"Tonight at-".

Click.

"Rebeca, it's not-".

Click.

"Call 1-800-".

I let out a groan and rolled my glowing golden eyes. Ever since I was placed inside of the amulet to wait out the long walk to the Ovises' residence, I quickly discovered the oh so many things my prison had to offer.

It started with me stubbing my toe. How I managed to stub my toe with shoes on is beyond me, but I did it in less than three steps. It didn't hurt but I felt the mass of energy that was supposed to be my toe smush against what felt to be a bed frame.

I say "what felt like'' because whatever I bumped into was invisible at first glance. Though, after gawking at the spot in front of me for a few seconds, I suddenly saw light shadows clinging to a queen-sized bed.

I turned my attention away from the bed and slowly tried to feel for anything else. To my right there's a bed stand with a lamp and on the other side of the bed there's a fairly large recliner and an OW! And there was apparently a coffee table with a… a crystal ball!

A feeling of relief washed through me. Thank titan, I didn't have to just sit there and boringly wait to be let out.

I eagerly turned on the crystal ball with a flick of my wrist. Seeing it flicker on and display an array of color was so satisfying. It was nice to see other colors than the magenta that literally covered every space in the room.

I began to flip through the channels. A rerun popped on. Then I changed the channel to another rerun. Next channel had yet another rerun. Rerun, rerun, rerun-ugh! It was after dinner time! Isn't that when the new shows were supposed to be on?

Even all the news channels I stopped on had news from over three years ago. Not to mention all of the channels were programs I would occasionally watch, which weren't many since I spent a lot of time reading and studying.

With a defeatist sigh, I came to the conclusion that the crystal ball could only show programs I've witnessed before. I wasn't one-hundred percent sure about that, but the programs on the crystal ball weren't proving me wrong.

"Great," I sighed. "Back to sitting around and doing nothing".

I raise my hand to turn the crystal ball off, when the channel suddenly switches to something I hadn't seen before. An image of a starry sky and dark dry grass was framed by towering reddish purple pines. In the middle of the woodland was a rugged and dusty path. The cries of many different wild fauna could be heard but it was mostly covered up by two familiar voices.

"So," the deeper one began. "Do you think she'll do it?".

"What?" a feminine voice responded.

"Do you think Amity has it in her to kill someone?".

"I doubt it will come to that, Ed". There was a small pause before Edric replied again.

"But what if it does come to that, Em? I don't think the Ovises will be easily persuaded. And you heard what mom said. Either we leave the Ovises' with a deal made or Amity kills them. You don't think she'll actually… you know…".

"Look" Emira said softly after releasing a held in breath. "Mittens has gone to great lengths to please mom before. In fact, that's what got her killed. But really. Do you really think that Amity would ever kill someone just because mom told her to?".

There was a longer pause. The faint calls of pixies where the only thing audible for a few moments. Finally, there is a response, but it was in the form of another question.

"What's mom gonna do to her when she can't do it?" Edric whispered so softly that I almost couldn't hear it. "How long is mom gonna lock her in that amulet all alone for? Or, worse, what if mom hurts her?".

"She's already being trapped in the manor instead of being able to rest in the spirit realm. And she's being forced to commit murder. And if she doesn't "behave" she'll be trapped in this damn trinket for Titan knows how long. Would mom hurt her any worse than she already is?".

At that, Emira let out another sigh and the sounds of footsteps slowed. "Well, mom already stooped this low. Who's to say she wouldn't crack the amulet just to teach Amity a lesson. Hell, if ghosts could die, mom would probably threaten to kill her".

"We got to do something, Emira. We've got to find a way to break her free or at least find a place for her to hide". Though his voice remained steady, Edric refused to hide his desperation.

I could hear the crunching of the ground below my siblings' feet immediately stop. For a few moments everything was silent. Though the animals were still yowling into the night, I couldn't hear them. The sounds were all white noise that I put so little focus on my brain nearly refused to acknowledge it was there. All I could hear were my swirling thoughts that slowly snowballed into a giant avalanche.

