Because of you
Yet another Disclaimer: hello my dears! *waves* as you know I own none of these characters, they all belong to our dear Jill Murphy and the song Because of you belongs to Kelly Clarkson :D enjoy my pretties *insert the wicked witch from the west laugh* p.s the fic contains mildish violence and some offensive language, this is why I gave it a rating M even though it would probably be okay at T so be warned :}
The heavy rain was coursing down the cracked window that was the only protection that the room had to offer the child, from the howling wind, and bitter frost that was only inches away from her face.
Like the window, the child's heart was cracked; blood streaming down it, yet this fragile, unsecure object was the only thing preventing the girl from being frozen by the harsh conditions outside, or in her personal case, her frozen soul. Only three minutes of precious loneliness were left before, as if on cue the oaken door would be heavily pushed back on its hinges, and the shadowed face of the devil its self would stroll into the room and inspect its conditions but more importantly, its inhabitant. Constance listened, as she heard the metallic clicking of boots which were in desperate need of re-heeling, slowly approaching. At times Constance could swear the vile woman knew that she could hear her coming, and so, slowed down in order to succeed further with her goals of sending fear, in the form of daggers plummeting into her chest. The footsteps finally came to a halt outside the girl's door, before the cold metal handle was slowly twisted causing the door to click open and as predicted fly back on its hinges.
Constance leapt up from her bed to stand facing the door, her heart beating at around three hundred beats per minute as the demonic woman entered the freezing room and walked at a saunter over to Constance, not taking her eyes off of the girl's fearful expression, a trace of a smile ghosted over the woman's lips.
"Stand up straight, Constance!" the vile woman screeched.
"I'm sorry mistress broomhead!" Constance cried immediately, she was petrified of the dragon in front of her.
As Hecketty strolled away from Constance, carefully inspecting the room with great detail, Constance could hear nothing but the irritating clicking of Hecketty's worn down heels. she could see the woman's mouth moving as she scrutinized the room, but no sound was emerging, just the tapping of metal against the concrete floor; click, click, click, click, there was a pause as Hecketty reached the splintered bed frame and smoothly ran her finger across it, satisfied with the lack of dust that inhabited it, she moved on; click, click, click, Hecketty's mouth was still moving as she was evidently talking, shouting even, as she reached the old dressing table, but still all Constance could hear was the heels clicking in there repetitive tune; click, click, all of a sudden there was a heavy blow to the side of Constance's left temple as she plummeted to the ground along with the brass hairbrush which was the cause of such an action. Hecketty watched, as Constance shakily climbed to her feet, then materialised next to the girl
"Pick up the brush," Hecketty ordered in a low tone that was deadlier than venom.
"Yes mistress broomhead," As Constance leant over she felt a boot kick her behind her knee, causing her to collapse so that she was kneeling down on the concrete, using her hands to support herself and break the fall. No sooner had the hands hit the floor, the arms that were attached to them were forced to give way, like the pillars of Dagon when Samson pushed them apart causing them to crumble and fall, except instead of Samson, Constance had something much, much worse, she had Hecketty unleashing her wrath upon her, shouting all the while.
"you," Hecketty booted Constance hard in the ribs, ignoring her screams and cries for mercy, she continued, "pathetic," Hecketty grabbed hold of the top of Constance's head, pulling her up via her hair,
"Little," Hecketty, confident that Constance would remain vertical, released her grip on the girl's hair and watched as she doubled over in pain from the earlier blow, "bitch!" Hecketty delivered the final strike with her knee to Constance's stomach causing her to once again collapse onto the concrete floor in agony with a thin trail of blood making its way down her ashen chin from the corner of her dark lips.
"You will always, always pay attention to me, is that understood?" Hecketty growled in such a way that an attacking wolf would be the most appealing option to be trapped in a cage with.
