Piper

Toy Soldier

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today."
– James Dean

Tabitha wouldn't budge, as her eyes remained shut.

She stood still straight like a toy soldier with her hands by her side after Astrid called out her name.

Tabitha was placed under a deep trance once she stared straight into the eyes of the little girl embalming the dummy a minute ago. And a memory of her past came back to haunt her as if someone implanted it in her brain; a recollection of where Tabitha came from.The story of how she was adopted by witches after her biological mom left her on the Council's doorstep. As if Tabitha was a gift, the witches needed, as someone new to continue their legacy as they weren't getting any younger.

And Piper was behind this scheme because she wanted the girl to fail and was enjoying this show rather than looking after her wax dummies who just stared at her as if they were mannequins in a store window. If the evil spirit had hands, Piper would be rubbing them together as her plan to destroy the Witches of Warwick was working.

Tabitha's Past

On a February morning, a knock on the door interrupted Miss Gretchen Winters' sleep. It startled her as she wasn't expecting any visitors, especially the fact that she was widely known as the town's hermit. She'd only leave her home when the Witches Council needed her or if she needed to buy food in the town's only grocery store.

But the woman had a nagging feeling that whoever was behind this door was rather important, an opportunity she could not pass, despite the fact she was still half-asleep and in a nightgown. Once Gretchen opened her front door, a trembling little girl popped up from behind the trimmed hedges. It startled the woman but seeing that the little girl was shivering, she asked her to come inside once she made sure that no one else was outside.

Once the girl entered the house, Gretchen noticed that there was an envelope taped on her coat. Noticing this Gretchen asked the girl to sit down on the couch and wrapped her in blankets.

"Sit down my child. You must be freezing! Please take off your coat and I'll wrap you up in some warm blankets."

Once Gretchen held the girl's coat in her arms she opened the envelope and read it.

Please take my little one in for I can no longer care for her. I am being followed and I don't want my Tabitha to learn about my problems. I trust you, Miss Winters, to raise her as a proper young lady.

Yawning, Miss Winters reread the note again and burst into tears. She was still half-awake but realized that she now had a bigger task to take care of by herself.

She turned the note over to see if there was any sign of who was Tabitha's guardian, but there was nothing there, leaving her puzzled. Gretchen then asked the young girl who her mother was, but Tabitha wouldn't respond.

After a few tries, Gretchen gave up and excused herself to brew some tea.

After that episode, a curious black cat climbed onto the sofa and sat next to Tabitha. The feline observed how the frail girl looked and nodded her head as she disapproved on what she saw.

"We need to put some muscle in you, girl. This won't do." The cat meowed and its paw touched Tabitha's cheek.

Frantic, Tabitha stood up and shrieked causing the tabby to panic as well. A talking cat!

Tabitha was sure she was hearing things but wanted to make sure.

"You can talk?"

The clever feline widened his smile. Lenore knew how humans would react to her animalistic body. She wished she never angered the Warlock who turned her into a black cat, but Lenore ran out of options that day.

The screams alerted the old lady from the kitchen, fearing for the worst. She thought the little girl would run away or she might have touched one of her antique vases filled with potions. But as she ran into the living room, Gretchen found Tabitha cuddling her best friend making her laugh.

"Ah, I see you met my cat. Tabitha, please meet Lenore."

"Cat, you know her better than we do. Please wake her up!"

Astrid kept crying as any female teenager who was worried about her future.

But the feline just ignored Astrid's call as she didn't trust her.

"Oh, what did she call you? Leah? Leni? Oh, I got it ... Lenore. Like that lady from the poem by Edgar Allan Poe ... my long lost Lenore."

At that minute, the cat's ears perked up. She was the long lost 'Lenore'. And anyone who might be looking for her whereabouts was indeed someone she'd like to help.

Thus Lenore meowed loudly signaling for Hansel to stop shaking Tabitha.

"Hansel stop!"

And with that, the boy released his hands from Tabitha's shoulders, and eventually, her eyes fluttered, providing hope for her friends that she would save the day.