I was born in a small hamlet, many miles away from the city. It was a small agricultural community with complete rural characteristics and the associated superstitions. People in the hamlet led simple lives, guided by the local preist and a small local clergy. On the other extreme lived a band of women who were known to have magical powers and who were believed to have foretold future. Although openly they never had a very significant place in the village society but in reality they commanded extreme power among the villagers who were scared and awed of these women of whom they heard numerous stories.
The richest family in the hamlet were the St. Amantes family. They were hereditary landlords with riches of generations a decade old. They had large tracts of lands in the hamlet and except the clergy land almost all the land that the villagers cultivated were owned by the St. Amantes. Jean Jacques St. Amantes lived in a big mansion along with his wife Mandaline St. Amantes and together they were the proud parents of two young boys Pierre Jacques and Vince Jacques St. Amante. They lived a life of complete luxury. Savouring the finest wines freshly made from their farms, wearing silks bought from the east, the children playing with the finest toys and basically they had with them whatever wealth could buy and fear could command from the villagers. Under the St. Amantes in their mansion lived some twenty odd servants who worked for the family and catered to all their whims and fancies.
Under the servants there also lived a little girl there. In some basement she lived a life completely in contrast to the rest of the St. Amantes family. Her name was Helene. Helene St. Amante. No, she wasn't the step daughter. She was Jean Jacques and Mandaline's own flesh and blood and along with that she was also believed to be the couple's biggest curse. When Mandaline was pregnant with her first child, Jean Jacques suffered a great loss at his business, the price of grains almost halved the following month and Mandaline got so sick that she could not even pick up her pregnant body from the couch. Jean Jacques was at his wit's end and he took recourse at the hut of the witches. The witches delighted at the arrival of their rich customer gave him the reason for his misfortunes. The child. That wretched child, yet to be born, yet, so miserable, that she started playing its influence on the St. Amantes family. The witches assured Jean Jacques that it was not a child but the manifestion of the century old curses and black magic that the family had incurred from the nasty villagers, jealous at their riches. Jean Jacques was shocked, bewildered and for a moment he did not know what to do. Then slowly anger replaced bewilderment. Jean Jacques knew what to do to the curse being nursed in the womb of his beloved wife. End it. However destiny has its own ways of seeking pleasure from the misfortunes of men or so Jean Jacques thought.
The time Jean Jacques reached the porch of the mansion it was filled with people, pushing the people aside when Jean Jacques entered the wretched room of his wife, the little girl was already gurgling calmly at the hands of the village priest. Killing a baby would never be permitted by the Church. So she lived. Helene lived to a life of apathy, hatred and cruelty from the people who she loved dearly.
