Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence and Character Death
3:15 PM
Thorn couldn't move. She couldn't think. She couldn't react. The stench of rotten eggs did nothing to her. Neither did the nervous and confused gasps of those around her. All she could do was stare at the cloaked figure as if she was paralyzed, taking in every wretched detail of the creature. Its gray, charred-like skin. The swarm of flies buzzing and crawling over the creature and its rotting cloak. The slight lipless grin revealed the rows of needle-like teeth behind it. And the eyes. Those sickly, yellow eyes. Ancient and malevolent, like those of a predator about to pounce on its prey. The eyes that took the foreman, and almost took Luna. The eyes of death itself, now locked onto her and her alone.
Thorn shivered and trembled. Her heart was racing, and her clothes were drenched in sweat. It knew who she was. It knew why she was here. The understanding was mutual. Thorn knew it was here for her and her alone. The thing never broke eye contact with her, and it never acknowledged anyone or anything else in the lobby. It just stared at Thorn with those damned yellow eyes as its inhuman grin grew ever so slightly.
Thorn flinched when the creature took a step forward, the floor of the lobby creaking under the weight of the cloaked figure. Then it took another step, its pace steady and thoughtful. Thorn still couldn't move or react, and the creature remained fixated on her.
"Dusk, does it look…bigger?" Luna asked aloud.
"Uh, I think so," Dusk stammered.
"It's bigger?" Brian asked, the alarm in his voice clear. "That thing's gotta be close to seven feet tall!"
"Who the hell are you!" Ray shouted at the creature.
Thorn barely heard their statements and questions, and the cloaked figure didn't acknowledge them whatsoever; it simply continued its steady march toward Thorn, never breaking eye contact with her.
Click. BZZZT! Thud!
The cage came crashing down, trapping the cloaked figure and giving Thorn a chance to free herself from the creature's paralyzing gaze. She turned her head and felt short of breath as if she had just run a marathon. She panted and wiped away some sweat from her forehead. Even though she couldn't see it, she felt the cloaked creature's vile gaze upon her. Don't look at it. Don't look at it. Don't look at it.
She looked at the group. Fred returned the remote to his vest pocket, sighing with relief. Ray, Dominic, and Eddie looked at the creature with confusion and fear, only briefly acknowledging Fred's successful trap with a few "good jobs." They and Fred conversed about the cloaked figure, but Thorn wasn't paying attention. Thorn could've sworn Brian had been looking at her just moments ago, but now his attention was fully on the cloaked figure with a look that was difficult to read. Dusk had her knife drawn and had moved in front of her and Luna, though the drummer could barely hold her weapon due to her shaking hand.
But Luna made Thorn's heart sink. Despite the brave facade, Luna trembled and rubbed her neck. There was so much pain and fear behind her brown eyes, and there was no doubt that Luna was reliving her previous encounter with the monster. Thorn wanted to console her friend and hug her, much as Luna did for her. But her legs felt as stiff as wood, and she could not move, while her words came out as pitiful whimpers. The creature's gaze burrowed into her with crippling effect, rendering her helpless and afraid.
"You think this guy could be him?" Fred asked, drawing Thorn's attention back to the group.
"Yeah, Kurtz fired Tony a month ago for lying about his background," Ray replied. "Turns out the scumbag had ties to the mob, and he has a record for assault; this guy could be our killer."
Whoever Tony was, Thorn was oblivious to their conversation, he wasn't the thing in the cage.
"Is that you, Tony?" Eddie called out.
No response from the cloaked figure; Thorn still felt it watching her.
"It's gotta be Tony," Dominic reasoned. "He's the only guy who'd want to kill Kurtz."
"Mob money would explain how he afforded that quality costume," Fred suggested.
"It's not a costume," Luna firmly stated, shaking her head; Thorn couldn't agree more.
"It has to be a costume," Ray said. "What else could it be?"
If only they knew half the stuff Thorn knew…
"This is ridiculous," Eddie scoffed. "Let's unmask this guy and avenge Kurtz." He approached the cloaked figure in the cage.
"Don't get too close to that thing, it's dangerous," Dusk warned.
Eddie waved his arm at her dismissively. "Can't be much worse than you."
Dusk gritted her teeth and was about to curse Eddie off, but Fred stepped in the way.
"I agree with Dusk. This guy is dangerous, and we need to approach him cautiously," Fred said.
"He's trapped in a cage. How much of a threat can he be?" Eddie rebuked before turning his back on the group and continuing his approach.