"You have potions with me in half an hour exactly, sort yourself out, and do not be late." There was no mistaking the meaning behind Hecketty's words this was a threat which would be carried out. Constance watched as Hecketty left the room, listening closely to every sound that was being made, whether it was the door slamming shut or the endless clicking growing ever quieter. As Constance laid there, she made a promise to herself, a promise that she would keep no matter what; she would learn from Hecketty, all the skills and requirements of teaching and develop each skill to perfection, she would then graduate and seek to become a teacher, and under no circumstances, would she ever raise a hand to a student and she would succeed further in the teaching field than Hecketty ever could. As Constance thought things over she found herself wondering; whether her pain actually brought joy, or some sort of strange feeling that was similar to the crocodile, surely it couldn't help the soul, it must depress the heart in more ways than anyone could possibly think of; so why did Hecketty continue to do this?
I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery
Constance shakily got to her feet, every movement and sound made was pure agony. She slowly limped over to the sink in the bathroom, with one arm wrapped tightly around her ribcage she used the other to turn on the tap and watched as the drops of blood fell gracefully from her chin and mixed in with the chlorine filled water, just like tears of memories adding to the ever deepening pool of sorrow and neglect. Using her free hand to splash the freezing water over her face, Constance couldn't help remembering how she was before she had come to this college, so much hope, so much potential to be a content human being, now however, she was just another victim who had been robbed of their soul, and had been discarded like yesterday's news paper. When Constance received her first 'little chat' so- to- speak from Hecketty, she was in tears the minuet that she felt the hard boot strike her delicate frame causing her to collapse without warning and the endless kicks and hits she received afterwards for her tears. Now Constance had been at the college for two years, she had been beaten and moulded like clay, putty in Hecketty's hands but she would not give in like the old Constance would have, she would not cry in front of Hecketty ever again. The old her, was long since dead, she had been hung drawn and quartered as soon as that first god forsaken tear had found its way down her cheek. The strong, confident, happy part of her soul, had been crushed on the wheel of fate, Constance could not escape her nightmare, but at least she could learn from her mistakes and by keeping quiet, she would survive: 'speak when spoken to' Constance became a strong believer in this method, and was certain that on various occasions, it had even saved her life.
I will not break the way you did
You fell so hard
I've learned the hard way, to never let it get that far
Constance finished the final part of her loose plait before pulling on her black long sleeved shirt and ankle length skirt which like the shirt was black and went perfectly with her black lace up boots. In order to survive in this hell that is called The Witch Training College, you need to be three things they are; smart, both in appearance and intellect, should you appear to Broomhead's private lesson wearing something indecent or colourful, then you should expect to be flat against the concrete floor in a matter of seconds. To Broomhead appearance was essential; you needed to look professional at all times and the best way to do this in Hecketty's eyes, would be to wear something long and black accompanied by suitable heels, after all a lady must look elegant and sophisticated at all times. The second essential thing was to keep mistakes at a bare minimum. To Broomhead mistakes cost valuable time and a minuet wasted, was a minuet lost. Hecketty hated mistakes with a passion, every mistake made, was the token of which would gain you one hit; Hecketty believed that this method would encourage the student to remember and think more quickly and clearly. The third and most important rule was to fear and never, ever argue with Hecketty, if you had a strange desire to die a long and painful death then there was a simple way to accomplish this, simply tell Broomhead that she was wrong, her methods are inadequate or that her lesson plans show glaring deficiencies, by simply hinting on any of these things you will have earned yourself a trip to the gallows. Opening the door Constance walked as fast as she could with her injury and heels down the corrie door and around the corner, stopping directly outside the door to the potions lab and checking her watch to make sure that she was exactly on time.
"Come in!" the malicious voice called, Constance did as she was instructed, she never disobeyed Hecketty.
Because of you
I will never stray too far from the sidewalk
As Constance stepped into the icy room she took in the vials of coloured liquid sitting on the desk in front of Hecketty.
"Sit," Constance sat, hoping that she could get through this lesson without another beating.
