Mildred's heart was pounding so hard that she could feel it throbbing inside her head as she weaved her way through the silent castle. The grounds were completely empty as everyone was fast asleep from end of term exhaustion. This even included Constance Hardbroom, who despite her worried state, was completely flat out at the end of every full term. It was a normal occurrence before everyone came back refreshed after the winter break.
Mildred, however, was wide awake on adrenaline right now as she moved as fast as her legs could carry her. Her thoughts had become a whirlwind inside her head, and she had no idea if she was making the right decision. She was putting herself back in terrible danger, risking the undoing of all her progress by removing herself from her protecting factors. On the other hand, the desire to save the lives of those she cared about was a sacrifice she was willing to make. She could not let Ezra get to them, and she would let him take complete hold over her life if she could save those she loved. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to Maud or Enid, or even Miss Hardbroom. They had done so much for her recently and she could not live with herself if anything happened to them when all Ezra wanted was her.
After ten minutes of silent wandering, Mildred found herself stood tensely in the castle's courtyard as she took in the sight behind her for a final time. She was going to miss this school incredibly if anything happened to her, but she didn't know what else to do. Despite the awful past few months, she had spent her most crucial years here and everyone within this place had shaped her into the woman she was destined to be. She felt incredibly grateful that she had witching abilities, and that Miss Cackle had taken that leap and given her a chance here, despite her non-magical background. She truly adored and respected every single woman who lived in these grounds, and even found that she would miss the likes of Ethel and Drusilla if she never returned. This was her entire life and it was the reason she'd made the decision to live again.
'Thank you, Cackle's'.
With those final thoughts, Mildred mounted her broom with ease, for she had decided to leave Tabby behind in the safety of the castle. Before she could give her actions a second thought, she had started to soar above the treetops of the surrounding woodland, heading south for her hometown and leaving the large grey building far behind her.
She did not live near to the castle, which she found herself glad of. It meant that if anyone tried to find her or follow after her, they would have a hard time doing so. However, on her long journey at current, she found herself exhausted as she worried that she would not make it before dawn.
Mildred lived within dense forest, just outside of the Welsh border. Growing up, she found herself enticed by all the woodland as she'd managed to connect with the surrounding nature in a way that she knew was special. That was the first indication she had that she may be a witch, but of course she wouldn't have thought to define it in those terms at such a young age. What Mildred did know, though, was that she could communicate with animals. She could make them do things without forcing them to, she could make them understand her without speaking their tongue, and she was incredibly connected to the world in comparison to other children at her primary school. That was when she knew she had magic in her blood.
She reflected on these fond memories of her upbringing as she finally neared the area. Mildred felt her stomach sink as regret began to fill her, but she was too far in now. If she turned around, she would have to face the wrath of Miss Hardbroom, and risk everything once more. Yet, as the familiar white cottage came into view, she felt sick to her stomach. She remembered all the horrific abuse she had faced there over the summer and how it had completely changed her as a person. She recalling having been so glad to finally leave those walls when she thought she would never be able to do so again, but here she now was, willingly re-entering them.
Mildred was shaking as she entered her home and looked around once more. Flashbacks of unpleasant memories were playing in her mind as she saw certain corners she had tried to shield herself in, or certain spots that Ezra had hit her from. The entire house had changed so much but also so little at the same time. It was apparent to see that Ezra had moved in almost entirely. His stuff was spread out messily across the front room and kitchen - piles of work clothes and empty cans of alcohol were strewn across the floor and the countertops. The entire place was disgustingly dirty, which her mother would never have allowed for in all the years Mildred had grown up here. It was unrecognisable, but she knew that these were the same walls and floors that she had spent her time in over the years.
Making her way from the squalor below, Mildred crept up the old wooden stairs, careful to avoid the spots that creaked and groaned which she had studied her whole summer to avoid detection. Naturally, she moved towards her bedroom and she was shocked to see what remained of it. The possessions she had left behind had been destroyed. She looked down sadly as she went to pick up a photograph of her and Maud, which had been completely ripped down the middle. This was the case for most of the material in her room. Photos and pieces of parchment lay shredded across the carpet. Her clothes had been pulled from their hangers in the wardrobe, and the majority of her jewellery which she had collected from various holidays lay broken or damaged across her desk. Everything she had left behind, everything that she owned aside from her school stuff at Cackle's was irreparable, and it broke her heart.
