The Craft 2: Nancy's Journey
(I originally wrote this as an IMDB post to create a sequel to The Craft. am_buglet_82 recommended putting it on Fan Fiction. Three people liked my story but said it didn't have enough action. In my original story, Nancy did the spell to reverse her age. I changed it for this website so that an evil group of men seeking the power of Manon performed the dark magic spell. Aleister Crowley and George Cecil Jones left The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to form A∴A∴, a new magical order that, by the 20th century, had an offshoot that became evil. The Ipsissimus is the leader of such a cult.)
Nancy Downs was strapped to her bed in the mental hospital as Nurse Scott injected her with a tranquilizer. She had been scratching her face and yelling "I can fly!", which none of the staff believed. Yes, Nancy could fly, before she lost her powers and became insane. Sarah Bailey used a spell to prevent Nancy from doing evil: "I bind you Nancy from doing harm, harm against other people and harm against yourself." Yet, there was still some of the power of Manon trapped inside her, although she had no access to those powers because "He says you've abused what he's given you and now you're gonna have to pay the price."
A Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection developed in one of those scratches and wasn't noticed quickly enough by the bored hospital staff.
Nurse Scott observed that the scratches had become inflamed. She quickly went to Doctor Strong and said, "I'm afraid we may have a MRSA infection in Nancy Downs face. We need to collect a sample to determine the type of bacteria".
Doctor Strong said, "I'll go to her locked room right now. I've seen MRSA before and recognize it. Yes, we will take a sample but if it is severe, we will need to take her to a hospital immediately." When the doctor reached her room, he recognized the disease immediately. The Mental Institution staff unstrapped Nancy from her bed and strapped her on a collapsible gurney. She was wheeled to the ambulance and taken to the hospital emergency room.
At the EMS, Doctor Heuer diagnosed the disease as necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating bacteria). He recommended some surgery but also maggot therapy. Doctor Strong was a bit shocked but when Doctor Heuer explained maggot debridement therapy (MDT) as a method of removing necrotic tissue without damaging living tissue, he approved the treatment.
Doctor Heuer said "The maggots eat only dead tissues, and do not injure living tissue. Of course, it will be necessary for Miss Downs to be tranquilized during the treatment."
The surgery and maggot therapy left Nancy with a deformed face. During her years in the padded cell, she had no access to mirrors. She couldn't see the effects of surgery, age, and a lack of exercise. She was often in a straightjacket or strapped to her bed and medicated. After many years of therapy, prescribed anti-psychotic drugs, and electro-shock, Nancy made a recovery. She was not completely normal because then she wouldn't be Nancy. As she gradually re-gained her sanity, she became aware of the surgery and the loss of her youth. This depressed her and the doctors prescribed anti-depressants.
When Nancy is finally cured of her mental illness (and pretends that she doesn't believe that witchcraft is real), she leaves the hospital with a scarf over her face and is deeply depressed. Her mother died of lung cancer so she inherited what was left of the $175,000 (about $10,000). She will have to get a job soon to pay the rent and eat. To get her mind off the situation, she goes into a Goth rock club but to her surprise they aren't playing 90's Goth, but 80's Goth (Bauhaus, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, etc.). When she enters the club, she says "Did I just go back in a time machine?" They are playing songs like Shadowplay and She's in Parties.
A stranger introduced himself as Mr. Schreck and said, "Miss Downs, I heard about your terrible affliction at the asylum. Might I propose to heal you by reversing your age using witchcraft?"
Nancy is a bit shocked by his strange appearance, by his mention of witchcraft (How did he know...?), and by his offer to help her. She is desperate, however, and pleads for his help.
Nancy, "Can you really do that? I mean, it wouldn't just be a glamour, would it?"
Mr. Schreck, "I am a leader of the Argenteum Astrum, a magical order originally founded by Aleister Crowley about 100 years ago. We have made great progress in the last century and have discovered a way to reverse aging."
Nancy, "So, I would get younger and my disfigured face would be like it was before I entered the asylum?"
Mr. Schrek, "Yes."
Nancy, "Thank you so much! I would be so much in your debt!"
Mr. Schrek, "Oh, don't worry, the spell will not cost you any money."
Nancy and Mr. Schrek are joined by a few other Goths and drive to a remote house in the country. The dirt road to the house is a long way from the highway. It is springtime- new leaves are on the trees and flowers are blooming but she doesn't have time for a walk in the woods because the sun is setting. The house is dark, lit only by candlelight. That night, they indulge in dark magic and Nancy looses consciousness during the ceremony. The next morning, she wakes up, looks in the mirror and her scars and disfigurement are gone! She looks like she did before she entered the hospital! Her cell phone has a GPS function so she jots down the coordinates in case she needs to find the house again. These guys can do some great magic! Overjoyed, she puts her clothes on and rushes out to thank them. Only Mr. Schreck was present but she thanks him and gives him a hug. He offers to drive her back to town and when they leave the house, she notices to her bewilderment that the new leaves and flowers are all wilted. They haven't turned brown yet, but they seem dead. She turns to him and he says "Well, we had to extract life from something." This gives her a slight chill but her mind is on her rejuvenation so she easily accepts the consequences for the surrounding nature.
