As Mena charged down the hallway, screams of fear, terror, and panic grew coarser in her ears. Time seemed to slow down as every footstep towards the door felt like the thud of her heart. The thought had occurred to her that the unhuman devil witch that had put her parents to death was behind that door—but there was no other way to make her escape. At this point, it was either the devil or the deep blue sea.

She burst through the door and found an unruly sight, but not the one she was expecting. Poshleen the once dainty aristocratic girl had a dagger perched at May’s throat. Upon seeing Mena and her friends, May grinned nervously. “Um, I was about to scream ‘kumquats’ for you guys. Thank the great author in the sky you’re here.”

“Poshleen,” Mena reprimanded the girl as she jeered at her with a creepy smile. “Why are you doing this to May?”

Poshleen breathed so hard, Mena could hear her from halfway across the room. “It’s so,” she said. “I can be a true blood heir to my parents. Your friend May is the only thing that stands in my way from being accepted by my parents and high society.”

“But how will that happen?” Mena cried back, feeling very confused

Poshleen howled and thrust her dagger at May’s throat. “Penwell said she’d do it for me”

The fake Penwell standing beside them gave a cold giggle. “Penwell?” she said in a breathy voice so subtemperate it practically froze the air. “Penwell who?”

Poshleen’s cranked her neck nervously towards Penwell as she glided past her and May to greet Mena face to face. “Not only is dear sweet Phenomena Willow here; Grizzy-Bella joins her too.”

With a wicked, yet husky and theatrical laugh, the fake Penwell spread her arms apart. “You brought the whole kitten caboodle.”

The fake Penwell hiked up her dress to reveal two heels as dark as midnight and clicked them together. The façade of Penwell’s skin bubbled over, turning corpse-like pink, her hair turned a poison shade of purple and her clothes transformed into a traditional black witch’s dress and hat, except it was emblazoned with the skulls of those unfortunate enough to cross her. A terrifying scream rang out, followed by a crack of scarily close lightning. Rain seeped down the building like an open gash and voices moaned softly in anguish. The face of Mena’s nightmare stood before her, looking more powerful than ever. Anguish clapped her frost bitten hands. “Anguish the Blood Siren is back, baby,” the devil witch glowered behind icy purple eyes. “Come out ladies. You don’t want to miss this momentous occasion.”

With a gaggle of witchy giggles, the cursed trio of witch henchwomen appeared before Anguish. Bubbel, Toila and Karen all bowed their knees at their mistress’ behest.

The door behind Mena was blasted off its hinged and the Dream Police filed in too, led by Nick and Jonah Clearmind. “Ah,” Anguish said, raising her forehead where her eyebrows should’ve been. ”Did somebody call the Clearmind Society.”

Clearmind’s singular eye leered at Anguish. “Don’t meddle in my affairs, Anguish. The girl is mine, or we shall take her by force.”

Anguish merely guffawed. “Now it’s truly a party, and I, Anguish the Blood Siren, am the guest of honor, you see.”

Anguish clicked back and forth in her sinister heels and muttered out loud. ”Thank you one and all for coming on this fateless day where I put my age-old plan into action”—Anguish’s purple eyes surveyed Mena with such a bone chilling veneer it made the young witch’s blood run cold. “It seems everything has aligned neatly in place for complete and utter chaos…”—Anguish’ forehead lifted—“And at the center of this chaos is dear, sweet Phenomena Willow.”

Anguish beckoned Mena forward. “Now please, come to me darling and this will be quick and painless.”

Before Mena could as much as breath, Grizabella stepped in front of her niece and gave the Blood Siren a hostile hiss. The black kitten stood up on her hind legs, and with a determined meow, carefully crafted a ball of green energy with her paws. It jetted across the room and hit Anguish square in the chest. The Blood Siren gasped and slid across the room, her head draped in her thick purple hair. But when she skidded to a stop, she began to snicker and then erupted into laughter. Her eyes cracked, her head twisted unnaturally, and she threw up her hands. “Grizzy,” she cooed in an innocent mewling voice. “Do you really think you can kill me after we’ve reunited once again?”

Anguish’s voice returned to semi-normal and she strutted across the room in her high heels. “Why haven’t you let Mena in on our little secret?”

Sweat dripped down Mena’s spine as she shivered. What could that fiend possibly mean by that?

Anguish chanted effortlessly. “Magic, scoop up that tiny, little cat, and then, hand me that pesky little prat.”

Without a warning, Grizabella was hurled up into the air with a feline scream and tossed into Anguish’s arms. The Blood Siren popped something into the kitten’s mouth.

“Noooo,” Mena cried, but Anguish merely wagged her finger.

“Relax. I’m simply giving her the antidote.”

Grizabella’s cat body convulsed. Her arms and legs elongated. Her eyes changed from marble and feline to human and terrified. Long scraggly hair fell over Grizabella’s face and body as Anguish manhandled Mena’s auntie.

“Let her go,” Mena screamed as her aunt looked helplessly at Mena. “I don’t want you to kill another member of my family, like you killed my parents.”

For the first time, Anguish’s eyes went wide. “Killed your parents? Grizabella is that really what you told her?”

Grizabella’s eyes shifted wordlessly towards Anguish’s cold pink face. She did not speak.

Anguish’s face twisted in a mixture of hurt and betrayal until she took a silver razor sharp nail, extended it to twice its length and leveled it at Grizabella’s neck. Mena’s mind was swirling with confusion. Had her auntie been lying to her the whole time? But it wasn’t merely her auntie. Bubbel said it too.

“Auntie?” Mena asked. “What’s going on?”

The Blood Siren snapped her fingers. Auntie Grizabella disappeared screaming into a puff of smoke.

“What did you do to her?” Mena demanded.

“I sent her away,” Anguish laughed. “She is not worthy of this-once-in-a-lifetime reunion.”

Anguish coolly walked over to Mena. “I found this at the ranch you were staying at. I’m surprised you kept it for so long,” she said and reached into her robes.

She removed the photo of Mena’s parents sitting by the lakeside. A balding but kind looking man with braces and glasses held a beautiful brown eyed woman with thick eyebrows and long brunette hair. Mena watched them for a second, almost praying she was with them instead of this miserable place…but when she looked back, back at the demon holding the picture frame, she froze. Though her body was corrupted into a devil like form, the face of Anguish matched perfectly with the face of Mena’s mother, Arabella Willow.

Mena didn’t even scream. Her knees wobbled, feeling close to buckling from the weight of the truth.

Anguish tilted her head to the side and cackled. “Now that the cat’s out of the bag. Let’s get down to business. Daughter, I need you to make my greatest nightmare come true.”