Chapter 49:
Tempest poured some water from a pitcher into some plastic cups, handing them to the three girls. As he sat down, Euna remarked, "We saw your show. It was very good- you're good at what you do,"
"Hm?" Tempest's mouth quirked slightly into a smile. "Ah, thank you. This isn't the best job I've had, but it pays the bills," he cleared his throat. "So...we're here to talk about my crazy sister?"
Draculaura nodded. "Yes. All we need to know is...who is she?"
Tempest cringed. "Well- it's hard to say. She's changed so much since we were kids, so now I feel like I don't know who she is," he paused, only for a moment, and then continued. "We're a type of demon, Carlotta and I. We're a type that shape-shifts, as you know, and humans are scared of us,"
"Humans are afraid of lots of things," Euna noted in a soft voice.
"Yeah," Tempest's tone shifted a bit. "We weren't the only ones, either. We were in a clutch of eggs- like a spider, like how a spider lays eggs. I don't know what happened to our biological...parent," he said that word like it hurt him. "But the SCP took all of us to their headquarters or whatever, where they took the clutch apart. You do know the SCP, right?"
Draculaura sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately..."
Raven looked puzzled. "I don't,"
"All you need to know is that they're known for treating monsters like weird science experiments," Tempest explained. "They've been involved with a lot of controversies in the past. Anyway, they gassed the eggs after taking the clutch apart, and they killed all of our other siblings. Somehow, Carlotta and I survived, and an agent felt bad when he saw we were still alive. He took us in, and when we hatched, he raised us like normal kids. We spent most of our childhood thinking we were normal, but we weren't allowed to play with the other kids. I think Dad was just in denial: he lost a son, years ago, so he wanted my sister and me to fill that void. Carlotta found out about her powers first, and that's when things got bad,"
"How was she?" Euna wanted to know.
Tempest thought for a few seconds. "She was 14. Our next door neighbor's teenage daughter had just dyed her hair blue, and Carlotta wanted her hair just like it. Dad said no, and she had a fit. Later, when she and I were in our room, Carlotta stared at herself in the mirror for a really long time, wishing her hair would just turn blue. I told her she was being dumb, but it suddenly did. She figured out that she could change the way she looked just by thinking about, and pretty soon I found out I could do the same. It was pretty cool for a while- like we were in some kind of Disney Channel show about magical kids, but reality started setting in," he took a breath, his eyes looking at something far away as he remembered that awful day. "One day, a bunch of strange men showed up at our house. They broke things, raided the drawers, and pointed a gun in my face while demanding to know where my sister was. My dad ran in, and we found out what had happened: Carlotta showed her power to a few neighborhood girls, and one of their moms saw. She called the SCP, and now they were coming to take us away. They were going to kill us,"
Draculaura reached out and took Tempest's hand. She said nothing, but she understood. She recalled the night the vampire hunters raided her home. Such an awful night...
Tempest cleared his throat, looking away. "So...when they learned our dad once worked for them, they took him first. They said he was a traitor, and that he knew too much and couldn't be in this society. They took him away from Carlotta and me, and we never saw him again," his voice broke, and he covered his face. "I...I'm sorry-"
"No, no," Euna assured, her voice gentle. "You're fine,"
He took a deep breath after a moment. "Carlotta was livid, and so was I. The agents came back to take us away, but...something happened. Carlotta's face...just...split open. She turned into this...this creature, with a bunch of razor teeth and tentacle things. I didn't know how to react, but all of the sudden, I felt myself turn into the same thing. What I didn't know at the time was that those were our true forms, what we really are under everything else," Tempest's brows knitted together, his hands squeezing around his plastic cup. "We attacked the agents. We killed them, and we got away. When we escaped, we ended up in the streets, and we had a big argument over what to do next. Carlotta wanted to go to the SCP center and get our dad back, but I wanted to go to the police. I didn't want to kill anyone else, but she'd tasted blood once and wanted more. I almost think she didn't want to save our dad- she wanted to kill. I went to the police station and made up a story about my dad being murdered, and the police never found anything, unsurprisingly. The SCP was probably paying them not to look into it. I got adopted into an all-monsters foster home, and I found Carlotta about a year later. She'd dropped out of college, she'd become both a prostitute and professional killer, and she was living with a bunch of scary drug-addicts. She was never the same, and she talked to me like I was below her or something. It was like my real sister died, and some sleazy pothead took over her body, which sounds like a great movie except it's not entertaining at all," he did a strange laugh, but it was forced. "We only met up a few times after that, like on holidays, but it was never the same. I don't think it'll ever be the same again,"
The girls thought over what they'd heard, and Raven inquired, "What was Carlotta like before all this?"
