Dear reader, we previously spoke of the nature of perfidious and powerful spells, how they cause ripples in the surrounding area and affect the caster in strange ways. Such is the nature of magic, one must take care to lead these arcane forces and not find oneself led by them instead. For the uninitiated, such a mistake is a common danger. For Bella, such is the danger of her revenge spell.

Now, as Eldritch Maiden bursts into the room she can see this danger manifested. Bella stands in front of a burning pile of objects, blood dripping down her bare wrist and a black chant spilling from her lips. In her hands is the book of poisons, the pages glistening with the shine of blood. From the edges of the pages, a trail of blood runs down Bella’s hands, twinning with the viscous line of red on her wrist.

Her slim figure now appears gaunt as the toll of the force she wrests with consumes her body. She leans forward, inhaling the smoke of her fire. Despite the cloudiness of the air and the fact that it swirls down her throat, she maintains the spell.

The chamber itself seems to hum, the book in her hands quivering slightly and the shelves vibrating. Behind her glasses, Bella’s eyes flicker back and forth, finally settling on a sickly shade of emerald.

All this unfolds before Hailey’s eyes. Her hands remain clenched at her sides, and she shakes with fury at the scene. She would leap forth to strike the book from Bella’s hands, saving her from the magic. Yet at this point interrupting the spell would be far more dangerous than allowing it to continue unabated. Eldritch can only watch as her friend transforms.

Finishing the spell, Bella drops the book to her feet and inhales the last of the smoke. Then she reaches down into the ashes of the flames and pulls forth a shining green leaf. Unaware of Hailey’s arrival, she holds up the leaf and begins to cackle.

“Finally!” She hisses, “Finally I am safe! All thanks to this little poisonous plant, all thanks to… Belladonna!”

“No Bella” Hailey says, stepping into the room, “you’re not safe.”

Belladonna whirls about in surprise. When she spots Eldritch, she curses and leaps back, putting the table between the two. Then she hesitates, visibly torn, before she speaks. “You… you know my name?”

Eldritch nods slowly. Then she says, “Yes Bella. I know who you are and I know you need to put down the leaf. You can end this whole thing if you put it down and step away from the ritual components. I can help you purge this evil magic.”

Bella clenches her hand around the leaf, holding it tight. “No! If you know me then you must have known what I’m going through, the bullying. You’re magic, you could use your magic to see what was happening. Why didn’t you stop them?”

Eldritch spreads her hands and takes a step into the room. Then she speaks with her voice full of contrition, “I should have. I didn’t see what was happening to you, but I should have been paying more attention and I’m sorry, I made a mistake." Bella visibly wavers, almost convinced by the display of contrition and promise of help. Then Hailey continues to speak, "Just put the leaf down and I can help you stop them, I can help you stop Trishia, Ally, and Maggie.”

Bella inhales in surprise, her eyes widening. “How... how do you know it was them?!” Her eyes narrow to slits behind her glasses and when she speaks her tone is venomous, “You knew I was being bullied! You didn’t do anything!”

Belladonna moves her hand with the leaf closer to her mouth in a swift motion. But before she can eat the nightshade, Hailey takes another step forward and conjures her dagger, shouting “Stop!”

“You’re not any better.” Bella whispers, quiet and accusatory, the leaf balancing from her hand inches from her mouth. “You’re not a heroine. You could have done something and you didn’t. I don’t understand how anyone could let that happen, even if you hate me. If I did something that made you mad I’m sorry.” Tears start rolling down her cheeks. “I know people don’t like me because I’m a know-it-all and because I’m awkward and weird and ugly but I try hard not to be a bad person.”

Bella wipes her tears from her face and stares straight into Eldritch’s soul. “I don’t get it.” Her voice is flat and defeated. “I don’t get why anyone would watch them bully me like that.” Then a horrible realization dawns in Bella’s eyes and her expression contorts into anguish as she howls, “You’re one of them! Are you Ally? Trishia?” She looks down at the floor for a moment, hesitating before asking the last question both of them know is coming, “Are you Maggie?”

“NO… no, I’m not.” Hailey says beneath the cowl. Her tone is weary, her inability to find an appropriate response to Bella weighing on her. Her frustration with Theo and the weight of her secret weighs on her in this moment. In her moment of weakness, however, the opportunity to defuse the situation vanishes as Bella shakes her head in disappointment and speaks.

“Then you’re just as bad. So I need to take care of myself, I won’t be weak anymore and I won’t rely on people like you.” Belladonna says as she brings the leaf up to her mouth and places it on her tongue before gulping it down.

Eldritch starts forward in alarm as Bella chews and swallows the toxic leaf. But she is too late, as Bella tumbles to the ground in agony, she begins to writhe and twists, her limbs contorting, fingers clenching and unclenching as she claws at the ground in desperation.

A few terrible seconds pass before her twisting stops. The figure on the ground shudders and drags itself to its hands and knees. Ripping away Bella’s glasses, Belladonna rises.

“Get out of my way Eldritch. I’m going to hurt those girls.” Belladonna says, her voice swirling with the power of her incantation.

Eldritch replies in a determined tone, “No. We can find a solution that doesn’t involve hurting anyone.”