Of course, I knew all the things Edric and Emira pointed out, but the reality of the situation hadn't hit me until I heard the anger and worry in my siblings' voices. I was gonna be stuck in this purple room forever, only being let out to do terrifying things. And my punishment for not doing them was being locked away for even longer or even beaten!

Who knew how long my mother would keep me here. Who knew what she'd order me to do or how much she was gonna hurt me. Who knew if I would ever find peace, find my final resting place!

My worries all mushed together into one giant frightful amalgamation. I could no longer understand my thoughts but only feel how terrifying they were. I tried to hold in my fear, tried to stay as collected as I could, but my constricting dread forced a call for help from my throat.

"Titan help me!". It wasn't exactly the violent sob that was threatening to burst out of me but enough of my fear leaked out to turn my voice to a pitiful yelp. The silence of the scene on the crystal ball was broken by a small gasp and an "uh oh".

"Em?" Edric whispered. "Have you been holding onto the amulet this entire conversation?". Emira answered with "sorry, but you know I grab things when I'm nervous", before she let out a huff.

"Hey, Mittens. You comfortable in there? We aren't bothering you, right?" Edric questioned.

"Cut the shit, Edric. She obviously heard us" Emira snapped with a scoff. The tone of her voice then grew much softer. It was somber and laced with a hint of regret. "Sorry, Mittens. We didn't mean to talk behind your back like that".

It took me a moment to respond. I had to take a few deep breaths first, calm down the gorenado of panic consuming me.

"No. No, it's ok. Actually, I'm kinda glad to hear you're worried for me. It makes me feel less alone, I guess" I finally admitted.

And, within an instance, like I had just flipped some invisible switch, the twins went from being considerate to being insufferable.

"Glad to hear our gossip session made you feel better, Mittens. Oh! Maybe we should talk about her some more" Ed laughed.

"That's a great idea, Ed" Emira added, probably while donning a mischievous smirk.

"Mittens is so smart. Like, it's insane that that big brain of hers can fit in her little angry head".

"You think one day she'll be able to blow people up with her mind?".

"Oh, Titan! I didn't think Mittens could get any scarier".

"She's probably thinking of ways to murder us right now".

"She's probably all tomato faced right now. Careful not to pass out, Mittens".

"Ugh! You guys are the worst'' I growled, causing their jesting to turn into laughter.

To be honest, the twins' teasing was making me feel better. Yeah, it was extremely obnoxious, but it was weirdly comforting. Their jabs made the trek to the Ovises' seem like a regular walk to school. I was kinda thankful for that.

But only a really tiny bit. The rest of me was re-dying inside.

"We love you, sis" Ed and Em called in unison.

"I love you too," I said coldly. "Except when you're being annoying, which is pretty much 24/7".

"Ed!" Emira excitedly gasped. "We just got an "I love you"!". There was another moment of laughter between Ed and Em before the three of us went silent.

Now that I no longer had the teasing to focus on, the heavy feeling of worry seeped back into my skin. My breath grew shallow. A feeling of lethargy caused my chest to… It didn't exactly ache but the feeling in my chest was freakily off putting, like my body was reacting to pain that wasn't there.

It was so hard to think about anything else except for how screwed I was. The Ovises' mansion sat proudly on the horizon. Very similar in size to my home but very different in appearance, the mansion was not castle shaped like Blight Manor was. Instead, its image was more comparable to the library or Bonesburrow's town hall. Honestly it looked like a cross between the two buildings had then been made much grander in size.

The sight caused me to slightly tremble. I had no clue what I was gonna do once I snuck in there. Yeah, I was gonna turn invisible and talk to the patriarch of the family, but I had no clue how to persuade him to take an offer I knew nothing about. Then if he said no, I would have to… And, even if I was going to do that, how would I do that?

