Changeling Witch

(S2) Mama Dearest

"It always starts the same way," Eda murmured, her fingers digging into her mattress. The healer motioned for her to continue.

She took a deep breath. "I wake up someplace... dark. And then it appears, and I run. Eventually, I wake up, and I know I turned into that thing."

Gwendolyn gave her daughter a worried look.

The healer sighed and reached into his pocket. "I see. Here, take this." He handed her a golden gem. "It will tell you when the beast's energy is bubbling to the surface. Also, I hear gems are quite fashionable with young witches."

Eda looked down at the shiny surface. "Thank... thank you."

"Oh, what a beautiful little stone," Gwendolyn said, linking her arm with the healer's. "May I speak with you outside?" She gave Eda a bright smile. "Just a minute, hon!"

As she led him out of the room and half-closed the door behind her, Eda crept up and put her ear to the door.

"What the hell was that?" Gwendolyn hissed. "I thought you were in the Healing Coven, not the Bauble Brigade!"

"Mrs. Clawthorne, we have never seen a curse quite like this," the healer told her. "I'm not sure it can be healed. Perhaps if we consult the Potions Coven, they may know a way to keep it at bay—"

"Keep it at bay?" Gwendolyn let out a hollow laugh. "Oh, no, no, no, no. My daughter is suffering, and I want that thing out! Cut it out if you have to!"

Eda clapped a hand over her mouth, her heart picking up in speed. She'd always figured that her mom's overprotectiveness would eventually spill into something much worse, but she never thought that it would be like this.

What the hell's she gonna do to get this thing outta me? she wondered. If I'm not careful, she'll get me killed... oh, Titan, how am I gonna tell Raine? How am I gonna tell them that their best friend's got a monster inside of her?

She looked up and saw that her bedroom window was open. Thinking quick, she leaped out of it and landed on the grass, then started to run.

Eda raced through the trees until she'd come across a patch of the woods that was completely unfamiliar to her. By now, she thought that she'd known the entirety of the woods that surrounded the Clawthorne home, but apparently, there were still areas that she'd had yet to explore.

"Never knew this was back here," she murmured, right before tripping on something.

She'd expected it to just be a rock, but instead, it was an old briefcase lodged into the ground. She tugged it out and brushed off the dirt, revealing it to have a giant eye on the front—an eye that was cracked.

It flew out of Eda's hands and transformed into a door. She yelped, scuttling backwards.

A little key twisted in the lock and it opened—first, showing a murky-looking space, then clearing to reveal a forest... a forest where the trees were green.

"Edalyn? Edalyn!"

Eda's eyes widened. With seemingly no other way out, she jumped through the door.

..................

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH—"

Eda grabbed her alarm clock and hurled it into the wall, then rolled out of her nest with a gigantic yawn. She hoisted herself up to her vanity table, where she screwed in her little snaggletooth and gave the mirror a big grin.

After shaving off some feathers and downing some elixir, Eda got into the new dress she'd... uh, bought a few days ago, then after a little bit of thought, ripped off a piece in the front.