Wings: Hey, Guys! I'm back!

Rainbow: Oh, boy and with a new story that's not an update to your older stories that you promised to write about!

Wings: Shut up! This is partially your fault too! You always have to badger me and force me to write.

Rainbow: If I didn't who would?

Wings: Never mind… Anyway, Silver! The disclaimer if you'd be so kind!

Silver: Nobody here owns the rights to Witch's House. Everything written here is completely non-canon and is a product of Wings taking somebody else's idea and butchering it!

Wings: Hey!

Rainbow: I raised you so well!

"Today is a great day for your final!" Viola's literature teacher yelled excitedly. Viola mentally sighed at her teacher's enthusiasm. It was mid-June, and the oppressive heat of the day had somehow coalesced into red fog that choked the occupants of the room. To top it all off this was the final period of the day, and Viola was itching to get out of school, she could almost feel her rose garden wilting in the sun's harsh rays. "Anyway, I've added an extra credit question! It's completely optional, but I'd like to see what you think of this story that we've read, and I'd like you to make a case for who you think is the most heroic person in this book. Now," the teacher paused to look at his watch. "You have the rest of the period to work, so get working!"

Viola started into the test. The first section was just a string of simple multiple choice questions, most were just recalling information and the sequence of events in the novel the class had completed, but a few were random trivia questions. 'Man, leave it to Mr. Tarren to pull out some questions that don't even relate to anything. Who in the world knows who the most popular pairing in this book is?!' Viola sighed again, but at least the rest of her classmates looked just as confused. Viola quickly moved on the second section, a portion dedicated entirely to her most hated type of question, essay questions. Nonetheless, Viola persevered, and eventually came to the last question. It was pretty much as her teacher had said, a simple question asking your opinion and evidence to back it up, honestly it was just like Mr. Tarren to give a final based on several essay questions. Really, didn't he have anything better to do than grade a bunch of sloppily written essays?

But soon it was all over. Viola finished up her test and handed it in. (After triple-checking it, of course. She had a reputation to uphold.) Her teacher took the packet and looked it over before quickly flipping it to the back page to check her answer to his bonus question. "Viola, I'd like to see you after class…" Viola stiffened. Was that ever a good sign when your teacher asked you to stay after class? Especially on a day like today!

"Yes, Mr. Tarren," Viola replied quietly. A few minutes later, the bell sounding the end of the school day rang, and Viola was still sitting at her desk, waiting patiently for the rest of her classmates to filter out of the classroom.

"Up here, Viola," Mr. Tarren said, motioning for Viola. "Now, I'd like to discuss a few things with you on your perspective of the book…"

Viola stared at him, puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, Viola, I'm just not sure you really understand the concept of this book. I'm sure you passed your final with a fine grade, and you're certainly a very intelligent young woman, but your outlook on life may need to be worked on." Viola's teacher stopped to gauge Viola's reaction. "Viola, I'd like you to give me your definition of these words." Mr. Tarren started to write in his usually loopy script. Viola hated that script; she was just more used to print rather than cursive. Needless to say it took some time for Viola to puzzle through the archaic mess that was her teacher's writing.

Evil, hate, friend, and love were written on the post-it note. "That's an odd list, Mr. Tarren. I don't see why you'd want the definitions to those."

"Viola, these are some of the ideas that are tossed around in this novel. I assume you'd agree?"

"I guess…"

"Viola, do you really understand these words?"

Viola stared at her teacher. "What?"

"Viola, these aren't just words, they're part of the real world. Your understanding of these words, these concepts, will influence everything you do, and judging by your answer," Mr. Tarren waved Viola's test. "I'm not sure you really understand what most people think of these ideas… So if you'd please," Mr. Tarren gestured to the post-it note.

Viola stood, stunned. "Alright," Viola said after breathing deeply. "Evil… Evil is," Viola faltered. "Evil is a label people give to their opposition. People think that just because someone is against them that they're vile and against everything they deem good." Viola proclaimed, suddenly very emboldened, like she had actually spent time thinking about it. In fact she almost remembered something from another life, but it was too hazy to remember.

Mr. Tarren just nodded and motioned for Viola to continue.