"Um… E...Ed, Em?" I stammered.

"Yes, sweetie?" Emira responded.

"Sweetie". You knew Emira was trying to be as gentle as possible when she called someone something like "sweetie" or "cutie". Honestly, Emira's cooing had to be the closest thing to a paternal gesture I had ever seen from anyone in the Blight family.

"I… how... What am I supposed to do? Like I… I know I'm supposed to persuade him to sell some of his businesses, but…". It wasn't the worst I had ever stuttered but it was definitely enough for me to grimace after finishing. I just didn't know how to ask for my siblings' advice. I had so many questions and I didn't know which ones to ask when.

"Just use all of the standard intimidation tactics. Focus on his body language and on what he's saying. It'll be tough, but I'm sure you'll be able to find a weakness" Emira answered softly.

"But he's a businesswitch just like…". I didn't want to finish but it was too late to go back. ", just like mom. And you know that I lose any and all sort of confidence when talking to mom".

"You get nervous around mom because she has the power to punish you. He has no power over you. He won't even know who you are" Emira pointed out before Edric jumped in.

"Even if he did know who you were, what would he do? You afraid he'll tell mom and dad about you breaking in?".

"Yeah, Edric. If he talks to mom, then mom will know I let him live and mom finding out that I didn't kill him is kinda terrifying!" I snapped.

"Don't worry, Amity. All you need to do is make it through tonight which I know you can handle no matter what happens" Edric replied.

"While you're in there, Edric and I will come up with a way to sneak you out of the manor and find you somewhere to lay low while we find a way to free you" Emira continued confidently. "It may take a few days to perfect the plan, but we'll get you out of here, sis".

"We promise" both the twins finished in unison.

I was speechless for a minute. It was beyond relieving to hear that I had Edric and Emira's support. It made it easier to breathe, easier to think.

It did feel weird, though. It always did. My brother and sister did have a comforting side, one that they'd shown me every once and a while, but it was very hard to remember that.

They weren't cold and distant like my parents but that didn't mean they still didn't make my life miserable. They were always trying, and regularly succeeding, in embarrassing me every chance they got. They constantly barged into my room, which was supposed to be a private place I could recover from the day in, and constantly pestered me about what I was doing. And the pranks! I had to sleep with one eye open because any sign of my guard being down would end in a stupid practical joke!

But right then, I couldn't forget all the times my siblings stuck there necks out for me. I remembered all the times Emira would sit with me after I had a nightmare, all the times Edric would try to make me smile after a particular harsh scolding, and all the times they actually noticed and cared about how alone I felt.

Yes, they were obnoxious. Yes, they wouldn't know boundaries if it walked up to them and punched them in the face. But they cared to an extent. That was much more than I could say about anyone else in my life. At that very moment, or any other, I wouldn't have traded Ed and Em for the world.

"Thank you, guys. I… I honestly don't know what to say" I admitted softly.

"Well, you could say something like "Ed and Em are the best siblings in the whole wide world, and I should never ever doubt them ever again" Edric joked.

Usually that would break my good mood but for once my siblings joking around didn't irritate me. I chuckled, "I'm not saying all that, but I will say you guys are great" before I added another soft thank you.

I couldn't see them, but I could tell that both my siblings had giant smirks on their faces. After all these years, they were able to squeeze out a compliment from "little MIttens".

"Hey. Hate to break the sweet moment, but we're almost to the mansion" Emira warned, indeed breaking the mood.

My focus shifted up the large hill in front of us and onto the silhouette of the mansion. My anxiety returned though, after the nice moment with Ed and Em, it wasn't as strong.

We were all quiet for the next few minutes as the twins climbed halfway up the hill. When they stopped to catch their breaths, I rose from the loud purple armchair.

"Okay. Ready, Amity?" Emira huffed.

"As I'll ever be" I answer, trying to sound as courageous as possible.