He reached the cage and stood in front of the cloaked figure. Eddie's wise-guy attitude quickly faltered as he looked up at the creature. Eddie was a big dude, easily over six feet himself, but he looked small when directly in front of the creature. He shuddered but remained where he stood.
The creature never once stopped looking at Thorn or acknowledged Eddie's presence.
"You ain't so tough now, are ya!" Eddie shouted at the creature. He hit the cage. "Yeah, it ain't so nice to be trapped, is it?" He hit the cage again. "Why won't you look at me? You too afraid!" he mocked.
"Eddie, man, just get back here and let the cops deal with him," Dominic pleaded, motioning for Eddie to return.
"No, this fucker killed Kurtz," Eddie said, still facing the creature. "Okay, Tony, time to get you out of that stickin' costume." He reached for the creature's head, intending to pull the "mask" off.
Thorn was hit by an overwhelming sense of dread that nearly knocked her to her feet. Moreso on instinct than thought, she acted.
"DON'T!" Thorn pleaded.
Eddie turned to face her, scowling. "Oh, shut it! I'm not listening to you after what you did to Dominic. You're just as bad as Tony here; in fact, I bet you're working with him and-"
Thorn let out a horrified shriek and covered her mouth with her hands as Eddie's final words were interrupted by a raspy gurgle and the sound of bone and flesh tearing. The creature's now blood-covered arm emerged from Eddie's chest, its hand a fist. Eddie gurgled, and blood spilled from his mouth and the hole in his chest. The raspy gurgles continued, and Eddie's body convulsed for several excruciating seconds. And then in an instant, the gurgling and convulsions stopped, and Eddie's body went limp.
"EDDIE!" Dominic cried, drowning out the horrified gasps from the rest of the group.
Thorn almost vomited, though she somehow found the strength to fight back the rising bile. Instead, she whimpered as the creature snuffed out Eddie's life right before her eyes. Her body wobbled, and she would've fallen if Luna and Brian didn't catch her.
Eddie's body shifted as the creature withdrew its arm, and after a wet plop, Eddie's body crumpled to the floor, discarded like a piece of trash. The creature never once looked at Eddie, even as he entered his death throes. The cloaked figure simply remained fixated on Thorn, staring at her with those horrible, yellow eyes.
The creature stuck both of its arms in the gap between two bars, and like someone parting a curtain, the creature effortlessly bent them outward.
"That-that's impossible," Fred stammered. "Nobody should be able to break those bars."
The cage might as well have not been there, since the bars snapped when they hit their limit, the cloaked figure no worse for wear. The creature stepped out from the new opening, carefully stepping over Eddie's corpse, and then resumed its methodical approach toward Thorn, its focus on her never broken.
Thorn trembled. Despite the creature's gaze, Thorn fought to keep herself from looking at the creature's face lest she made eye contact with it. She grabbed the nearest people, who happened to be Luna and Brian, and held their arms as if they'd hold her back from the creature's gaze.
"Dominic, shoot the fucker!" Ray shouted.
Dominic quickly drew a previously concealed snub-nose revolver and aimed it at the approaching creature. With shaking arms, he pulled the hammer back, causing a faint click. Despite expecting it, Thorn flinched when the gunshot rang.
The bullet hit its mark. Center chest. Roughly where the heart would be in a human. The creature staggered…and then continued its approach toward Thorn as if it were never shot.
The group gasped. Thorn's eyes widened in terror, and her grip on Luna and Brian tightened. The creature locked eyes with her, and Thorn couldn't move.
Dominic's hands shook and his arms wobbled as he pulled the hammer back on the gun. causing the cylinder to rotate.
Click.
Bang!
The bullet hit the creature's shoulder. It staggered, but less than before, and the creature slowly closed the gap between it and Dominic.
Click.
Bang!
Dominic whimpered as he pulled the hammer back and fired a third time, a task Thorn likened to shooting a wall: pointless. Yet he did it again.
Click.
Bang!
Click.
Bang!
Click.
"AHHH–"
Crack!
Thorn shrieked and fell to her knees despite Luna and Brian's efforts to keep her standing. With one swift movement, the cloaked figure twisted Dominic's head and snapped his neck. Dominic's head now faced the group, his face contorted into a permanent look of terror and desperation. The cloaked figure released Dominic, and his body crumpled to the floor with a soft thud, his lifeless and empty eyes facing Thorn.
"Run!"