"And hate is just something that people toss around because of their inability. People who are helpless need to pin their blame on someone else, and that takes the form of hate," Viola muttered the last part in an undertone, but her teacher showed no indication of stopping her. "Friends are-" Viola paused for a second. That word was definitely something she had thought about, and the feeling of definitely having thought about it, but being unable to recall the memory irked her, but she pushed the emotion out of her mind. "Friends are titles people give to people that help them. If somebody does something for you, you call them a friend, whether their favor be elevating your status or giving you what you crave," Viola stopped, was what she had just said from her memory? She had never really thought about her friends before, but to some extent what she had said was true, though she had very little experience with the concept as a whole. She was an introvert and proud of it. People just got in the way.

Mr. Tarren motioned again.

"And love is just a strong emotion that people feel for their significant other," Viola ended lamely.

"Well, I guess you have given this some thought, Viola," Mr. Tarren sighed. "I wonder what you think of everyone's emotional capacity…" He said absent-mindedly. "Anyway, let's start with this first word. Now would you say that the main character of this story is evil?"

"I don't think so…"

"I'm not sure if I would either. He's clearly conflicted about his actions, right?" Viola nodded. "But on the other hand, he's willing to sacrifice many innocent people for his goal."

"Maybe they weren't innocent, maybe they were all murderers that he targeted!" Viola burst out.

"I'm glad you think that he was doing the world a favor, but when you think about, he may have been an alright person, but were his actions evil?"

"Even the most innocent person must commit an act of evil sometime."

"But what is evil? I know you gave me your thoughts Viola, but being evil is not being in opposition of someone. People who are evil are people who think little of their actions, and even less of the people they affect. That might just sound like selfishness Viola, but if someone were to just kill you and walk away like nothing happened, would you call them evil?" Viola paused to think about that thought.

"Sir, I think that I would."

"But isn't that what the main character does? He may show remorse for the few close friends he kills on accident, but for the majority of people that he slaughters, he thinks of only his goal." Mr. Tarren looked over Viola one more time. "I know you've suffered a lot in the past, Viola, but it's time you started looking towards the future. Right now is the prime of your life. I'm supposed to help you mature and survive out there in this world, but it all comes down to what you decide. You're dismissed, Viola, have a good weekend."

Viola threw down her backpack in disgust. She had had enough on her plate already, she didn't need a morality lecture on top of it.

"Have a bad day, sweetie?" Viola's dad walked in from the kitchen

Viola snapped out of her thoughts to smile awkwardly. "No, just had some hard tests, daddy. It'll be over soon anyway."

"Alright then." Viola's dad ruffled her hair and walked outside. " Oh, by the way, dinner's in the oven, I'll be out late tonight!"

Viola sighed, and smiled exasperatedly at her dad. She wouldn't trade anything in the world for such a nice father. She took out her lunch box and walked over to the sink, beginning the long process of washing out her utensils and containers. The sky outside was brilliant and viola was already planning on the route she would take to water the roses. It would have to be right after washing too, it would be no fun to water them at night. Viola shivered at the memory, there were somethings she just didn't have the heart to do anymore

A few minutes later, Viola was wandering around the roses scattered throughout the yard. Her dad had dubbed them "miracle roses" since they had bloomed right after the incident. They were every possible color, except red. Viola wasn't particularly fond of scarlet roses. Viola shook her head at the thought and went around to the backyard. The sun was still high in the sky, but her house was casting a small shadow over half of the yard. Viola's dad had never really gotten around to gardening in the back, after all "that wasn't what the home owners' association looked at". Viola would roll her eyes at that comment, her father was just a goofball. A loveable goofball.

Something flashed before Viola's eyes as she rounded the corner. She blinked a couple of times and scanned her surroundings. That was odd… Viola shook her head, and the flash appeared again. Viola screwed up her eyes and looked again. Nothing. Third time's the charm, Viola guessed and tried again. Well, there it was plain as day. Viola decided to get her eyes checked. She bent down to look at the new plant that had begun growing. It was a single stalk struggling out of the ground, and there were only two buds on it. It certainly wasn't a bush this time. Viola leaned in closer and stared at the buds. They had already begun to bloom into impossible colors. One was a brilliant cerulean and the other a soft violet.