Back in town, Nancy parties and gets a job in a magic shop. Most of her attempts at magic failed, probably because either Manon left her body or Sarah bound her powers. Another thought briefly entered her mind- did the black magic ceremony somehow weaken her powers? She did have one success- her spirit could leave her body and wander for an hour or so in a dream-like state. Oh well, at least she was young again. Gradually, she begins to notice that her age continues to decrease. She becomes alarmed and visits the Goth club again, looking for Mr. Schreck. He's not there. She looks up the GPS coordinates on a map and the dirt road doesn't show so she takes a bus to a stop as close to the house as she can get. She records the GPS position of the bus stop and starts her long walk through the forest. It is fall now and the leaves turn brilliant hues. As she gets closer to the house, she notices that the leaves get browner until the branches are bare. There are animal corpses with maggots and flies. She sees a sick dog stumbling down the path. Wait, it's not sick, it's undead! Maggots crawl out of an eye socket and the rib bones are exposed. Nancy is beginning to freak out.
She reaches the house and knocks on the door. One of the Goths she rode with on her first visit opens the door and smiles, saying "Please come in". There is something scary about his smile.
Mr. Jones, "Would you like to meet the Master?"
Nancy replies "The Master?"
Mr. Jones, "Yes, Ipsissimus Schreck is our Master and we all benefit from his patronage."
Nancy thought "What's Ipissimus- his first name?" Nancy: "Yes, I need to see him. I'm still getting younger. The spell hasn't stopped. I'm worried that it might never stop."
He gives a knowing smile and says "This way."
They enter a dark room. A woman is sitting in a stuffed chair in front of a fireplace on the opposite wall. As they approach her, the woman's face seems vaguely familiar to Nancy.
Mr. Jones, "Master, Nancy has come to visit us." Nancy's mouth drops in shock and confusion.
Mr. Shreck, "Ah, Nancy. I was wondering when you might visit us again. The initial spell might have been too strong. The magic was very complex. We will need to study the effects for a few days to halt the spell. Please take Nancy to our guest room."
Nancy was shown to the room, closed the door behind her, and locked it. They were hiding something from her- she could feel it. It was odd that there were no mirrors in the room, or for that fact, in every part of the house she had seen. She immediately did the spell to free her spirit from her body. In a dreamlike state, she wandered from room to room like a ghost. They were not in the room with the fireplace. She finally found them in the large room where the black magic ceremony was performed.
Mr. Jones, "I don't understand. To collect the residue of Manon from her body why can't you just eat her?"
Mr. Schreck, "That will not work. I must absorb her in my body through The Unbirth."
Nancy's dream turned into an absolute nightmare. In terror, her spirit fled the house into the dead forest. No! She must find her body! Because most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, she could see the house. Entering from the outside, she had to roam until she found her room. She woke up inhaling a deep breath with terror in her eyes.
Nancy, "I must leave tonight!"
She went to the window and found locked shutters on the outside. Of course they would guard the front door and lock every other exit. She sneaked out of the room and found a stairway to the attic. The windows at the eaves were also secured but they made one mistake. It was an old house where a roof leak had rotted the wood. Using a crowbar she found in the attic, she broke through the damp sheathing to the roof, hardly making a sound as the wood crumbled. A tree near the house had a limb about two feet above the roof, giving her an escape path. A full moon lit her way as she fled in terror. Did the wind make shadows move or were the shadows something undead?
By dawn, she had reached the normal forest of splendid fall colors. She cried in relief. She trudged her way to the bus stop and slept on the bus. She had paid her way to the city so the driver woke her up at her stop. When she got to her apartment, she went to the bathroom and... OMG! In the mirror, she looked 14 years old! Somehow, visiting the house accelerated the spell. Their evil plan was to imprison her in the house until she passed backwards through puberty to childhood, to a baby, and then to The Unbirth! She had to see Bonnie and Rochelle immediately to cast a counter spell!
She consults with Bonnie and Rochelle (who are shocked) but the truth is that they never had much power to begin with and now have none. Both are married and have children, settled into suburban life. They now think of witchcraft as an embarrassing phase from their youth, almost conveniently forgotten. They tell Nancy that only Sarah retained her power. When Nancy leaves, they talk about how they can hide the truth of their past from their husbands and children if Nancy persists in visiting.
Nancy becomes truly alarmed when she passes through puberty and becomes a girl. Out of desperation, she visits the only witch who might be able to help her- Sarah. Sarah's doorbell rings and, upon opening the door, she sees a tearful girl who says "Sarah, I know I have no right to ask, but I need your help. I'm Nancy Downs. A spell was performed on me to reverse my age but I can't stop it. Please, I have no one else to turn to."
Sarah is speechless but after a pause, she said "Come in".
Sarah asked Nancy exactly how she did the spell. Nancy then told Sarah what really happened. In the years that Nancy was institutionalized, Sarah had become a powerful and knowledgeable witch, learning much about The Craft and wisdom from Lirio. She only does "white magic" and it becomes apparent that the Ipsissimus Schreck dabbled in "black magic" to do the spell.
Sarah consults with a local coven (Sarah is a solitary witch) and after some research, a counter spell is planned. Sarah, Nancy, and the coven go back to the house where the spell was performed. They reverse Nancy's age and suck the life out of the evil men to restore the forest. By this time, Nancy was only 5 years old, so the spell came just in time. Nancy gradually grows older, living in Sarah's house almost like a daughter. It is a stable and loving environment, unlike Nancy's first childhood. Lirio often visits. Nancy visited the grave of Chris Hooker and apologized. Chris was an egocentric bastard but he didn't deserve to be killed. "Strange Kind of Love" by Peter Murphy is playing on her iPad. When Nancy finally returns to her true age (in about a year) she has a different outlook on life, although she still has a persistent curiosity and desire to perform magic beyond her knowledge and wisdom. Her adventure did have some benefits, as she was free of scars, both physical and mental.