It might've been Fred who shouted their only sensible option left, but Thorn wasn't sure. The world around her seemed to melt away until there was nothing but her and Dominic's corpse; even the ever-present gaze of the approaching cloaked figure seemed distant. Thorn couldn't move. Dominic's dead gaze glued her in place.
I killed him.
Tears rolled down her face. It was her first coherent thought since the cloaked figure's arrival, and it repeated like a broken record.
I killed him.
She almost killed him in the basement. Despite his stupid choice of pretending to be a cultist, Dominic didn't deserve what Thorn did to him. Now he was dead, along with Eddie and the foreman. She wanted them dead, and the cloaked figure fulfilled her wish. Maybe that was the Fallen's plan, one last twisted torment from whatever hell the entity was imprisoned in that pushed her into becoming the monster she feared she'd become. She never apologized. She never took steps to mitigate things and explain what was happening. She never tried to stop their murders, and with her magic, she might've saved them. Instead, she let them die at the hands of a monster that was here for her and her alone.
There would never be any forgiveness. Not from them. And not from herself.
"THORN! "
Someone grabbed her arms and pulled her.
"THORN!"
"I…" she stammered as she was momentarily pulled back into reality.
"THORN! GET UP!" Luna shouted, her face almost in tears.
"We can't stay here!" Brian warned.
"Oh, for fuck sakes, Thorn!" Dusk yelled. She grabbed Thorn's arms and yanked her to her feet.
Thorn didn't get a chance to react as her bandmates and Brian pushed her into a run. Moreso on instinct, she ran and followed her fellow Hex Girls down the hallway. Ahead of her, she saw Ray and Fred running for their lives, with Brian not too far behind them, and Dusk and Luna just behind him. Behind her, she heard the cloaked figure grunt, and while it followed them, it did not run after them.
"Come on! We can make it to the back door!" Fred hollered, motioning for the rest of them to follow.
But as the first of their group passed the basement and rounded the corner of the hallway, they shouted. Thorn nearly skidded into Dusk as the group came to a screeching halt, and she heard a buzz that grew louder by the second.
"Turn around!" Ray screamed as he swatted the air around him and rounded the corner, though his screams were quickly drowned out by the now deafening buzz.
A sprawling and writhing black mass inched its way around the corner, covering the walls, floor, ceiling, and anything else it came upon. Thorn gasped upon realizing that the mass was a massive swarm of flies, the same kind of flies that buzzed around the cloaked figure.
The group turned and ran from the encroaching insect swarm, but came to another stop as the cloaked figure made its way down the hallway, its yellow eyes still locked onto Thorn.
"It set a trap!" Fred yelled.
"What do we do?" Dusk asked, still brandishing her dagger as if it would do any good.
"The basement!" Ray shouted.
The group made a beeline for the basement. Thorn made it there first since she was in the back of the group. She ran down the steps and into the darkness that was once a source of dread but now provided refuge. She reached the bottom and looked back up the stairs. Dusk and Luna were right behind her, with Brian not too far behind them. Fred and Ray quickly darted into the basement, and the two men began pulling the vault-like door shut, the old hinges groaning as the door closed.
But as the light from upstairs faded, metal crunched, and Fred and Ray grunted as the door screeched to a standstill. Despite the door being left ajar, Thorn couldn't see the cloaked figure, but the stench of rotten eggs was strong, and an agitated hiss full of malice sent a chill down her spine.
The door groaned. Fred and Ray shouted as they lurched forward, their grip on the door slipping. The light brightened and widened. Brian and Dusk rushed back up the stairs to help Fred and Ray, but all their added strength managed to do was slow the tug-of-war over the door, a match they were losing.
Thorn trembled. There wasn't any more room at the top of the stairs, not that she would've been much help strength-wise. The door groaned, and the four slowly slid forward as the opening widened. There was nothing Thorn could do except watch in terror.
Luna grabbed Thorn's shoulder, jolting her from her shock. "We need to find something to block the door with or push that thing away," she said with a sense of urgency.
All Thorn could muster was a silent nod, but she hastily followed Luna farther into the basement. They scoured the nearest stack of boxes for anything of use.
"Ugh, there's got to be something here we can use!" Luna lamented, tossing aside some empty cardboard boxes.
Thorn could barely grip the small bin containing miscellaneous objects she held in her trembling hands.
And then she felt it. Magic. It was like a magnetic pull, drawing her toward some unknown destination in the distance. She dropped the bin and faced the darkness from which the magic emanated. She took a step forward, and she felt her magic well within her. Subtle, but compared to its absence when confronting the monster her friends were fighting to keep back, it was energizing. She took another step. And then another. And another.
