"RETURNING HOME"
 

“Do not slam my doors, Angelica!” Angelica Trickle stormed down the hallway, the remains of the day streaming through the grand windows lining it. The screams in her head drowned out the sound of the woman’s yelling completely. The tromps of her black clogs echoed throughout the house, leaving a trail for the furious woman to find her. Nails dug into both of Angelica’s shoulders right before she could get to the stairs. 
 “Get off!” She shrieked, wrestling with the claws. She was forcefully turned, the shadow of the lady towering over her, black, wavy tresses flowing down to her silk skirt and strong jaw tightening. 
“Where is she, Kiki?” 
“ALIVE!” Kiki screamed in her face, spit flying. She tried to dart up the stairs, but the lady took her by the shirt collar and pinned her against the wall. Kiki bared her teeth through forming tears, the scent of expensive perfume engulfing her senses.
“Don’t think I’m not catching onto your habits,” The lady seethed. “This happened last time, too. You always get close, then you run.” Kiki inched her snarling face closer to the lady’s. 
“She got away last time.” 
“Even more pathetic of you.” Kiki shoved her off with a cry, but the lady only yanked her back to the wall. “What happened?” She pressed, her tone calming. “This never happened during practice. You’d win every round—you would even be proud of it—“
“It’s different when it’s actually her, Sylvaine,” Kiki breathed, slinking away from Sylvaine’s clutches. The witches stood face-to-face, or something of that sort. Kiki did have to look up dramatically in order to meet her eyes. 
“We can practice more. I want you to just get this done with.”
“You think I don’t want to get it over with?” Kiki said. “She’s taken over my entire life and she doesn’t even know who I am.” 
“Which should make it all the easier,” Sylvaine responded. Sweetness was reeking through her words. “It’s nothing personal. Just remember that.” Kiki narrowed her stare and began to climb the stairs. Sylvaine didn’t follow her. Instead, she stood at the bottom, her eyes twinkling with malice. “It’s your life. Your chance at freedom.” Kiki stopped in the middle of the steps, her breathing high-pitched, and stared at the darkness beneath her. “Take as long as you want.” Silence hung before Kiki took her chance to bolt before Sylvaine could talk her ear off with more monologues about “power” and “responsibilities”. What a cliche, she thought, wiping her eyes and sniffling. Kiki stuck out her chin and straightened her posture, beginning her travels through the maze of the mansion’s second floor. She can’t make me do anything. She’s not my mom…she has no control over me. It doesn’t matter what she wants—I’ll kill her when I want to. Part of Kiki believed what she was telling herself. The other part knew that Kiki would never be determined enough to do it. 
Or maybe I’m just too scared. Kiki’s feet stopped. Looking around her, she was surrounded by framed paintings and photographs. The floor creaked beneath her, and Kiki acknowledged that she liked it much better in these halls when it was light outside. She stalked about some more, meeting the judging stares of framed witches until she came to her usual stop. Joy and wonder replaced the false cockiness on her face, and Kiki observed the three men in the photo. All had luscious ebony waves of hair and pupils full of playful mischief, but each were a much different witch from much different families. Friends by force, brothers by soul, Kiki always told herself when she stood in front of the photo. 
“You always stop at this one. Why are you obsessed with my dad?” Her sister had appeared at Kiki’s side. 
“Obsessed is a strong word,” Kiki chuckled. She folded her arms, still admiring the photo. “They just look so happy together, the three of them.” She gazed into the stormy gray eyes of the man in the middle, who wore a simple blue jacket and work trousers. The comfort Kiki felt dwindled. “It’s hard to look at him now that I know I need to kill his daughter.” Her sister looked at Kiki through dark under eye circles and a brown complexion. 
“I’m sorry,” she said with a dramatic sigh. She put her arm around Kiki and ushered her away from the photo. “How’d it go with my mom?” Kiki gently shrugged the arm off her. 
“I knew she’d blow up on me,” Kiki explained. “Yalina, she thinks I’m a failure.” 
“You’re kidding, right?” Yalina almost scoffed. The girls continued to walk side-by-side. “If she thinks you’re a failure, imagine what I am. I might as well start packing my bags.” Kiki managed a forced laugh. “You’re lucky you aren’t her real daughter,” Yalina said, quieter this time. 
