by Katie Cross
“My reasons are my own.”
“Are they?” Angelina asked, an eyebrow rising.
Isadora stared at her without flinching. I held my breath, so grateful to see Isadora that I nearly sank back to my knees again. Even under Isadora’s protection, I could still feel Angelina’s burning rage.
“Perhaps she’s here to be a witness,” Miss Mabel suggested. Her eyes had latched onto Angelina. Angelina pulled her eyes from Isadora to look at her daughter.
“Witness to what, my darling?”
“My ascension to power.”
“Your what?”
“I should think it’s fairly obvious to a witch of your intelligence and power, Almorran Master.” Miss Mabel spread her hands in an innocent gesture. “I’m going to take over now.”
We rode in a long pause until Angelina tilted her head back in haughty appraisal. Something flickered in the depths of her eyes, though her inscrutable expression gave me little idea what it meant. “Take over?”
Miss Mabel smiled. Not even the comforting crash of the waves broke the monotonous silence. Nothing sounded but the echo of my pounding heart. The rigid tension expanded to fill the cave, as if they were trying to force each other out.
“Isadora,” I whispered. “We must go. We’ll never survive if they fight with Almorran—”
“Do you trust me, Bianca?” she asked so quietly I almost didn’t hear. I hesitated.
“Yes.”
“We must stay.”
“But—”
“I’ve seen it all,” she whispered, her voice wavering. The edges of her eyes had begun to droop, and I wondered if protecting me drained her. “Trust me. If you want to defeat Miss Mabel in the end, we must stay. I will protect you from Angelina.”
Can you protect me from Miss Mabel? I wanted to ask, but I bit my bottom lip instead. “I thought you couldn’t help me.”
“I couldn’t come with you,” she said softly. “Angelina would have detected me. But I can help you, and I’m here to do so.”
“You want to betray me?” Angelina finally asked Miss Mabel, her eyes widening.
“In payment for leaving me on the doorstep of May’s house and forcing me to endure the horror of living under her controlling, manipulative hand. In payment for the years of your control, your greed, your misplaced affection, your demands. You controlled me just like May. You left me!”
“I did what was best for you, darling. I …”
“You left me with her!”
Miss Mabel’s shriek echoed off the walls. She calmed herself with a deep breath and lifted her chin. “I’ve been dreaming about it for over nine months now. I will kill you and take over Antebellum myself. This is the day of my revenge!”
Her words echoed through the cave. My revenge. Angelina blinked, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.
“Mabel, I left you with her because I loved you. I couldn’t give you any kind of life, you know that. I was a vagabond! Homeless!” Her voice climbed a notch in desperation. “I wandered into the Eastern Network on the verge of death after giving birth to you. Until I married Diego, I had no one and nothing. I couldn’t tell him the truth. He would never have married me if he’d known I had a living daughter. I watched you from a distance nearly every week until the day I met you in Letum Wood when you were ten.”
Miss Mabel tilted her head back in a maniacal cackle. “You think you helped me by forcing me to live with May? You think I ever wanted your visits, your time?”
Angelina reared back as if she’d been struck. “Mabel … if you want to become the Almorran Master, you’ll have to kill me first. Would you do that?”
Miss Mabel bowed. “Gladly.”
The cave fell into complete darkness.
In Her Darkness
The bony ridge of Isadora’s spine pressed into my chest when she forced me back into the cave wall, putting as much distance between Angelina, Miss Mabel, and ourselves as we could get in the confined area. Not even Isadora’s power could shield me from the sudden, overwhelming terror of the damp darkness. After what felt like an eternity, the torches sprang back to life.
Shadows had descended, swamping Angelina in a flying cyclone of black magic. She didn’t make a sound, but a sudden rush of surprise passed through her eyes. Moments later, the whirling windstorm around her faded, overpowered by a second rush of wind so strong it nearly tore me from the wall when it swept away Miss Mabel’s cyclone. I held onto Isadora’s shoulder to keep her from pitching forward.
“I left you because I loved you, Mabel,” Angelina cried. “I had nothing and nowhere to go.”