"Alrighty then. Ed and I will be waiting for you at this spot. When you're done, wave at us from the top of the hill and we'll put you back in the amulet".

"Got it". I tried to say but instead squeaked.

"Relax. You'll get through this" Edric encouraged. "Then we can figure out how to free you from that gaudy piece of junk".

As our brother spoke, Emira let out an "ok" to herself. It was quiet, but I could hear her breath grow heavier and heavier each moment. On the other hand, my breath was so shallow it was hard to tell if I even was breathing. Granted, I didn't really need to breathe, and I was just doing it out of habit. But the point is, I was internally freaking out.

"Here we go".

"Amity, rise".

A flash of purple overwhelmed me within seconds. I quickly melded with a furious fire, my body swiftly becoming one with it. Its flames tried to reach out to anything they could spread to, but a force launched the glowing blaze through the wall to my right. The fire whirled through the fresh air before burning away, leaving only me behind. I was now standing above long unkempt grass. In front of me were my two dark haired siblings, both gave me encouraging smiles.

"Good luck, Mittens," Emira said before putting up her thumbs.

"Yeah. Knock him dead wi- oof". Emira shoved her elbow into Edric's side. She glared at him like she was a fed-up mother about to yell at her toddler.

Edric shrunk down a little before shrugging nervously. In response, I simply gave the twins a nod and began my trek up the rest of the hill. It didn't take me long to reach the top of the hill, only around thirty seconds. For starters, we were already halfway up it. But the main reason for my speedy hike was the abundance of energy flowing through me.

No matter how fast I ran or how steep the hill got, I didn't grow tired in the slightest. To be fair, I was a very athletic witchling. As the former captain of the varsity grudgby team, I was able to outrun a majority of Hexide. Still, no matter how fit of a witch I was, there was no way I could've covered the hill so fast if I were alive.

"Being dead sucks, but all this energy is nice" I told myself once I arrived at the mansion's large metal gates.

With a deep breath in, I cleared my mind and shifted all of my focus towards the shape of my current form. My hands, my long arms and legs, my golden eyes, my pale strung up green and brown hair, all of those things needed to fade into a shapeless gust of air.

With a deep breath out, all the feeling in my body vanished. I had already felt lighter than usual but, as I vanished into nothing but a cold breeze, I began to feel completely weightless. It was like the only things that existed were my eyes, my mind, and my voice. Instead of walking, I now drifted through the gate and under the doors like a draft.

A large foyer was what greeted me on the other side of the entrance. It was mostly empty, mainly housing a set of staircases that led to an outdoor balcony and a golden statue of a Kirin stood proudly in the middle. The walls and floors shone in the chandelier light. Shadows flickered intimidatingly on the walls.

I took in the sight, pondering my next move. If I were the patriarch of a large mansion and owner of a multi-million snail company, where would I spend my evenings?

"Mr Ovis is probably in his study. Now where that is, I have no clue".

It took a little longer than I would've hoped but I had finally slipped under the entrance to the room the businesswitch was in. It was larger than the study at Blight manor but also emptier. There weren't as many bookshelves, and he space between them and the furniture was rather large. The brick fireplace was an enormous size as were the chairs that surrounded it. The desk on the other side of the room was large as well, but that still didn't help fill in all the empty space on the wooden floor.

On the other hand, the dark green walls were cluttered with trophies of slayed demons. They all sat there gaping, allowing their fangs or sharp beaks to be displayed. Their eyes were glassy and colorless, devoid of the life that once radiated there. Apparently, Mr. Ovis had decided to make the room both his study and his trophy room.

The witch himself was sitting in one of the felted armchairs, his nose buried in a book. The glare of the fire reflected off of his partially bald head and the tips of his glasses. The black hair on his side was slicked by hair products, bits of gray ran down it like streams.