Belladonna shakes her head, confident in her newborn powers. Then she firmly replies, “No. We can’t. I’m going to have my revenge and if you get in the way I’ll hurt you too.”

“Fine, I’ll stop you first and then figure out how to save you.” Eldritch replies as she begins curling her fingers in preparation for her light web attack and transforming her dagger into a shield.

Belladonna moves to quickly for her however, sending a blast of green poison flying at her head. Ducking and covering with the shield Eldritch deflects the blast and jumps back towards the entrance of the room.

Vaulting the table, Belladonna moves after her, bringing a web of poison tendrils up about her body. The lines begin to intersect and weave into her clothing, forming a vague outline of a sweatshirt and sweatpants that continues to obscure her body. Belladonna’s face gains a sickly and faint purple tint. Her pupils dilate to impossible dimensions and shine with a green light.

Eldritch spins out of the doorway, missing the rest of the change, as she begins her own spell. Once ready, she ducks back through the portal and sends her weave of magic flying into the room, chewing through the space.

As she does, Eldritch gets a clear look at Belladonna’s new form, almost causing her to hesitate. Belladonna notices the intersecting lines of light but refuses to duck, instead she raises the spell book, discarded on the table, in front of her and jumps forward into the spell before it can expand. The lines have no ability to damage the book and simply dissipate into nothingness, the few edges that do escape the book fraying off into nothingness.

But her move with the book blocks her line of sight and allows Eldritch to make the next move. She quickly transforms her shield into a spear that she drives towards the center of the book. Belladonna makes a beginner’s mistake and lowers her impromptu shield, giving Eldritch a clear strike at her unprotected neck!

This clash of sorceresses does not end so quickly, however, dear reader. Belladonna’s cocoon of toxic tendrils protects her from the attack, blunting the force of the thrust and simply sending the girl flying back over the table.

As she falls back, Belladonna loses control of the book. Eldritch’s spear transforms into a whip on its way back to her hand. She uses it to reel in the text and secure it out of Belladonna’s hands. On the other end of the room, the villainess realizes she no longer possess the source of her power.

With a shriek, Belladonna smashes her hand on the side of table, breaking the wood with a spray of acid. Her face contorts in rage as she sprays several motes of acid at Eldritch and then barrels down directly behind the corrosive liquid.

Stepping back, Eldritch twists her whip into a shield. Then she tucks the book under her free arm and moves back towards the entrance of the room. Before she can escape, Belladonna’s acid hits her shield in a series of pings and hisses against the mystic metal of the dagger. Then a moment later, the full weight of Belladonna hammers into the shield and sends Eldritch sprawling back into the hallway.

Too enraged to concentrate for a spell, Belladonna simply rains down blows on Eldritch as she protects her body and face with the shield. Cowering beneath the metal, Eldritch struggles with the weight of the diminutive girl. Finally, she shoves her to the side, sliding her off the shield and leaving her on the ground. Now able to disengage, Eldritch moves to put her weight behind the metal and drive Belladonna into the ground.

But her attempt to press her opponent out of the fight falls short as Belladonna writhes and twists away, burning a bookshelf with her acid and collapsing the library materials atop the pair. As each strives to disentangle themselves, Eldritch and Belladonna both realize the book of poisons has fallen into the pile of books!

For a second, the two stare at one another. Then a frantic search for the tome takes place as each fights to be the first to the book. Snapping her whip, Eldritch tries to drive Belladonna away from the pile. Belladonna replies with a spray of toxic mist that catches Eldritch full in the face. For a second, she reels. Then Eldritch falls to the ground clutching at her face!

Belladonna continues to root through the pile as the tome continues to elude her. Meanwhile, Eldritch cannot seem to shake the effect of the poison. She stands groggily to her feet and stumbles two steps in one direction before falling again.

Inside the mind of Eldritch Maiden, something twisted and foreign rises. Inside an immense star-scape a lovely woman reclining on nothingness raises her head in sudden shock, twisting about as though looking for something she cannot quite spot.

In the library, Eldritch clutches her head and screams in agony as the venom of Belladonna begins to work its insidious magic. Frantically, Belladonna continues to paw through the pile of discarded books until her hands fall across a blank, innocuous looking text. With a smile, she raises the book and begins to collect herself.

Sparing a glance down at the fallen heroine, Belladonna speaks, “Farewell hero. I’d stay to watch you suffer but there’s these three girls I’m just aching to watch writhing on the floor in much, much, worse pain than you.”

With this pronouncement, Belladonna grabs the opposite shelf and collapses it on the downed Eldritch before walking out of the library. As she does, a voice crackles in over the P.A. system.

Mrs. Anderson’s voice is distant and clouded by the ancient system but her words cut through the silent library. “Bella Atropa, Bella Atropa please report to the main office immediately.”

Belladonna smiles and sends a blast of acid towards the speaker, saying to herself, "No Bella here, not anymore," before marching out of the back of the library and sending the few students who curiously gathered to the sounds of the stacks falling running for cover and help.

Inside the library, sheltered by a shattered pile of wood and pages, Eldritch Maiden wails in agony! Can she snap out of the mind-invading magic of Belladonna? Even so, can she break free in time to stop Bella from enacting her vengeance upon the three bullies? Find out next week in… “Prison of the Mind!”