Sisters and Angels - A BatIM fanfic

11) - Ink Parasite: Part One

Esme's POV

Aunt Shay's punishment was going to last the duration of the time she had the ink parasite in her, and she wasn't allowed to talk to Susie. Day three of Shay's punishment was underway the morning after Mom's date. I was washing my face in the bathroom, when I looked in the mirror and saw a twisted version of myself staring back at me. Her form was one of pure black, tar-like ink. Instead of legs, she had a single 4ft stream of ink. Her arms were longer, larger, and more muscular, while her hands were bigger with sharp, claw-like fingertips. Her long hair was a dripping mess, she had sharp beastial teath, a long tongue that ended at a point, and glowing amber eyes with black sclera.

She tsk-tsked at me. "You can't ignore me forever," purred the evil persona my diet had created. "After all, this is my body." A few minutes passed as I acted like she didn't exist, which made her growl, literally. "How dare you ignore me when this used to be my body and my mind! I had a life before the Ink Machine gave you one. I had ceased to exist until your diet restored me. She went livid as I continued to ignore her. "Arghhh! Say something! Anything!"

I walked out of the bathroom, and smirked when the evil persona didn't say anything else. Just ignore it Esme. I told myself. As long as you don't acknowledge it, you won't give it any power.

----

I had nothing better to do, so I was watching Shay work when we heard Mom come in.

"Good morning May," my aunt had spoken without turning away.

"Shay, it's half-past noon."

"It is?" She asked as the two of us turned to look at mom, and when we looked at her, our jaws dropped. Instead of wearing the business suit that was her usual attire, Mom now wore a shirt, slacks, stockings, loafers, silk gloves, and a long velvet coat. Her hair was styled in a way so as Allison's halo rested on her head, a small halo braid ironically rested on top of it. She wasn't dressed as nicely as she was when she went on her date, but she did look very nice.

Mom smiled. "Like it? I decided to try out something new."

I nodded. "You look great mom, it's a good look for you."

My aunt smirked. "Was this new look brought about by Allison?"

Mom blushed. "Yeah. I couldn't stop thinking about her 'I think elegance suits you' comment. While I'd rather not dress fancy all the time, I wanted to try out a 'simple elegance' look if that makes sense."

I nodded. "It does, and I think you were successful."

"I agree with my niece on that."

"Thanks. So what are you doing Shay?"

"Experimenting with a pair of ink balls Esme gave me." Shay answered as she turned back around and returned to her project.
Mom frowned. "Why?"

"Working on a gift for you. Yes!" Shay cheered as she finally got the ink balls to change their shape. After some more work, she somehow managed to make them take on the form of some sort of earpiece. She put one on her right ear, and tossed the other to me. I put mine in my ear, and we both tapped the button they had on the side. "Marco." She quietly tested.

"Polo" I quietly replied

My aunt grinned like a cheshire cat."It works! I can hear you perfectly Esme. How well can you hear me? "

"Crystal clear"

"Wonderful." She tapped the button again, took it off, and tossed it to Mom. "There you go, my gift for you."

May was astonished. "It looks like one of those ultralight, hands free bluetooth earphones."

Shay nodded. "That's because it is. A perfect inky replica of one. Before you ask how, a line from Can't Be Erased has some relevance here." She informed, then sang, "upon this somber threshold, imagination comes to life." She noticed Mom's confusion, and began to explain. "Dreams aren't the only thing that can come to life in this place. Imagination can as well. Creativity is a powerful thing in this place."