3:42 am. Misty stared at the clock on the bedside table for the third time in as many minutes. Frustrated she rolled over and buried her face into the pillow praying sleep would come soon.
The young witch was exhausted, she couldn't remember the last time she had actually had more than an hour of rest. Every time she closed her eyes she was transported back to that dull room. She could still hear the children laughing at her, could smell the breath of the middle aged teacher yelling in her face, could feel her hand being pushed into the defenseless creature, stealing it's life.
It had been four days (or was it five now?) since she had been inadvertently rescued by Miss Cordelia and although she was grateful there was a part of Misty was bitter and angry. She had been stuck in hell for six months before being clawing her way out with some help from her former headmistress. Six months of repeatedly killing an innocent animal. Six months spent in agony. Six months that felt like sixty years. While she suffered the worst fate that could be dealt to her the people she had believed to be her tribe had moved on. They went on with their lives, filling the academy with new witches without a second thought her way. Well, that's not entirely true, the Supreme had held on to her ashes for the half year she was gone.
The events leading up to her escape from hell were still fuzzy but she had the gist of what had happened. After rising to supremacy Cordelia had exposed their kind to the world and opened the academy to girls from all across the country. Zoe and Queenie became the new council and for the first couple of weeks everyone worked to develop a routine. Not long after the academy had been filled and things were running smoothly Cordelia decided it was time to put Misty to rest and spread her ashes in the swamp.
With the ashes being free from the cramped urn they were able to form and after months of clawing through everything Papa Legba had thrown at her Misty broke free. Coming up for air from the murky water the swamp witch crawled to her abandoned garden and collapsed into the foetal position, it was the hardest Misty had ever wept. When she was finally able to pull herself together she dressed in clothes she had left behind in her shack and made her way to the academy.
The only thought that Misty held onto while in hell was one of being able to see Cordelia again. Now that she was free there was nothing that was going to stop her from telling her former headmistress how she felt. Feeling a determination she had never felt before Misty walked through the iron gates in front of the mansion. She immediately sensed something had changed. There were young women on the lawn, on the porch, just about everywhere she looked. Not letting that influence her Misty strode into the academy and straight to the office where she remembered Cordelia would work.
In hindsight Misty should have known better, she had spent her life being tossed aside by people she thought cared for her. This was no different. As soon as Cordelia's healed eyes had met her own Misty felt it, the shock. It was plain as day, they had never even attempted to rescue her. The dumping of the ashes wasn't a last ditch effort to save her, it was an attempt at forgetting her.
Cordelia had explained all that she had missed and had offered her a room but she no longer felt that she belonged so she returned to her swamp without another word. She was used to being alone and she had no false hope of finding her tribe. She would be her own tribe.
The problem with being your own tribe however was that you could never escape your thoughts. There was no one to open to. No one to console you. So unable to escape her demons Misty laid awake for the fifth? night in a row.
When the sun rose the young witch gave up on sleep and went to tend to her garden. She was nurturing her forgotten vegetables when she felt another presence, looking up Misty was met with brown eyes staring into her own.
Putting on a false smile Misty spoke first, "What can I do for ya' Zoe?"
"I want you to come back to the academy with me."
" 'm sorry but my garden needs me, y'all are doing fine without me 'nyways."
Zoe seemed to be growing impatient. "Look Misty we need you, the council isn't complete, the coven isn't complete. You're a part of out tribe."
"I ain't need a tribe after all. I'm happy here."
"That's bullshit! You look miserable just come back with me."
Standing swiftly the necromancer walked into her shack leaving the girl she once considered her friend standing in the hot sun. She wasn't going back, her first instinct about that place was right and she had died twice as proof that that academy had bad vibes.
Another sleepless week had passed before Misty was once again visited but this time it was Queenie who had come to take her back. Instead of empty promises of a tribe Queenie had told the swamp witch that their supreme was in bad shape. It seemed to the two members of the council that Cordelia distraught over Misty's decision to not stay with them.
Despite everything in her telling her not to go back to that academy Misty couldn't ignore the pull she felt to the older witch any longer. If she was in fact the cause of the distress she owed it to Cordelia to fix what she could. No matter what had happened in the end it was Cordelia that originally saved her from the hunter and she couldn't forget that.
Arriving at Miss Robichaux's Misty was led to Cordelia's room. Before she could knock the door was flung open and she felt herself being pulled into a tight hug that she reciprocated almost instantly. Breathing in the sweet familiar scent of the headmistress the younger witch felt more at ease in that moment than she had since before the seven wonders began all those months ago.
"I've missed you." Was murmured into her unruly curls causing goosebumps to rise on her neck and a blush to taint her cheeks. Exhaling deeply Misty pulled away from the hug but before she could fully untangle from the woman she once considered a large part of her tribe she felt herself be pushed on to the bed.
Without a word Misty was spooned from behind, as unexpected as this all was it seemed to calm the swamp witch down, all the anger and hurt she had been feeling was being replaced with a warmth. Relaxing into Cordelia she closed her eyes and reveled into this new feeling.
She knew nothing was solved and there was still a lot to discuss but for now she left herself be wrapped up in this feeling and for the first time in what felt like an eternity she was drifted off into an easy peaceful sleep.