by Cate Farren
Her grandmother was standing in the hallway, arms crossed. She looked disappointed.
"Have you finished torturing your poor mother?" her grandmother demanded.
"You could've stopped me," Saskia dared her.
The other woman shrugged. "I could have."
"Frankie would be disgusted with us."
"Frankie was weak. He never had the strength you have."
Romily was the reason her mother had bound her and Frankie's powers. Rose had been scared her children would turn out evil and had acted out of fear and desperation. Romily had brought them here, to this place, to join with Loki. Her grandmother was the sole root of all that was wrong with her family.
She had to die.
"What have you got to teach me to today?” Saskia asked, taking her grandmother's arm. "I'm in the mood for something destructive."
"Good girl," said Romily, smiling. "What do you have in mind?"
"I want to turn someone's blood into poison or something like that," said Saskia, the two of them walking down the stairs. "I like to inflict pain."
"Causing pain is an art form. Perhaps I can teach you what I know."
She watched as the pensioner in a teenager's lithe body left to find one of her spell books. Saskia tried to tell herself that her grandmother looking younger and hotter than her didn't gall, but it did. It was just one more reason to despise the woman.
Clover was sitting on the couch, eating a red apple. They grew on trees out back. There was a full fruit orchard and everything. The fruits grew magically quick. Saskia once planted a blueberry bush and the next day it was already in full bloom. Incidentally her periods had become out of whack too. She was always quite regular. Here in this dimension she often missed a month. Weird.
"How is your mother?" Clover asked.
Saskia sat down next to her. "Can you believe she's using magic to stop herself from healing?"
"Your mother is a strong woman, despite what I think about her."
"You want her dead."
Clover nodded. "I won't kill her. I promise."
Saskia watched her for a moment, slowly eating her apple. She didn't believe her. Clover had changed so much since the last time they'd met. Her friend was cold and distant, almost as if waiting for death or some other calamity to come along.
Saskia said, "After what she did to you and your family I'm surprised you haven't tried to kill her already."
"Maybe I'm biding my time," said Clover. She finished her apple, holding the core in her hand, staring at it. “Or maybe I just can’t be bothered.”
“Why are you really here?”
CLOVER CONSIDERED HER friend's words carefully. She wasn't sure she could trust Saskia now. She'd changed, despite the fact she'd tried to resuscitate their friendship. They'd both changed. How could they be friends, how could they be honest, when they'd both seen and done so much? It was impossible. Yet Clover wanted her friend back. She needed her so much right now.
Saskia is quite possibly the only thing I have left in all the dimensions in the multiverse.
"I can't go back to Chapel Green," she admitted. "There's too many painful memories back there. Besides, now I've put my lot in with Loki they'll probably kill me on sight for being a traitor." She sighed, thinking about Adrian and Lovisa and Sheriff Trent. She might never see them again. The thought pained her deeply. "I don't regret what I did, Saskia. I don't regret killing my mother. Perhaps I should, but I don't. Was it the chaos inside me that me do it, or my mental illness? I don't care. I did what I had to do then, and I'm doing what I have to do now. Loki is my future now. He's the only family I have left."
"You do know he wants to take over the world," Saskia said, her voice quiet. "He wants to kill a lot of people. Do you condone that?"
"Of course not. But for now..."
She let her words linger in the air. She still planned to stop Loki, but for now she would wait and see what his actual plans were. It wouldn't do anyone any good to go in half cocked before she knew everything. Besides, she had her baby to think of now.
Baby! I almost forgot I was pregnant there for a moment.
Loki wasn't stupid. He had to know she'd never join him on his genocidal quest. Why was he humoring her? Why was she humoring him?
Does a part of me want to help Loki? Does the part of me that came from him actually revel in chaos, just like all shapeshifters?
She shook her head. It couldn't be true. She hated chaos, and yet she had gotten immense satisfaction from killing her own mother and trying to kill Jared all those years ago. She was definitely Loki's granddaughter. But did that mean she had to be like him? Did that mean she had to enjoy causing chaos?
"I still can't believe you're half shapeshifter," said Saskia, interrupting Clover's confused thoughts. "Can you...can you change your shape?"
"Just my face," said Clover. She grinned, loving to show off her new ability. She changed her face into that of Angelina Jolie. "Look at me! I have big lips and divorced Brad Pitt!"
Saskia laughed. "Do more!"
Clover changed her face over and over, imitating more Hollywood stars. The two of them laughed and joked and it really did feel like old times. Even when she saw Loki watching from the doorway she didn't stop. This was her and Saskia's moment, a true and honest moment between two lifelong friends, and not even the lord of chaos himself could ruin it for her.
Not even the chaos inside me can ruin it.
LOKI CLOSED THE DOOR, letting the two friends have their fun. He knew with certainty that one day, probably soon, they would both betray him. He was expecting it and had planned accordingly. It would still hurt, but it was the world he lived in. Everyone betrayed everyone else. There was no such thing as loyalty or honor any more.
He mused on why he'd even brought Clover here as he tended to his children. The ones that were almost ready were at the other side of the Primordial Womb, camping out, waiting for instruction. They could wait for now. They needed time to adjust to being sentient.
