Definitely watch the episode if you want all the perspectives of this chapter. There's more going on than just what Ava's seeing ;) Thanks for reading, enjoy! I write new chapters every Monday.

Glorious Horrors

News came from Mr Boyd, Malcolm's solicitor, had come that morning that Gladys Murray was dead. She'd slit her throat with one of Malcolm's razors. The maid had found her earlier that morning. It didn't come as a surprise to any of us. Ethan, Sembene and Lyle had become some of the few people who believed in magic. If that's what it could be called. Magic sounded too nice.

I sat in an armchair, watching Vanessa, Ethan and Sembene standing in the hallway. We were all waiting for Malcolm to come home. We hadn't discussed it, but Vanessa would be the one telling him his wife was dead. When I heard horse hooves approaching the house, Sembene moved silently towards the door to open it. Ethan followed him, Vanessa glanced back at me. I didn't feel anything about the pain Malcolm was about to experience. I didn't feel anything for him at all. But Gladys had been innocent, she didn't deserve this on his behalf. It made me hate him more. Malcolm strode through the door, handing Sembene his cane and his coat.

"Good morning. Splendid day, isn't it?" He hadn't come back at all last night and we'd had no word. That wasn't like him and neither was the way he was walking now. It almost made me think he'd been the one to kill his wife.

"Sir Malcolm, we need to speak with you," Vanessa said. He didn't pick up on the urgency in her voice.

"First you must acknowledge the splendidness of the day."

"Perhaps you should sit down," Vanessa suggested.

"What is it?" He seemed concerned now ,but not as concerned as he should have been. There was something wrong with him.

"Why don't you sit with me, here?" Vanessa lead him into the parlor where I was waiting. I repositioned myself on top of the chair, wanting to be able to stand up faster if I needed to. He was making me nervous. Ethan followed close behind Malcolm as he came in with Vanessa.

"Vanessa, Ava, what's going on?"

"Mr. Boyd came to see you," Vanessa told him.

"My solicitor?"

"Yes." Vanessa took his hands, but I knew it wasn't going to do any good. I didn't think he was going to give us the reactions we were all expecting him to give. "You see, something awful has happened."

"Yes?" Malcolm said Vanessa didn't say anything, he looked at me, almost like his normal self.

"Your wife is dead," I said flatly. I wanted to test him. If he didn't pass, then I would know the witches already had him. I knew what it looked like to see someone's personality change, to see their identity shift. This wasn't possession, but it looked like it.

"Gladys?" Malcolm asked. He said it like he was confirming we were talking about the same wife.

"I'm so sorry," Vanessa said. Sembene took a step towards him, preparing himself for the reaction I seriously doubted he was going to get.

"How?" Malcolm asked. It seemed like he was in shock.

"That's not important now," Vanessa said, looking down. Malcolm looked at me again.

"How?"

"She slit her throat." Ethan and Vanessa were staring at me, but when Malcolm smiled, their eyes landed on him.

"Gladys did? That doesn't seem like her. Where did she do it?"

"I really don't think-" Vanessa muttered.

"Where?" Malcolm repeated.

"In the master bedroom," Ethan told him. He seemed to be catching onto what I'd sensed the second Malcolm walked into the house.

"Oh, I see," Malcolm sighed. "I shall have to have the carpet replaced then." Malcolm had never loved Gladys, but he had cared for her. She'd been his to protect, he'd cared enough about her honor not to divorce her. This wasn't the same man who had left the house last afternoon. He nodded at each of us cheerfully.

"Good morning." We listened to his footsteps on the stairs. Vanessa sat on the back of the couch next to me and lit a cigarette.

"It's like he doesn't care," Ethan said, starting to pace. He did that when he was thinking. Ethan liked to think of all the possible options before coming to the most rational conclusion he could find. Irrational things still scared him, though he wouldn't admit that like Victor would.

"When he found his son dead, I was there," Sembene said. "This is not him." At least I had one friend in the room.

"Maybe he just needs time-" Ethan started to suggest.

"This is not him," Sembene repeated firmly. There was a knock at the door and he went to answer it. Vanessa was looking at me. I bit my lip and she took a long swig of her cigarette. Ethan sat on my other side, putting his arm around my shoulders comfortingly.

