As the end of term draws near the Great Wizard appears on Ada's mac-let. She is sipping her morning tea from the comfort of her own desk when he suddenly appears.

"Well-met your greatness. I wasn't expecting you."

"Ada we must discuss the matter of your girls being on lock down."

"It is for their own safety."

"I have read the report, and I understand your reasoning."

"Are you offering dissent?"

"I was calling to offer an update. Ada it would appear that there is an unidentified male wrapped in the branches of a tree at the edge of academy grounds."

"I know nothing of this," she admits.

"Based on the information I've gathered there is suggestion he is the perpetrator of the crimes."

"I would highly recommend that you not be taken in by his charms your greatness. Leniency is the last theme he deserves."

He lowers himself into a seat. He furrows his brow, "Ada are the rumors about this young man true?"

"Which ones are you referring to?"

"I have heard rumblings that he has connection to your sister, rest her soul."

"Adonis is her grandson."

"I will remedy the situation, Ada."

"What if this is a situation that cannot be remedied? He is a conniving, despicable human being."


That evening Mildred Hubble absent mindedly brushes her locks from the safety of a seat beneath her desk. Familiar footfalls do not miss her radar. The steps do not raise alarm. She barely moves as a figure materializes in the doorway. She doesn't have the energy to turn towards her superior, or engage in the conversation at hand. The fifth year pupil expertly secures her long hair into a side swept braid for her slumber.

"I have received word that the great wizard has apprehended Adonis."

"Is that supposed to make me find a blissful slumber?" The acrid tone of her voice no longer catches HB off guard.

In the blink of an eye Hecate stands beside Mildred.

"I was simply sharing the facts."

"What if I don't believe them? Am I to blame, or is it all in my head?"

Hecate wears her robe, and her hair is uncharacteristically wild since being freed from its restraint. She gently tilts Mildred's head in her direction.

"Since we only exist in our heads I find that an unfair question."

"The term is almost over. This chapter has nearly drawn to a close, and I worry what is next for me. What happens when I leave the safety of these walls? When I return home to a normal life, and someone passes me on the street too closely, or when I have to explain to my mother why I spend most of my night screaming? What kind of life am I to expect after all of this? The perpetrator may have been apprehended, and the year will draw to a close, but I never get my life back. Who I am is dead and gone. I can't stand my own reflection in the mirror. What kind of future does that paint?" The angry, salty tears sting her hot cherry color cheeks.

"I cannot answer from the depths of your soul, Miss Hubble. I may only reference my own. The darkest hours do end. Time passes, and the more it does the closer the horizon grows."

She exhales, "I apologize. I didn't mean to take this out on you. You've done nothing to earn my woe."

"Sleep Mildred, we will all be here in the morning."

"Goodnight, HB."

As Hecate Hardbroom climbs into her bed the sky is the shade of ebony. She fights the urge to cry, but is too exhausted for tears. As the deputy headmistress slips out of her shoes she waits for the layers of dread to slough off like dead skin. Mildred's words ring in her ears as she flicks off the light.


Muffled, blood curdling screams disrupts her slumber some time later. She rises to her feet, and disappears from her room in a flash. Part of her expects to be faces with a dreaded monster as she transfers herself into Mildred's room. She finds the light illuminating the room. As her heart beats, and seconds tick away she struggles to compute the scene before her.

Mildred is wide awake, and screaming. She squats on the floor at the end of her bed gripping the footboard. The cries are reminiscent of a howling wolf. Mildred's previously neat hair is threatens to abandon its restraint. Hecate shifts into action. She squats down next to Mildred, and gently presses her hand on her back. Her back is more rigid than a board. The gravity of the situation at hand becomes a stark reality in the moments to follow.