“I’m not that far off,” Kiki replied. “She isn’t afraid to lash out on me, that’s for sure, with her, ‘I took you into this household; I could take you out of it if I wanted to’ crap.” The witches snickered. Approaching the end of the hall, they were met with two doors on opposite walls. 
“Wanna go somewhere tonight?” Yalina asked. 
“I don’t know,” Kiki said. “I’m not in the mood.”
“Pleeeease? We haven’t done anything fun in sooo long.” Kiki’s frown flipped upward. 
“Maybe. Let me change first and then I’ll come to your room.” 
“Kay.” Yalina and Kiki: one tall, one short; one curly-haired, one straight; yet both under the same roof, nonetheless, went their separate ways as two sisters never meant to be. Kiki entered her bedroom and tapped on the auto-lantern on the side of the wall, the shard of amethyst triggering the chandelier lights. Satin curtains, an antique armoire, and a bed of cream comforters sprinkled with little red rose patterns were illuminated by the warm glow, although Kiki walked right past it all to the daybed beneath a waffle-window. Her bed was no doubt fit for a princess, yet it always somehow felt wrong to Kiki. She nestled herself on top of the blankets and patterned pillows, staring out into the back gardens of the mansion. Every plant and herb reflected the rising moonlight, and Kiki spotted a half-full basket of greens. What’s Syl brewing? She pondered. Her gut rotted at the surefire feeling that the potion would be nothing of kind use. Maybe she’ll use it on me—Spearia forbid she uses it on Yalina. Kiki recalled Sylvaine’s words: “Take as long as you want”. Would she have even given Yalina a choice if it were her in Kiki’s place? Did Kiki even have a choice, or was it just another twisted trick of her host-mother’s? Kiki let her head fall back against the daybed, and took a shaky breath, looking up at the section of the ceiling which was pasted with photos galore, mostly ones of her and Yalina. She smiled at one in the far right corner, a familiar scene of the two witches. Kiki was pictured pushing Yalina on the practically ancient swing that hung on the weeping willow tree out in the front of the mansion, and though at this time, the girls had only been living together for a few years, the giddiness on their faces were telling enough that they already shared a special bond. Kiki looked slightly to the left, her gaze settling on an image of her 10-year-old self, surrounded by young witches, all of them dressed in skirts of gold and with matching headpieces atop their neat updos. Kiki laughed to herself as she leaned forward to look closer at the photo, squinting at her handwriting at the bottom: First dance recital at the Grand Stellian Theater! 
What her days had been when her greatest worry was learning the steps to performance waltzes; before she had been roped into Sylvaine’s training sessions and before she came of age to attend all the Median Star events as her “adopted daughter”. Kiki thought about Yalina doing her hair for those parties because Kiki couldn’t do it on her own, and peace washed over her. 
The memory of the fear in Adrian’s eyes poisoned her moments later. Everywhere Kiki’s thoughts turned, they always found their way back to that terror: how the grayness of them became empty, as if she had given up—the storm had calmed with acceptance. In those seconds they were face to face that slowed to feel like hours, Kiki thought she could’ve had the time to count Adrian’s freckles. 
You’ll get used to it, Sylvaine had told Kiki after her first murder attempt. 
I’ll get used to it.
I’ll get used to it.
I’ll get used to it.
Kiki ran to the toilet, fisting her layers of hair at the nape of her neck as she hung her head over the bowl. She cried, knowing the walls were too thick for anyone to even try and help her, and decided she was releasing the guilt she felt. Survival was natural for all of witchkind. She just needed to survive in a different way. An ambitious fury clouded over her fair complexion. 
It was the Death Descendant’s life for her own. If that’s the way it has to be…oh, it’s going to be. 
Yalina burst through Kiki’s bathroom door. 
“Can you hurry—sparks,” she gasped. “That’s disgusting. What just happened? Are you okay? Ki, what the—“ 
“I’m fine,” Kiki spat. She motioned two fingers to the toilet, and it flushed under her command. “Just get out.” 
“Look what she’s doing to you,” Yalina said in horror. 
“Adrian? Or your mom?” 
“I was talking about Mom, but…” Yalina sighed. “I don’t get it. Never will. I bet it’s harder to kill her than you thought.” 
“It’s another witch’s life,” Kiki said as she washed out her mouth in the sink. “I’ve never even, like, shot a hautor. How am I supposed to kill a Double Royal?” 
“So it’s about her title.”
“Kind of,” Kiki admitted. Her and Yalina exited into Kiki’s room. “The world is going to go to sparks without her.”