"Maybe he doesn't really care about her that much." He took Vanessa's cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke. "Not all deaths are the tragedies we think they should be." I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that Malcolm was evil enough to not care about the death of the wife he'd never loved.

"The woman cut her own throat with his razor," Vanessa said shortly, taking her cigarette back. "What do you think, Ava?" It was the first time she'd asked me to use my gifts. She'd told me not to use them so much that I was apprehensive to give her what she wanted.

"I think he's bewitched," I said carefully. I could almost hear the cut wife's voice saying 'you don't think, you know.' I'd been hearing her voice a lot. I wasn't sure if it was in my head, or if she was there somehow.

"Who do you think bewitched him?" Vanessa asked

"I don't know. But I think Lyle does." Ethan's eyes widened and he was about to say something that was most likely contradict me when Sembene reentered the room.

"Mr. Chandler. You have a visitor." That was odd because no one knew Ethan lived here. Ethan nodded and Sembene went to let the visitor in. Ethan was looking at the door with apprehension. Vanessa and I stood up when Sembene brought the man in. Half of his face was covered in a piece of leather held on by a head strap. The eye that I could see was so blood shot it looked inhuman.

"Hello old pal," the man said. He had a southern American accent. He was one of the men Ethan had been talking about, the ones who wanted to take him back to his father in America. This one looked like he'd been attacked by a bear. "Gonna introduce me?"

"Give us the room," Ethan said. Vanessa took my hand, I wouldn't have moved otherwise. The man's bloodshot eye followed us as we headed for the door. I glanced back at Ethan, but he wasn't looking at me. I didn't want to leave him alone. Sembene closed the door behind us. I went to press my ear against the door, but Vanessa grabbed my arm.

"We shouldn't leave him alone," I argued, looking at Sembene for help.

"This is his battle," Vanessa told me firmly. "If he wants our help, he'll ask."

"I'll stay," Sembene said. I nodded and waited on the stairs. Vanessa went up them to check on Malcolm. After a while, the stranger came out and Sembene showed him to the door. He turned before leaving, looking at me and grinning. He made a sound like he was calling a cat, then grinned again and let Sembene show him out. Ethan watched him go from the doorway.

"Nice friend," I commented.

"Leave it, Ava." He went back into the parlor and I knew he wanted to be alone. I hated not knowing why. But Ethan knew I could read minds. He wouldn't let me read his now. Victor came over that afternoon and I joined him and Vanessa around the artifact table. It had been a while since Victor had seen it and he wanted to know what we'd translated.

"He took us by our winged backs and raised us over his head," Vanessa read, pointing to each artifact as she went. She read it off the guide that Lyle had written down so we didn't have to remember it all. "Thence did he fling us from his heavenly throne, and- What's the next bit, Ava?" Lyle hadn't finished his guide yet, but I didn't need help remembering what it said.

"And cast us down to earth into hell so we were damned. That's as much as we have so far." Victor raised his eyebrows. He seemed amused by at all, but I could tell it scared him.

"I'm sorry, this is a fascinating narrative, but I don't see it's much help to us."

"It's the hidden language of the demon," I told him. "It has some purpose." He seemed to see how much it meant to me and tried to reassure me instead of just shutting up. He took the dirty cup I'd been running my fingers over and moved it away from me.

"Not everything does." He put his hand over mine. I noticed Vanessa was staring at us.

"You sound like my friend, Mr. Clare," she said quietly. Victor tried to hide his shock.

"When did you meet Mr. Clare?" I demanded.

"Oh, recently," she said carefully. "He's a friend of yours, isn't he?" Victor was staring at the table, trying to hide his shock.

"Kind of." I knew what she was doing and it was not nice.

"He breaks my heart, Mr. Clare. Kindred spirit, I think. He told me you met him in the strangest way, Ava."

"Did he?" I said tightly, trying to get her to stop. She didn't, she was trying to make a point.

"Is it random you met, I wonder, or is there a hidden design like these relics?"