“You loved controlling me, just like May,” Miss Mabel hissed. A pair of Clavas swept into the cave, shoving Angelina against the wall with a heavy crack of her body against stone. They hissed and howled, frothing at the mouth. Angelina winced, pinned in place by the half-living shadows, but didn’t fight back. Whether she was stunned from Mabel’s betrayal or slamming her head into the wall, I couldn’t tell.
“How long have you planned this?” Angelina asked. “Why would you betray me?”
Miss Mabel rolled her eyes. “Since the beginning. I allowed Bianca to defeat me so I could hide in the dungeons, hoping you would get rid of Derek, but you couldn’t even do that. I suppose I can dispatch him myself now.” Miss Mabel’s eyes flickered over to Isadora and me. “I have just what I need to defeat him.”
Angelina’s nostrils flared. “I did everything for you that I could,” she whispered. Had she even heard Miss Mabel’s explanation? “Everything. I shared the Book of Spells hoping we could rule together. I waited for you to learn it. I—”
“Was a fool,” Mabel said. Her cold face, so emotionless and careless in the face of Angelina’s pain, frightened me. “I never loved you, Mother dearest. Never.”
Miss Mabel’s face twisted with hate, Angelina’s with something close to the awful agony of love and uncertainty. They remained locked in each other’s gaze for so long that I felt as if Isadora had somehow paused time.
“I could never bring harm to you,” Angelina whispered. “It is against my nature, against my instincts as your mother. I shall not fight you for my life. If you will not be at my side, I have no reason to live.”
“So mote it be,” Miss Mabel whispered. The Clavas released Angelina. She fell into the water with a splash. Mabel stepped forward and pressed her foot to Angelina’s throat.
“This is how you will end it,” Angelina whispered, choking. Water lapped at the side of her face, threatening to cover her mouth and nose. Black ropes sprung from the sand and anchored her down, arms and legs spread wide. “You’ll get rid of me just as you got rid of May.”
Miss Mabel paused, hovering over Angelina’s prostrate body.
“Yes, I will. Just as I planned. Merry part, Mother dearest.”
A cloud of black, ghoulish bats descended on Angelina, wrapping around her head and body until she lay in a cocoon of the blackest night. Miss Mabel stepped back with casual indifference, watching the bats draw the life from Angelina’s struggling form. Her body twisted against the anchors, shrieking. Miss Mabel watched, her eyes on fire with delight and fury.
I ducked away, unable to watch.
The assault continued until I had to look out to see if it had ended. The evil in the room seemed to have sucked the very air from the cave. I sputtered and coughed, fighting against the unseen power that reigned so strong not even Isadora could battle it now. She stumbled, her strength waning.
“Merry part, Mother dearest,” Miss Mabel sang as the life bled from Angelina’s frame. As Angelina dimmed, Miss Mabel grew more sinister, as if she pulled the life from her mother and took it into herself. “It feels so good to finally achieve my long-awaited goal.”
I blinked, peering through watery eyes to find the bats had disappeared. Angelina’s skin shone an unearthly white, so pale not even the bite marks showed. The irises of her eyes and the flesh beneath her fingernails had turned white. In death, Angelina lo
oked more like my friend Isobel than the evil Almorran Master.
Angelina’s chest lifted up and down in weak spasms. Her lips moved, forming the word Mabel, but no sound came out. She died with her face twisted in a silent scream. The luscious appearance of her body faded, her beauty replaced with deep wrinkles, thin lips, and missing teeth. Her hair blew away on the wind, disintegrating into mere strands. The pale field of skin left on her body started to wear away, crumbling into the water until she was nothing but a pile of sand.
A circle of black fire wrapped around Miss Mabel. She tilted her head back, lifted her arms, and surrendered her body into it. The flames consumed her, swathing her in a coat of darkness. Silver danced in the heart of the fire, a color so cold I would have expected it to freeze anything it touched. Screeches rang in the background, like the demons of hell chanting for their new master. I covered my ears but could still hear it. The evil felt so hot I screamed in pain. Blisters formed on the backs of my arms when I lifted my hand to protect my face.