Tempest winced at his memory, trying to think. "Huh...she was a regular teenager, I guess. She liked boybands, wore lots of makeup, and she had a good sense of humor. We were kind of anti-social since our dad homeschooled us, but she loved hanging out with the few friends she did have. But, she was also really sadistic in a weird way. She liked horror movies, and she was obsessed with reading about serial killers," he stared into his cup and then chuckled a little. "She was my best friend, though. For a long time,"
Euna closed her eyes slowly, thinking in silence. "It would seem," she began. "That Carlotta cannot be redeemed or reasoned with. She's too far gone to save, I'm afraid,"
Draculaura glanced at her friend, her brow creased in worry. "Does that mean...?"
"She must either be terminated or institutionalized," Euna stated. "It's for everyone else's good,"
"W-what do you mean!?" Tempest looked offended all of the sudden. "She's not...she's not like a sick dog or something! She's..."
"You still love her," Raven remarked, her eyes downcast. "Don't you?"
Tempest hesitated. "Well...no, I-" he sighed in defeat. "How could I not? She's my sister, she's the only family I have. If I lose her, I'll have no one left,"
"Tempest, you love what you want her to be," Raven lifted her head, her voice firm. "You don't love her for who she really is. The sister you had then isn't the one you have now,"
Tempest buried his face in his hands, letting out a shaky breath. "I-I mean...you're not wrong. I just want everything to be the way it was,"
"I know," Raven's voice was nearly a whisper as she touched his hand.
Tempest's phone vibrated, and he jolted at the sound. He took the phone out of his pocket, glancing at the screen. "M-my boyfriend's here," he wiped his eyes, standing up. "I gotta go. Thanks for talking,"
"No, thank you," Draculaura slung her purse over her shoulder as she stood up. "This couldn't have been easy to talk about,"
Later, Tempest left, and the three girls walked back into the park. Draculaura noticed Raven had her hands stuffed in her pockets, and there was a pensive look on her face. After a few minutes, Draculaura finally asked, "Everything okay, Raven?"
Raven swept some hair away from her face, chewing on her lip. "I...no, not really. Talking to Tempest about his sister made me think about my mom, and I just..."
"Why did you think of her?" Euna wanted to know.
"The way he talks about Carlotta makes me think of my mom and me," Raven explained. "My mom is evil, there's no doubt about that, and she's hurt a lot of people. But, despite everything, I love her. Or, at least, I thought I did," she swallowed, blinking back tears. "Now that we've talked to Tempest, I've realized that I loved all the good memories I had with my mom, and not her. She loved me then, and she loves me still, but she's starting to love her power more," her voice broke, and she looked away. "Sometimes I wish she could stop being what she is now and start being my mom again,"
Draculaura wrapped an arm around Raven's shoulders, squeezing her into a gentle hug. "Oh, Raven! Don't worry, you have all of us on your side,"
Euna watched as Raven turned and hug Draculaura back, and they stayed like that for a moment. "There may be some good left in the Evil Queen," Euna commented. "She could be salvaged, and she could be your mother again,"
Raven pulled away, wiping her eyes and sniffling. "I hope so. Maybe that's just wishful thinking, though,"
"Draculaura!" a voice barked out from a few feet away, and Draculaura whirled over her shoulder to look.
"Clawd?" her brow furrowed when she saw her boyfriend running towards her. "Clawd, what's wrong?"
When he finally reached her, he grabbed her shoulders and exclaimed, "There's a lot going on, and I don't even know where to start!" he took a deep breath. "Van Hellscream kidnapped Deuce, we're trying to get a hold of Medusa, but now a talking cow is walking around looking for you!"
Draculaura paused, running the information through her mind again. "What?"
"I..." he shook his head, taking her hand. "Follow me!" he gestured to Raven and Euna. "You, too!"
Hi, again! Yes, you get a cliff-hanger ending to this chapter. Sorry, but my life's kinda hectic at the moment. I haven't really had time to write as much as I've been wanting to. I literally have two weeks of the semester left, and then I'm on summer break! You'll be seeing lots of updates, then.
Also, I should probably mention: I've started work on another story. I talked a bit about this at the end of the last chapter, but this new story isn't Monster High related. It's a crossover between Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch, so if you're familiar with either of those things, it would mean a lot to me if you checked that out! The first chapter has been posted, and the story is called "Deliverance".
In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! Can Carlotta be redeemed? Could the Evil Queen ever be redeemed? Do you have any theories? Let me know in your review down below, and I'll see you in the next update!