"Science would tell us there's always an inner clockwork," Victor said, nearly glaring at me. Vanessa had just told him that I'd been going behind his back. And hers. I'd told her no more secrets, but I'd still been keeping some. And this was her way of of punishing me for it. Sembene ended the tense silence that had fallen over the room.

"Mr. Grey for you." Vanessa and I looked at the door. Again? He just didn't give up, did he?

"Show him in," Vanessa said. I would have told him to go away. Dorian walked in carrying his hat and two white envelopes. He was too handsome and his confidence annoyed me. It wasn't fair.

"Miss Ives. Ava."

"Mr. Grey," Vanessa greeted him. I didn't say anything. "May I present Doctor Victor Frankenstein."

"How do you do?"

"Mr. Grey." Dorian smiled.

"I like your flower." I hadn't even noticed he was wearing a flower. Where did he get that from? Naturally Dorian would notice something like that. He noticed everything that was different. "I come bearing an adventure."

"When do you not?" I asked disdainfully. Vanessa stepped on my foot.

"I'm hosting a ball. I wanted to invite you both personally, and sir Malcolm of course. Would you do me the courtesy of attending?" I looked at Vanessa. She seemed reluctant, she disliked crowded rooms as much as I did.

"I haven't been to a ball in some time."

"There's a woman I would like you to meet," Dorian pressed. "It's rather a coming out for her." Vanessa seemed relieved. Had he moved on that quickly? I thought she broke his heart.

"It seems the world is filled with romance these days." I glared at her.

"I would love to have you both meet her," Dorian said. "And Doctor of course, you must come. I'll get your address and dispatch an invitation, if I might?" Another thing I didn't like about Dorian was he was observant. It meant I couldn't use it as a weapon against him and was a constant reminder that my mind was too open.

"That's very kind, thank you." Victor didn't have much choice other than to accept, though I could tell he was weary of Dorian.

"Do say you'll think about it?" Dorian said to Vanessa. I wanted to go his ball now, I was curious about this woman. Vanessa took the invitations.

"Of course, Mr. Grey."

"Is it not Dorian?" So he was still in love with her. "After all this time."

"It is safely Dorian," she answered. That seemed to satisfy him.

"Then I'll bid you good day. Doctor. Ava. Vanessa." He left and I glanced at Vanessa.

"Karma," I grinned. "I'll show you out, Doctor." We walked to the door and I could feel him watching me. "I met him by accident," I promised. "I didn't tell you because I didn't plan to see him again and I didn't plan for her to find out-" He silenced me by kissing me

"I know." I looked over his shoulder to make sure no one had seen, though I doubted it mattered anymore.

"Where did you get that flower? Did Lily give it to you?"

"Um yes." He shuffled his feet.

"Why?"

"Does it matter?" He kissed my cheek. "Shall I have you the first dance?"

"If I have to dance at all, I might as well do it with you," I teased. "I'll see you." After he left, I went up to give the invitation to Malcolm. I wanted to see what else I could find out about his new personality before he went out in public. He wasn't sitting in his usual place behind his desk,but as his mirror.

"Ah, Ava," he said like he was surprised to see me in my own house. "What do you think of my beard?"

"Your beard?" I asked, thrown off by the question.

"Yes." He frowned at his reflection. "I've had it for as long as I can remember, but I'm not sure that it entirely suits me."

"Why not?" I asked. He sighed like his facial hair was our biggest problem.

"It makes me look older." I wanted to tell him that he was old and that the bread helped hide his frown lines, but I forced myself to be nice.

"Malcolm, is everything alright?"

"What do you mean?" This really wasn't him. He always had a hard look when he was talking to me. The look he was giving me now as reminding me of how he use to look at Peter and Mina. He'd been different with them than he was with the rest of the world. And I didn't like this at all. I'd never been a part of that.

"You're not… sad?" I was playing a role. I wanted to watch him and I wouldn't be able to if I was cruel.

"Oh. You mean Gladys, poor thing. I'm not going down for the funeral. So much going on here." I was staring at him when he noticed the envelope I'd forgotten I had. "What's that?"

"It's an invasion, Mr. Grey's hosting a ball. I didn't think you'd want to-" he snatched it from my hands and tore it open.

