The Witch's Doll ⚢

Chapter 2

A/N

Here's the next chapter! Thank you for your patience :) From here on out, I will update weekly.

I based the voodoo magic mostly on the Philippines and African myths. This chapter happened before the occurrences of Chapter 1. A little Alessandra backstory.

"No one wants her, what do we do with her?"

That stupidly sums up the existence of her life.

She has been rejected since she was an infant. The police found her crib on its doorstep with a bottle of poison around her neck. She hadn't understood it clearly, but she can tell that her biological parents didn't want her so they disowned her. Yet the fact that her so-called mother left her to the police was questionable.

Try as they might and search for her family, with the bottle of poison as a clue, no one could trace it back. Her parents might as well vanish into thin air.

So the police had no choice but to leave her in the orphanage. Under the care of the Mother Superior, the Matron of the Orphanage in Capiz, Philippines. As the years went by, no one would adopt her. Potential couples would cringe every time she's been in adoption interviews because of her uncanny personalities and weird inclination towards fungi and insects.

That has been it for years.

Partially it's because of her extremely rare eyes. It was the color of anger, of love, of danger, and life. Red eyes were thought to be an omen of a demon before it was discovered as another scientific rarity.

When she got older, life got harder for her—harder for a teenager to get adopted. She tried so hard to disregard them, but she can't. She had grown to hate in her eyes, she even wore brown contacts just to hide them. It may have lessened scrutiny but still, but wasn't enough. But then in time, she learned how to accept them.

Alessandra had still not belonged. Even if the Sisters of the Convent treat her well, she can tell they don't understand her. There wasn't enough budget for a proper therapist and psychiatrist. Most kids bully her because she was different, but she doesn't even care. She always resorted to fighting back using her mushroom and poison pranks—One of the reasons why her certificate of good moral was nonexistent.

Until she reached the age of 16, she wanted to leave.

"I think I know what to do with her." Mother Kathryn had watched her grow and refused to let her leave until she reached adulthood. A minor without any money or a place to live was a serious offense to Mother Kathryn's calling. So instead, she asked her sister, who was a doctor to help Alessandra find a place to stay and pay rent a few months before she can live on her own.

Mother Kathryn's sister was situated in London, and thanks to connections. She was able to get there. With shady dealing, Dr. Adams became her legal guardian until she will reach 18. But her guardian couldn't care less about her. Because of that, Alessandra lived in a terrace flat alone. 15 minutes away from Dr. Adams for both rather live away from each other. She's now a high school senior and a part-time worker in a flower shop.

Gradually, on nights like this, without Evonnie to pester her, Alessandra tasted salt. Quickly, she dabbed her handkerchief in her eyes. After realizing that she has been crying and broken down, she looked at the sky at midnight high. Few cars passed by.

Dr. Adams was the opposite of Mother Kathryn. Although it was a shady adoption, the woman still discarded Alessandra as a gum stuck on her shoe once she turned 18.