"Goodnight, beautiful," Zoe felt Kyle's hand rub up and down her side.

"Night," she replied, mindful of how distant she sounded. She had so much on her mind, and she's been abrupt with him lately. Poor Kyle, she thought. None of this shit is his fault. Kyle's hand moved forward to the side of her breast. She jerked away as memories of her night with Misty came flooding back.

"Whoa," Kyle took his hands off her. "I'm sorry." Zoe looked into his eyes, then quickly dropped her gaze. She couldn't bear to look in his eyes after what she'd done with Misty. There's no excuse. I'm a filthy, lying cheater and I don't deserve him. Kyle was unaware of what had happened on the botany table, and his kind smile told Zoe that the knowledge would break his heart.

She placed her hand on top of his, "it's not you, Kyle," she forced herself to look into his eyes, "it's everything. I would tell you, but..." she trailed off.

"Witch stuff?" he asked, with that trusting expression that pulled Zoe's heart the hardest.

"Yeah," she replied, grateful for Kyle's naïvety. She turned away, then asked "can you hold me tonight? It's just, I'm afraid to sleep because- because-" She'd seen Misty one more time since her first visit to hell. Misty remembered her from the last time, but her anguish had not subsided. Zoe knew she had to, but she didn't want to go there again.

Kyle pulled her into a gentle embrace. "Of course. I love you, Zoe."

"I love you too, Kyle."

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

The same bleak walls as before greeted Zoe. The same frightened children and stink of death filled the room. Misty still sat with her eyes closed and her whole body rigid as she was forced to dissect the frog. The striking difference was that another person stood next to Misty. She was dressed in a bright blue lace dress and her long brown hair fell loose down her back. Suddenly, she span around and gasped as she noticed Zoe.

"Zoe?! What are you doing here?!" she shouted. "You're not supposed to be here!"

Zoe quickly stood up. "Nan, I-" she started, but there was no need to explain herself to the clairvoyant.

"She brought you here. But how? She's not supposed to be able to! She's not supposed to even be here!" Nan had always been easily flustered.

"How are you here, Nan? You died, Papa Legba took you."

Nan took a deep breath. "Things are different with Papa. I can be with Luke, he lets me go wherever I want. Sometimes I do jobs for him, he says it's useful to have a witch with Salem powers." Nan pointed to Misty, "she's here way longer than she should be."

"It's because of her resurgence. Her life force is too strong for death to claim her."

"How did you know that?"

"We worked it out, Misty's not going anywhere, unless she comes back with us." Zoe's thoughts flickered back to her night with Misty, bringing up vivid memories of the hungry kisses and rough, desperate touching, and...oh shit.

Nan's eyes went wide, then she covered her mouth with her hand, then she laughed. "Oh, Zoe! I did not know you were a lesbian." She said the last word as an eight-year-old would enlighten her friend about the birds and the bees.

"No, I'm not. It's not like that!" Zoe protested, but Nan was gone before she could continue. Dammit, it'll be sunrise soon. She ran over to Misty, holding her head gently as Misty collapsed into her arms. "We can get you out, Misty," she said softly.

"But- but- no-one gets out of hell. I'm here forever, I know it." Misty managed to say in between sobs.

Zoe tilted Misty's head up to face her. "Misty. You can't think that way. You can get out of here. We will get you out as soon as we can, as soon as we figure out how. You hang in here until then." Zoe looked around, unsure of how to continue. She noticed Misty's black, floral shawl and pulled it off her, laying it in front of the crying girl. "You remember when Stevie Nicks gave this to you?"

Misty stifled her sobbing. "Y-yes. It was the best day of my life. Stevie gives me good vibes, wherever I am."

"Then think of Stevie. It'll help you take your mind off the frog."

"I can't think of anything but the frog! I have to save it. Zoe, I'm sorry, I can't."

Zoe walked through the table and let Misty curl up into her arms. She ran her fingers though the other girl's curls and felt her sobs vibrate against her chest, stirring her like they were her own. "Hey, what's your favourite Stevie song?"

"Rhiannon," Misty replied without hesitation.

"That's the one Stevie sang with us, right?" Misty nodded. "Sing it with me, Misty."

Misty nodded, and took a deep breath. "Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and wouldn't you love to love her?" Misty's singing was laced with sniffs and sobs, but Zoe's heart swelled at the beauty the sentiment. She was singing in defiance of hell, in spite of everything.

Zoe didn't know the words, but joined is as best she could as Misty sang.

"Takes to the sky, like a bird in flight and who will be her lover?"

"Misty," Zoe held the older witch by the shoulders, "I want you to keep singing, okay? Even after I'm gone, just keep singing, whatever happens."

"Okay, Zoe. I promise." Misty closed her eyes as she was forced to hold the scalpel again. "All your life, you've never-"

Everything disappeared, and Zoe opened her eyes to the crumpled white sheets on her bed.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Zoe flicked over another page in her magazine. This is bullshit, she thought. I should really cancel my subscription. J-14 had kept her occupied when she was twelve, but it just didn't cut it anymore. She heard piano music from downstairs. Who is that? she thought. Cordelia was out shopping and Queenie really wasn't a piano girl.

She crept down the stairs and poked her head around the door frame into the living room. There was Myrtle animatedly playing the piano, eyes closed in her passion for the music. Zoe shook her head, does anybody round here stay dead anymore?

Without opening her eyes, Myrtle patted the seat next to her. "Sit with me dear, we have a lot to discuss." Zoe obliged.

"First of all," Myrtle started, still playing the piano, "please burn those horribly trashy articles." Zoe looked confused. "Your leggings, dear. They are poor excuses for clothing. Worn when one cannot find anything else to go with the top half. The epitome of half-hearted laziness."

Zoe personally thought the leggings looked good with her pink layered top and cardigan, but she kept silent, knowing better than to challenge the eccentric woman.

"I see you're young love is still blossoming, though the flower has become a little...tainted, shall we say." Zoe opened her mouth in alarm, but Myrtle continued. "You probably want to know why I've come to visit you in your mortal world. I've been simply dying to see my dear Cordelia, but this is a time of great importance for her. A visit now may...distract her from the more important tasks at hand."

"You mean Misty?" Zoe asked, wary of how much Myrtle knew - or how much she had seen.

"I do mean Misty Day. You have established that she can be retrieved from her unfortunate situation? That she will not go any further into that world?" Zoe nodded. "But you are short of exactly how to execute this rescue?"

"Yes," Zoe replied. "Do you know how to get her back?"

Myrtle smiled and moved her hand down the piano to play a series of low, dramatic chords. "Alas, not everything about this is clear to me, but I do know that you will need something that will bind the souls of others to yours for a short amount of time, so that you may take them with you to see poor Misty. I know how to make such an elixir."

"Really? How do you know?"

"My dear girl, my soul has been purified in the fires of hell, and there are secrets in the flames. I know more than you would probably want me to."

Zoe blushed, wondering if Myrtle had watched her with Misty. "Misty and I, we-" but Myrtle was gone, leaving only a folder over scrap of paper with "Cordelia" written on it.

This had probably been the strangest day of Zoe's life.

Hi, I know the chapters are quite short, but I'd much rather update every other day with thousand-word chapters than once a week with four-thousand words. Please review, constructive criticism is very welcome.

Thanks,

Faceless Emmy