*This story is underneath my folder titled “Witch’s Wonder, Hell’s Hate”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33[2]”. Enjoy!*

We’re still walking throughout Hell and I still don’t know where the screams are coming from. I’m glad that I’m still alive, but I don’t know how long that’s going to last.

“Why are you helping me?” I ask, because still, it doesn’t make sense as to why Prince Joseph would want to help me, without any consequences or catches. I mean, wouldn’t there be some strings attached with royalty?

Prince Joseph shakes his head, like he can’t believe what I’m saying and he asks:

“You’ve asked me that question in many different ways before, I think. Are you that surprised that I’m here to help?”

What…of course I am! I’m worried about how he is after his Mom made him a vampire, but I’m more so worried about what he’s doing with me in the first place.

“Yes! Yes, I am! You’re the Prince and you’re helping me because you want to? You genuinely want to help me find my friend? Because both of our Moms may be evil and have something to do with all of this? It’s just…it’s just unusual that you would want to associate with me.” I say, unsure if I was making any sense at all. I think my words have made sense, I’m not sure.

Prince Joseph sighs, his brown eyes looking somewhat annoyed and also sad, like he can’t believethatI still do not fully trust him.

Well, I don’t distrust him completely, I’m just…wary.

“I just want to help, that’s all. You’re a witch, right? Do you want me to help you with your magic? I know a bit about magic myself. We can start with some defensive spells.” Prince Joseph says.

I don’t doubt that he knows about magic, considering that his Mom may have been a witch and was also responsible for turning him into a vampire, but…it feels wrong to ask him for help. I’ve spent so much of my life waiting for my Mom to teach me that to ask him for help feels like I’m betraying her somehow, like I’m not holding enough faith on her.

However, she did leave me when I was eight years old. She also always told me no whenever I asked her about learning more magic. Besides, it’d be nice to actually know what I’m doing.

“I’d like the help.” I say, hoping that at least now, I’ll make some progress.

“Alright. Let’s get to it.” Prince Joseph says. He stops walking, so do I.

Our footsteps echo in the void that is Hell.

…………………………………………………………………

“Take a deep breath. Focus on letting out anything that you are feeling right now or anything that you felt in the previous minutes and use that energy for something more, something satisfactory, something that will protect you.” Prince Joseph says calmly, steadily.

Well, I don’t know if I really can control my thoughts right now. My mind is in a swirl of all the things that I need to do and all the time that I’m wasting right now. The screams aren’t getting any quieter, either. They’re ringing all throughout my ears, my heart, my-

Leslie is wearing an evil locket and yet here I am, talking to a vampire Prince. But don’t worry, I’m going to find her…eventually…at some point…I HAVE to get a hang of my magic…I have to be able to use it…like how a real witch would…why…I healed that rat’s tail…I can heal animals…why can’t I figure this out? Why can’t I find out what my magic can do? Why can’t I-

I swear that one of the people crying is Michelle, but it can’t be Michelle, because she’s not in Hell. She’s safe, in the orphanage, away from this entire mess that I’m trying to figure out. Why can’t I figure it out? I can keep the orphanage clean and sanitary, I can cook, I can…

But that’s ALL I can do. All I can do is help my Dad out with the orphanage in the shadows. I can’t talk to the kids, I don’t know the first thing to say to them, yet somehow, Michelle still wants to talk to me. What about me is so appealing? I just…exist. I only have Leslie as a friend and I can’t even find her. She’s probably screaming with the rest of the trapped souls and I can’t find her scream, can’t find Leslie herself. What kind of friend does that make me, to not be able to find her? To recognize her voice?

“You shouldn’t have any friends, Anna. Ever. “ Mom says to me. She’s tucking me into bed, I’m six years old again.

“Why? I want friends.” I say. I want friends, I want to be play, I want to feel more like a person, but oh, how I didn’t know that I would never get a normal life, that it’s just not possible for someone like me.