"Hey, Thorn! Can you give me a hand over here!"
Luna's words stopped Thorn in her tracks.
"I…I need to help them," she mumbled, again almost choking on the words.
But instead of running back to help Luna, she took another step forward. She felt like there was a rope tied around her waist, pulling her toward the source of magic. No. It wasn't pulling her. She was pulling herself along the rope. She needed to go. She needed to find the source of the magic.
"Thorn! Are you going to help me with this!" Luna shouted.
Thorn wiped her teary eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for leaving you," she whimpered.
She ran into the darkness. Luna shouted at her, but Thorn didn't slow. She whimpered with each step, tears falling down her face. Luna's shouts lessened, and the cries of those holding back the hands of death faded from earshot. Silence and darkness consumed her, leaving her alone with whatever magic lay ahead.
She couldn't have been more than five hundred feet from the bottom of the basement steps, but it felt like she was stranded in the middle of a vast ocean with no land in sight. She came to a sudden stop and faced the wall. There was nothing particularly off about the wall, and it wasn't even near one of the yellow 'X's' Ray and his crew painted, but Thorn felt it was there.
Thorn placed her hand on the wall. The concrete was rough and cold, nothing out of the ordinary. But beyond it, there was magic. She could feel it. Just a trickle of energy from a hidden source brushing against her fingertips.
A memory popped into her head. The discovery of a single Latin word etched onto the edges of a coin-like talisman which led her to the Fallen's temple and all the turmoil of the past few days.
"Revēlō."
The wall hummed, and a small portion of the wall began glowing a bluish-white hue. Thorn watched in awe as the natural bumps, chips, and scratches shifted and contorted. At first, it was meaningless images, but the shapes and lines slowly morphed into something recognizable.
Thorn reached into her pocket and took out the plastic sigil Brian gave her. She held it up to the fully-formed and glowing symbol on the wall. It was a perfect mirror image of the sigil Brian gave her, like two halves of a greater symbol.
But Thorn's attention was drawn to something below the symbol. Glowing words. A mix of English and what looked like Latin. She read it aloud:
"Treasure is what you seek.
Within the Holy Domain, it waits.
But fractured, you are; shattered into pieces.
Only the restored can enter broken temples.
repar quod rumpitur
The pieces are there.
Time to put them back together again."
The moment she finished reciting the words, her vision blurred. She felt dizzy, and the room seemed to spin around her. She dropped the sigil as she leaned too far back. There were screams and shouts in the distance, followed by darkness, and then nothing.
Thorn didn't recall waking up or anything similar. Just nothing, and then she was here of all places. How she got here, she didn't know; perhaps it was due to the spell she recited, or maybe it was the work of the Broken or the Fallen. Regardless, Thorn looked at the familiar shed in the familiar backyard of a modest, two-story house surrounded by a familiar picket fence. Thorn smiled. It'd been so long since she'd been home. The familiar sight brought back dozens of comfy and happy memories that soothed her restless mind. Well, for a moment anyway.
As she approached the house in search of answers and help, the shed drew her attention. The door was ajar. She always had it locked when she wasn't home. Raising an eyebrow, Thorn approached the shed and peered into the opening.
"What? How's this possible?" Thorn gasped when she entered the shed. "It's all gone."
The shed was hers. It was where she practiced her Wiccan faith, crafted her herbal remedies, and conducted "rituals" alone and with her close friends. The walls should've been adorned with shelves full of jarred herbs, candles, bowls, and books. A workbench should've sat at the back of the shed near the window covered with several herbal recipes. A pentacle made of twigs and sticks woven together should've hung above the doorway.
Instead, the shed was filled with gardening and landscaping supplies, and more surprisingly, a small red tricycle adorned with bat stickers and a few boxes of toys; there was no sign of any of her Wiccan materials.
"I don't get it," Thorn said, walking over to the box of toys and picking up a butterfly net. "This stuff can't be here."
"Patrick, is that you in there?"
Thorn gasped and dropped the net. Her heart was racing. Could it be? Thorn left the shed and heard the same voice call out from the side of the house from where the garden was.
"Patrick, do you mind grabbing me my extra trowel? This one just chipped."
Just hearing her voice made Thorn tear up. She slowly made her way to the side of the house. This isn't possible. I must be dreaming. I'm still at the Regal Hotel. My friends are still in danger. I need to help them. I need to wake up.