"You know I've not been to a ball in ages. I use to be great the dancer in my salad days, if you can believe such a thing. Of course I'll attend." That smile looked wrong on him. Malcolm hardly ever smiled. "Can you find an escort without me?"

"I have one," I muttered. "Who are you going with?"

"Mrs. Poole, of course." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the universe. He'd been telling Lyle about her last week. Madame Kali, the psychic.

"I just don't know," he said, going back to his beard.

"I like it," I supplied, touching his arm. I knew he wouldn't pull away. "It makes you look like a wealthy man." When I searched for the images, I got the same response I'd gotten when I tried to read Lyle. Flashing images of blood and a strong pain in my head. It felt like hitting a mental wall that didn't allow me to go any farther. Malcolm was obvious to how quickly I'd removed my hand and now I was now rubbing my temple.

"Yes, well," he sighed. "I think I'll do away with it." He didn't notice me staring at him or me leaving. Mrs. Poole, Madame Kali. She had to be the one. And if she was at the ball, I could meet her and find out for myself.

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I hadn't been to a real ball since I was ten. My parents had thrown plenty of them, as wealthy people do. You fill up your house with everybody who's anybody, a hundred strangers under your roof. The woman spend hours curling their hair and sewing their dresses. It was all rather childish to me, like playing dress up. I wasn't sure if I'd remember how to behave at a ball, if I'd ever truly learned to began with. But tonight wasn't about the dancing, or even how handsome Victor looked in a suit. I had to find out who Evelyn Poole really was.

"You look beautiful," Victor told me as we entered Dorian's house. It was interesting, like I thought it would be. There were portraits everywhere. They covered the walls and even the ceiling. The largest room was full of colorful gowns spinning in circles and an endless whisper of conversations.

"Thank you," I said, grateful for his arm around mine. All the people spinning was making me dizzy. I had fancy dresses, I just preferred not to wear them. I'd picked a blue one for tonight, one that I'd hoped would blend in with all the others. I wasn't sure how to play this game, I felt like I was pretending to be one of them. I'd had money my whole life, but never thought anything of it. I wasn't something I had earned and certainly not something I valued. The fact that my hair was pulled back neatly without my black curls spilling all over the place was miracle in and of itself.

"Do you know how to dance?" I asked Victor as we made our way to a corner of the room. He seemed as unsettled by all this as I was.

"Of course I do," he said. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Not well," I grinned. "My mother made me learn as soon as I could walk. That and curtsying and smiling sweetly." He laughed.

"I can't picture you as a little girl."
"I thought you said I still was one." My eyes landed on a woman standing next to Lyle. They were were by the drink plates and the woman's eyes were locked on mine. Or I thought they were. My eyes got blurry when I looked at her and my ears started to buzz. I wasn't even sure if my feet were moving. I started to feel dizzy, almost sick. But Lyle's voice made her eyes break from mine and the feeling disappeared.

"Doctor Frankenstein, Miss Ives, good evening. May I present Miss Hecate Poole." Poole. She must be Evelyn's daughter. So she was a witch too. I could tell by the way Lyle was glancing almost nervously between her and me. He was a bad actor.

"You have beautiful jewelry," I told her. I refused to let her make me feel sick or be intimidated.

"Oh, they're very old," she said pleasantly. "Scarabs, I think they are." They looked more like scorpions. They lined the color of her dress like little warning signs.

"Hecate is an unusual name," I commented.

"I had unusual parentage." She turned to Victor. "Now please tell me you'll dance with me Doctor, Mr. Lyle has proved oddly recalcitrant to my desires." She talked like a poet, but I knew it was a threat. She was looking at the connection I had to Victor and she wanted to take him away. But in a very unlike Victor fashion, he seemed to sense something. I wasn't sure if it was Hecate herself, or the way he could tell I felt towards her, but his arm tightened around mine.

"Perhaps later. I'm promised to Ava." I didn't like that he told her my name, though I was sure she knew it. She sipped her champagne.

"I'm bereft." I was almost sure she could find some man to dance with her in here. She wasn't the ugly crone I'd expect a wish to be.

"Come along, Miss Poole," Lyle said. "We'll drown your sorrows elsewhere." They walked away and I watched her make her away across the room.

