AN: Hellos! *waves frantically* just like to point out that I own none of the characters in here apart from the idiotic doctor *winks at NCD* and the lullaby Hushabye mountain belongs to Bobbie Gentry. Okay, now I look at it that was the disclaimer, this is the AN: in this fic I am using the phrase Hushabye mountain as a metaphor for death and Lullaby bay is a metaphor for Constance. Just put this in to help the lullabyfic make a little more sense. P.s don't assume the ending from this – it may not be as you think ;)
The day was the day that Amelia never wanted to happen in her lifetime, she may not have been aware of this fact, but there was a strange presence lingering in the frozen air of the academy, a presence that would be the catalyst of an event that would change Amelia forever. After all, how could she continue to go on living as a mother without her child?
It was well known to the school that Amelia had no children, she had a niece, who, although sweet was hardly a close relative. Amelia had a mother and father – both of whom unfortunately deceased, she had two sisters - Agatha, whose evil nature made her both dangerous and soulless, and Althea, the mother of her niece. In Amelia's eyes, her birth family were more friends, or enemies in regards to Agatha. Her real family were those who inhabited the grounds of Cackles Academy, Cackles was where Amelia was at her happiest in life; she had a young, athletic niece named Imogen, an insane and ebullient sister, named Davina, who played the crazy aunt to her daughter – Constance.
As Amelia paced the halls of her academy, she stopped and for the first time in so many years, took in the beautiful aged stones that her academy was made from. As she gently stroked the walls of the corridor, she felt something, a presence, a presence that she would never be able to live without.
Removing her hand from the wall, Amelia decided to go and wake Constance; it was strange that her deputy hadn't arisen yet – she was always the first to be up – Amelia always put this down to Hecketty Broomhead's philosophy of a minute wasted is a minute lost. Amelia slowly neared the old door, stopping just before her aging hand knocked firmly on the partly singed wood. This brought back memories – Amelia remembered the first time Constance had come to the academy, never before had she seen a woman so struck with fear, and fear is a powerful emotion; fear can inspire us all to see things which are not truly there, especially when we cannot see in the first place – in the dark... in the night, is when the terror inside of us rushes through our body and can over take all rational thought. Amelia had come rushing to the room as soon as she had heard the explosion, upon reaching the room she found a petrified young witch shaking in the corner and clasping her hands in fear; clearly shocked by what she had done. Amelia had offered on many accounts to get the door replaced, yet, each time she asked Constance would refuse. Amelia was still unsure of what Constance had seen that night, but she knew that it was enough to cause the strongest witch that she had ever known to crumble.
"Constance..." Amelia called through the door. She paused and put her ear against the door – waiting for a reply. A few minutes passed before Amelia deemed something to be wrong; now she looked back on it, Constance had refused to eat a slither of food for a couple of days now, the marking wasn't as efficient as usual, the fights in the staffroom had been lost by Constance and now, now she wasn't replying. There was something wrong, why hadn't Amelia noticed it before? She used a spell to unlock the door and charged into the room, her heart stopped alongside her movement as she caught the sight of her deputy head mistress sprawled across the concrete floor.
"CONSTANCE!" Amelia rushed over as fast as her legs could carry her, kneeling down she held Constance's head up and rested it on her knee.
"Constance, Constance, please wake up, please..." Amelia begged, shaking Constance's shoulders lightly; gradually getting heavier as the panic rose through Amelia's bones.
"CONSTANCE HARDBROOM, GET UP THIS INSTANT!" Amelia called through panic, the churning feeling in her gut was making matters worse, why not her, why Constance?
Amelia heard a sharp gasp of air being taken in by the lungs that had been dormant for at least seven minutes – she lunged forward and pulled her deputy into a tight hug, "don't you ever do that to me again, Constance, is that understood? Don't you ever!" Amelia was rocking back and forth, refusing to let her deputy go; Amelia couldn't bear to lose someone so precious again. "Amelia, wha – what are you doing in here?" Constance murmured with slurred speech, hardly able to see Amelia due to the hurricane that was spinning around her head.