Thorn didn't return to the Regal Hotel. She simply stopped at the corner of the house. She could hear a woman humming an old, Wiccan hymn. Thorn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. You can do it. You can see her. Thorn exhaled and opened her eyes. She took a step forward and rounded the corner.
She was on her knees overlooking a freshly dug hole with a plant, lavender by the looks of it, in her hands. Her long, black hair was tied back and poked out from under a white, wide-brim sun hat. She wore her plain, brown gardening apron over a simple white t-shirt and a pair of slightly-faded jeans. A pair of brown gloves matched her brown boots. Thorn even saw the crescent moon earrings glistening in the late afternoon sunlight.
The woman placed the plant into the hole and covered the roots with soil. She went to grab another plant from a small tray next to her.
"Mom?" Thorn managed to say, her voice filled with both joy and sadness.
Her mother stopped planting. She turned around. Her welcoming smile was full of warmth and comfort, and her emerald eyes and sun-kissed skin almost seemed to shine. "There's my little Wiccan."
Thorn's smile grew, and she ran into her mother's outstretched arms. She cried, though, for the first time, there was a flicker of happiness in her tears. She hugged her mother tightly, and her mother hugged her back just as tightly.
"It's okay," June calmly said as she caressed her daughter's back. "It's okay."
"I've missed you so much," Thorn whimpered.
"And I've missed you, too, Sally," June replied, her voice soothing. "Though, I don't think I can call you 'little' anymore."
Thorn lifted her head from her mother's shoulder. Thorn found it a bit odd that had to look down at her mother given she now had a solid inch or two in height on her, but June's warm smile brought her comfort.
"I don't understand; how is this possible?" Thorn exclaimed. "You're…"
"I know," June calmly said. There was a pause as she collected her thoughts. "I don't know why or how this is happening, but we should be thankful we were blessed with this opportunity." June gently wiped a tear from Thorn's face. "But I do know that you're in so much pain, Sally, and it hurts me to see you like this. Sweetie, what happened?"
Thorn sniffled. She trembled in her mother's embrace, whimpering as she collected all the terrible feelings and thoughts that ran wild in her mind. "I'm a monster," she finally whimpered, though the words came out like a whisper.
"You're not a monster, Sally," June comforted.
"Yes, I am!" Thorn cried. "I'm a monster!"
"Why do you say that?" June asked.
"Because I'm a witch! An actual witch with supernatural magic! And I've hurt so many people because of it. I've lied, I've manipulated, and I've physically hurt people," Thorn sobbed. "I've gotten people killed, and…I've killed someone. People I care about are fighting for their lives against another monster, and I abandoned them to come here." Her fit of crying became so much she could barely speak. "I've failed your Wiccan teachings, every single tenet. I'm afraid I'll lose myself and hurt more people! I'm a terrible person; you should be ashamed of me."
June lowered her head for a moment and sighed, her smile wilting. There was a brief silence between the two, and Thorn thought for sure her mother would push her away or disown her. But June's smile returned, as warm and comforting as before, and she placed her hand on Thorn's shoulder.
"Sally, just because you're a witch doesn't mean you're not a Wiccan," June began. "If you believe the old wives' tales, then there were plenty of Wiccans who were supernatural witches, not to mention how many Wiccans call themselves witches even if they lack supernatural magic." She paused and stroked Thorn's hair. "But that's not what's important. Being a Wiccan is a choice. It's to choose to care about others and the earth over selfish desires. It's doing the right thing. Help those who need it. Inspire people to reach their greatest potential. Treat others and nature with respect and kindness. Being a witch doesn't mean you can't do those things. It's always been your choice to follow or not follow those beliefs. Even if life decides to throw some hurdles your way and make things difficult, you still get to choose."
"But how can I do all that if I keep hurting people?" Thorn sobbed. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but my magic is so dangerous, especially when I'm angry, and I'm afraid I'll hurt someone I care about."
"You don't have to hurt people, sweetie," June replied. "You can use your gift to help and protect others. It's another choice you have to make for yourself. You can let fear and anger win, and more people will get hurt. Or, you can take control of your magic and use it to live the ideals and beliefs you believe in. It's up to you, Sally. But you must make a choice; inaction only lets evil win."
Thorn wiped her eyes and sniffled. Even with her mother, she felt like she was carrying a massive boulder on her shoulders. I don't want to hurt anyone. I want to keep my friends safe. Thorn grunted. Images of Cyrus, Mr. Kurtz, Dominic, and Eddie all popped into her mind. The people she killed and hurt with magic. Both directly and indirectly. No! I'm dangerous! I'm a threat!