“Why?” Yalina sprawled herself out on Kiki’s perfectly-made bed. “Valda’s done fine without her for the past 14 years. So have the Chapters.” Kiki sat at the foot of her bed in thought. 
“The Dark Chapter’s going to want her sooner or later—she’s the last descendant they need. And Overseer Juniper doesn’t actually want her daughter dead, I assume.”
“Since when do you care about the Overseer’s feelings?” Yalina snided, taking one of Kiki’s pillows and holding it to her chest. “The times we’ve met her, she didn’t seem super emotional herself. I hate that, personally. But you do you.” Yalina rolled over to her stomach, and Kiki laid on her back next to her. “She has another daughter to take her throne, anyway, if that’s what you’re worried about.” 
“You mean the hermit primadonna?” Kiki exclaimed, sitting up with a snicker. “She’s not even allowed to leave Valda. And how is she going to control a dominion if her only hobby is shopping?” 
“I mean, my only hobby is shopping,” Yalina shrugged. “You think I’m incapable of ruling the Opposite Side?” 
“Very much so.” The witches giggled. They watched Kiki’s amethyst-adorned chandelier spin gently. 
“I heard she’s a musician,” Yalina said dreamily after a bit.
“Who, the Princess?” 
“Mhm. Maybe she’ll write a song for one of my plays I’ve written.” 
“Oh yeah, how’s that one you’ve been working on? What was it, the ‘Lake of Something’…”
“‘The Ocean’s End’, stupid,” Yalina scoffed, slapping Kiki on the back playfully. Kiki’s laugh was soon interrupted by a wince, and she sat up to rub her soreness.
“You got pretty messed up today, didn’t you?” Yalina sat up and began to massage Kiki’s shoulders and press areas of her back lightly. “I don’t like this. You can’t keep getting hurt like this if you want to dance this fall—”
“You really think I’m going to be able to be on the dance team after all this?” Kiki snapped, her voice hollow. She groaned, propping her elbows up on both her knees. “Syl would never let me go back. It was hard enough to convince her to let me dance during my training, but now…I can’t do anything until I kill Adrian. Don’t you get it?” Kiki looked back at Yalina, shaking her head. “I’m hers. I’m devoted to Adrian until she’s gone.” 
“Then I’m gonna do whatever it takes to help you get rid of her,” Yalina decided. With a twirl of Kiki’s hair around her finger, she got off the bed and opened the armoire , fingering through the many items of clothing that hung in it. “Because there’s no way you’re spending the rest of your life chasing after this girl instead of hanging out with me.” Kiki managed a laugh, admiring her sister as she pried into her closet. Yalina still stood on her tiptoes despite her impressive height, which Kiki always found entertaining. Her jet black waves of hair shone and swayed with Yalina’s every slight movement, her regally arched nose just visible from the angle she stood at. Yalina had that kind of beauty Kiki always saw in the statues at museums, she thought: so strong that they’re unbreakable, but gentle on the eyes; even some erosion when you look closely. Her mind strayed to wondering how far Yalina would go to fulfill her claims—and then Kiki hoped she wouldn’t fulfill them at all. She pushed off the bed. 
“Okay, stop going through my stuff.” 
“Um, no.” Yalina swiveled to show Kiki her findings. “You should wear this tonight. Wait, why is this the cutest outfit I’ve ever seen? I’m getting better and better at this personal stylist thing.” Kiki scoffed with a smile, taking the hangers from Yalina and holding the garments up in the light. 
“Didn’t even know I had this shirt,” she said, feasting her eyes upon the elegant chantilly-lace cami top Yalina had chosen. “A little dressy though. I thought we would just go to grab food or something.” 
“There’s always an excuse to get dressed up!” Yalina sassed her. She grabbed the hangers back from Kiki and threw them onto the bed. “Get dressed now. Or I’m leaving without you.”
“You’d never.” 
“I know.” The witches departed with grins on both their faces. Kiki’s dropped in an instant.
“CLOSE MY DOOR!”
“YOU CAN DO IT!” Yalina screamed from somewhere. Kiki rolled her eyes so far into the back of her head she saw stars. Then, she focused her attention to Yalina’s pickings on her bed. Kiki’s arms flopped to her sides as she puffed a breath of exhaustion, yet thinking of the girl in the bedroom across from hers, Kiki did not hesitate to change into the tank and mini skirt. 