"What's wrong?" Victor asked. "Did you know her?" I forced myself to look away from Hecate and Lyle and smile at him.

"Are you really going to dance with me?" He forgot about whatever he'd felt, which is what I wanted. He held out his hand.

"If you'll do me the courtesy." We made our way into the circle of spinning bodies, becoming a part of it. He could dance, the steps were familiar to me and I found myself able to remember what I'd learned a lifetime ago. It occurred to me I'd never danced with a man before. It had never been important for me to find love. My life had been so filled with abnormal things that something as normal as dancing with a man had never crossed my mind as significant.

I liked the way my hand felt in his, the protective way he held my waist, steering us away from other bodies. It was strange thing for me to let someone else lead me. It was only dancing, but I felt like I was giving him control over me. I forgot that this room was full of enemies, all I could see were his eyes. When the music stopped, I felt like I'd stepped out of a trance. People clapped around us and I heard a familiar voice.

"Ava. Hello." Dorian hadn't ever called me Miss Ives. It was like he knew I had no claim to that name.

"Mr. Grey." I shook his hand, stepping out of the way so Victor could do the same.

"Thank you so much for having us." Dorian was ignoring him completely. He seemed captivated me in a way I didn't understand. I'd never been able to read him or anticipate his actions, it was why I didn't like or trust this man.

"May I present Miss Angelique?" he gestured to the woman I hadn't even noticed was at his side. And quickly realized that it wasn't a woman at all, but a man in a dress and a wig. Maybe the degree fooled others in the room, but I looked too carefully at strangers to miss it.

"Doctor, miss Ava." Angelique smiled at me. "That's a shattering dress."
"Thank you." I was more interested in what Dorian's game was than the fact this was a man pretending to be a woman. The next song started playing and people began to dance again.

"Ava, will you do me the honor of this dance?" Dorian asked, holding out his hand for me. I noticed he wasn't wearing gloves. I glanced at Victor quickly, then took Dorian's hand. I couldn't say no the host. And strangely, I didn't want to. He brought me to the center of the room, exactly where I did not want to be.

Dancing with Dorian was different than dancing with Victor. We moved slower and our bodies seemed to fit together more naturally. Dorian was a better dancer, his movements were less awkward. And he lead more than Victor had. Victor had been sure, he'd let me decide where we spun. Dorian took complete control. But I found I didn't mind that.

"You dance beautifully." His eyes boring into mine should have made me uncomfortable.

"I was taught as soon as I could walk." He smiled and I found my eyes followed it.

"We have that in common. Do you like the room?"

"Why do you have so many portraits on your walls?" I asked. "Do they mean something?"

"Perhaps," he said, his smile widening. "I'd like to think they do. I've acquired them over a long period of time."

"You can't be that old." All of the spinning was making me dizzy. I was afraid I'd trip if I looked away from his eyes.

"Older than you think. I feel I've lived many lifetimes. Do you believe in that?"

"Perhaps," I smiled.

"Surely there are. Echoes of the past are everywhere. My past. Your past. Can't you feel it?" His voice was like listening to music. A part of me was telling me how wrong this was, that I didn't trust him, but I didn't want to stop looking into his eyes.

"Your hands are cold," I commented.

"Yes," he replied, not elaborating. "Do you think it bold if I compliment your eyes."

"Yes," I echoed, not hiding them from him. We didn't dance in silence like Victor and I had. Dorian told me about how he'd met Angelique. He seemed to truly love her. Why did that bother me? When the song ended, we clapped with everyone else.

"Another dance?" Dorian asked me. I looked in Victor's direction and saw Vanessa standing next to him. I hadn't even felt her enter the room. Did Dorian have such a hold on me that I was oblivious to the fact that my sister was walking into a room full of witches?

"I have to get back to my date," I said, pulling my hand from his. I couldn't let myself get distracted like that. Whatever Dorian was, which I'd established a long time ago was not entirely human, he was as captivating as a witch's spell. And I had to fight both those things.

"Hello Miss Ives, so glad you could come. Dorian followed me over to them. Vanessa's eyes hadn't left mine the entire time I was weaving my way through the crowd. If she was angry I'd come here with Victor, she was even more angry I was dancing with Dorian Grey.