"Ugh!" Thorn grunted, shaking her head. "Stop it! Stop thinking that! Ahh!"
"Sally," her mother said as she grabbed her daughter's hands. "Look at me."
Thorn looked at her mother.
"It's okay," June said, her voice tender and soothing. "It won't be easy, but I know you can make the right choice. You've grown into an amazing woman, Sally, and while I wish I could've been there for you growing up, you managed to overcome so many difficulties. You can overcome this one as well; I have faith in you."
"Awww, how adorable? Too bad I have to end it," a woman's voice mocked from the distance.
Before Thorn and June could react, the soil in the garden shook, and several oversized vines covered in thorns erupted from the ground. The vines quickly wrapped around June's arms and legs, and with impossible strength, ripped her away from Thorn.
"Mom!" Thorn shouted as she desperately reached out for her mother.
"Sally!" June pleaded as the vine coiled around her body.
The earth ripped apart, and the vines began dragging June into the gaping hole. With teary eyes, Thorn ran for her mother.
"No, I won't lose you again!" Thorn yelled as she grabbed her mother's hand. Her grip didn't last. Another vine sprung from the ground and knocked Thorn to the ground.
"How pathetic," the unknown woman muttered, this time she sounded closer and oddly familiar. "You shouldn't be talking with June. The dead should stay dead."
Thorn ignored the woman and ran to her mother. She grabbed her hand, and again, the vine knocked her away. As if in retaliation, the vines coiled around June's torso, leaving only her head exposed. Then with a sudden lurch, the vines pulled downward, and despite her struggles, June's feet sank into the earth below.
"Mom! No!" Thorn shouted as tears fell down her face.
June sank to her knees. "It's okay, Sally," June said, with as much calmness as she could muster, though her eyes teared and face reddened. "I know you'll make the right choice."
"Oh, I doubt that very much," the unknown woman mocked. "Given your daughter's track record of failure."
Thorn clenched her fist. She felt her magic coursing through her, and, for the first time in a while, she liked it. She looked toward the source of the voice. At first, she thought it was the cloaked figure, given the woman wore the same rotten cloak. But then Thorn noticed the black, pointed hat with a round bottom atop long, black hair and the gold and crimson mask.
Cultist. Witch.
Monster.
Thorn glared at the witch.
"That's right, get angry! Throw a fireball at me! Unleash the magic!" the witch goaded.
Blue energy enveloped Thorn's fists, casting an intimidating hue on Thorn. She raised her arms.
"Sally, don't!" June cried. "Don't fight her. Don't let her win! Make the right choice!"
Thorn grimaced and shut her eyes, her arm still raised.
"Don't listen to the dead," the witch warned. She raised her arms as if surrendering. "Attack me. Kill me! Strike me down if you wish to save mommy!"
Thorn's arm shook and she whimpered. Yet, she remained ready to throw the blue fireball at the witch.
"Please, Sally," June pleaded. "You told me you're afraid to become a monster, and this is how you become one. Don't let her win. Don't become the monster, Sally. You're stronger than her. You can overcome her. I believe in you, my little Wicc-."
A vine quickly gagged June, and she sank to her waist.
Thorn shouted. The magic fizzled away, and she lowered her arm. She opened her teary eyes and looked at the witch. "No," she stammered. "No, I won't let you win."
The witch groaned and kicked the ground. "I knew this would fucking happen. It's why we always fail."
"We?" Thorn gasped.
"Jeez, we can be so fucking oblivious." The witch removed her mask and tossed it aside.
Thorn's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Before her stood an identical version of herself clad in the clothes of the monsters that threatened her and those she loved. At first, she thought it was the Fallen or the Broken, but the longer she watched her doppelganger, she felt it wasn't them. Somehow, it was herself. Like looking in a mirror. A reflection of all her fears and anger.
"How is this possible?" Thorn asked.
"How am I supposed to fucking know, I know as much as you do," the other Thorn replied. She scowled and crossed her arms. "It doesn't fucking matter." She glared at Thorn, her eyes filled with disgust and malice. "I hate you so much."
Thorn shuddered. She felt sick. "Why?"
"Because I'm sick of riding in the backseat while a shitty driver steers us into oblivion. I'm sick of being restrained and letting our enemies hurt everyone around us," the other Thorn shouted. "If we had it my way, we'd already have the damn treasure, and that thing would be dead."
