The Spider's Net
Ms. Dea Eppson slipped into her apartment and closed the door. She smirked at the pictures there, before going and sitting in the big over stuffed arm chair she had bought at an auction.
Then she leaned back with a sigh, and changed back into her true self, Apate. She had used up a lot of energy, going through a portal that had crossed time as well as space. She had found a family that she had originally planned on merging with, but had been thwarted by the fact she didn't want to take that much time of growing up. So she spent a year watching the family instead, as well as what 'School' was like. Her attention was caught by the guidance counselor, and she spent another year shadowing her and figuring out what credentials were needed to do something similar.
Apate then found a homeless woman, mind 90 percent gone from drugs and alcohol, who was about the right age and still had a driver's liscence (long since expired, but the picture was one she could easily replicate.) Then Apate simply 'removed' the woman out of the world and took her place, going to college and spending the years nessecary to gain money and a reputation. It hadn't been easy, she had cultivated 'friends' of course, most who had probably forgotten her, and had rediscovered the woman's family, who had been thrilled that she had turned 'her' life around so well.
It sickened her, how eager the family had been to welcome her, to shower their human emotions on her. But she wasn't allowed to kill anymore than the woman who's place she had stolen. She could only meddle in their lives now, and collect warriors for her true father, Nyx.
The weekend passed quickly, with her easily shaking one of her targets lives apart. The other three had more strength to keep by themselves, but even that was waning.
So she was almost thrilled when the first target came to her, sobbing, wearing a (slightly stained with mud) scooped neck red dress with black leggings and a black belt around her waist.
"Why, Miss Mandy, what's the trouble?" Ms. Eppson quickly closed the door, putting a sign up to indicate she was with a student. She held out a tissue box to the young woman.
"I'm losing my friends!" Mandy sobbed, accepting the tissue. Ms. Eppson left it beside her on the couch. "That . . . bitch, Shelley, she's trying to turn Will against me! And she's winning!"
"Mandy, forgive an older woman for not quiet following that statement, I'm still going through student files." Ms. Eppson soothed. Mandy took a sobbing breath.
"Shelley's a cheerleader, and she's also on the swim team. Friday she accused me of trying to steal Matt, who's been my friend since kindergarten, from his girlfriend Will, who's also my friend. Now she's gone to Will to 'warn' her, and who knows what else she's been saying." Mandy took another sobbing breath. "But I don't want Matt! I'm happy that he's with Will! They're sweet together!" A new wave of tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Well, why don't you talk to Will? Tell her the truth?"
"Because, Will and I are alike . . ." Mandy sniffled. "Both of us had our parents divorce, and for both of us, it was our moms finding out that our dads were going behind their backs." Ms. Eppson put a hand on Mandy's shoulder, listening. "Will's going to be scared that I'm lying, and it's reasonable, because of her experience. And I don't want to hurt Will! So I can't approach them, until Matt reassures Will, which he will, once Will talks to him about Shelley, but that will take at least a week, and to top it off, my mother's grown even more distant and busy and doesn't care and I can't call Dad, he hasn't even sent me a letter since the divorce!" Mandy sobbed again. "I feel like I'm going crazy! Like I'm drowning and there's no way out!"
"Shh, take it easy baby girl." Mandy buried her face into the woman's shoulder, much to Ms. Eppson's shock.
"I just want to leave! I want to find a place where I can be safe!" Ms. Eppson blinked, and rubbed her shoulder.
"Do you really want that? It could be very far away from those you care about . . . you could end up destroying yourself."
"I don't care! I just want to get away! I'd sell my soul to the devil just to escape this pain!" Mandy had been struggling with the stress for a long time. The past weekend had been rougher than usual with horrible Nightmares and little sleep, and her breaking point was something simple, Seeing Shelley talking to Will, with a satisfied smile when she saw Mandy watching, and Will's look of shock and fear. That moment was the straw that broke the camel's back, and everything had suddenly become too much for Mandy. So at the time the words left her lips, she meant it, but the words had been forced out by the stress; any other time, and she would never even think of such a thing.
Unfortunately, the devil in the statement happened to be in the form of her guidance counselor comforting her.
