Dear reader, last week we saw the true import of Bella’s transformation into the toxic avenger Belladonna. Eldritch Maiden dueled her in the library in a desperate attempt to prevent Belladonna from seeking out revenge against Bella’s bullies. As they fought, Belladonna struck at Eldritch with a poison of the mind.

Incapacitated by the perfidious perfume, Eldritch fell. Hardly sparing her a second thought, Belladonna left to seek her vengeance, leaving our heroine laying in agony among the shattered ruins of the library.

Inside the mind of Eldritch, Hailey lays in pain. About her is nothing but flames and the stench of smoke and sizzling flesh. Off in the distance the cackle of a madwoman rings. Then a rush of pressure that serves as a prelude to the next hiss of flame buffets the ruined room in which Hailey curls.

In the dreamscape, the flames smash easily through the flimsy barriers and break into the room. Moments later a woman in a black skinsuit maneuvers through the burning wreckage. Perched atop her heels, she still only stands at a diminutive five feet and a handful of inches. Her obvious pushup bra accentuates the woman’s appearance. The exceptionally tight costume’s natural appeal only heightens the effect of her almost overripe beauty.

Her black curls hang about her face, framing neon green lipstick and a black mask that curls back into a pair of massive horns that sweep back behind and above her head. Upon seeing her, Hailey gasps in fear and says in a confused voice, “Malefic!?!”

Casting about herself in desperation, she searches for her signature dagger. Unable to find it, she screws her face up in concentration, then her expression breaks into panic and she whispers, “Bel? Belinda? Belinda where are you?”

Trying to stay low, she looks about the burning room. It is, or was, a shoe store the evidence of that laying scattered and burning throughout the room. Hailey recognizes the location and begins to hyperventilate, panic beginning to overtake her as she cowers within the meagre protection of the burning shelves. For the moment, these shelves obscure Malefic’s sight to the interior of the store and shield Hailey from her eyes.

Tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, Hailey begins to turn towards the back of the store as if deathly afraid. The source of her obvious trepanation reveals itself as she stands, trembling, gazing at the charred figure laying on the ground behind her. Voice wracked with pain, she whispers, “Amanda.”

Crying, she drops to her knees by the corpse and cradles the body whispering in short, intense bursts in between silent sobs. “I’m a heroine now Amanda. I saved Theo and it was all because of you. I wanted to tell you, I went to the cemetery afterwards and I… I…”

Sniffing, she wipes her tears away with her sleeve before continuing. “I could see Death because of you. I’m so sorry I know it means nothing, I know it changes nothing, I just, I miss you so much every day.” Pressing her forehead to the ashy face of the body, she whispers, “I miss you so much all the time it hurts but I’m trying to be a good person.”

“Not hard enough.” The corpse murmurs in an ashen voice.

Shocked, Hailey drops Amanda and reels backwards crawling away. The burned figure sits up and stares at her, the empty eyes staring with an unholy intensity. Then the mouth moves.

The sound is inhuman and accusatory, the words of the corpse strike at Hailey nevertheless. “You’re a failure. You’re weak. You’re nothing. You let me die, you let Malefic burn me alive. I couldn’t scream in the end Hailey. I couldn’t scream because I tried to breathe and she sent fire down my throat. A hero wouldn’t have let me die.”

“N… no I tried!” Hailey sobs.

Dispassionately, the corpse shakes its head, small pieces of ash and burned flesh falling to the ground. “You tried. I cooked, all because you couldn't do any better than 'I tried.'”

“Please.” Hailey begs the figure, moving towards it.

“No.” The zombie puts a hand up and stops her from approaching.

“You need to suffer Hailey. You deserve to suffer. Walk out there, do what you should have done months ago and walk out there so Malefic can burn you alive too.” The voice is cruel now, tainted with a vicious tone.

Hailey stares at the figure and bows her head in distress. Seeing her weakness, the voice continues. “You should have died here. If it wasn’t for Wiccan and Belinda you would a corpse just like me. You don’t deserve anything better.”

Looking up through her tears, Hailey stares at the body. Then she says in a quiet voice, “Amanda wouldn’t say any of that. This is Bella’s poison. You’re not real.”

A rictus grin emerges from Amanda’s shattered face. It stretches to impossible proportions, tearing the lips. Without moving her mouth, she speaks. “Maybe. You never got the chance to ask Amanda how she really felt about you. But either way, even if this isn’t real, your suffering will be.” Then she turns to the storefront and the body falls into the flames, knocking down the objects blocking Malefic’s line of sight and attracting her attention with the crash.

Down the hall in the mall, Malefic turns back to the storefront and cracks a wide smile as she spots Hailey. Springing into action, Hailey dashes back towards the escalator opposite Malefic. As she does, a gout of flame buffets her back leaving her clothing burning and her back covered in blisters and burns.

Rolling into the still escalator, Hailey rolls down the stairs and crawls over to the body of a woman lying next to a dagger. As she reaches for the dagger, a blast of fire engulfs her hand. As she screams in agony, Hailey’s fingers fall upon the blade.

This, dear reader, is the moment that Eldritch Maiden came into existence! Here, Belinda and Hailey formed a pact to work together for the good, and for a chance to strike at Malefic!

