"Not today, Satan."
"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."
― Roald Dahl
*Cover made by...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
ECHO WASN'T SURE HOW, BUT she managed to rope herself into going to the Greendale Woods with her twin, Ms. Wardwell and the Weird Sisters. Apparently Ms. Wardwell was going to introduce Prudence to an ex-queen of the feast. A witch that refused the crowd and has been living deep in the woods ever since.
Prudence, of course, only agreed to go along with Sabrina and Ms. Wardwell if her sisters and Echo were there.
It felt like they had been walking for hours in the dense forest when Ms. Wardwell finally came to a stop.
"What is she's not home?" Dorcas asked quietly as the witches stared at the small hut that was made purely from tree branches.
"She's always home," Ms. Wardwell stated without even turning around to look at the ginger haired girl, "Isn't that right, Dezmelda?"
Suddenly, an old woman with a large cane exited the twig hut, Echo observed the woman carefully as she did the same to the group.
Echo finally noticed the large, fake eye as the woman squinted at them. It took several seconds before she ushered them closer. She sat down on a log as the rest of the witches sat around the rocks and logs that were close by.
"What made you run, Dezmelda?" Sabrina was the first to speak, "From the Dark Lord?"
Dezmelda took her eyes off Echo as she turned to the blonde. Squinting, "I didn't run from the Dark Lord," She confessed, "I ran from my High Priest."
Echo glanced over at her twin and noticed the sour expression on her face.
"I was a child..." Dezmelda continued, "We all were. All fourteen of us who took part in the lottery," She explained, glancing over the teenagers, "Younger than all of you. No one questioned why that was. And I was selected to be queen. And then..." Dezmelda looked down at her hands. As long ago as it was, it was clear to see that it was still effecting her immensely.
Echo frowned, her heart ached for the woman, she watched as Ms. Wardwell placed her hand over Dezmelda's comfortingly, "Her High Priest had a revelation...delivered unto him by the Dark Lord, allegedly."
All the girls turned their attention to Ms. Wardwell.
"The night before the feast, the High Priest was to...initiate her."
Echo clenched her jaw as she heard Dezmelda sniffling, "I was a child," The woman stated once again, disbelief and disgust laced her tone.
"Rather than allow herself to be violated," Ms. Wardwell continued, "Dezmelda fled into the woods. She's lived here ever since."