"Oh? You know, I'm quite capable of helping you do that . . ." Mandy looked up at her, not quite believing but desperate. "Tell me Mandy, do you believe in magic and fairy godmothers?"
"A little- Oh!" before Mandy's eyes, Ms. Eppson had changed into a beautiful woman wearing shimmering gold with light translucent silver wings behind her. "How?"
"I suppose you could say that I'm the school's fairy godmother . . . I'm here to help."
"Then, you could help me?"
"Not 'could help', I will help you, dear. Come with me . . . don't worry, no time will pass for this world." Mandy stared at the woman who now resembled an angel more than a guidance counselor. She had stood and now held out her hand to Mandy, smiling gently. "I owe you for helping me adjust to this place, dear one." Mandy stood up, and took her hand. The 'Fairy' smiled, and wrapped her in a bit of the gown, closer to her. "Close your eyes, it's going to be very bright, too bright for human eyes." Mandy obeyed, and Ms. Eppson smiled, before a portal opened and the two vanished inside.
Nyx stood as his second born creation came with the first of her chosen targets. He had been watching, and like his deceitful creation had changed his appearance alittle . . . to be more benign. Knowing that Apate had put the young girl under an illusion of hope that would make the dark and frightening palace more bright, he stood in front of his throne.
"Open your eyes, Mandy . . . we're here."
What Mandy saw was a beautiful palace, as if out of a story book. "It's beautiful . . ."
"So, the lovely godmother has returned." Nyx smiled. "And who is this fair maiden?" Mandy blushed at the attention.
"Her name is Mandy, my lord." Mandy shyly glanced at the 'Fairy'. "Mandy, this is the king of the land, and the one who will help grant your wish."
"I am King Julian." Nyx borrowed his container's name. "Will you do me the honor of walking with me, Fair Mandy? I understand you have a very serious wish that needs to be granted, and I would like to hear more about it." He offered her his arm, and Mandy hesitanly took it.
"Well . . ." The walk was the most enjoyable thing Mandy had done in a long time. She told him everything, and the 'King' listened in interest. Near the end of the walk they sat down on a bench in front of a pool. "And sometimes I feel like I'm crazy, and then I wish that everyone else was just as crazy and hurt as I am . . . is that wrong?"
"No child, you're just being human, and there is nothing wrong with that." Nyx smiled at the young woman. Apate couldn't have chosen better, he knew exactly what to do with her . . . what powers to give and how to 'erase' her former life from her mind.
"I wish you were my dad . . . he never talks to me anymore." Mandy absently remarked, much to Nyx's 'joy'.
"Ah, speaking of wishes, it's time to grant yours . . . come." Mandy followed him as they stepped into the shallows of the pool. "You're going to feel some slight vertigo, I'm afraid, but just close your eyes and relax . . . think of floating in water, and everything will be alright." As Mandy closed her eyes, Apate and Nyx dropped their illusions and the pool's clear water became dark with an oily red tint. Nyx drew out the heart/dagger and the dark water rose up and wrapped around Mandy, a band going over her eyes, and tilted her back so she was horizontal above the water. Nyx calmly used the dagger to draw two red lines from under her eyes to her jaw bone, and then eteched a necklace design just under her collar bone. The marks and dagger glowed red and Nyx smiled, right as Mandy was pulled under the dark water. "The doppelganger ready?" Nyx looked to shore to see Apate carrying a unconscious Mandy look-alike. "Then you may return. I expect you will have the others ready soon?"
"Of course . . . it shouldn't take longer than a week to bring them in, judging by this one." Apate then left.
Nyx smiled and turned back to the water. A red light shone through, growing brighter quickly. "I feel almost sorry for you, dear girl." He remarked absently. "You wished to escape purgatory, but you only made it deeper in. Rise, my daughter, Lyssa." Slowly a figure did emerge, wearing a form fitting off the shoulders crimson red dress with a fairly modest slit on one side. She still had black leggings, but the black flats had become black boots. Her eyes looked hollow as she stared at her 'father'. "Welcome home, Daughter."
"Father." He embraced her.