Mom shakes her head at me and purses her lips. She told me such a nice story before about how a lonely Princess found all the friends she would ever need in the forest, with the forest faeries and I thought that maybe I could have magical friends, like the Princess in the story.

“If you make friends, there isn’t any guarantee that they will stay the way they are. People change and sometimes it’s good, but most of the time, there’s something…evil to it.” Mom says.

My eyebrows had creased with concern when I saw her swallow hard. Her eyes had the faraway, distressed look that I had come to recognize, like she was deep in dark, displeasing thoughts. I tried to think of something, anything. Maybe I could tell her a funny story? Show her my favorite doll? Make pretty colors come out of my hands?

“There’s just something that happens to them over the years that makes them all wrong, all twisted. You try your best to bring them back to how they were before, but they won’t listen. They just won’t. You’re not their friend anymore when that happens. You’re just somebody interfering with their life, somebody who is trying to ruin them, somebody…”

Mom looks like she’s about to cry after all that she said. I know what’s going to happen next, I’ve already lived through this, but that same surge of fear is still here when I see that deep, deep sorrow in her eyes that looks so misty with misery that it’s nearly rage.

“You have to watch in silence as they go to Hell, Anna! You know that they’re going to suffer, you know they’re going to be in pain, and yet, you can’t do anything about it, because that’s the path they chose. They can make their own decisions in life, it’s their fault, what they’re going through, but then, you wonder: “Did I do something to hurt them? Could I be the reason that they’re headed towards their downfall?” You wonder if it’s your fault so much that it haunts your mind day and night. You can’t think, you can’t dream, you can’t be your full self, for your mind is always circling back to that one moment, that one moment where you ask yourself “What could I have done differently? What could I have done right?” What…”

Mom takes a deep breath. Her voice is shaky, on the verge of breaking, and I’m scared that if I say something, she’ll start to cry.

“It’s better to be by yourself, so you don’t have to worry about any of this.” Mom says, her eyes and voice still steady, but not as calm as before.

The door opens, Dad comes in and wishes me goodnight. Mom gets up from the chair and leaves with Dad, wiping at her eyes.

The moment fades away in melting watercolors…

I told myself time and time again that Mom was only wiping her eyes because she was tired, because the night had worn her out. She wasn’t crying, she would never let herself cry…but she was talking about friends and Hell as though she were personally experiencing it, as though she thought about it every single second of her life.

I want to figure things out. I want to find the truth. I want to know how I was brought to a Prince, how a cursed locket ended up in Leslie’s hands, out of all people. I don’t want to just wander aimlessly, I want answers, real answers. I want to do something, I want-

“That’s a good barrier, Anastasia! It’s deflecting all of my claw attacks! Now, I’ll bring out my sword. Use the energy that you have right now and channel that into something more vicious, something that could irreversibly damage, even kill. You’ll need attack spells with your defensive ones.” Prince Joseph’s voice says.

I blink. Surrounding me is light in a magenta hue, going high up into infinity and down into the cold ground. It’s a bubble of light and sure enough, Prince Joseph is clawing at it in an attempt to break the barrier, but my magenta light pushes his clawed hands away so violently that my mouth opens a little in shock.

I did that? The magenta light around me is…it’s coming from me? All I was doing was thinking about the unsavory memories of my past and now I have a magenta light barrier around me? That’s all it takes? I…that’s so marvelous! Finally, I’m actually using my magic!

I wished that I used this magic when a monster was attacking us. That certainly would have been helpful and less annoying, but at least it’s working now! All I have to do is think about what I was thinking about before, but with more venom to it. I can’t be sad, I have to channel that into rage, something more, something-

There’s just one scream that sounds too much like Michelle, one scream that sounds too real to just be in my mind…could it be…it wouldn’t hurt to check, right? Sure, it’s impossible, but I don’t think that really anything is impossible, after everything that’s happened as of late.

I run towards Michelle’s screams, breaking the barrier, running past Prince Joseph.

I’ll learn more attack spells later. I have to find out why one of the screams sounds like Michelle.