It was the least she could do to contribute to Yalina’s happiness. 
Maybe her efforts would distract her from Adrian, too. After lacing up her clogs and a makeup touch-up, Kiki tapped the room’s amethyst auto-lantern off and bounded into the now completely darkened hallways. Knowing that the wicked summer night was just outside those walls made the trip through the mansion all the chillier for Kiki. She strained her eyes to stare at the floor as she made haste, trying to avoid the thought of a hundred faces stalking her from their framed paintings and pictures. She felt them judging her all the way down to her bones; past her skin and everything that tainted it. With each creak of every floorboard, Kiki’s heartbeat quickened, and the terrifying reality of how there were scarier places than the Siedegari Mansion out there surfaced to her mind. All thoughts dropped to her feet when Kiki jolted at the sudden touch of two hands on the back of her shoulders. 
“What is wrong with you?” Kiki snapped. Yalina only sniggered, skipping ahead of Kiki. 
“You look cute,” she said. “Definitely re-wear that outfit. Or I’ll kill you.” 
“Whatever.” Kiki let out a huff, to which Yalina bit her lip out of sight. She opened her mouth to console her sister, yet no words came out, and Yalina’s jittery excitement shrank to guilt. The girls stopped outside a pair of chipped, white, double-doors, only illuminated by the light streaming through the crack at the bottom. 
“Can you ask this time?” Yalina pleaded. “She said no last time when I did it.”
“That’s because you can’t ask her,” Kiki said. “You have to just tell her you’re going, and that there’s nothing she can do about it.” 
“Yeah, but like, she’s my mom. So she can do something about it, actually.” Kiki rolled her eyes and opened the door a bit, poking her head into the room, which she knew well to be Yalina’s father’s study.
Instead of him, Sylvaine Siedegari sat hunched at his desk, now dressed in creamy, silk, night garments. 
“Uh…Sylvaine?” Kiki swallowed. Sylvaine’s finger continued to maneuver a single strand as she hovered it above the crystal, tablet-like device on the desk. 
“Yes?” she replied in her droning voice with a sigh. Kiki cleared her throat. 
“Me and Yalina are gonna go get some stuffed buns,” she said as casually as possible—not that she didn’t know Sylvaine could sniff any lie out of her. However, Sylvaine said nothing, continuing to “write”. Kiki pursed her lips. “So…can we—“
“Where’s Yalina?” 
“…Right next to me.” Yalina stepped on Kiki’s foot hard. Sylvaine finished off a final word, then extinguished her finger by shaking it briefly. 
“Come in here, both of you.” Kiki opened the door fully, beckoning Yalina to follow her into the study. Kiki’s hands went to her hips, while Yalina’s clasped in front of her. Beyond three rows of cherry-wood bookcases filled to the brim with trinkets of all fields, their match sat in a cushioned armchair, a grand window out-looking a shimmering dark cityscape behind her. Sylvaine tilted her head, her stare digging into both Kiki and Yalina. “If you couldn’t tell, I’m extremely occupied with work right now,” she breathed. “The Median Star wants the monthly report finished for tomorrow. Therefore, I will not be able to attend to either of you until I have completed it.”
“We don’t need you to take us anywhere,” Yalina spoke up, her voice deciding to stay at a safe volume. 
“And how are you planning on getting to the city, then?” 
“We’ll just take the gentrie subway, like always,” Kiki said dryly. Sylvaine appeared to have gagged. 
“Such filth,” she said under her breath. “I can’t even imagine the kind of people on there at night.” She held her forehead in her hand as Kiki and Yalina held their breaths. “Be home by 11:30 the latest.” 
“Mommmuhhh!” Yalina whined. “That’s even earlier than last time!” 
“Do you want me to say no altogether?” Sylvaine shot back, her eyes directly on Yalina now. Yalina averted her gaze to the floor. 
“We won’t be late, we promise!” Kiki exclaimed, frantically pushing Yalina out the door before Sylvaine could change her mind. She shut the door carefully behind them. “Dude, you can’t complain like that after she says yes. That’s a death wish if you ask me.” 
“Well sorry I don’t want to miss out,” Yalina pouted. “Nothing good even happens before 12.” 
“You’re annoying me now,” Kiki chuckled. “We’re wasting time. Let’s go.” With a flight of stairs and the swing of the back door, Kiki and Yalina bounded into the dimly lit streets of Stellia.