29 ~ Mother

Mother, should I build the wall?
...
Mother, should I run for president?
Mother, should I trust the government?
Mother, will they put me in the firing line?
Ooh, ah
Is it just a waste of time?
…
Of course Mama's gonna help build the wall

[Career Day, 1977]

Edna stirred the chili pot and tapped the ash off her cigarette. Steven's weird foreign friend was chatting up about his homeland. He must've been on some kinda hard drug, though, 'cause he was talking about magic.

"And there are dragons in the nearby village. Sometimes they are visible over the mountains from my home," the kid said.

"Really? You ever ride one?" she asked.

"Oh, no. That is not allowed. It would be cool, though." He looked around the kitchen for a moment. "My side of the island is not as magical as the other side. The other side is mostly controlled by the Dream Wizards, who have the most powerful magic."

"What kinda magic?"

"They can control peoples' dreams and thoughts. They also have the only three Seeing Eye Globes in the world."

"Huh. Where'd you say you were from, again?"

"The beautiful island of Terra Tempestas."

Edna dug through the old desk in her room later that night. Steven was asleep in his room. He probably wouldn't be for much longer considering how much noise Edna was making trying to find the world map she knew she had. Whatever. Fuck him.

She pushed aside some empty whiskey bottles, uncovering the old world map. She spread it out on her bed and looked it over, searching for the island the foreign kid had talked about.

She found it just below the equator, not too far away from Brazil. It really existed. The foreign kid hadn't been kidding her.

Now, she just had to find out about magic.

Edna slammed her fist into the wall in her room. She'd just found Steven's duffel bag in his room, packed with clothes. He was planning to run away.

How dare he run away? He had no right to do that. He had nothing. All he had was her, he would never make it on his own.

Edna sat on the edge of her bed. Wasn't this what she wanted? To be rid of him? To not have to deal with the stupid kid that ruined her life?

It was what she wanted, but not like this. She didn't want him to take his life in his own hands. She wanted to have control.

She needed to leave first.

Of course, Steven never actually ended up running away. That didn't deter Edna from her plan, though. She found her opportunity to leave in a trucker named Dale. He was offering to take her out of town for a little while, head down to Chicago.

So, she packed up some things. Not all of her stuff, because she wanted to give Steven some false hope that she would come back as she had so many times before. She wouldn't be coming back. Once she stepped out that door, she would never return to this house.

She shouldered her bag and walked to the living room. Steven was sitting on the couch, reading a book and holding an ice pack to his forearm. Beneath the ice pack were several scratches, the product of her morning drink.

"Steven, I'm heading out of town for a little while. There's food somewhere in the house."

Steven looked up at her. "Gee, thanks. See you in a few days."

"Might be a little longer than that," Edna said.

"Great." Steven looked back at his book. Edna glowered at him. He was always so indifferent to her. It bothered her to no end.

He lifted the ice pack to check his injury, and Edna took the opportunity to pinch the already scratched area, making sure it really hurt. He flinched away and glared at her.

"You better not cause any trouble while I'm gone," she said sternly. He didn't respond, just placed the ice pack back on his arm.

Edna turned and walked out the door. Dale's truck was waiting outside. This would be the start to a new life, one without Steven.

Edna stumbled out of the passage of light. A town on the riverside was spread out before her. She had no idea how she'd gotten there. She'd gone out for one last drink with Dale at the bar in Point Place, blacked out and ended up in this unfamiliar place.

It was nighttime and no one was around. Edna stood up and stumbled along the riverbank, following wherever the river flowed.

At some point, far away from the town, a boat caught up to her. Three women stood on it, softly glowing different colors of light.

"What are you doing on our river?" the one glowing soft red asked.

"Your river?" Edna asked.

"This river is controlled by the Dream Wizards," the green glowing one said.

"The Dream Wizards? That's what the foreign kid told me about…" Edna looked at each of them. "Are you the Dream Wizards?"

"Yes," the red one said. "I am the leader, Rhiannon."