“This is it,” Isadora whispered, turning away. “She’s becoming the Almorran Master.”
“Can’t we stop it?”
“No.”
My heart stalled when the curtain of ebony flames dropped to the floor, dissolving into a noxious cloud that hovered around Miss Mabel’s feet. She turned to face us, and my breath disappeared.
Her once bright blue irises now smoldered red-hot, and her blue brocade had been replaced with a lacy dress the color of darkest night, simple in design but exquisite. The neckline plunged between her breasts, revealing milky-white skin. Her hair fluttered around her face in perfect blonde curls.
“How fitting that you of all witches should witness my triumphant rise to power, Bianca,” Miss Mabel said, her powerful voice echoing through the cave. It seemed to break through my skin like hot talons. I grimaced. Every moment in her presence felt unbearable.
“You won, Mabel,” Isadora said, as though not surprised. “Now you’re the Almorran Master. What is your plan now?”
“Funny you should even ask,” Miss Mabel said, the red centers of her eyes blazing. “You already know, don’t you?”
“I see much.”
“Yes,” Miss Mabel murmured, “you do, don’t you? You’re the most powerful Watcher in Antebellum. You see my plan. You know that I will take you and Bianca back to the Western Network with me, don’t you old lady? That’s what you’re getting at here.”
My chest lurched. “It won’t work,” I said quietly. “You can kidnap and torture me and flaunt it to my father, but it will only make him more determined to destroy you.”
Miss Mabel peered at me curiously, then closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the red had faded back to piercing blue. The moment our gazes met, I felt as if a knife had cleaved my brain into two pieces. I grabbed my head.
Merry meet, she crooned in my mind. I’ve wanted to get inside your head for ages now, strange girl. Just when I think I have you figured out, you do something to surprise me. Are you really so foolish to think your father can win against me now that I’m the Almorran Master? He may have been stronger than me before now, but he isn’t anymore.
Get out! I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t even think. Miss Mabel had invaded my mind with the same black presence Angelina once had. Unlike Angelina, however, I could feel Miss Mabel rooting through my head and I fell to my knees.
You are very brave, aren’t you? But still hurting so much. So much worry for your father. So much … affection. It makes me sick. How can you live while worrying so much about someone else? Not caring is the true path, Bianca. It’s very freeing.
Go away! I commanded, managing to think around the blackness taking up space in my mind. You can’t do this!
Oh, but I can. You see, I’m very curious how a girl from such an intelligent, powerful family line would do such stupid things. The pain of losing your mother still lingers, I can feel it. But then, agony will always remain, no matter the source. It’s what I love about it the most: Pain remains forever. An eternal fountain of power.
Her trespass into my mind—she filled all the crevices, read every single thought, saw every memory, imprinted herself on the good and bad alike—drove me mad.
I still think I could use a girl like you, you know, she continued as if we were having a lazy conversation on a beach. Her presence doubled with stifling power. Now that Angelina is dead, I shall finalize my revenge and take over all of Antebellum on my own. And I will, you know. I’ve been successful so far, haven’t I? Even—
Something shifted with a discernible click. Her voice disappeared. My horror vanished with a burst of hot fire that ripped through my mind. I felt suddenly separated from myself, as if I had been scooped out of my own brain and deposited somewhere else. Somewhere dark, filled with blackness. A whisper sang in the background of the new place. It reminded me of an underground tunnel. Cold, haunted by images and the vague shapes of witches who had come before.
Wherever I was, I was not alone. Voices spoke in the background, moving around me like currents of wind.
She left me there with her. She left me.
I loved you, Mabel, from the moment I first saw you. But I couldn’t keep you, so I left you with her. She could give you what I could not. Security. Food. Shelter. A chance at life. I was a wandering nomad after she kicked me out. I barely survived the pregnancy.
Mabel. I was inside Miss Mabel’s head, listening to her thoughts, her memories, her wounds. I tried to leave the awful place, frightened beyond comprehension, but as I felt no real body, I could do nothing. The pain in the black space loomed so great it pressed upon me with dizzying power.
