Chapter 13: Chapter. 13 Agnes

Oh this is going to be super awkward. Diana was slick with sweat when she dragged her heavy eyes open. She ached, which was a regular occurrence after a bad night. She gingerly shuffled out of bed and into the bathroom across the hall to get a shower. Diana was pleased not to bump into the short blonde mini matriarch or her handsy spectral body guard. She found a pile of clothes folded by the bedroom door on her return, and scooped them up in a hurry as she hid behind closed doors once more.

Not bad. She nodded as she appraised the clothing. She had feared that something pink of frilly like the thing Anna wore yesterday would be her only option. But a pair of harem pants that were elasticated at the waist and long sleeved black turtleneck shirt was very welcome. She was provided with plain nude underpants and a bra, that miraculously fit. They’re witches. For all I know there’s a spell to make undies the perfect size. Diana huffed with amusement to herself as she searched the dresser table for a comb. I can’t believe I just thought that so seriously. Part of me still wonders if I’m hallucinating this whole mess.

She found a brush, which would have to do, and sat at the dresser as she worked the knots from her long raven hair. Deftly she went on auto pilot as she braided her hair over her left shoulder. Her mind wandered as she did so. Last night was pretty vivid. It’s been a long time since my nightmares were so clear. But then again, I’ve not had my meds. They usually supress my dreams so they’re a chaotic jumble, rather than a horror show in my head. More scary vague than remembering the play by play like last night.

Diana paused her hands half way down her braid and stared at her reflection. She recalled those red eyes in the pit, and knew one thing for sure. Whatever I saw as a child inthat hole? I saw it yesterday in the window. Those were the same red eyes. The black pupils bleeding out into the red irises were too distinctive. Was that why she had that nightmare? Was it her subconscious reacting to a memory trigger?

As much as she wanted to believe that witches were real, but monsters were not, Diana wasn’t an idiot. Her nightmares were memories coming back to her, and they included something with the eyes of a demon. She finished her braid with a thin hair band she found in the dresser and smoothed her hands onto the table. I learned something else from that nightmare. As a child I knew that Ma had an office somewhere with books in and was going to find out what that thing was. She couldn’t recall if she did, as most of her childhood memories were still blocked, but nothing was stopping Diana from doing the research now. It’s not like I can go anywhere.

And that brought Diana full circle to her new reality. Where she was a glorified prisoner. Part of her had hoped Anna had left that straw doll in or on the dresser for her to try and either rip apart or at least keep on her so she could make a break for it. Of course, she hadn’t. Diana braced her elbows on the dresser table, interlocked her fingers and perched her chin on her hands. She stared at her reflection with narrowed brown eyes. Yesterday morning had been just another day. She got up groggy from her sleeping pills, got ready for work at the dinner, and had no way of knowing that she wouldn’t be coming home. Yesterday afternoon she opened an envelope from a mouthy redhead that who knew far too much about her past, and ended up falling through her bed, the sky, and nearly died. Had she not been magically slowed down and then thrown into a bush, she would have died. Gruesomely so. After all that, she woke up to find herself in her childhood bed, with a sister she never knew she had, her mother was dead, and she was here became of some family barrier around Salem that was fading. Anna clearly thought she had to be here to keep them from failing, and wasn’t taking no for an answer. She made a creepy fetish doll and made it very clear if I tried to run, she would yank me back. So running without a plan would be stupid.

Diana was going to run, of course, but she would have to find the right moment. There was no way she was staying with a coven of witches and in a place where monsters were apparently real too. Diana couldn’t do magic, and from what little she could remember, her childhood self couldn’t either. She was therefore pretty confident that if any of the witches here wanted to do horrible things to her, she’d have no way to defend herself. Not to mention the owner of the red eyes. I’m not safe here. I can’t go back to my old apartment and job, since that Elaina knew where to find me. I’ll have to run and go somewhere else. The top places to famously run away to were Mexico and Alaska, if you didn’t want to be found. I prefer warm weather. I don’t know much Spanish or Mexican, but I’m a quick study. I’ll get by. Diana nodded and sat back to look towards the door. She thought of the curtain opening moment of seeing Knox and all those spectral hands with three clawed fingers pressing her limbs down to the bed. The fathomless whites of his eyes and the degrading sneer he wore. That spirit guardian would have happily crushed her arms and legs on the command of his master. Diana also thought of Yani, and the haunting way she writhed as she astral projected Elaina to find her. Those things were terrifying. More so as they were apparently there all the time, but only visible to her when their masters allowed them to be. Visible or not, Knox had a very real physical hold on her yesterday. If Salem was the strong hold to a coven full of witches with these spirit guardians? Then in Diana’s book, the whole town was a danger zone.

