Incubus (American Horror AU 4)

Chapter 4

Misty arrived early the following morning with Clara and Amy, much to the delight of the Supreme and the rest of the council members. Julie was particularly happy because her sister in-law, skilled in the power of resurgence, was giving a lesson to the more powerful of the academy's pupils as promised during their lavish dinner just nights before. Julie received her nieces well, giving them hugs and kisses on the cheek, and while Misty spoke with her, Cordelia came into the atrium and offered to take the little girls out to the greenhouse.

"Ooh, flowers?" Amy asked, her large, intensely azure eyes looking up at the blind witch excitedly as she took her black, gloved hand. Her soft, golden curls seemed to bounce as she walked with her sister and Cordelia.

"Yes, little one," Cordelia smiled, using her Second Sight to navigate her way through the house as they passed a group of students with Eleonora leading them.

The witch noticed something very different about the blonde as she slinked by with the single-file line of young, powerful women and men; either it was her style of dress or her presence itself, but Eleonora seemed to radiated a different light from her being. She stood tall and confident, her lustrous, lush green eyes staring off into space fiercely as she stepped with abandon in sky-high black stilettos that seemed to match her shorter-than-average dark gray dress with ¾ sleeves and lace embroidery around the seemingly modest neckline and short hem of the dress' skirt. It was cinched at the waist with expert stitching and gingham-like dots evenly mottled the fabric. In the distance, Julie could notice the strangeness in Eleonora's presence as she spoke with Misty-what bothered her the most was that she only smiled at Clara and Amy, not even stopping to give them a hug and a kiss.

"Eleonora, I'm glad you could, uh, come," Julie said as she approached them with the line of students behind her. Her hair is up, she thought, she never does that. And that lipstick... Her gray eyes focused on the intensity of her makeup, seeing the coral-pink lipstick and intense mascara that flaked in her eyelashes...well, it's not too bad. I'm not one to talk about makeup.

"Hello, Julie." Even Eleonora's tone was different; it was somewhat breathy and weary, but she had a strange normality to it; even Misty picked up on it and turned her head to the side, her voluminous, flaxen curls falling slightly to the side.

"Huh, are you feelin' okay?" she asked kindly with concern.

"I'm fine, Misty," Eleonora said with a smile that shined like a thousand suns.

"Are you sure?" Julie asked, looking at her suspiciously. "You look different. I can already tell right off the bat something happened to you."

"Oh, it's probably my hairstyle," Eleonora smiled, twisting her piled ponytail and adjusting her bangs. "I'm trying something new."

"But..." the Supreme trailed off unsurely, "what about your..." Her voice lowered to a whisper, "scar?"

"It isn't going to change at all," her younger sister. "Might as well accept it. It's going to be there forever."

"Well, then," Julie muttered. She proceeded to successfully change the subject even though she noticed an overwhelmingly red-orange aura surrounding her; "Misty has come to teach a resurgence lesson. You and her could teach it together, you know."

"Oh?" Eleonora asked, cocking an eyebrow up.

"Yeah, remember at dinner a couple nights ago?" Misty reminded with a smirk. "We was gonna teach the pupils a lesson on resurgence."

"Well, I have pupils behind me now," the newly-radiant blonde stated, looking back at them with a short glance. "We can teach them."

"Then, let's," Misty smiled, walking side by side with Eleonora as they ventured down the hall and to the courtyard beyond the great portrait of Julie as painted ten years before. In the meantime, Julie could've sworn she heard footsteps behind her-turning around with wandering eyes, she saw nothing.