I loved your father, you know. Loved him with all my heart. Then he left us. He left me pregnant and poor, and I had no choice. I had to give you to May.
She left me …
The agony of the blackness pulsed and throbbed, sometimes humming, sometimes shrieking, until I couldn’t tell pain from pleasure. Then pain was pleasure, and I was sinking into it. Crimson, sadness, despair. They all surrounded me, became me. I didn’t know my own name. All I knew was the pain, and the endless voice inside.
She left me.
He left us.
You’ll never be anything, Mabel. You may have looks, but that’s it. Your stubbornness is annoying and pathetic. I’d feel bad for you except you don’t deserve it. Get out of my sight. You’re a greater disappointment than your mother.
She left me.
The alternating voices didn’t make sense at first, but I had no choice but to listen. I couldn’t leave. They replayed and replayed until I began to understand, until I began to see that the pain I swam in, that encompassed me, was connected to those soft whispers.
You’ll never be anything. I’ll achieve my means through Evelyn because you’re worthless.
Just like your mother.
I love you, Mabel, but it makes me weak. I hope one day you’ll see past my weakness. That’s all love is. You’d be best not to love another soul, you know, than suffer the way I do. I suffer, but still I love you. It’s the strangest feeling.
She left me.
A new feeling arose. Strong, fresh, powerful. With the new emotion, I banished the suffocating pain. I hated those voices. I hated what they said, what they didn’t say. I hated their words, their tone, their secret lies. I curled into the enmity, hiding there because it felt safe. The more I sank into it, the more relief I felt. The pain still lingered, but at least it didn’t see me. The darkness of my loathing hid me. It buffeted me. It made the whispers stop until only one remained, like a pulse that kept me strong.
She left me.
Just as I forgot that I existed apart from the pain, that the agony had nothing to do with my existence, a rending came. A shot of fire. Tearing, shrieking, panic, and madness. I’d existed an eternity in that darkness, so the strange sensation of having a body again came with tingles and shock and a gasp of air. A burst of light pulled me from the tendrils of pain and shoved
me back into my own mind again.
I saw a flicker of light, heard Isadora’s voice, and blacked out.
The not-so-subtle shock of a hand slapping my face repeatedly stung my cheek. I welcomed the sensation, for it was superficial pain. It was mortality. It had nothing to do with the bone-deep weariness of the eternal suffering I’d just escaped. No blackness, no suffocating darkness and evil.
Just friendly, smarting pain.
“Wake up you daft idiot! We don’t have time for this!”
The rough sound of Sanna’s voice accompanied each slap. I groggily opened my eyes, trying to fight her off with a weak wave of my hand.
“S-stop,” I whispered. “Stop!”
“Finally!”
I opened my blurry eyes to find myself back in the wet, black cave. A fresh pile of sand lay in the midst of it. No Miss Mabel. No Isadora.
“No!” I screamed, sitting upright. “No!”
“Stop it!” Sanna slapped me again, this time so hard I fell back into the cave wall with a splash. Water surrounded my body up to my waist, lapping against me in salty waves. “Wake up! We have to go!”
I put a hand to my head and forced myself to concentrate. My eyes swam. The room spun. Focusing on the rough edges of the stone wall and the tang of salt in my mouth reoriented me away from the whispers that still taunted my mind.
She left me.
“Miss Mabel,” I said, pressing a hand to my flushed face. “She—”
“I know.” Sanna grabbed me by the arm and hauled me to my feet. “We have to get out of here before she comes back for you. Isadora transported her back to the Western Network before Mabel could take you with them. Let’s go or you’re dead, because I’m not going to wait around to save you!”
I stumbled with a cry of pain, the same pain that had racked Miss Mabel’s mind with constant torment. I couldn’t pull away from it so fast. Death would surely be more comfortable.
She left me.
“Let me go!” I cried, unable to bear the touch. “Let me go!”
Sanna obeyed immediately, and I fell to my knees. My whole body ached, right down to my fingernails and eyelids. A dull thud moved through my head with even, relentless force. The darkness still clung to my memories.