"Now Constance," Hecketty snarled, "Today's lesson will be spent completing a practical task which I have created especially for you." Constance did not like this: Hecketty was up to something, there was something in her voice as she spoke, a greater evil than the one that was naturally there.
"in front of me there are six vials, all of which are poisonous however, they can be mixed together to make an antidote for each other, you will take a mouthful and then mix the other required poisons to create the antidote for what you have just taken, is that understood Constance? Hecketty's eyes were burning into Constance as she stared at the colourful vials in front of her, not moving Constance felt a lump form in the back of her throat: was this the end of her? What if she mixed the wrong potions?
A cold hand suddenly wrapped its self around her fragile neck cutting off the oxygen flow to her lungs.
"Is that understood?" Hecketty warned, Constance, unable to breathe, could only give the slight nod of head and hope that Hecketty accepted this as her answer. Constance was left gasping for air as the old hand released its tight grip from around her throat.
"Start," Hecketty said coldly, watching as Constance hesitantly picked up the vial containing the red poison, and shakily brought it to her lips: was there any point to this practical other than to bring pain and discomfort to her?
"Mistress Broomhead what exactly is the main aspire to this lesson?" Constance asked with the pure terror of questioning Broomhead's methods evident in her voice.
"How dare you?! You little brat!" Hecketty was furious and Constance was truly petrified, what was going to happen to her for asking such a question? Before Constance knew it the vial of red poison that had frozen inches away from her mouth along with the hand that was grasping it, was forced down her throat, the toxin had in the space of ten short seconds entered her blood stream and was beginning to flow freely around her body, destroying her system as it moved. Hecketty watched as Constance, in a panic started to mix the other potions on the table and to her surprise, correctly. Constance knew what she had been given; she knew that she did not have much time before the potion would take complete control of her body and if left long enough kill her, even with the antidote. The potion's name was Alto-Calarai and it was extremely deadly.
"Where's the blue vial gone?!" Constance choked desperately, she could already feel the blood drain from her veins; causing her skin to pale dramatically further.
"Oh, I'm sure it will show up," the potion may have been deadly, but Hecketty's grin was lethal.
"You took..." Constance gasped from under her shallow breath.
Hecketty watched closely as Constance began to cough and splutter as she collapsed once again onto the cold floor of the college.
"Aha, here it is," she placed the blue vial onto the desk in front of her "you must have overlooked it."
The tears of pure and utter agony were quickly making their way down Constance's face, she hated this, she'd sooner be dead than cry in front of Broomhead, within the space of a second everything went black, Constance didn't even feel the thick potion burn its way down her throat, or here the spine chilling cackle that followed it. How she wished that she had never set foot in that cursed room, because of her actions; she would never be able to trust anyone with her safety, let alone herself – after all how could she?
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid
As Constance regained consciousness she was screaming; her dreams were as real and painful as reality: was there no escaping this gorgon of a tutor? No sooner had Constance realised her mistake, a figure appeared back in the small potions lab forcing her up with a thin hand hooked under her chin. A heavy blow to the ribs was enough to gain a small yelp and cause Constance to double over in pain.
"Quiet!" Hecketty shrieked at the top of her voice, "sit at the desk this instant, we have now missed an entire day of education due to your mistake!" was Constance hearing this right? Hecketty had almost killed her yet she was getting the blame!
"Now since there is no point in doing any challenging magic at the moment, we shall be working on a simple lesson of complete the spell; after all, let's face the facts you are hardly a witch of high quality, unlike myself, and the chances of you ever becoming one are extremely slim."
'There she goes, putting me down again, I'm already as powerful as her and I haven't even completed my training yet,' Constance thought to herself, not daring to look at Hecketty encase she was able to read her mind. Hecketty glared at her, her gaze ripping through Constance like an arrow being shot through an apple from a hundred paces, "right let's begin then shall we?" Hecketty asked with a malicious grin on her face wider than the Cheshire cat's.
"Inflamartus, inflamarto..." Hecketty looked over to Constance signalling for her to continue the spell.