"That isn't important, Constance, get into bed, I'm sending for the doctor – you haven't been yourself lately.
"I-I don't need a doctor, Amelia, I'm fine, honestly." Constance was trying to sound as convincing as possible, but was having no luck; it was true what Amelia had said – she hadn't been in herself lately and this was about the sixth time that she had passed out in the last week and a half, it was only this time, however, that somebody had found her. The shame of it all.
"Well, we'll let the doctor be the judge of that, Constance," Amelia said. Certain that Constance was in bed, Amelia turned and left the room, magically sealing the door to ensure that her deputy would stay rested. Usually Amelia would be able to gather a rough idea of what illness someone had, after running a school for thirty odd years this became an easy thing to do. So why was Constance different? Why could she not tell what was wrong with her only daughter? Granted, Constance was not Amelia's child by blood, but she was by bond and they didn't need blood to bond them. The signs of something were there, just like clues in a mystery. There was the dramatically paled skin, the energy loss, the lack of eating and drinking, the constant fatigue that her deputy had been suffering lately and not forgetting the waves of dizziness her deputy had been getting; why couldn't Amelia put them together?
A full two hours later Dr Darkcauldron pulled up to the gates of Cackle's academy and listened to Amelia's panicky description of her colleague's symptoms, before deciding which equipment was going to be necessary for this assessment. Dr Darkcauldron entered Miss Hardbroom's room and Amelia made her way down to the staffroom where she waited anxiously for the diagnosis.
"She'll be fine, Miss Cackle, she always is," Imogen said reassuringly.
"I don't know, Imogen, she looks paler than a ghost, what if this time it really is serious? What if I lose her?"
Imogen was silent; she didn't know how to answer that question – how did she tell a mother that she could lose her child?
A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain
Luckily for Imogen the doctor knocked heavily on the door – apparently in some sort of panic. Amelia crossed the staffroom, being careful not to trip over the rug from Mongolia that Davina had gifted, or rather burdened the academy with and opened the door. Dr Darkcauldron burst through holding a semiconscious Hb in his arms; just like a groom does with the bride. Dr Darkcauldron placed Hb down on one of the more comfortable chairs in the staffroom upon the threat of being turned into a toad for the rest of his life.
"wha- what's the matter with her, Doctor?" Amelia asked, extremely concerned for her deputy
Imogen, without knowing it had made her way over to Constance and was checking for a fever – which later she felt foolish for since there was a professional doctor in the very same room.
"I'm afraid that Miss Hardbroom is a very ill woman – the illness is too far ahead for us to be able to stop it. Constance suffers from an extremely rare illness called Carixula, named after its founder, we hardly know anything about the disease in the world of magical medicine, except, it causes the shadows to come alive into the shape of your greatest fear. Many have been lost to the shadows, others to fear," he paused, "there have only been a few cases of survivors around the world, and given the state she is currently in, I'd say she hasn't much time, the shadows will be closing in and she will be taken. There is of course one solution which is much harder than it sounds," ha paused again to take a quick glance at Constance, "you must keep her out of the shadows." He looked gravely at Amelia whose eyes were reddened and filled with tears.
"She's dying?" Amelia managed to whisper through her constricted breathing.
"Good day Miss Cackle," Dr Darkcauldron said, removing his hat out of respect as he turned and left.
Softly blows o'er Lullaby Bay
How was Amelia supposed to keep Constance out of the shadows – the castle was filled with them, just like a haunted house is filled with cobwebs. The Carixula was lurking in the very foundations of the school; waiting to strike.
Amelia stood watching her deputy in the chair as she tried to come up with a plan of action, all of a sudden Constance's body went limp and her eyes closed, all traces of life exited her body leaving Amelia staring in horror.
"CONSTANCE!"
It fills the sails of boats that are waiting
waiting to sail your worries away.
AN: (yes another one :D) hope you enjoyed, I will get the next chappie up as soon as possible meanwhile, enjoy your little cliffie, as I said at the top – things may not unravel the way they seem to be 8D
*scuttles over to review button and points with hope*