*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!*

I’ve finished stitching up my neck and now, I’m following the voice, Joseph right next to me, Michelle behind me. The boy’s disembodied voice gets louder and louder until I can see what its owner looks like, until I’m face to face with him.

He looks like he’s sixteen, like me and Joseph. His long, blond hair is tied up in a braid, his blue eyes shine with tears, and his clothes are covered in dirt and blood. I see that the skin on his hands are peeling off, that it looks like it’s cracked with blood.

His eyes go wide and he sputters, with cracked lips:

“None of you are Leslie…who-who are you?!”

“I should be asking you the same question. How do you know my friend’s name?” I ask, because she’s never told me about a boy before. Wouldn’t she have talked to me about it? We talked about a lot of things together.

“I’m Isaiah. I’m her boyfriend. She and I used to meet out in the woods before I-“

“Before you went to Hell? How did you get here?” Joseph asks, his tone raised in something that’s between anger and fear.

That was the same question I asked Michelle before and she said that she just followed the portal. Are portals to Hell opening wherever? Why is he bloody? Is Isaiah even human like he says he is?

Will any of this ever make sense?

“I was waiting for Leslie in the woods, to talk to her and when I saw her running, I followed her. I followed her into a glowing green portal and when I jumped in…some strange creature that was a cross between a clown, a snake, a spider, and a puppet attacked me! I…I can’t quite describe it…its white eyes glared at me maddeningly…it broke through my skin…and it just left! If you can help me…it would be greatly appreciated. I don’t want to die here, in the dark.”

He said that he loved Leslie, that he was her boyfriend…there were times I saw a flash of guilt in her eyes, like she felt bad about something and there were nights I’d hear her door open, but I didn’t think anything of it…

Why would she be afraid to tell me?

“My Mom delved into dark magic, she made me a vampire and so, I don’t sense anything supernatural about you, Isaiah. But that doesn’t mean we won’t watch you closely.” Joseph says, that same anger and fear in his tone…it’s wariness. He’s being wary.

I can’t help but feel a rush of joy inside me at the fact that Joseph cares so much about me and Michelle. He’s promising to keep him in check even though we just met him, because while low, there’s still a chance he could be against us.

It makes me feel better about healing him with my powers. Like I’m not setting myself up for danger.

I do what I did to myself before and imagine Isaiah’s skin stitching itself back together, the blood cuts disappearing, flesh made anew.

It takes some time, but it works and the light returns in his eyes. Isaiah gets up and joins us on our pursuit for Leslie.

I’m beginning to wonder just how long it will take for us to find her. I hope I haven’t been down here too long.

………………………………………………………………

My head swirls as I walk, my eyes flitting back to Isaiah every few seconds. I still can’t believe that Leslie had a boyfriend, because she just seemed so shy and lace-like quiet that to fathom her with a boyfriend seemed absolutely impossible. While I’m upset that she didn’t say anything to me, I’m also a little worried. Why would she need to hide this from me? It’s not like how my Mom hid much of her life from me.

My Mom…

My surroundings get blurrier and blurrier the more that I walk, until I’m not in Hell anymore, but back in that cozy parlor room, where my Mom and Queen Lanria sit on the couch, hands on their laps as though they weren’t just talking about sacrificing their friend, and a woman goes into the room with a tray of sugar cookies, her pale skin tinted yellow, her blue eyes surrounded by deep, dark purple rings and her dark brown hair loosely tied in a braid.

“I-I wore a cloth mask so I wouldn’t-“ She coughs before abruptly putting the tray on the table. “So I wouldn’t cough on it. But I did now! I’m..I’m sorry…so…sorry.”

The woman sits down on an armchair that is a few feet away from them. There’s a flicker of guilt in her blue eyes and also, a gauze-sheen of tears in them, but she leans back on the armchair as though she’s tired, as though she just wants to sleep.

Perhaps she does.

“That’s quite alright, Sylvie. Lanria is going to cure you tonight.” Mom says, her eyes flicking over to the plate of cookies in disgust.

“Really?” Sylvie asks. Light comes to her blue eyes and my heart stings at how she doesn’t notice the way Mom and Queen Lanria are looking at the cookies, how they seem to look at her the same way.

“That’s right. I’m going to use my magic to heal you and you’ll be better in no time! The three of us will meet at my palace garden four o clock at night! There will be nobody around to bother us and you, Sylvie, will be saved.” Queen Lanria smiles.

Sylvie smiles back at her, her eyes glittering with clear trust and I have to wonder if all of my trust is going to ruin me, if I should have ever confided in Joseph’s russet brown eyes, if-

“Look! I found a hand!” Michelle’s voice cries out.

I’m back in Hell, away from the memory, Joseph and Isaiah next to me, but…where’s Michelle?

What hand did she find?