Other than that and the witch's chipped ear, the rest of him was hidden by the back of the seat. It sent a shiver down my...Okay, I didn't really have a spine anymore, but there was still a chill. The man was able to make the room feel like The Knee just by gazing at a book in his study.

"Ok. You can do this. You're confident! You're smart! You're ruthless! You're...not ready. But that doesn't matter because you got this!". Despite my silent speech to myself, I still wasn't hyped at all. But I had to do this sooner or later.

"Just get this over with, Amity, and then Ed and Em will make sure you never have to do this again".

"Good evening, Mr. Ovis. May I discuss something with you?" I started while trying to keep my voice confident and lively.

The man looked up from his book in surprise. After setting his book down on the small table next to him, he slowly sat up from his chair, obviously fighting his aching joints. He stiffly turned towards me. His small yet piercing hazel eyes were looking right at me, though he couldn't tell.

He seemed… wrinkled, like he was melting eye-scream. For a moment his face was stuck in a scowl but then it twisted in bewilderment.

"Who's there?" he rasped. A long-jagged fang poked out of his maw as he spoke. Its sharp edges gleamed in the fire light.

"Just an associate of Blight Industries. I was sent in the place of Odalia and Alador to discuss a recent proposal". Surprisingly, my voice didn't shake. As long as I could keep my bearings, I could make it through my talk with the businesswitch no problem.

"And where are you standing, my dear?". I didn't think he meant it to, but his question sounded threatening.

"Unless you can see the air around you, don't expect to spot me. To keep me and my family safe, I'm hiding my identity. That shouldn't be a problem, should it?". The last sentence is more of an assertion than a question. "I reassure you, whether you can see me or not, I am still capable of being a worthy ambassador for Blight Industries" I finished a bit more politely.

Mr. Ovis took a moment to respond. Was he caught off guard by my assertiveness? He didn't look intimidated, but he was obviously thinking really hard about what to say next.

"You are a spirit, correct?" he asked slowly.

"Yes, I am. Is there a problem, sir?" I answered. My voice stayed calm and firm, but I started to get a little scared. Was this small talk supposed to make me nervous? Either way, it was working.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you die?".

Now it was my turn to pause and think carefully about my response. How much didn't Mr. Ovis know about my death? How much could I tell him without giving myself away?

"There was a very serious accident. I ended up quickly succumbing to a severe abdomen injury" I finally answered.

"I see," the older witch said somberly. "My condolences, Amity. I'm sorry you were given such an early fate".

Oh, titan! Apparently, this wasn't going as well as I thought! He knew who I was!

I went to deny his assumption but, after some nervous stuttering, a frustrated, "how?!" popped out.

Mr. Ovis huffed at that. One side of his lip quirked up while he pushed a bunch of short rasps from his throat. It sounded like… wait a minute! Was he laughing at me?

My blood boiled and ran cold at the same time...well if I had any blood left that is. The familiar feeling of embarrassment was too much to bear. I had a severe case of deja vu. I thought of every time I got anything under a perfect score on a test, every time Ed and Em made me look like a fool in public, and every time I said something stupid to someone who outranked me (or anyone for that matter).

But one memory stung the most. The memory of when Willow, the worst student in the class, got my top student title stripped away from me dug into my mind and refused to leave. And what was worse was that that mortifying memory ended with the ending of my life.

I had lost the title of top student a few times before, all for different reasons. Once, I got it taken away because I wasn't getting enough sleep. Another time, I had a hard time recovering from an illness. One time, I got it taken away for getting an A- on a test.

But how it happened or what my excuse was, didn't matter. What hurt was that it happened to begin with. The initial taking of the badge and seeing it handed off to another student hurt me to my core. Call it envy or being overdramatic all you want but seeing hours of frustrating studying slip away from me was a feeling that was more painful than being stabbed.

