anadil's mother +oneshots and short stories

chapter 4

4. (mostly hester's pov)

Ani lies on the floor of our dorm, Malice 66. We are all alone. It seems like it's the middle of the night. There is a cut across her stomach and she's bleeding out. I try to move, but I'm frozen in place. I watch as she takes her last breath. Only then I can begin to move again. I scramble towards her, holding her in my arms. But she's no longer breathing. "ANADIL!" I scream.

I wake up in a cold sweat on my bed. I immediately look over to Anadil's bed and she's not there. I begin to panic before realizing that she's at her mother's house. I run my hands through my sweaty hair, still a little startled from the dream (nightmare? But Nevers don't have those). I can't help but think something is wrong.

After trying to go back to sleep (with little to no avail) I get up and leave the room. I find myself walking somewhere, and I don't know where till I stop in front of the balcony I followed Anadil to a few days ago. I sit on the edge, not really caring if I fall at this point.

When is Anadil coming back, anyway? I don't want her to miss too much work, even if Lady Lesso is granting her a pass for the days missed. "She wants me to visit on Thursday," Anadil had said. "Who knows for how long,".

I wonder vaguely if my dream is a sign that Anadil isn't okay. Then, I remember I'm a Never and don't believe in such things so I drop the thought. (I feel like a stupid Ever. Dreams don't mean anything. Except Nemesis ones I guess.) . But I still feel weird. I stay out on the balcony till dawn, and then I head to Lady Lesso's classroom. I knock on the door, and then I suddenly remember I'm still in my pajamas. I find that I don't care.

"Come in," Lady Lesso says, her voice cold and sharp. I close the door behind me and take a seat in front of her desk. She's wearing a purple full-sleeved high neck tucked into white pants and a tight black braid. Lady Lesso raises her eyebrows at me like she's expecting me to ask a question. Like she already knew I was going to come here. I tell myself I don't care about Anadil specifically; just her mom, and who she is. The type of person she is.

"Go on then, Hester. Ask," So I do.

"How do you know Agrona?" Lady Lesso examines me for a bit before answering my question.

"I met her here, at the School for Evil. And I assumed we would be similar. At the time, apart from our eyes and hair, we even looked a little similar. We had the same cold hearts and the same taste for vengeance. But Agrona was different. She was just pure Evil, and didn't believe our common rule: without Good, there is no Evil, and without Evil, there is no Good. For her, there was just Evil. She had her first kill the moment she graduated from school- some servant who hadn't followed her orders. She grew powerful. Rich. And thirsty."

"When did she have Anadil?"

"At a young age- but not that young. I don't know when she met the man or who he is though. But I've heard he has the red eyes Anadil does. When I heard Anadil was born, I followed her life closely. She would no doubt end up going to this school. When she was accepted, I told her I knew her mother and... Well. The rest is for Anadil to tell you herself."

I mull over this information. Maybe my mother, the witch, and Anadil's mother are similar. But I suppose my mother was kind to me when she raised me as a toddler, for the most part. Besides, I can't even remember that much- I was so little. Or maybe Anadil's mother is worse. Far worse.

"The kids at school said my heart was cold- and maybe it was true. But Agrona? Her heart was black. And you can't raise a kid like that."

- - -

(anadil's pov- IM SO SORRY I USUALLY NEVER DO POV SWITCHES BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO CUT IT SHORT JUST BECAUSE I NEEDED TO SWITCH POVS. if i DO have a pov switch in the middle of a chapter, its because i didnt want to cut off the chapter there. DONT HATE ME.)

When I awoke on Monday morning, I attempted to get out of bed, but my legs failed on me. I fell to the floor with a thump. I tried to get up again, but my legs were just not working. My mother shouldn't be home right now. So, I call out-

"BAL! SYLVIA!" I wait for one of them to arrive. Eventually, Bal knocks on my door. I groan and inch towards the door. I reach my hand out and unlock the door. I take a few deep breaths to catch my breath as Bal enters the room. I still feel ill- hot and cold at the same time, sore, the works.

"Are you okay?" Bal asks worriedly.

"I can't walk. And I need to go back to school. Now. Please." he hesitates, but eventually realizes that I cannot stay here.

"Okay. Do you have your stuff?" I gesture my hand toward the single suitcase against a wall in my room, a single dress taken out of it. I think to change out of my nightgown before leaving, but I feel like I'm about to die anyway, so what's the point?

Bal folds the singular dress for me and puts it in my suitcase and I can't help but smile at the action.

I inch my way to a chair and lift myself onto it. Bal presses the button in my room to contact the staff. A maid answers.

"Can you please tell the pilot to get the helicopter running? Anadil is going to leave today." Bal asked.

"But- didn't Agrona say-"

"She is leaving today. Now if you can, please inform the pilot of this." The maid squeaks an okay and turns the intercom off.

"Let's go." Bal grabbed my medicine and suitcase before we left and put an arm around my shoulders to help me walk. Once we were downstairs, I stopped him. I struggled, but I staggered over to a painting in the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" he asked, looking at me strangely. I didn't reply. Instead, I took the painting off the wall. Behind it, there was a silver safe. Bal looked shocked. I put in the code- my mother's birthday with the last two digits being the current year. It opened. Inside, there was gold and diamond jewelry, a picture of my.. father, and stacks and stacks and stacks of money. It was all for emergency purposes, really- and I've been stealing some ever since I was a child. I take two stacks of cash and close the safe, returning the painting to its original spot.

I gestured Bal over and placed the wad of cash in his hands.

"For college. And your bills." he looked at me like I had just grown three heads.

"W-What- No! I could not. Absolutely not." he attempts to give it back to me, and I press it harder into his hand.

"It's fine. It's not even mine. I've been stealing money out of here since I learned how to count." I smirked at him. "Just don't tell the demon." He smiled at me so joyfully- as if I had just given him the keys to the world and not just some money.

"Thank you. So much,"

"Don't mention it. Share with Sylvia, though. And help me with my suitcase." He put the money in his pocket and helped me walk again. Eventually, we were out of the house. I was a little scared of what my mother would do when she found out that I had run away from her for the second time.

I felt more sick- my head throbbing and hands sweating from the walk across the suspension bridge. Finally, we made it to the helicopter. The pilot nodded towards me in greeting. Bal helped me onto the helicopter and eventually entered with me. The doors shut. I have never been so glad to leave a place (except all the other times I've left my mother's house). Once we were up into the air, I felt extremely light headed, even feverish. I took the medicine at my own will.

"Are you alright?" Bal asked once more.

"Yes." I replied, even though I felt close to passing out. I shivered. I looked out the window- the gray sky, the rain beginning to fall- and before I knew it, my head blanked out and I collapsed to the floor of the helicopter.