He sat down and closed his eyes, linking himself to his newly formed children. He told them who they were, who he was, what they were born for. They were literally lumps of clay, waiting to be molded, waiting for guidance, waiting to wake up.
Why did I bring Clover here?
Why did I save her from that institution?
He wanted her to be on his side. He needed her to see things from his point of view. He cared for her, even though she was only half shapeshifter. He cared for all of his children, even the ones that had betrayed him. She deserved better than the life she had, of living in that claustrophobic town with that genocidal Prime Demon and being manipulated by bitter parents and Dracula's grandson. She deserved his guidance. She needed him.
I need her.
He opened his eyes.
I pity her.
He vowed to make sure she didn't return to her former life of misery and hopelessness. He had to give her something to live for. She needed a purpose.
Do I unfreeze her baby?
He shook his head. She would protect that baby to the death. It would form a wedge between them. Besides, she wasn't ready to look after a small child.
One of his newly formed children blinked at him. Loki grinned as he came upon the perfect idea.
Chapter 21
“You’re not welcome here.”
She’d been here a week now and hadn’t yet had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Saskia’s grandmother. She’d been dreading it. Clover had heard many stories about this woman and her wickedness. She made Rose sound like an innocent, if that was possible. Was this the woman who had made Rose the bitter, twisted person she was?
“You look remarkably like Saskia,” Clover noted, looking the young woman up and down. “But younger. Weird.”
Romily shrugged. “If my granddaughter was thin.”
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
Clover had been watching Loki work all day. She found his lessons with the shapesh
ifters fascinating. She could feel them all in her mind as a sort of static buzz of voices. He was feeding them energy somehow, building them up. He said he was making them sentient, giving them proper life as opposed to the living statues they were born as.
She was sat on a bench, amused, as every single shapeshifter fell over at once. Loki was laughing. She’d never seen him so genuine and human before. It was odd.
“You will never be anything to him other than a play thing,” Romily spat. “I am the one he needs. I am the one with the power to aid him.”
“I think he just wants me here because I’m family,” Clover admitted.
“Just because you’re the seed of one of his treacherous offspring it doesn’t mean you’re family.”
Clover stared into Romily’s crazy eyes before saying, “You’re jealous.”
“I could turn you into a bug and crush you.”
Clover knew how to hurt this woman. She’d heard all her life about Saskia’s grandmother and grandfather having some sort of epic love. Saskia often raved about it, telling stories of their romance, grinning like it was the most wonderful thing in the world. Maybe the death of her husband had turned Romily into such a bad person; who knew?
She turned her face into Cyril, Romily’s dead husband. The witch flinched.
“I often wondered why Saskia’s mother removed all photos of you from her house,” Clover, as Cyril, pondered. “She wouldn’t talk about it. But Saskia...Saskia had a photo of you and Cyril hidden in a shoebox with all her other secret things. She often confided in me that she wished she had grandparents.”
“You’re just like him,” Romily spat. “You enjoy inflicting pain.”
“I don’t enjoy it,” Clover told her. “I just wanted to put you in your place. Don’t threaten me again.”
“One of these days Loki is going to see you for what you are and I’m going to enjoy being ordered to kill you.”
Clover laughed. “That’s it. Take orders like the servant you are.”
She kept Cyril’s features for as long as it took Romily to storm inside the house. When the witch was gone Clover pulled back her own face. It felt so easy to shift now it was like second nature to her. When she used her inborn abilities it felt right.
She looked up to find Loki standing in front of her. There was a shapeshifter behind him.
“You made her uncomfortable,” said Loki. He didn’t smile, though she could innately feel that he was smug. “I’m impressed. Even I can’t do that.”
“I found her weakness,” Clover admitted. “So I used it against her.”
“Even a thing like that loved someone once.”
The same could be said for you, Loki.
“I have someone I’d like you to meet,” said Loki. He stepped aside. “Welcome.”
The shapeshifter stepped forward hesitantly. It was about six-foot tall, with no features whatsoever. It was neither male or female. It appeared to be nothing but a slightly mobile marble statue.
“Who is this?” Clover asked, a little confused.
“Whoever you want it to be,” said Loki. “This is your gift.” At Clover’s puzzled look he added, “I want you to connect with it and build it. I want you to give it features, a face, a gender. I want you to help develop its personality.”
Clover shook her head. “No.”
“I want you to give it life.”
Romily slammed the door behind her, seething. She’d never been so humiliated in her entire life. To be brought down by a girl like that! She felt so ashamed and angry she wanted to kill something. Inflicting pain always made her feel better.
Saskia was sitting on the couch, reading a magic book. This was just the distraction she needed to cool her mood.
“I see you’re enjoying the book,” said Romily. She smiled sweetly as her blood still boiled with fury. “Perhaps you’d like to try some practical applications?”
Her granddaughter looked up at her. “You said I had to read this book three times before you’d let me try anything in it.”
“It’s not my fault you’re a slow reader.”
Saskia held up the thick book. It was over a thousand pages long.
“I can see you’re gagging to do something,” Romily urged her. “Come on.”