But if losing the badge was like being stabbed, then returning home felt like I was being gutted alive. Already upset from the teacher publicly announcing that there was someone better, smarter, and harder working than me, what am I greeted to when I come home from school that day? A rant from mom, that's what. "The world doesn't care how hard you're pushing yourself. You have to be a proper Blight instead of being a blight on the family and its legacy. It's the least you could do for the people that raised you". Mr. Ovises' smug half smile was just as awful as my mother's two-faced look of pity. Looks like I was still the family failure and, this time, I had failed miserably! We hadn't even started talking about the business proposal I was sent there to talk about, and he already tore my confidence to shreds!

What was mom going to think when she found out? What was she going to do? Was it gonna be worse than the feeling of failure? Was it gonna be worse than going without supper for a week (after skipping lunch to work on extra credit I might add)? Was it gonna be worse than being forced to study instead of sleep?

Was she going to crack the amulet because I was a failure?

"Only if Mr. Ovis doesn't exorcize me first!".

Exorcism. It was the worst thing that could happen to a ghost. Most tend to forget about it after hearing it in school but having an oracle as a mother meant that I had nearly memorized the story of exorcized witches and the creation of the wind.

It's said that, back when they were first forming from the Titan's magic, the Isles had no breeze to protect its inhabitants from the blazing sun. That was until three ghostly tricksters, known as the unwelcomed trio, had vowed to never leave the Titan alone. They kept antagonizing the Titan, pestering him until he finally snapped. As a punishment he took away their forms and turned them into the wind so they could never bother people with their presence again.

According to the story, all ghosts who linger on the isles after their demise can be turned into the wind via an exorcism. After they are exorcized, ghosts would be left observing the living for the rest of eternity as they flowed through the sky. The only way they could communicate with the living was by chilling their skins to signify they were there. Usually that would happen when someone visited their graves.

To make a long story short, being exorcized was not fun.

"Well, miss Blight," the old witch began to answer. "For starters, you sound exactly like your mother when she's trying to be intimidating".

He couldn't see it, but I was defensively staring daggers at him. I never thought I would ever have that much trouble not punching an old man but there I was. Yes, I was trying to be just as daunting as my mother but saying I was like her was honestly the worst thing you could say to me. He might as well have just called me a hellhound.

"And one thing you forgot to do was change your voice. You sound like a young woman, so I assumed that it was either you or the female Blight twin...name starts with an E or something". Mr. Ovis hmmed.

My terror fueled anger was instantly shot down by confusion. How much about the Blights did this man know? He knew I had been stabbed, even though it just happened that day, but he didn't seem to know anything about Ed and Em.

"Mom said you wouldn't recognize my voice. And how come you know my name but not Emira's?" I asked, dropping my masked assertiveness entirely. Mr. Ovis snapped his finger and his face lit up.

"Emira! That's her name!" he exclaimed. His business front sank the more he spoke. He no longer addressed me as some rookie business executive but now as a witchling.

"Any who, your name has been all over the news tonight. I don't think there's anyone on the Isles that doesn't know it now".

"But I just died yesterday! How did the news get out so fast?". I had to choke out my question.

Of course there would be a report on the accident eventually but that didn't make it any less humiliating. My name was the punchline of some ironic joke now. The highly intelligent Amity Blight got herself stabbed by being stupid, ha-ha.

"When a witch from a prestigious family dies, the news travels fast. As soon as it was made public, journalists and anchor witches were scrambling to be the first to report your death. Of course, they added a spin to it. That witchling that caused the accident probably didn't mean to hurt you, but all the men on the news tried to make it seem like you were murdered by a jealous peer" Mr. Ovis chuckled.

"Witchling? So, nobody knows that a human caused the accident. Mom must be trying to keep the human part a secret" I told myself before shifting into my witch form. There was no reason to hide my identity, or stay in the awkward form, if Mr. Ovis knew.

"Ah. There you are, Amity. Please, sit down". I hesitated for a moment but then did as the older witch said. I didn't want to anger him. I was already in enough trouble as it was.