She may not be the smartest, most beautiful, or most talented of women, but one thing Diana was really good at, was surviving. She survived losing all her memories and wandering down the road as a 13 year old. She survived all the foster homes she went to growing up. She survived her night terrors and the physical and emotional bullying she received from her fellow foster kids for her howling in the night. She survived leaving the system at 18. Diana got herself a job, an apartment, and was making progress in therapy. She was nothing but resourceful and determined to press forward. To not rely on anyone else but herself. Because for over 5 years, she was the only person she could rely on.

That hasn’t changed just because my nightmare has become my reality. Just because this ‘Anna Couper’ tells me I’m her sister, true or not, doesn’t mean I owe her adamn thing. I sure as hell don’t owe her coven or this town anything. She grimaced at all the memories of how unwelcome she felt growing up here. This wasn’t really my home before I was ‘sent away’, whatever that means. My only happy memories of this place are withmy mother…and she’s gone. So there’s nothing keeping me here.

Aside from the fetish doll.

Diana grumbled to herself as she headed to the door to obey the gurgling wishes of her stomach. With that creepy fetish doll thing, Anna has me on some sort of magical leash. She paused with her hand on the door knob and deviously grinned to herself. Maybe I can find a way to disable it when I look through Ma’s stuff? There has to be a way to break the spell. Then I can get the hell out of this freak show and away from all this madness. She nodded, feeling far more optimistic about her bleak outlook. That’s the plan, then. Get into Ma’s old things, find out how to break or nullify the fetish doll, and escape to Mexico. If I find out what that monster was along the way, bonus. She tried not to think of those red eyes looking at her and did what she always did.

Press ahead.

She opened the door and decided that any plan wouldn’t succeed without getting a feel for her surroundings, her opponents, and of course, not on an empty stomach. Breakfast first. Planning my escape second. I just need to keep my thoughts to myself so that Mr invisible creepy spider ghost doesn’t hear my plotting. Oh, and I better not tell peppy little miss fake sister to stay out of my face. No matter how much I want to... Diana wasn’t interested in bonding with her perfect replacement. She knew it was ridiculous to be jealous of the younger woman, but seeing that picture of her in the family journal alongside her mother, a perfect mini replica of Isabella, and with her perfect father, stung. She was a ‘healing savant’ too, and was using magic from the age of 4? Anna seemed to be everything Diana wasn’t.

So as ridiculous as it was, she did resent the woman just a tad. She seems to want to play family. I might have to suck it up and let her to gain some trust. I’m not sure if I can do that with a straight face though. I’m not exactly the touchy feely type. I just need enough leeway to get the hell out of Salem…

Diana braced herself outside of the kitchen. The door was shut and she heard voices inside.

“-poor dear. All night?”

“She stopped screaming around 3am.” Diana’s eyes widened at the sound of Anna sighing. Screaming? I don’t normally make that much noise…oh. Diana nodded to herself. I didn’t have my meds last night. My night terrors won’t have been supressed. No wonder I feel so tired. Diana held the back of her neck and shook her head. I don’t rest well when I have an episode, but I’m less groggy when I come round if I haven’t had my sleeping pills. “She’s what? Diana are you there?” Drat. Diana assumed that Knox must have given her presence away, so she hurried to open the door with a schooled smile on her face. “Good morning.”

“Hi.” Diana awkwardly shut the door behind her and lingered there as she looked at what should for all intents and purposes, but a very domestic scene. Anna was sat at the breakfast table and dressed in another sophisticated dress. A pastel blue chiffon dress with a pleated skirt, long sleeves that billowed down to be taken in at her wrists, and a decorative long bow around her neck. Her blonde hair was styled into a French twist at the back and she wore nude makeup. Her hands cupped a white ceramic cup of tea and she smiled as Diana took the seat opposite her at the rectangular table. “Can I get one of those?” She pointed at the tea and Anna smiled and seemed to be waiting for something.

A cup was lowered to the table before her, and Diana followed the hand up to the arm of a woman. She had silver hair that was short and permed into tight curls. She was old enough to be Diana’s grandmother, and her eyes were steel blue. She wore a smart pair of black slacks, white oxford shirt and a long blue apron. Her sleeves were rolled up and she had the air of a woman who knew what hard work looked and felt like.

What stood out more than her attire, was the way she was looking at Diana. With the start of tears in her steely eyes and the start of a cautious smile.