"I am the Mindscape expert of our coven, Gloria," the green one said.

"And I am Rosalita, the Dream Magic expert," the purple one said.

"Huh. Can't believe that foreign kid wasn't lying," Edna said.

The green one, Gloria, looked at her intently. Edna felt extremely vulnerable under her gaze, like her every thought was being examined. Then Gloria looked to Rhiannon and said, "She is not from here. We must take her in. She came to learn. She seeks a better life."

Rhiannon quirked an eyebrow. "Well then. Come aboard, Miss…?"

"Edna. Edna Randall." If she was going to start a new life, she should start with a clean slate. No more Hyde. She would go back to her maiden name.

Rosalita extended a hand to her and helped her board the ship.

"The Mindscape works in mysterious ways," Gloria explained. "It appears different to every person. It can be a wonderful place or it can be hell on earth. That is why we never, ever, trap people in it. There is no known spell to get them out. Once they are in the Mindscape, they are trapped until the Wizard is dying or they want to leave badly enough to get out."

"But… How do you trap people there?" Edna asked.

"That you would have to research on your own. I stopped teaching people long ago." Gloria flipped a few pages in her book. "I am simply teaching you how it works so that I can teach you the magic that goes along with it. Simple things, like mind reading or dream telling."

Edna nodded. She would have to do some research. In her attempt at a new life, she still found herself thinking about Steven. She was better off without him, she knew that, but she missed him.

"You miss your child because you miss taking your anger out on him," Gloria said, not looking up from her book.

"Stop reading my mind," Edna said.

Gloria didn't respond. A moment later, she flipped a page and said, "There is no concept of time in the Mindscape. People can have access to the future, though they do not know it fully. Not like an Oracle would. Now, I want you to try this spell that shows the way time is passing in the Mindscape right now…"

Edna followed her instructions. She got the spell quickly.

"You are talented with magic. You have a natural gift, I believe," Gloria said.

Edna smiled. It had been a long time since someone genuinely complimented her. It felt good.

But not as good as it would feel to know that Steven's life was as ruined as hers had been.

Months later, Edna sat in the underground library with Rosalita. They'd just finished a lesson in Dream Spells, the art of controlling someone's dreams.

Edna looked over at the velvet curtain that closed off part of the library. She had never seen anyone go back there. No one was around except herself and Roaslita tonight.

"What's behind the curtain?" Edna asked.

Rosalita looked over at the curtain, then she looked at Edna. "If I show you, will you do anything… against the code?"

"Of course not." Edna knew the punishment for breaking the Dream Wizard Code. If you stole a sacred artifact, put someone in the Mindscape, killed or seriously harmed a fellow wizard or performed an illegal spell, you would be banished forever. No more contact with the Dream Wizards.

Rosalita stood up and gestured for Edna to follow her. Rosalita pulled back the curtain, revealing three pedestals, each with a crystal ball on the top. The balls swirled with colors and faces.

"These are the Seeing Eye Globes. The only three in existence," Rosalita explained.

"What do they do?"

"They allow people to watch the lives of others. Say you had a distant relative or friend that you wanted to keep an eye on. You could watch their every move in the Globe."

Edna stared at the Globes, transfixed. She wanted to watch Steven through one of these. She wanted to see if his life had been ruined by her leaving.

"Don't even think about using one, though. You are not advanced enough to do that," Rosalita said.

Edna nodded as Rosalita closed the curtain again. She may not be advanced enough now, but she would become powerful enough to use those Globes. She had to.

Nearly a year later, Edna was one of the more powerful Wizards in the coven. She was not powerful enough to be a leader, like Rhiannon, Gloria and Rosalita, but she was powerful.

She could manipulate dreams, create illusions of the future and, though no one knew, put people in the Mindscape. She had studied that spell for hours, memorizing the incantation and motions. In theory, she would be able to do it. But she had not physically done it.