How could Ezra have done this? What was so special or so wrong about her that he sought to completely destroy it?
She had to get out of here. There was no sign of her mother and seeing the damage inflicted on her bedroom only solidified the danger of the damage that Ezra would do to her. No one was here, and she felt like she had walked straight into a trap. She thought about HB's reaction, when her teacher went to wake her and find she was not there in the morning. Finding out that Mildred was in serious danger or realising they would never see her again wasn't protecting them all from harm...it would just cause them an equal amount of grief and heartbreak as meeting Ezra in the flesh would. What the hell had she done?
With that realisation, Mildred spun around to flee from her room as quickly as she had entered it. That was until she turned around and face-planted right into the chest of a figure she was never expecting to see again.
Before her stood not Ezra, but the tall, plump figure of Mistress Broomhead. She looked as sour-faced as ever with her pursed lips and straggly grey hair which was scraped back into a tight bun, sitting at the nape of her neck. Mildred knew she was scary, for she had terrified Miss Hardbroom, but the new knowledge that she had acquired about what she had actually done to her potions teacher made her legs shake as she felt herself go light-headed.
'Y-you!' Mildred stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence to express herself.
'Well I am flattered that you remember me, Mildred Hubble.' Broomhead spat, before stepping even closer to Mildred to tower over her. 'The girl who humiliated me at your last horrendous school inspection and believed that none of the rules applied to her. That celebrity remembers me! My, you make me feel powerful, you vile creature'.
'Well, how could I forget you? I could never forget such an awful bully, as well as a dreadful cheat who lied their way up to the top of the Witches Guild!'
'Oh Shut up, you ignorant girl. Who are you to tell me what I am and what I have done? I have more power than you ever will. My power is everything you could dream of.'
'DREAM OF?!' Mildred yelled, anger starting to take over her fear at present. She couldn't stand how this woman spoke to her, so full of authority and entitlement when Mildred knew everything that she had done to get where she was today.
'I can't stand you. I know who you are. I know what you've done!' she continued, shaking violently with every word she spoke.
'Do you really? Well there are a lot of books about me, I guess. However, you know nothing about me or how great I am. Your brain is simply too small to comprehend it' she sneered, mocking Mildred in the sort of voice one would use to speak to a toddler.
'YES! Yes I do - I know how awfully you treated Miss Hardbroom for starters.' she exclaimed, before continuing with a long-winded rant. 'You are sick in the head. You target people who are powerful yet vulnerable - children who have had a hard start in life and decide they want to put their abilities to good use! You target them because you are jealous and you are egotistic. You take and take without giving anything back until these children are nothing but a shell of themselves, so you can take all their power and use it to heighten your own status. That's what you tried to do to HB before Miss Cackle saved her!'
'Mmm, well... I guess you know half of what I did to Constance for she is too pathetic and ashamed to share everything, but I am sure you aren't aware of my involvement with you!' Mistress Broomhead claimed. She had rolled her eyes at everything Mildred had just stated to her, un-phased by what the girl knew. Constance was weaker now, she was softer and so was Mildred Hubble. Neither of them stood a chance against her.
'What do you mean your involvement with me! You've been banished from the Castle's grounds for the last year, I haven't even seen you!' Mildred exclaimed, although slightly wary now. She was beginning to doubt everything she knew, as Ezra and her mother were still nowhere to be seen.
'Looking for someone? Let me enlighten you. Your step-father, Erza, he works with me. Everything that has happened over the last year or so has been on my orders...' Broomhead implied before trailing off dramatically for effect.
Mildred stood in silence for sometime, extremely confused by what she had just been told. The more she thought about it, the less it added up...
'I don't believe you. If Ezra was working with you, then surely you would have told him that I attended Cackle's long ago. If he knew, then he would have come and found me. I would have been back in this house weeks ago! Besides, he's non-magical, he hates the stuff. He's so religious that he wouldn't work with a witch even if it was a life or death situation!' Mildred explained desperately.