Viola leaned in even closer to smell the budding flowers. It was like all the other roses, only the scent was stronger and lingered for far longer. Viola retreated from the flowers and turned back to go in the house. A few pictures of impossibly colored roses couldn't hurt.

There was something comforting about lying in bed. Surrounded by warm blankets and supported by pillows and stuffed animals, Viola was quite content to just lie there for eternity. Well, she had had plenty of experience with it before, but this was a considerably more comfortable situation. Viola closed her eyes as sank down into her dreams. Saturday was going to be a good day.

Viola opened her eyes to the world in her dreams. It was odd actually waking up in a dream for Viola. Usually she just remembered having them, or not remembering them at all, but she rarely ever got the feeling like she had an awareness inside of the crazy tales she wove during the night. Still, this dream didn't seem to be one she would have wanted to wake up in. She was gazing upon a rather dark and derelict room. Weak light littered with spores filtered in from the shaded windows behind her. It was shabby and dull, but it was dry. Viola wondered why she thought that particular quality was so important. Then a thunderclap outside reminded her that there was a storm outside. Viola shook her head again. Did details like that just randomly create themselves in a dream?

Viola stepped forward and a door appeared before her. It sort of melted down, like it had always been there, invisible, but some sort of revealing fluid had been poured on it, some kind of syrupy liquid. Viola reached out for the handle and turned. It was still warm. 'Still' thought Viola. That was an awfully weird way to think about it, after all still from when? It looked like she was the first person in years to actually visit the house. Actually, was it a house? All she knew about it was that she was in a room. Actually, wasn't she in a dream?

The door yielded to a dining room. Viola wrinkled her nose at the pungent odor that had wafted in. Like bleach or some strong antiseptic, the smell was mind numbing. The door slammed behind Viola. She didn't even cast a glance behind her. She felt like she knew it would do that. There was no real reason to be concerned about this house anyway. Actually, this dream was getting boring. Viola decided to hurry things up and took a right. Another door popped into existence, and Viola opened it.

This time it led to a darkened hallway. The windows that lined the hall were either smashed or darkened to a mat grey. Viola could hear and see tree branches wailing against the panes. There was blood trailing along the carpet. Viola stepped down the corridor, carefully avoiding the stains. She reached another door and pulled its handle.

An exhale of stale air greeted Viola. It was musty and had the metallic note of blood. In fact there was blood everywhere. It seemed to pool out from the bed in the center of the room. Viola stepped around it and put her back to the wall. She slinked over to the desk in the corner of the room, looked down at the book on it, and hesitated. She knew every word written in it, though she had never put a single word in it. She didn't want to read some product of the world she had left behind.

But the world wanted her anyway. The girl turned at the sound of scratching nails. An awful dry sound of something being dragged across wood. A small child with purple locks coated in blood was hauling itself forward. Then it started to pick up speed. Faster and faster, more and more frantic, the body heaved and shook and dragged itself towards the other girl, and it was finally upon her.

The girl with golden braids fell onto the floor and was quickly shoved against the wall. She choked and stared into the face of the other girl. Bright red eyes met hers, eyes that flashed with glee, not the hollow sockets that used to be there. "Ellen… Ellen… You're here! You're here!" The legless girl began to cackle with delight. "I missed you… I felt so alone… Let's play again! Let's have fun!" The legless girl began to lean into the golden braided girl's ear. "I don't want to ever let you go again… Ellen, promise me you'll stay by my side… I don't want to be alone anymore…" The girl with golden braids could feel the other's breath. "You'll be with me forever, right?... After all, we're friends, aren't we, Ellen?..."

Ellen opened her eyes. The ceiling above her was still dark, soaked by the night's presence. Saturday was going to be a terrible day.

Rainbow: Aaaand… Scene! Alright good work, everybody!

Wings: Thank god it's over. Now I can finally go back to being in bed like a normal sick person!

Rainbow: Don't you think we should turn over a new leaf for the New Year?

Wings: Maybe... But I'm still sick!

Rainbow: Whatever. Anyway guys, we hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did it would be great if you left a review! Remember we appreciate any kind of constructive criticism, or a friendly hello!

Wings: And we'll see you in the next chapter!