Alas, in the dream this dagger is not the one that houses Belinda’s spirit. Instead, it is merely an ornamental piece of metal and so it does nothing and provides no magical power. Shocked by the lack of a reaction, Hailey fails to defend herself as another surge of flame smashes into her prone form.

She struggles to drag her burned body towards the exit and fails, stopping when Malefic digs a heel into her raw, bleeding back. In the nightmare, Malefic bathes her figure in flame. Howling, Hailey tries to drag her body into the hallway and towards the fallen figure of Wiccan. As she does, Malefic kicks her in the side and grabs her by the hair, wrapping her smoldering strands tight into a ball. Then she begins to drag Hailey across the shattered and superheated glass of the storefront windows that litters the ground of the mall.

Sobbing Hailey struggles in vain to break free of the diminutive woman’s iron grasp. Casting her onto the glass, she blasts her figure with another torrent of flame, sending Hailey into another peal of screams. Smiling, Malefic ignites her hands and begins to smash them down into Hailey’s writhing figure.

Unable to defend herself or fight back Hailey can only lay in agony as Malefic continues to rain strikes of fire and fist upon her. With each blow, her body heals and the pain begins fresh as the first hit. Helpless, Eldritch tries to curl into a fetal position and endure the waves of pain that endlessly batter down.

In a field of stars with no end, a woman looks down through a portal that shows the scene. She visibly frets, pacing about the floorless sanctum. Her distress manifests itself in her agonized tone as she shouts at the portal, “Hailey! Please you need to stay strong, please don’t give in, please, please, please keep fighting child!”

Various books appear in her hands and disappear as she roots through them, casting them aside as each fails to provide an answer. The discarded books tumble endlessly into the field of stars, joining the winking lights as they fall forever. Finally, she shouts in joy as one of the texts provides her with the answer she seeks.

Concentrating, she moves her hands in a series of incredibly quick and complicated motions. Then a chant spills forth from her pearly lips. The cant builds and spills, at times shaking the entire plane with force and noise and in other moments so quiet that it is little more than a subconscious murmur in the back of her throat. On and on it goes for hours, days, eons as time disappears.

Finally, with a ringing vowel that sits in the air and vibrates throughout the stars the chant ends and her hand motions cease. Shaking with the exertion, she sways and begins to tumble. Dragging her exhausted body towards the portal, she clutches weakly at the edges of the portal and forces her head to gaze upon the girl being tortured.

Nothing has changed. Hailey still writhes in agony as Malefic’s fire torment’s her. The woman’s expression falls and her exhausted face slides to the cushion of air as the energy drains from her body. Stumbling to her feet, she stills her trembling hands and faces the portal, beginning the ritual again.

This time she does not tear her gaze from the image of Hailey’s suffering even as she struggles simply to stay on her feet. The words spill out of her, again rising and falling. Again, her hands snap through precise motions. Again, time loses meaning. This time, however, as the final word rolls from her tongue it does not fall into the star-scape. This time the ringing echoes of her chant seem to race towards the portal where they shatter the image.

Completely drained, Belinda crumples to the ground, dissipating into the stars themselves as she does. Weakened to the brink, she cannot maintain the minimal energy needed to take human form. Belinda succumbs to her exhaustion, but as she does her expression changes from worry to satisfaction as she senses the change her spell causes as it sweeps through Hailey’s subconscious.

Back in the mall, Hailey feels a sudden surge of energy reinvigorate her fragile body. Malefic continues to strike at her, but this time her blows are feeble and easily ignored. Hailey can feel her eldritch magic flowing back into her and this time as Malefic ignites her hand and prepares to drive her fist into Hailey’s stomach she finds a golden barrier of light blocking in the way!

With a victorious smile, Eldritch stands up. Then she speaks. “Well, well, well. You have no idea how many times I’ve dreamed of putting the beat down on you, looks like this was less of a nightmare and more of a dream.”

After her pronouncement, Eldritch stands up and manifests a pair of glowing boxing gloves for her hands. She then marches forward and begins to pound away at Malefic, who disperses into a cloud of poisonous gas after a few hits.

Back in the library, a pile of books stirs. A few moments later Eldritch Maiden bursts from the stacks! She glances about and sees a trail of devastation where acid marks have eaten into the walls and floor. Here and there, the signs of students running away litter the room, discarded backpacks and spilled writing utensils.

Pacing down the hallways, Eldritch cannot hear the normal sounds of students going about their day. Nor does the P.A. system say anything. No sounds emanate from the speakers.

As Eldritch crosses by the gym, she hears the sound of laughter. Making her way over, she stumbles onto a terrifying sight! Belladonna has tied up the three bullies, Ally, Trishia, and Maggie, and has them dangling over a pool of acid!

Doubtless, Eldritch would like to barrel into the room for round two of the fight. But her earlier failure, and her inability to sense Belinda’s spirit, has her exercising a great deal of caution. Afraid any loss in this conflict will also mean the loss of three innocent (well, relatively innocent) lives; Eldritch decides to exercise caution and begins to prepare a spell she hopes will conclude the conflict!

What force is she calling upon dear reader? Will it be enough to end Belladonna’s rampage? Find out next week in… “Malleus Maleficarum!”