"My pleasure," she told him. "Ava, you look beautiful." I hated when she said that because all I could do was look at how beautiful she was and feel insufficiently.

"She does, doesn't she?" Dorian asked. He was not helping.

"May I have this dance, Ava?" Victor asked quickly. I hadn't even noticed him or Angelique who was frowning. I was about to say yes, anything get away from this situation, but Dorian beat me to it.

"Don't steal her yet."

"We were talking," I told Vanessa's judging gaze.

"Ava's quite the dancer," Dorian said. I shut my eyes. "Natural grace, unschooled by society, that's the greatest gift, isn't it?"

"Lots of natural grace in the country," Victor said.

"I grew up in the country," I explained. Victor thought this would throw off Dorian, but it only fascinated him.

"Oh, where?"

"By the sea," Vanessa said shortly.

"The realm of poets," Dorian commented.

"And livestock," Angelique cut in. I grabbed a glass of champagne off a passing tray and took a large sip of it. "Dance with me, Dorian."

"In a moment. First, a toast." He took a glass off the same tray I had. "None for you, Doctor?" Victor was all but glaring at him.

"No."

"He's very wise, our Doctor," Vanessa said, breaking the tension. She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to her. I got the sense that this conversation, and any time I'd planned on spending with Dorian in the future, firmly was over. "I don't know what we'd do without his level head."

"Not sure this is a night for level heads, is it, darling?" Angelique asked.

" It's a night for anything but," Dorian agreed. At least they were getting along now. Dorian raised his glass. "Welcome to my home, to my dear Angelique, and a special welcome to miss Ives and new friends." I smiled at him though I wanted nothing more than to run out of the room. "Cheers." He took a sip. "Dance with me again, Ava?" I didn't like the way Vanessa was looking at me. I wasn't a child and she wasn't my mother.

"Sure." I heard Victor let out a loud breath, but I followed Dorian back into the middle of the swirling bodies anyway. I realized I didn't care about Victor's feelings. The more I danced and talked with Dorian, the more I thought the cute wife was right. I didn't love Victor Frankenstein. I wanted to save him. And he loved Lily. I'd seen it when we were at the table together. He'd brought her back to life, taught her everything she knew. And he'd fallen in love with her. Dorian didn't love Angelique, not really. He was using her to get over Vanessa. Maybe he was using me too. But I found I didn't care.

I wasn't sure how long we danced, Dorian was telling me stories about the places he'd traveled and I almost forgot we were in a room full of people. When I was dancing with him, I could forget about my life and pretend to be someone else. I was almost normal. I didn't notice when one song ended and another began. And the people watching us from the corner became distant memories. Until I heard the buzzing again. It sounded like a fly over my head, but it was in my ears, pounding through my body. It was worse than before and my stomach dropped so violently, I almost gagged.

"Are you alright?" Dorian asked catching my arm as I staggered. The spell had been broken again. What was I doing dancing with Dorian Grey? I noticed there were goosebumps all up my arms. I didn't explain anything to Dorian, I just moved away from him, ducked around dancing couples and moved towards my sister.

"Do you feel that?" I asked, even though I could tell by her face and the way she'd been scanning the crowd for me that she did.

"Feel what?" Victor asked a little too sharply. Vanessa was looking at something over my shoulder.

"Vanessa, Ava, good evening." Malcolm had come up behind me with a woman on his arm. His beard was gone. "Doctor Frankenstein, I don't believe you know Misses Poole." She was older than I remembered, but also prettier. Like her daughter. My hand closed around Vanessa's arm.

"How do you do?" Victor nodded.

"Doctor. And of course I remember dear Miss Ives. Oh, look at you." She smiled at me. "You're a little beauty, aren't you?" I shrunk back and Vanessa stepped in front of me, spreading her arm across my body, but somehow still smiling pleasantly.

"Do I know you?"

"The seance? Madame Kali?" Did Vanessa really not remember her? She probably felt as sick as I did, when your fight or flight takes over it's hard to think of anything else. But then I saw the reaction in her eyes.