'Honestly, girl, does everything have to be spelled out right in front of you for you to understand it! Ezra didn't need to work with me, for Ezra doesn't exist you idiotic girl! Then again, how could I have expected the worst witch to figure that one out. I am the one standing before you now, I don't know how it isn't obvious.'
'What? What on Earth are you talking about?! Of course he exists, I spent my entire summer being threatened and abused by him-'
'You spent your entire summer being threatened and abused by me'.
Mildred froze mid-sentence as she processed what was happening. Her heart dropped as everything began to click into place and she realised what terrible danger she was in.
'Yes, that's right. I can see the cogs finally turning now' Misstress Broomhead sneered. 'Do you seriously think the most powerful witch in the country - the head of Ofwitch, the dean of Weirdsister, an esteemed member of the Witches Guild - would not be exceedingly talented at magical deception? Well, I'm hardly surprised. I taught your beloved deputy headteacher almost everything I knew, but dear old Constance never did get the hang of cloning spells'.
Before Mildred could leg it out the door, the woman in front of her had taken a swig from a flask which had been stored in her handbag. Mildred could do nothing but stare in horror and utter disbelief as she witnessed the change in front of her. Broomhead grew taller and taller, built muscles were pertruding through her clothing as her robes began to transform with her. After what felt like an eternity, Mildred had backed up into the wall behind her as she was met the taunting face of Ezra once more.
'His full name was Jason Ezra Huntington. He joined me for an apprenticeship many months ago until he was mysteriously poisoned during potion practice. Naturally, I found a brilliant use for him. Just a few strands of hair, a small vile of blood and a singular tooth would supply me with a weeks worth of cloning material'. Broomhead explained, although no longer in her usual physical form.
'You killed him! Just to get to me!' Mildred was horrified as her jaw fell open once more.
'A risk I was willing to take.'
'But-but why? Why would you do this for me? What is it that you want from me?' Mildred panicked.
'This entire process has not been a new occurrence for me. Once I get what I want - a previous student fully submitted to me under the apprenticeship scheme - I find myself getting bored of them. They become so dull and lifeless that the chase for their power is no longer as thrilling as it once was. Essentially, once I have gained their abilities, I do not see much use for them anymore. It is a relentless cycle of constantly trying to find the next best thing' 'Ezra' explained.
'So you go around not only ruining people but taking their lives too in order to use them to attract your next victim? That's what could have happened to Miss Hardbroom if she spent only a few more months in your care! That's sick...you are sick in the head!' Mildred cried, her eyes darting around the room looking for any way of escape.
'I'm glad to see you are not as slow as you were earlier, Mildred Hubble. Yes, that was more or less the plan until your insufferable form tutor got away and disrupted my cycle for many years. She always did manage to escape me somehow - she was too clever for her own good. I was not going to let her slide past me like that though, no! For when someone manages to evade me, I will stop at nothing to destroy them another way instead.'
'You can't destroy HB, she's too powerful! Nothing can hurt her anymore'. Mildred informed her.
'Oh you are right.' Broomhead responded. Her eyes were so full of malice right now that she hardly looked human. 'I cannot destroy Constance, but I can destroy you, and ultimately that will hurt her more than anything else. Ending you would ruin her just as much, if not more, than I could ever have done myself' she suggested. A sickening smile curled her lips before she moved closer and closer to Mildred, trapping her further into the small corner.
'All-all of t-this. All of this...has been to get to HB?! Everything I have been through over the summer was all because you wanted to get to her?! But why me? She doesn't even like me! And what about my mother, and my school? You knew where I was, why didn't you just take me!?'
'So many questions, Hubble! You really were the most irritating of the lot!' Broomhead snapped, before she bound Mildred in magical ropes and forced her down to the floor. She then proceeded to stuff her mouth with a gag before she continued, effectively silencing her.
'Now you've quietened down a little - allow me to explain. I want you to relish in every single word, for I am going to destroy every living element of you tonight, and this will be the last thing you hear'.
Mildred kicked and struggled, but it was no use. She could not escape from her current position, so she chose to listen to Broomhead's speech. At least then, she would then die understanding.
