Annabel Bachman was 27 and studying Asian History at a local community college. She was rich, bored, and listless. There was mental illness in her family, a suicidal edge that made people back away from the Bachman family. Annabel was the most functional of all her relations and that was not saying much.
Annabel thought the world was out to get her, leading to manic episodes and low points that she didn't like to talk about. She had obsessions, she believed in ghosts and demons, and she felt she was going to change the world. Gaea wasn't certain Annabel would be the best choice for her team, but the Ring seemed certain Annabel was the right choice.
Gaea didn't even have to explain who she was to Annabel. With Prez, she told the whole story. How Linka couldn't handle the pressure anymore and took her life. How Gaea's son was dying because the earth was losing her luster.
Annabel wanted to be special, wanted all the mental illness to be explained away. When a woman in flowing garments appearing her room at midnight, able to be touched, Annabel agreed without even asking. *This is how demons get their victims,* Gaea thought.
Still, Annabel was a Cheshire Cat waiting to watch the world burn. She had an acidic fondness for her family, but everyone else could fuck off.
"No one cared about me when I was at my worst," Annabel said. "So if you need help, I'll help. I knew you guys were real. I knew it. I could sense it."
And maybe she could. Gaea had always felt mental illness was 1 part truth, 1 part chemical imbalance. Annabel might not have been mad at all, but a sensitive with no outlet. Until now.
Gaea gave Annabel a ring the color of grey clouds. Carved into the top were the letters PB.
"Welcome to the team, Lead," Gaea said.
Gaea soon learned why the Ring had chosen Annabel. With Prez, Gaea knew the moment she saw her eyes. There was an invisible fire in that girl, her dark skin illuminated from within. With Annabel, Gaea needed a few minutes.
Annabel was hateful. It wasn't completely obvious until you asked her the right questions. Annabel felt loyalty to her family, to her mental illness, to the lifestyle she led. Money made her distant, took away the normal struggles and reality most people form. This mix was almost horrific. Annabel resented "normies" as she called them. She hated that they had never known the personal hell Annabel did.
"They just don't understand," Annabel said.
Gaea appreciated the hatred that ate away at Annabel. This was why *lead* chose her. Life had slowly poisoned Annabel. Now Annabel would slowly poison the world.