inquisitors shut me down and wouldn’t listen to me after that. They bought their mushrooms and left. Everyone expected me to just play along like everything was fine and for a little while I did.
I had a secret plan to steal my father’s horse and just make a run for it down to Louisiana but I didn’t really intend to go through with it. The french were, godly people I hoped. This English colony was essentially all prisoners or convicts originally and it seemed to have drifted the moral compass towards lawlessness.
When I awoke on Saturday morning I was emotionally turned off. I felt trapped, dead inside, like there was no way out. What would my mother do to me? Had Dora planned this all along? Repressed trauma mixed with question inside of me. I felt hollow, like I had sold my soul to my evil mother.
That morning the whole family was there for breakfast. Everyone seemed like they were off in their own world. Jack seemed fine as he sucked on his bottle, Jill doing likewise.
My mother eyed me suspiciously “Have you taken any more mushrooms my dear?” She then made the wasp face.
“No” I responded, emotionally shut off.
“Are you sure?” Jackie looked at me, sneering.
“Your mother loves you.” my father chimed in.
Then Jack started shrieking at the top of his lungs in agony. Before I could react a half dozen two inch wide wasp larva erupted from his skin. They then started showing down, and Jill started laughing. She sounded exactly like Dora.
“Granny’s back baby!” the familiar voice cackled.
My mother cheered and rushed to Dora, picking her up in arms and cradling her.
“Is it really Dora?” Jackie asked.
And that was the last thing I heard any of my family say, because I ran out the door, mounted the horse and headed for Louisiana at full speed. Stealing a horse was a very major crime, but the french and English would regularly shelter criminals from the other side.
I traveled for 4 days with no food, only drinking from streams and letting the horse graze, when I came upon a monastery. I had somehow crossed the border and these were french priests. They saw that I was starving and took me in and fed me. I started working around the monastery, up-keeping the place to earn my keep and within a year I had learned french.
I studied at that monastery for the rest of my days, becoming a man of the lord, and living out my days among like minded monks. I have written the story of how I got here down for my contemporaries, as well as future generations.