"Oh of course!" She shook her hand. I thought for a moment something would happen, but nothing did. I didn't like the way Mrs. Poole was looking at my sister. I stepped out from around her arm.

"You shaved your beard after all," I commented to Malcolm. "You look so different." Malcolm was smiling gleefully at Mrs. Poole who smiled back.

"I banished the old bear to the cage and lured out the cub." Even Victor was raising his eyebrows.

"I feel like a new man. I've even been boasting shamelessly to Evelyn about my dancing prowess."

"Hold on tightly, it's a complicated dance," Victor said. "Excuse me." He brushed past me, but I didn't care about him right now.

"Shall we take to the floor?" Malcolm suggested. I admired how flawlessly Mrs. Poole executed her act. She glanced around the room and bit her lip before responding.

"Perhaps a drink first, Malcolm."
"With pleasure my dear," Malcolm beamed. He kissed her cheek and went to get it for her. So she had us alone now. I wanted to ask her questions but I couldn't do it with Vanessa there. Mrs. Poole seemed more interested in my sister than me, that's why she'd complimented me, she wanted Vanessa's attention.

"Ness, can you go check on Victor? I think he's upset with me." I communicated with her eyes what I wanted to do. She didn't have to go far, she could still watch me, but I was pretty sure we'd established I had more control over reading people than she did.

"I'll be right back," she said, smiling at Mrs. Poole. I was surprised at how easy it was for me to convince her. She was finally starting to trust me. Or she was desperate.

"Malcolm's a changed man," I commented. "Since he met you, I mean." I'd dropped the little girl facade, but she didn't seem affected.

"Well, he has shaved his beard."

"Interestingly enough, that's not what I meant."

"What then?"

"More his friendship with you." I smiled. She wanted to play the let's pretend we're being nice to each other game, so I'd go along. I'd done it plenty of times, it was what all wealthy people did to one another, especially the woman.

"No more than a touch of warmth in the winter of his years." She wasn't trying to intimidate me, she was looking for Vanessa. I wanted her attention on me.

"I've known him for a long time, but he's never been quite like this." Her eyes met mine. Finally. I pushed down the bile rising in my stomach.

"You and your sister are friend's of his late daughter, I believe?" I nodded.

"And his late wife."

"Such a tragedy. Life does batter at us." She was hardly trying to hide her sarcasm. "But we must persevere with spirit for as long as we possibly can. It's the trick to staying young, don't you think?" So that was what she wanted. She was letting me know it. It was clear that I wouldn't be reading anything about her unless she wanted me to.

"That's not a trick I need." She didn't like that. "Malcolm speaks very highly of you, Miss Poole."

"Well, he speaks of you so rarely." She could do the same thing I could do, I realized. Reading, judging body movements and mannerisms. I'd known she was jealous of me and she knew I felt ignored by my father. And no doubt she knew he was my father.

"I suppose we could say you and your sister are like wards to him." I understood what she was doing and I shouldn't give her the reaction that she wanted, but I couldn't help it. "You must be cautious of the people who enter your families life." She looked in Vanessa's direction. She was watching us from across the room, pretending to talk to Victor.

"Oh, I am," I said, struggling to keep my voice pleasant. Evelyn smiled.

"That sounds like a warning." I laughed lightly.

"Oh, it's a threat." We stared at each other for a few seconds. When she spoke again, the pretenses were gone.

"Do you disapprove?"

"Would it matter if I did?"

"Of course. I hope to be welcome in your life, Ava. Your sister's too. I'm sure I'll be seeing you." She walked away and went towards Malcolm. Vanessa came over to me.

"She's the one, isn't she?" I nodded, no doubt in my mind now. She was their leader. I spotted Hecate and two other women that didn't seem to fit in. They weren't dancing and they were standing alone.

"How did they know we'd be here?" I asked Vanessa, turning towards the wall.

"Maybe Dorian told them."

"You don't really believe that," I rolled my eyes. "I thought you were trying to get along with him."

"I was until he decided to use you against me."
"Is that the most important thing happening right now, Ness?" She sighed and shook her head.

"We should go."