But today was a special day, in any case. Edna was finally going to be able to use a Seeing Eye Globe. Under the supervision of Rhiannon.

Rhiannon pulled back the curtain. She pushed one of the pedestals forward. "Focus on the Globe and think of the person you want to view. Then they will show up, wherever they are right now."

Edna focused on the Globe and thought only of Steven. Soon, the shapeless colors in the Globe formed into Steven. He was seated on an unfamiliar couch, next to the Burkhart girl he'd taken to Prom.

His beard was growing in. Edna didn't approve of it. She didn't have time to focus on that, though, because the Burkhart girl started speaking.

"Michael responded to my breakup letter."

"Yeah? What'd he say?" Steven asked.

"He said that it was fine and it freed him up to sleep with the California girls," she said, bitterness lining her voice.

"Dillhole," Steven muttered.

"I called him a jackass in my letter."

Steven laughed. "Nice."

The girl smiled. Anger flared in Edna's chest. Steven was laughing and happy with this girl. His life hadn't been ruined by Edna leaving. It seemed like… like it had improved.

Edna could not allow that.

The next day, Edna was woken up quite violently. She was lifted out of bed, bound by magic. Rhiannon, Gloria and Rosalita were standing in the door of her hut. Edna could see most of the coven outside.

"Edna Randall, we suspected you of having evil intentions for learning magic. Gloria confirmed these suspicions by reading your mind. We know you intend to trap someone in the Mindscape. We cannot, in good conscience, allow you to stay here," Rosalita said.

"Edna, we hereby banish you from the coven. If you are caught on Dream Wizard territory, you will be beheaded on sight. Do not test us," Rhiannon said.

Edna glared at them all. "You've gone soft. Banishing me based on a thought. It's like fucking 1984 here."

"We do not condone the types of things you are thinking. We cannot allow them to manifest in our coven. Starting at midnight tonight, you are banished. You have the rest of today to pack your things and get off of our territory," Gloria said.

Edna snarled at them as they dropped the spell and lowered her to the ground. They left the hut with one last stern look.

Edna began to pack her things. She would leave, but not without taking a little something first.

Edna ran as fast as she could into the mountains. Her bag was full of her stuff, including a Seeing Eye Globe. She was running so that she could get away with it.

She didn't stop moving until she found a large opening in the mountainside. Above the opening, the words 'The Cavern Of Lost Dreams' were carved. Edna entered the cavern.

She took the Seeing Eye Globe out of her bag and placed it on it's stand in the middle of the cavern. First, she checked on the other Dream Wizards. None of them seemed to be after her.

Then, she checked on Steven. He was sitting on the couch with that girl again, seemingly watching TV.

She watched as they exchanged a few words. Then, they both moved in and kissed. Rage sparked inside Edna. Steven wasn't allowed to do this. He couldn't be with a girl. That would make him happy. He had to be miserable, like Edna was all those years.

She couldn't do anything now. She wasn't experienced enough and the time wasn't right. She would have to keep watching him until she found her opportunity.

Edna watched as the man she'd kidnapped from the village fell to the ground and died. He was the third person to die in the Mindscape from Edna's experiments. None of the people she'd kidnapped and put in the Mindscape had made it out.

She lifted the body with magic and sent it out the cavern entrance. She could deal with it tomorrow.

She went to the Seeing Eye Globe. Today, Steven was with Jackie again. They'd just gotten back from a car show in Kenosha. And now they were sitting in his room and looking at a car magazine together.

"The Cadillac De Ville is a gorgeous car," Jackie said, pointing at one page in the magazine.

"What color would you get if you could get one?" Steven asked.

Jackie thought about that for a moment. "A really shiny red. And I'd have red cat-eye sunglasses for driving in the summer with the top down if I got the convertible model."

"I can see that," Steven said.

"And you in the passenger seat, with red wayfarer sunglasses."

Steven laughed. "No way would I wear any shades other than these."

Edna turned away from the Globe, ending the vision. She hated seeing Steven so happy with that girl. She needed to take that girl away from him. She needed to make him miserable like she was.