"enflamaray, incantarto," Constance replied with ease, causing a large fireball to appear above Hecketty's head, this caused Hecketty's grin to fade; yes she had expected Constance to know the answer, but she wasn't expecting her to reply that quickly, "hmm well what about; grittus fumus taper destingus"
Constance was a little slower to reply this time "lunc mediatus vapour extingus," with this the ball of fire that was hovering above Hecketty's head was extinguished.
"Germinato cultivato," Hecketty smirked, as the calmed fear that was resting beneath the surface of Constance's eyes like a dormant volcano, started to become active bubbling and spitting with panic and alarm; what was the answer, was that even a spell?
"I - I don't know mistress Broomhead," Constance stammered her heart rate beating at the speed of a lightning bolt. Hecketty leaned across the table and stopped merely an inch away from Constance's face.
"That was the wrong answer, Girl," Hecketty growled. Before Constance could even think about the consequences, she was knocked violently off of her chair and laid sprawled across the floor once more, clasping the left side of her jaw line Constance shakily stood and slowly backed away to the door, Hecketty noticed this and her eyes narrowed into two dark slits; she truly had the devils glare.
"Don't you dare," Hecketty's voice was like acid each word could quite literally burn into you. Constance wasn't thinking, she had had one hit too many and her mind was now acting involuntary, she was no longer in control of her actions as her hand reached for the iron door handle and slowly twisted it, all the while not taking her eyes off of Hecketty, as she heard the latch click open Constance took a step back towards the corrie door.
"Constance, should you leave now, where would you go? You know that I'd find and catch you before you have even set foot out of this property, do you really want to suffer the consequences of such an action?" Constance was still staring at Hecketty, even though she seemed to be warning Constance against running, it was obvious that she wanted nothing more than for Constance to run, merely so that she could give her a more severe punishment than the one that she already had in store for the girl. Constance was confused and a scared, confused child is an uncontrollable one, there was only one thing that Hecketty hated more than children and that was a young witch with a disobedient attitude. There was a thud from behind Hecketty as a bat knocked a book from the top of the shelf; this caused Hecketty to give a slight shriek before zapping the little bat into a small pile of ashes. Constance stared at the ash lying on the concrete floor, this was the final push - Constance lost all coherent thought and darted out of the door as fast as her dainty feet could possibly carry her.
"Constance Hardbroom, get here this instant or I swear you will regret it!" Hecketty yelled as loud as her voice would carry; instead of slowing Constance down she seemed to speed up, her heart pumping so fast that it could have been heard over an army's war drums. Before Constance had time to stop Hecketty had appeared in front of her, gripping her arm and pulling her around on the spot then releasing her; causing the girl to fly across the floor, watching helplessly as the malicious woman materialised behind her and stared down at Constance with greed. As Hecketty took a step forward, Constance shifted in the opposite direction; Hecketty gave a smirk as she brought her foot down heavily on the young girls wrist; applying increasing pressure on the fragile bone until Constance could conceal the scream that had been locked up like a tiger behind the bars of a zoo no longer, as soon as the scream had begun it was stopped; Constance was not going to appear to be weak in front of Hecketty if it was the last thing that she ever did, and judging by the way that Hecketty treated her, it could well be. The more Constance thought about it, even with the dragon still unleashing her tirade upon the young girl, the more her life seemed to be nothing but a smear on a window, a glitch in a master plan, a waste of blood and flesh.
"You do not disobey me, Girl! What right do you have? You are mine, you belong to me!!" with this Hecketty removed her foot from the girl's crushed wrist and yanked her to her feet by pulling her now ripped shirt.
"Don't give me that look, Constance, I told you that I'd catch you." Constance's whole body was shaking, her breathing had quickened dramatically and she could see the pure and exposed she-demon in her tutor's eyes. "I know mistress broomhead," Constance said quietly giving a meek reassuring smile just to prove that she was sincere.