Just like when I was standing, I hovered over the spot I sat in. The bald man smiled after turning to face me. Unlike my mother's, his grin felt genuine.

Maybe he was a better actor than mom was. You couldn't be a good businesswitch without knowing how to lie in every way. I mean, com' on, he couldn't actually have been okay with me breaking into his home and talking back to him.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you. I will accept any punishment you want to give me". I refused to meet Mr. Ovis's gaze. The ground was much easier to look at then the eyes of the man about to discipline me. "Just please…" I said in a slightly panicked rush before stopping myself and calming down. I swallowed the fear welling in my throat. I had to be brave despite what might happen next. "Please don't send anyone to exorcize me".

"Oh, darling. I would never do that. Despite your own mother being ignorant to the fact, I am well aware you are just a child. But I must ask that you leave my residence now. I have already made it clear to Odalia that I will not be taking her offer. I do not wish to discuss the matter any further, not with any of the Blights''.

Mr. Ovis's voice was now warningly stern. His ultimatum was clear, and it was clear that he wasn't going to reconsider. There was nothing I could do now except go home and face my mother's wrath.

"Ok" I sighed. "I will tell my mother that your decision is final".

"Thank you, Amity. Go well" he uttered back. I rose to my feet and walked up the entrance to the study. Worry sat heavily in my stomach. An itch from deep inside of me, an apologetic concern I supposed, slowly surfaced with each step. I stopped my departure to think for a moment.

"Mr Ovis?" I called back eventually. He hummed in reply. "My mom didn't just send me to discuss the proposal. She also told me to kill you and your wife if you refused... I won't do that of course! I would never but... after mom finds out about this, she might send someone who is willing to kill you... Just be careful, okay? P… please?".

"Don't worry, young one. I knew that Odalia would ask you to kill me if I didn't agree. I know the witch better than you think. Thank you for the warning, though. You are the nicest business assassin I've ever met" Mr. Ovis laughed.

He waved to me. With a nervous smile I waved back before flying through the door and exiting the mansion. I was relieved that Mr Ovis was such a nice guy but also horrified that I was going home to someone much meaner.

The walk home was quite calm after I had got done explaining what happened to the twins. They graciously didn't pester me, instead telling stories to distract me. Edric was surprisingly patient considering most of them were about him doing something stupid.

I was released from the amulet as soon as my siblings walked through the doors. They quickly crept to the stairs to get to their rooms before they were spotted by mom and dad. I tried to do the same but my name being called stopped me.

Great. Mom had heard Ed and Em come through the door. Looks like I couldn't run from my punishment any longer.

There, sitting at the dining room table, was my mother. Her ear twitched as she waited for my response. I floated over to her, cautious as if any wrong move would cause her to explode, before sitting down on the chair to the left of her.

My mother didn't look angry now, her blue eyes shone welcomingly, but that would drastically change very soon.

"Welcome home, Mittens," my mother greeted. "How was your first assignment as an employee of Blight Industries?". Her white smile gave me the chills. It seemed genuine and forced at the same time.

"Well, Mr. Ovis refused to even speak about our offer so... it went pretty bad, I guess" I answered a bit too sardonically. Luckily, mom did not mind the sudden release of pent-up stress. Instead, her enthusiastic appearance sunk into a fake mournful one. She reached out and grabbed one of the hands I had resting on the table.

"Oh... Well, it wasn't messy, right? If it was, I can send someone to clean it up for you" my mother said softly.

"I didn't...I didn't kill him".

Silence filled the air. Mom dropped her dismayed front and just stared at me. I could feel her slightly shake through her grip.

"What was that, dear?" the older Blight asked.

"I didn't kill him or his wife, mom".

More silence filled the muggy air. A fire was lit in my mom's eyes as soon as I spoke. She sat there while her anger festered for a moment. Then she clenched her fangs so tight together I thought they would shatter.