"Your way? Your way would've gotten people killed!" Thorn retorted.
"And your way didn't?"
"I didn't kill anyone."
"If we didn't hear Luna calling for us, we would've crushed Dominic to death."
Thorn hesitated. She tried to think of a comeback, but her mind was blank.
"You know it's true," the other Thorn said with a smirk. "And you know we liked it. We wanted to kill him. We should've killed him. He needed to die, and he got what was coming to him. It's just a shame we weren't the ones to kill him."
Thorn shook her head. "No. He didn't deserve to die. Neither did Eddie nor the foreman."
"They were in the way, they needed to go," the other Thorn said. Her smirk grew, and Thorn felt a sense of uneasiness wash over her. She didn't know why, but she felt that she couldn't let the other Thorn touch her. "Funny, you didn't deny or even comment on how we enjoyed using our magic to nearly kill Dominic."
"What's there to deny, we both know what happened," Thorn replied, her breathing heavy. She felt exhausted as if just speaking was tiring her out. "That doesn't mean what we did was right. It was wrong, and I won't let us make that mistake again!"
"Oh, you won't do anything because I'm winning," the other Thorn gleefully cheered, taking a step toward her more good-natured counterpart.
Thorn slouched. Her body felt heavy and sore. She could barely stand. A sudden muffled gasp drew her attention to her mother. Most of June's torso had disappeared into the dirt, and what little remained aboveground was slowly sinking. Yet her mother's eyes were filled with fear. Not for herself but for her daughter. The daughter that was losing her fight against her monstrous nature.
"Still clinging to her after all this time, huh?" the other Thorn said, stopping her approach for a moment. "She's been dead for almost twenty years, and we didn't just survive, we thrived without her. We don't need her anymore. The sooner we rid her from our psyche, the better off we'll be."
Thorn grimaced and faced her malevolent self. "We survived because she gave us something to believe in when the world ripped our life apart. She was the foundation upon which we built ourselves up from nothing. Yes, we've added our own touches and ideas, and we've reinforced that foundation with our friends and our music, but without her, we'd never have reached where we are now."
The other Thorn scoffed. "She holds us back."
Thorn glared at her darker self. "She prevents us from becoming a monster."
"She prevents us from saving Dusk and Luna!" the devious doppelganger shouted, and to Thorn's surprise, she felt less exhausted. "She's why we don't use our magic! She's why we're afraid of ourself! She's why we're letting some horrible monstrosity kill Dusk and Luna!"
Thorn straightened her posture. "You're wrong. The only thing stopping us from saving everyone we care about is you. I doubt you even care about Dusk and Luna. You didn't care about Luna's whereabouts when we attacked Dominic. You just lashed out because we could." Thorn glared at her double, steadfast in herself. "I won't let you do that again."
The other Thorn snarled. "You know what? Fuck it. Keep resisting me and waste more time. By the time we get back to the hotel, that thing will have slaughtered them anyway." The other Thorn's smirk morphed into a sick and twisted grin, and then she laughed. "We'll see Dusk and Luna's mangled corpses, and we'll snap. We'll kill the cloaked monster, and then we'll hunt down every cultist and gut them as they did to Dusk and Luna. And we won't stop there! We'll kill anyone with ties to the cult. Then anyone we think has ties to the cult! Anyone who gets in our way! Anyone we feel like killing!" Her laughter was maddening. "It's how we deal with trauma. We become obsessed with something. This time it'll be revenge. I'll take control, and we'll enjoy every second of it! We'll finally be the monster we were meant to be!"
Thorn felt incredibly nauseated. The vile her other self spat out sickened her. The other Thorn revealed her true nature; she didn't care about Dusk and Luna, or anyone else for that matter. Just kill and destroy. First, she tried to destroy June and all her teachings. And now she used her friends to either force a surrender or stall for the horrific scenario Thorn knew would happen, just as her other self described. Revenge would consume her. She'd become a monster, and lose everything she held dear.
Her dark side needed to be stopped, and Thorn needed to take action. She needed to reconcile the conflicting parts of herself, both the good and evil within her. Her fears. Her anger. Her doubts. Her trauma. Her magic. Her mother's Wiccan teachings. Her love for her friends. They were all pieces of a broken woman. They were all together. She could be repaired. She could be whole again.
Thorn took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She focused on herself and called forth her magic. She felt it course through her, empowering her. She locked eyes with herself. "I won't let that happen. I will overcome you."