'Having spent all those years with Constance Hardbroom, I got to know her inside out. I knew her greatest loves in life, as well as her greatest fears. I managed to take away everything she cared about - her friends, her independence and her intelligence. She was completely bound to me in that sense. Yet, I could never make her greatest fear come true, for Constance's worst fear was that she would never be able to have children, or that she would be an awful mother. It was a ridiculous notion, probably stemming from the fact that her own home life was so complicated, but it was a weakness that I found myself unable to deal with.' Mistress Broomhead explained, laying out every secret that she knew without a care in the world.
'That is why I found it absolutely perfect when she went into teaching. Of course, I had to lay low for several years, in order to work my way up the hierarchy and weave my way back into her life. However, I knew that when she went to work in a school, she would begin to think of you all as her own. It is inevitable as a teacher, you begin to care too much. So, I was not going to wait around for her to have children of her own, when there were already so many to choose from right in front of me. Picking out the right one though, that was the hardest task of them all.'
Tears were now streaming down Mildred's cheeks. Not only was the girl scared about what was going to happen to her, but she felt her heart breaking more and more now she knew Miss Hardbroom's biggest fear. How she could ever of disliked her tutor was ridiculous. Her form tutor was probably the most misunderstood character that she had ever known.
'On that fateful day two years ago, when I came into Cackle's on behalf of Ofwitch, that was when I knew who to track down. I saw your name repeatedly pop up on the paper work and I originally thought nothing of it apart from how useful you'd be in shutting down the school. That was until I told Constance that I wanted to speak with you, and she completely disappeared. I will never forget her face. You could see her heart physically drop and the fear she wore was undeniable - she was worried about you, she cared about you. She managed to conceal herself for longer than I had ever seen her able to, spending all that time trying to protect you. She escorted you through corridors, hid behind barriers, grabbed your arms and your shoulders before trying to hide you in that damn cupboard. I knew she was still scared of me, so the fact she was willing to go to the ends of the earth to look after you, well that was when I knew it was you that she cared about the most. I still do not understand why and I find myself not caring why either, for you will meet the same end either way. Destroying you will destroy Constance, and then I will finally be able to move onwards with my life, back to my familiar routine'.
Mildred could do nothing but shake her head violently, still confused on how Broomhead had managed to conduct this elaborate plan.
'Ah yes, well Mildred, that was also tricky. The first thing I did was follow you home during the summer holidays before your third year. I spent the entire time studying you and your every move. I learnt that your mother was non-magical, and I learnt about your fears and loves just like I had learnt about Constance. It came easily after that. I used your mother to get to you, pretending to be this ideal man that I had cloned. She was so desperate she fell for it. I managed to get close enough to her over your third year for her to allow me to meet you during the summer. Once I had complete access to you and your home, I poisoned her just like I had poisoned Jason on an evening meal out. That is why she was not there to protect you, for she was no longer here. All of the abuse was just an added benefit for my own entertainment. I then spent the remainder of the summer cloning myself between the two of them, and you never suspected a thing!' Broomhead sneered, finding the entire situation hilarious.
'I knew you were vulnerable, so I thought you'd take your own life at school, but seemingly you were still alive from the latest information I received on the grapevine. I then had to write that letter you received, to lure you here, for I could not access you in the school grounds and I was loosing my patience - your teachers would easily destroy me as I would be so outnumbered. I also believed that you wouldn't come home for Christmas, Constance or your insufferable little friends would have figured out your abuse by now. So, having learnt about your drawing ability over the summer, I managed to make it as convincing as possible. Being the foolish child you are, any mention of danger for your pathetic friends was bound to bring you to me. You fell into the trap so easily, having worn your emotions so openly on your sleeve. You are too gullible for your own good that it didn't even make this chase enjoyable for me.'
Mildred understood now. She understood everything. She knew she was going to die here and there was nothing she could do about it. But she found that she didn't care about dying, she hadn't cared for a long time now, but what she did care about was Miss Hardbroom. She had traumatised her back in October, and now she was going to ruin her until her teacher's dying day having made her worst fears come true.
She felt awful. She couldn't stop thinking about her or how much she loved and cared about her in this current moment.
'So, any last words or requests, Mildred, for I shall grant you one' Broomhead jeered before removing the gag in Mildred's mouth.
Mildred could do nothing but sob as she stated the only clear thought in her mind:
'I want Miss Hardbroom to know that she would never be an awful mother'.