"Don't answer back, Girl, it's no wonder your parents abandoned you, you're hopeless." It seemed to Constance that bringing up painful memories and bursting her bubble was Broomhead's favourite pastime; what did she think that this would achieve? Did she think that the memories of the past could honestly affect her now after all, how could shattered glass break?
I lose my way
And it's not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes
I'm forced to fake, a smile, a laugh
Every day of my life
My heart can't possibly break
When it wasn't even whole to start with
"They didn't abandon me, they died," Constance retorted beneath her breath, true this didn't upset her any longer; she had learned to live with the terrible truth of her parent's death, but she still wished that Hecketty would avoid the subject.
"What did you just say to me?" Hecketty growled dangerously.
"They died," she once again mumbled, her head lowered so she didn't see the look on Hecketty's face.
"Speak up girl!" Hecketty demanded.
"I SAID THAT THEY DIED!" Constance yelled at the top of her voice, her heart beating twice as fast as before.
"And whose fault was that?" Hecketty teased, gripping the girls injured wrist and digging her nails in deep to draw blood.
"GET OFF OF ME YOU F*****G BITCH!" Constance didn't mean to scream this but the sheer pain was beyond belief. Everything went black, there was no pain, no anger and no humanly senses, Constance didn't know or care whether she was still alive; there was no Hecketty in this endless darkness and this is how she wanted things to stay. Hecketty watched as the girl's body collapsed on the floor and lay there without a breath neither entering nor leaving her lifeless body; was she dead, had Hecketty gone too far with her assaults on the young girl who, despite everything always gave over 100% in her lessons and refused to give in and breakdown over Hecketty's malicious ways and comments? As Hecketty materialised the lifeless girl to her bed she couldn't get the guilty thoughts and feelings out of her head; what was happening, what was this strange feeling of remorse? The question that Hecketty found the most daunting was: what is the girl going to be like when and if she awakens, would she be able to have enough trust to be let out into society? Hecketty had just crossed arms with the very emotion that had been searching, pursuing even, her dust particle sized soul for over 57 years and now it had her, it was killing her. Hecketty remembered her mother telling her that the only fear was fear it's self, well if that was true then Constance must have been the very essence of fear, Hecketty was truly petrified of what she had done to the girl and the more that she thought about it; Constance must have had enough fear flowing through her veins, so there was every possibility that she had indeed become the thing that her mother had warned her about, fear and fear it's self. Now Hecketty had come across a lot in her 50 odd years, she had made deals with the devil and beaten him every time, she had been to the very depths of hell and back yet not a single trace of fear had gone through her body yet now, she hurts one pathetic little waste of flesh and the fear doesn't relent; could it be, could she actually care slightly for the girl? Hecketty shook her head; of course not! How could she have been so stupid as to even consider it, but even Hecketty couldn't deny truth when it was staring her directly in the face; she was scared, because of one child she was afraid. The girl was special, she must have been sent by the heavens above to combat the demon the resided in Hecketty's soul. For once in her life Hecketty needed some reassurance, satisfied that nobody was looking and that Constance would be unable to feel anything, Hecketty leaned over and gave the girl a hug; hoping that this may cause some of the fear and guilt to dive back down to the depths of hell of which it had come, there was no such luck and so Hecketty decided to try and learn her lesson the first time around rather than have it repeat its self. Taking up a chair in the corner of Constance's chamber Hecketty sat down and stared at the motionless girl lying peacefully on the bed.
Because of you
I will never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid
As days went by, Hecketty barely moved from her place in the corner every moment unconscious seemed to be killing Constance; no doubt she was having nightmares and flashbacks of her lessons with Hecketty. Broomhead was truly amazed to see such misery and distress caused merely by sleeping, it was the first time that she had seen Constance cry since the first week that she had entered the college but broomhead was too proud of her student to care; the young witch laying in front of her had been abused, tortured and broken day in and day out, yet it is only now that she cries, only when she has no control over her body and her mind is free does the river of sorrow come flowing over the dam that had held it at bay for so long. Such a strong spirit should not be forced to reside in such a weak frame.