She closed the book. Romily smirked. She saw something of herself in her granddaughter. There was a passion to learn and a burning, simmering darkness that could be exploited. Besides, Romily quite enjoyed teaching her things. She’d been a teacher once upon a time herself and she kind of missed it.
“What shall we try first?” Saskia asked. She was looking around the room. Her eyes lit on a hideous vase on the mantelpiece. “I could try blowing that vase up.”
Romily nodded. “Good idea.”
Saskia muttered a spell and the vase imploded, vanishing entirely. Romily was impressed. She’d expected the girl to blow the thing up, scattering broken shards all over the place.
“An implosion spell,” said Romily. “They’re notoriously hard to do for beginners.”
“It was easy,” said Saskia. She wasn’t obnoxious, just confident. “I could do it again if I had to.”
Romily couldn’t believe this. Saskia was progressing faster than even she’d imagined. If only Rose hadn’t bound the girl’s powers when she was a baby! Saskia could be so powerful by now she’d be on the verge of godhood.
The Catholic church will never see Saskia coming.
“Wait there a moment,” said Romily. “I need to fetch something.”
She used her magic crystal to transport herself back to their home dimension. She had a safe house there where she kept all her books, magical objects and other things she needed. She grabbed what she came for and teleported back. She had to be careful. Her crystal was running out of juice. If she wanted to recharge it she’d have to kill a few more witches and steal their magic.
“Can you implode this?” Romily asked.
Saskia paled. “What? No.”
Romily held the Labrador puppy as it wriggled and whined. “Kill it.”
Clover stared into the eyes of the shapeshifter. It did have eyes, she realized. They didn’t have an iris or anything, they were just orbs of white. The eyes hadn’t been there a minute ago. The simple act of Clover staring at it had caused it to develop eyes, as if mimicking her, like a child imitating its mother.
Is this the same shapeshifter that stared at me during my first night here?
She shook her head. It couldn’t be the same one.
“Why do you want me to do this?” Clover asked.
Her eyes never left the shapeshifter. She studied it, looking for any tell. It twitched a few times.
“You need this,” he told her. “You need a purpose.”
“No...”
“I can threaten to kill you if you don’t do it. The choice is yours.”
She didn’t believe for a moment that he’d kill her, but she didn’t have a chance to reply. He just walked away, leaving her and the shapeshifter alone.
“What do I do?” she asked it.
The shapeshifter just stared.
Loki said she could give it an identity. But what did that even mean? Did she even have the right to force an identity on someone? Everyone had the right to choose what they wanted to be, even a formless lump of earth like this. Besides, she didn’t think she was creative enough to literally create a whole sentient being from scratch. She was hardly an artist. Her artwork and creative stories at school were described by her teachers as mediocre.
“Who are you?” she asked it.
It didn’t move or speak. It didn’t even have a mouth.
I suppose I can give it basic features. There’s no harm in that.
“Form a mouth,” she ordered. “And a nose. Ears would be good too.”
Nothing happened.
“How did Loki do this?” she wondered.
She took hold of its hand, which was just a stump really. It was warm to the touch, sending a sort of tingle through
her skin. It made her shiver.
“What do I...”
She felt it. There was something there inside the shapeshifter, a slither of a mind, the embryo of a soul. It was like a whisper heard from far away but it was there. It was the beginnings of life, a person, a personality. She instinctively knew what to do next.
Saskia stared at the innocent, wide eyes of the puppy. It was scared, but not as much as it should be. It probably thought they were about to start playing. It was even wagging its tail in anticipation.
“Implode it,” Romily ordered. She sounded like an impatient teacher, waiting for an ignorant pupil to disappoint her. “I know you can do it.”
Saskia shook her head. “I’m not killing an innocent puppy!”
“How do you know this puppy is innocent?” Romily asked. “Perhaps it’s evil.”
“Evil isn’t born, it’s created.”
“I’ve been around long enough to know it can be both.”
She gently took the squirming puppy from her grandmother’s hands. She refused to look in its wide eyes or think about how soft its fur was. It would ruin her.
Come on. You can do this. It’s just a puppy. It’s not a human or anything.
The puppy started to lick her hand. She giggled.
“Imagine the puppy is someone you hate,” Romily suggested. “That might make this easier.”
“No,” said Saskia.
Romily grinned. “Imagine the puppy as...your mother, perhaps.”
The puppy imploded with a single snap. Saskia jumped to her feet, shocked.
Saskia looked around. “I...I...”
Romily sighed with disappointment. “I had hoped you would do this without prompting, but no such luck. You reacted on emotion. A good witch does not react on emotion, otherwise anybody who annoyed them would be dead.”
“You brought my mother into it.”
“I was testing you – and you failed miserably. You’re not ready for this. Perhaps you never will be.”
Romily walked away. Saskia could still smell the puppy.
Before Clover knew it the shapeshifter was starting to form before her. It had blue eyes now, not fake movie star blue, just normal sky blue, pretty and twinkling. It had full lips, a small nose, perfect ears, eyebrows that were a tiny bit bushy, though not too big. She added curly eyelashes next, and long dark brown hair with streaks of black that reached to the back of the shoulder.