"No, not yet," I argued. "I don't want to run. We have to show them we're strong." Evelyn and Malcolm were dancing, both laughing and Dorian had finally started dancing with the woman he was throwing the ball for. I didn't like watching them, so I scanned the crowd for Victor instead. He was standing by himself drinking champagne he said he never drank.

"You should talk to him," Vanessa suggested.

"Also not the most important thing."

"Ava, you made a mess, fix it."

"What mess?" I demanded. "I was only dancing with him and now Victor's sulking, that's hardly my fault."

"He's in love with you and you don't care," she scolded.

"Because I thought I was in love with him!" She gave me her I told you so look. "Alright, you're right, are you happy now? I don't love him, I wanted to save him."

"And now you love Dorian?"

"No!" Lyle was walking over to us.

"Ah, the Ives girls." I was still glaring at Vanessa. "A dizzying panorama, isn't it? All the toys of love out of the box and scattered around the floor." That was a good description.

"And at the end of the night to be put carefully away," Vanessa added. "These terrible games."

"And do you ever play?" Lyle asked. "Or do you only spectate?

"I never learned the rules," she smiled. I was watching Victor again, starting to feel guilty. "The "complications", as Doctor Frankenstein said to the workings in a watch." I could go over there and apologize to him, it would make her happy. But the urge to be defiant overpowered it. I crossed my arms stubbornly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lyle staring at Hecate and her two friends.

"Would you allow me to escort you both home?" Lyle asked a little hurriedly. "This place isn't safe for you."

"Safe?" Vanessa pressed.

"There are too many complications. And you don't know the rules" Not a bad save. I wondered why the witches were using Lyle, he was so bad at this.

"Do you, Mr. Lyle?" I asked.

"I thought I did. But the stakes are too high. Let me escort you home, please." Vanessa was agreeing, sensing the urgency in his voice.

"I want to say goodnight to Victor first," I said. Vanessa seemed to have changed her mind in light of Lyle's attitude.

"You can see him tomorrow."

"I have clean up my mess, Ness." I made me way away from them. To get to Victor, I'd have to cross the entire room. I got about halfway before I felt the overpowering feeling of someone watching me. Hecate, Evelyn Poole's daughter, was standing in the middle of the dance floor, somehow not getting hit by people, staring straight at me. The other two women weren't with her. I scanned the room and saw they were staring at Vanessa from two different locations, like they were closing in on her. Hecate started walking towards me. My ears were ringing so loudly, the music sounded distorted. All the dancers were moving slower for some reason. Someone laughed near me and it echoed like I was underwater. It got deeper and then lighter, then back to normal.

I looked across the room, trying to find my sister. Through the slow spinning bodies, I found her. She was still standing next Lyle and by the look in her eyes, she was seeing and hearing the same things I was. She tried to move towards me, but then saw the two witches that were surrounding her. They were separating us, I realized. As soon as I'd walked away, we'd become vulnerable. That's what the cut wife had said. We could only fight them when we were together.

The room was spinning. I couldn't keep my eyes on Vanessa's, I felt like I was being turned upside down. The violins were screeching and I wanted to cover my ears. Something wet landed on my hand. I looked down at it and saw a drop of scarlet. Another one joined it, falling in slow motion onto my skin. I looked up, trying to see where the blood was coming from. Wetness hit my face and I blinked, trying to make the visions of blood falling from the ceiling go away. This is what it had looked like when I'd tried to read Lyle and Malcolm. But it wasn't a flashing image. This couldn't be a vision, it was too real. There was blood everywhere.

It was dripping from the ceiling, from the walls, from the floor. It covered all the portraits and the laughing, spinning people around me. It was pouring blood. All of the women's gowns were covered in it, their faces were warped, disfigured under the color. The floor had changed color too, it looked like a lake of blood. I found Vanessa again, she was staring at me in horror, seeing the same thing I was. The people were turning black with blood. The instruments, still playing, were sliding in it. It was all over me, there was a metallic taste in my mouth. The violins screeched louder and my knees buckled as the world turned completely dark and I felt my body hit the floor.

Sorry about the cliffhanger guys! I hate writing them, I like things wrapped up in nice bows lol. Tell me how you liked the chapter and this episode, they keep getting better!