Once she got an opportunity, she would kidnap Jackie. Steven would search for her. He would either never find her or he would find her too late. Or something terrible would happen to him while he was trying to find her. Going through the Forest of Doubt was practically impossible unless one had access to the river.

Edna grinned. Her plan was foolproof. It would ruin Steven's life for sure.

Edna waited around the corner of the motel room, wearing a long trench coat. She watched as Steven left Jackie's room, looking pissed and heartbroken. Edna grinned.

Jackie stepped out of the room, tears streaming down her face. "Steven, wait! You have to let me explain!"

Steven said nothing, just kept walking to his car. Jackie watched in tears as he drove away. The Kelso kid came around the corner, holding a trash can lid over his crotch. "Is Hyde gone? Can we do it now?"

Jackie smacked him on the shoulder. "No! He left me. He didn't even let me explain! Oh, Michael, he doesn't love me anymore, does he?" She hugged the Kelso kid, crying into his chest.

"Oh, uh, Jackie… I should actually just get dressed and leave. I wanted to visit Betsy and I should do that before it gets too late," he said.

Jackie gave him a look. "Fine. Whatever." She wiped her eyes and reentered the room.

Edna waited until a little later, once the Kelso kid was gone. Jackie left the room to get some ice. Edna took her chance.

Edna hit her with a sedative spell once she was in range. She caught her before she fell to the ground.

"All right, Jackie, let's get you away from Steven for good." Edna carried her over to the car she'd rented, placing her in the backseat.

Edna refused to put Jackie in the Mindscape wearing a dress because she would be floating and Edna didn't want to see anything. So she stopped by the Burkhart mansion and made Jackie change.

When they left, Edna left the door unlocked. It would be a good red herring when Steven came looking for her.

Edna guided the boat down the river as swiftly as possible. It was very late at night, just after the Dream Wizards did their patrol of the river. Edna had to get out before the second patrol.

She docked the boat by the mountains. She picked up Jackie and vanished the boat. Then she set out into the mountains.

Edna gave Jackie one last meal, then put her up in the Mindscape, knowing Jackie would likely die in there.

[Present moment]

Hyde stood and looked at Edna. Jackie stood with him, keeping her fingers tightly interlaced with his. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he asked.

"You ruined my life, that's what's wrong with me," Edna said. "The foreign kid told me about magic. I came here to learn about it. And I got powerful enough to kidnap this girl you love so much."

"What did you hope to gain from this? Ruining my life? Why do you still care?" Hyde asked.

"My entire life was ruined by your existence. I thought that by kidnapping your girlfriend, you'd feel at least a little of what I felt. In fact, when I put her up there, in her mind, I expected her to die there."

Hyde's anger doubled. Jackie must have sensed that, because she grabbed his arm a little tighter. She was holding him back from doing something stupid.

"I needed you to be as miserable as I was," Edna said. "You never understood how much you ruined my life."

"You had every chance to get rid of me. You could have had an abortion. You could have given me up for adoption. You could have just left me on the streets. But you chose to keep me," Hyde said. "This is nobody's fault but yours."

"No, you don't get to turn the blame on me." Edna shook her head. "It is your fault that my life went to shit."

"Uh, no, it's fucking not," Forman said, walking over to Hyde's other side. "You're just some bitch who won't take responsibility for her bad decisions."

"Exactly," Jackie said. "So why don't you just leave me and my Steven alone?"

"Oh, he is not your Steven," Edna said. "I brought him into this world and I will take him out of it, too."

"Like hell you will," Donna said, walking up to Forman's side.

"Oh, I will," Edna said, her voice scarily quiet and determined.

Edna started speaking in Fez's native language. Jackie squeezed Hyde's hand as their surroundings blurred. Jackie disappeared from his side completely as the hill and forest blurred into nothingness.

"I'm gonna make you pay, Steven," Edna said. It was the last thing Hyde heard before he blacked out.