"If you didn't get him to sell and you didn't kill them, then what did you do?" she humorlessly laughed.

"Nothing. He found out my identity and forced me away". I answered while my dread lit into angry frustration.

"This punishment is gonna suck" I silently told myself as I gritted my fangs. "But, no matter what she does, I'm not gonna feel bad for not killing someone. Believe it or not, I have moral standards".

My mother stifled her angry disappointment. She arose from her chair, sending an annoyed stare my way. "So, you didn't listen, did you?".

"He found out who I was and refused to talk business with me. What was I supposed to do?" I spat in a rush.

It didn't hit me until after my bit of courage faded but I knew I made a mistake. Despite how insane they sounded, my mother's orders were very clear.

"Behave," mom spat coldly. "You were supposed to behave. But you couldn't even do that could you? Instead, you just wasted everyone's time tonight. Your brother, your sister, all of you could have been doing something more useful had we known you were incapable of this".

I didn't respond with words. My eyes left hers in submission. No matter what I said, no matter how in the right I was, I still disobeyed. And disobedience was always met by punishment whether the wrongdoer had a good reason to go against her orders or not. After all, "Consequence pays no mind to good intentions" was a mantra of moms.

Titan dammit! Why'd I have to be so perverse? I had just made her angrier!

"No matter," the witch sighed. "I will send you back tomorrow to try to dispose of the family again. For now, though, I'm afraid you'll have to be punished for your disobedience. I know it was a large thing to ask of you, but the isles won't wait until you're ready to handle daunting tasks. You must thrive now or never thrive at all".

I wanted to say something back, but I didn't, I couldn't. All I could do was gawk at the witch in front of me with my mouth slightly hung open. Send me back? No! She couldn't do that!

The sharp icy feeling of terror was quickly shoved away. Mom had just given a command, a command I'd never heard before. It left me confused for a minute, then the order quickly took over me.

"Amity, writhe".

Pain was something I never thought I'd feel again. And this much pain is something I never thought I'd feel at all. It was supposed to hurt, I was being punished, but this was way too extreme! It felt like every inch of me was being electrocuted with lighting, being torn to shreds, and being lit on fire all at the same time.

I let out a pained cry as my muscles contorted. Just like I had been commanded to, I writhed in agony.

"I know it hurts but this is an important lesson, Mittens, one you must learn quickly. This is what happens when you grow cold feet at the sight of your enemies. You get hurt".

Her words were supposed to be sympathetic but instead they sounded more like scolding. "I'm sure it's much better for me to punish you instead of someone who doesn't care what happens to you".

I glance at my mom's shining blue eyes from the floor. There was frustration shining in them but there was no sign of malice. Why would there be? She said she cared about me. But would someone who cares about me hurt me this badly?

"It's tough love, Amity. If she didn't do this, then you would be a lot more helpless" I argued. Another thought in my brain violently made its presence known. It was loud, panicked, and backed by my storm of emotions.

"Love?! She's hurting you! You need to run! You need this to stop!".

My eyes sent my mother a silent plea. It did absolutely nothing. She didn't respond. She just watched me. She just watched me squirm for another agonizingly long minute and a half.

"You need to get out of here".

"Amity, cower" was the last thing I heard before the pain disappeared and fire swept me back into my prison.

I was there for the rest of the night which was a good thing. It gave me some much-needed time away from the mountain of pressure I was buried under. In the amulet, I couldn't screw up. I couldn't be a disappointment, a failure. I was allowed to be as sad on the outside as I was on the inside.

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I just laid on my bed and wept. I had so many bottled emotions that instantly burst out in quiet sobs. I began to quiver. I gnashed my small fangs together until my jaw hurt. Usually, it would only take me a half an hour to have a good cry but, this time, I cried for hours.

Finally, I forced my racing mind to stop dead in its tracks and waited for sleep to take me. Though I dreaded waking up, I couldn't stand to be in the presence of my own misery any longer.