I watched you die
I heard you cry
Every night in your sleep
Alone at last, Constance didn't care what Hecketty was doing to her body now, the dragon could be burning it and she wouldn't feel a thing. As Constance explored the place where she had been taken to by her own subconscious mind she could see scenes of her past circling around her, the first day that she had entered the college and her first beating, the times when Hecketty had relied upon Constance's inheritance from her parents to get the college out of dire financial difficulties and the pain that she was left in the first time that the cheque had fallen through, how could Hecketty have relied on a fifteen year old girl? Yes it was true Constance had started college early due to her knowledge in the craft but that doesn't make a child an adult. Another image appeared of Hecketty standing against the wall in fear whilst Constance had to catch the bat and release it out side, all the while Hecketty was yelling at her and Constance was accused of and punished for bringing the bat into the classroom. The egotistical woman was more concerned about getting bitten by a bat rather than the broken arm that she would give her student as a punishment for a crime that she didn't commit. All of a sudden the images all turned into the daunting face of Hecketty herself, laughing maliciously at Constance, all getting closer as they circled in her head .
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
Constance awoke with a jerk; it took her a while to recognise her whereabouts as Cackles Academy, she looked at the old wooden clock in her room and sighed; yet another flashback of that pernicious woman to once again reduce her to tears in her slumber, why was it always Hecketty, did her mind have some sort of grudge against her? Constance didn't have time to think about this today was the day that Hecketty Broomhead came to inspect the academy and it was absolutely vital that all should go to plan. As she walked over to the mirror the first thing she noticed was her red puffy eyes and so decided to have a shower three quarters of an hour later she emerged and threw on her black dress then magically tied her hair into its usual bun before materialising to her potions laboratory to finish some last minute touches.
And now I cry
In the middle of the night
For the same damn thing
As Constance appeared in her lab she noticed more things wrong than ever, granted it was as immaculately spotless as usual but to Hecketty Buckingham palace could look like a tip. The books were out of alphabetical order even though in the correct place for their subjects, the shrinking potion was dangerously close to the edge of her desk and there was a bottle of wide awake sitting in front of her chair; whatever she did, Constance couldn't allow Hecketty to find that or she would immediately be accused of psychologically unfit for teaching and would therefore have to be dismissed due to Hecketty not giving Amelia the option of keeping her deputy. Constance placed the final book on the shelf, satisfied that all was in order she glanced up to the clock, this sent alarm bells ringing she was late.
Because of you
I will never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Constance walked down the corridor as quickly as she could without running, as she neared the point that she was to meet Amelia and no doubt Broomhead the childhood memories kept jumping out at her and slapping her around the face, demanding her attention at all cost. It was because of the woman who she was about to be reunited with that she had no trust to give anyone other than Amelia, Amelia was the only person to have been able to break through Constance's protective wall and see the child within. As she rounded the corner leading to the headmistress's office Constance's pace slowed somewhat, this was an involuntary action of course however, the fear of the gorgon that she was about to see for the first time in nine years was looming over her. As Constance appeared behind Amelia her heart stopped there stood the dragon its self, there lay her demon.
Because of you
I tried my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don't know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty
Because of you
I am afraid
"Ahh, I believe you know my deputy headmistress, Constance Hardbroom." Amelia said holding her hand out towards Constance.
"Constance!" Hecketty replied in shock, the expression on her face was evidence of this.
"It's an honour to make your acquaintance again, Mistress Broomhead," Constance said shakily; out of all the inspectors of the Guild, why her?
Because of you
As much as she may have tried to deny it, Hecketty was a part of Constance whether she liked it or not, and like a stone once it has been thrown into a lake, although the water eventually settles when given time, the stone is always there serving as a reminder of the upset that it had caused the water so long ago, and so is Hecketty.
Because of you
AN: Thank you for reading my dears, I hope you enjoyed it as much as you possibly could.
*switches on sparkly blue review button and points hopefully*