Apate quickly returned to her guidance counselor disguise, gently putting the Mandy doppelganger down on her couch. She smiled as she glanced at the clock, and quickly wrote a note to the teachers of the classes Mandy had missed.
"Mandy, time to wake up." 'Mandy' stirred, then sat up.
"Oh, did I fall asleep?"
"Yes, but that's alright, how are you feeling?"
"Okay . . . better."
"Good . . . now, I think you should take this week easy, that doesn't mean not do your homework, but perhaps you should limit your extracurricular activities, do something fun and for yourself, alright?"
"Yes ma'am . . . like what?"
"That's up to you, but I'd recommend spend some time at the beach or someplace not heavily trafficked by people you might encounter in school." Ms. Eppson smiled. "You could even just stay in your room and listen to music. Just unwind a bit, alright? You need a way to release that's healthy."
"Okay, thank you . . . I'm sorry for bothering you."
"It's my job to be 'bothered' as you put it. Drop by any time . . . oh, Mandy, here are notes for your teachers, and this is my card. If you need someone to talk to, at any time, please, call me. I'm in your corner, okay?"
"Thank you Ms. Eppson, I appreciate it."
"Oh, it's not a problem." Ms. Eppson smiled as she watched her go. Now if only the other targets swam into her nets that easily . . . "His enemies won't stand a chance." For the first time since she was created, Ms. Eppson grinned. She had chosen the four based on the fact that they were all loners in some form or fashion, they weren't nessecarily ostracized from the crowd, but they weren't tied tightly into a group either . . . and they all had intellegience, the main factor that had her ignoring Uriah's group. All the three boys would be good for would be cannon fodder, but she was pretty sure they'd find a way to mess up even that. She sank back into her chair, and glanced at the next target, one who had been somewhat cast adrift by former friends. Well, not so much cast adrift as 'forgotten'. Apate had almost gagged on the energy that radiated from five girls. From what she had of her creator's memories, it had been painfully obvious who they belonged to.
Candracar, the heart of infinity . . . and the heart of all pure magic. Just thinking about it made her uneasy.
The five guardians had to grow closer, to the exclusion of the 'normal' friends they had. Apate smirked. She had set up the Sentinels to meet the Guardians. That should distract them from her plans here, for awhile. She snickered as she calmly flipped through the files. Teenagers were very predictable.
Hmm, lessee . . . Grumper Sisters . . . gossips . . . no, not warrior potential at all. I can't believe with a school this big there aren't that many close or even enemies with the group. Four just won't cut it, I need at least one more. Apate leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Children and teenagers were so easy to manipulate . . . it wasn't like the sentinels and guardians had siblings- Wait a second! Apate pulled the file on Taranee. The blonde girl- Cordelia? No, Cornelia, had a younger sister and Lair had a younger brother, but they were too young for her Creator's plans. Taranee had an older brother. A 18 year old older brother. He was going to graduate soon, wasn't he?
Apate smiled. Well, now this was going to be fun . . .
Huggles scowled, not to happy with the Not-Matt that the Oracle had sent. Oh, it acted like him, but it was just . . . unsettleing. Yes, that was the right word. The dormouse had been taking advantage of it's new intelligence to start reading, but he still preferred picture books. Human books were pretty boring to read if there weren't enough pictures. Chattering to himself, Huggles watched the Not-Matt get ready for band practice . . . and got another shock when a Not-Nigel showed up!
'What is going on? I need to talk to Kitty!' Huggles shot out the window, and used his Regent-sense to lead him to Napoleon. Going back home would be a little more difficult, but he'd work it out when that happened. Right now, he needed answers, and Not-Matt was not going to be any help . . . he didn't have magic! Dodging people, and scampering up a tree, Huggles was set back by the street. Huffing and chattering to himself in irritation, he studied the crosswalk.
'Humans and their stupid rodent killing cars, you're interfering with Regent of earth business!' Huggles shouted at the people below, no one understood him, of course by he had to express his displeasure somehow.
And with that, this chapter is ended. Next time, we'll be back with the Guardians and Sentinels.
AJ and Friends- Next chapter is the one you're waiting for.
Disclaimer: C'mon, Like I would be posting on this site if I had the rights to WITCH.