The other Thorn growled. "I'll just take you myself!" She pointed at Thorn, and on command, two massive vines erupted from the earth and lunged at Thorn.
I can do this. This is only a fight with myself. I can stop myself.
Thorn remained still as the vines barreled toward her like a pair of javelins.
"Stop!" Thorn commanded with her arm raised.
The vines came to an abrupt standstill inches away from her. She flicked her wrist, and the vines dropped to the ground and disintegrated. The other Thorn screamed. Five more vines emerged from the ground, and as if they were giant fingers trying to grab her, they curled and dove at Thorn.
Thorn remained where she stood. She raised her arms, and a green barrier formed around her. The vines hit the barrier and bounced off it. They shook and prepared to strike again. But Thorn's attention was quickly brought to her other self, who now wielded a silver dagger. The other Thorn shouted and then suddenly disappeared into a cloud of red smoke.
Thorn gasped. Where'd she…She smirked. That's exactly what I would do. She glanced at the incoming vines. She had a plan. A counter.
Thorn spun around and came face-to-face with her double wielding the silver dagger coming right at her. The dagger would undoubtedly break the magical barrier, which Thorn counted on.
She jumped back and let the barrier collapse. The other Thorn's eyes widened as without the barrier resisting and slowing her, she ran to where Thorn was just standing. The vines stuck her and ensnared her in their rope-like grasp.
Thorn panted and wiped the sweat from her brow as her evil double shrieked and fought against the vines. But the more she struggled, the tighter the coils became, and the more of her got covered in vines.
"DAMN YOU!" the other Thorn screamed.
"I told you I'd overcome you," Thorn said between exhausted breaths.
The other Thorn continued to curse, but Thorn ignored her vitriol and turned her attention to her mother.
"Mom, I did it!" Thorn cheered as she rushed to her mother. The vines had withered and died, allowing Thorn to pull them off her mother. Without the vines, Thorn pulled her mother out from the earth.
"I knew you could do it, Sally," June replied with a smile and hug. "I knew you'd triumph over your darkest desires."
"Triumph? Hmpf! I'm still here! I'm not going anywhere!" the other Thorn shouted.
June put her hand on Thorn's shoulder. "I think it's time you made peace with her."
Thorn sighed. She knew she needed to deal with her dark self, but Thorn felt that in doing so, she'd never see her mother again. She lowered her head and frowned.
"It's okay, Sally," June said, her voice soft and her smile warm. "You're done here. It's time for you to go back."
Thorn sighed, her eyes teary. "Then this is goodbye?"
June lowered her head. "I'm afraid so. I must return to my rest."
Thorn hugged her mother. "I'll miss you."
"And I'll miss you, too, Sally," June said, embracing her daughter.
The other Thorn laughed, a twisted smile forming across her face. "How adorable! Too bad I'm not defeated. You can't defeat me. Not permanently. I will always be with you, waiting for you to slip up and give in to our dark nature. I'll be free, and then we can claim our rightful place among the monsters!"
June and Thorn ended their final embrace, and the latter turned to her captured self.
"I know," Thorn said as she faced herself. "And that's why I won't destroy you. You're part of me. I may not like it, but that's who I am. Constantly fighting myself will only cause pain for me and those around me." Similar to how she feared getting touched by her counterpart, Thorn felt that she needed to touch her double to complete herself. "But I have my Wiccan faith and my friends at my side. With them, I can be sure of myself. I can be whole again."
She approached her now screaming double. She raised her hand to her double's forehead, but before she touched her, Thorn looked back at her mother.
"Thank you," she said.
"You're welcome, sweetie; I'm glad I was there for you." June smiled as tears slid down her face. "Now, it's up to you, Sally. I know you'll do well."
Thorn smiled, a single tear rolled down her face. "Goodbye, mom."
She touched her double's forehead.
She didn't blackout or wake up; she simply found herself on the basement floor of the Regal Hotel as if she had never left. But there was something different. The wall was gone, and before her was a vast room filled with books, parchments, jewelry, and all sorts of wondrous items and materials. Magic emanated from the room, and her imagination ran wild with what could be in there. But now wasn't the time to marvel at the treasure.
Several agonizing screams were coming from the basement steps. Thorn got to her feet, and she could feel her magic coursing through her. She wasn't afraid. She wasn't angry. Her friends were in danger. She needed to save them. Without hesitation, Thorn ran through the darkness toward the basement stairs.
