What if that's what it was all about? Controlling the people around her or taking away their control over her?

Could she now go to the demon, touch it and make it forget about her, act as if it had never had a daughter?

No. Things surely couldn't be that convenient by a long shot.

Still, it wasn't a bad start.

"Tell me at least one thing. Please. If it's something more complicated, meaning it doesn't automatically trigger... how am I supposed to learn how to use it without even knowing I have it, on top of that?"

The more she thought about it, the more complicated it became.

The stupider she felt for pinning all her hopes on this.

"It's instinctive. Like breathing or moving your arms and legs. You don't have to worry about it. Like I said, just assume... and count on being lucky."

Amy nodded.

"One more question. If the power turns out to be useless in getting me out of this situation, what do you plan to do?"

Abigail smiled a mysterious smile.

She turned around, moving toward the window, and for a moment Amy thought she was going to go out the window without giving her any kind of answer and just as she had appeared: suddenly, without warning.

No, however.

What Abigail did was to finally close the window. Okay, but why had she kept it open all this time?

It crossed her mind that she had left it open just to make her entrance look more dramatic. Cooler.

No, how stupid. Amy shook his head. It's not like she was a kid.

The open window had made her even more tense at first, worried that someone would hear them and what would happen as a result, to Abigail, who was so sought after, and to her as well.

But she had forgotten that it remained open until now, which had reminded her.

"That's a good question," Abigail said. "The answer, fear not, is not that I'm going to abandon you to your fate. I promised Desmond that I would bring you back and that is exactly what I intend to do."

"However, you haven't answered my question. Not really."

"That's what I was going for. I'd find... some way, any way. I would figure something out. Even if it has to be killing him."

"That would just destroy my life. I'd have to assume his position."

"I see. Okay, then we could use whatever he's done to you to make you not care in the least about the idea of killing him, except for what you'd have to do afterwards. But, first of all, put it to the test."

"Yes, that... I guess I can't test it on you, can I?"

Abigail shook her head.

"You've got it right. The power comes from me, after all. It would be convenient if the powers I go around giving out could affect me, maybe one of them could have killed me for good and this mess would have ended a lot sooner. But no. You'll have to find another test subject."

Inconveniences all around. But hey, as far as problems go, it was minor. Like a stone in the road.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do."

"I'll be around here, watching, until this is over. If you can't do it, I will. But you need to do this to yourself, don't you? With your own hands."

"Yes," she admitted quietly, as if afraid someone would hear her.

It was all about control, after all.

She wanted the life she longed for back, but if someone else did it for her, what value would that have? Even if she did it with help, she wanted to do it herself.

If things got desperate, then she wouldn't be so unreasonable as to stop Abigail from doing what she could do.

But, as long as it was possible...

Amy felt she needed to do this, otherwise she would always be living under the shadow of the demon she unfortunately had to call father.

"Good luck then. I'll see you later."

And Abigail quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night. Without a trace. As if Amy had woken up from a dream.

After something like that she didn't find herself able to go to sleep. No, even before the crushing avalanche that Abigail's arrival had triggered she probably wouldn't have been able to fall asleep.

She had to put the power she had received into practice. Regardless of what it was.

Not directly with the demon. Abigail had said it was instinctual, but if she was wrong in assuming what she had, or if she failed even though it should be as easy as breathing according to the woman, she had to try it first.

On herself it surely wouldn't work, just as it didn't work on Abigail who was the source of the power.

But she had within reach many "test subjects," as she had put it.

The servants doing the night shift.

With them, she could try it discreetly, without suffering consequences and without looking like a fool or a nutcase.

After thinking about what to do and how to do it, which was the most important thing, Amy left the room determined.

She felt strange. Not victorious, but sicker.

It was easy to blame that feeling on her being afraid of failing. But no. She didn't think it was that easy.

Anyway. She could just lie there, scratching her belly and doing nothing but thinking about her feelings when she was back in her fami- team’s room.

Was it because she was afraid of running into the demon walking the halls?

Don't think about it.

Or did she...?

No use thinking about it.

Amy went to the kitchen. There was a group of women talking and laughing among themselves. She didn't know why since the conversation was cut off as soon as she made her entrance.

Amy treated all the servants well, without exception, but there were few who forgot the natural and required distance between servant and employer.

Nor did she do it half the time.

It was annoying and hurtful, only reminding her that this wasn't her place. But she couldn't complain. It was only natural. She understood that.

From the way they looked back at her, Amy guessed they hadn't heard she'd stuck a fork in the demon's hand. It wasn't something the thing could have hidden at this hour, but at least it hadn't gone around proclaiming it.

Well, it didn't matter if he kept quiet about it, perhaps out of humiliation... or perhaps out of pragmatism.

Because people would talk anyway, seeing him with a bandaged hand. And would draw the worst possible conclusion.

Yes, not every person in this house was an enemy of his.

But it was pretty close to being the truth, despite her best efforts.

"What are you doing here at this hour, miss?" She hated that, despite her best efforts, there were so many of the staff who spoke to her like that.

As if she was like the devil. A rabid dog ready to bite at the first provocation.

But of course. For those many it was the other way around.

And at this point there was nothing she could do to change it, nor did she want to. Amy would go away and leave all this behind. Soon.

"I couldn't sleep. Go on with whatever you were doing. Pretend I wasn't here."

Because she really didn't want anything from them.

It would be best to catch one of the night shift servants by surprise, ideally a woman. Because the last thing she needed was for nasty, unfounded rumors to be spread by seeing her meeting privately with a man.

So she left the kitchen. In the hallway, she bumped into a young woman carrying a basket of dry clothes in her hands.

"Excuse me, miss." She was definitely a new face.

Perfect.

Amy would feel better if she did this with a person she didn't know.

"It's my fault for not watching where I'm going. What's your name?"

"Naomi." She tensed up like a bow, no doubt thinking this was a precursor to a punishment. "Ma'am."

"You don't have to call me ma'am.Feel free to call me by my name. Amy," she added, just in case she didn't know, or had forgotten. "Okay?"

"Uh, is that an order? Ma'am?"

"No. It's not an order. You can do what you want, I'm not one to give you orders. I'm just telling you I don't care. I'm not like... certain people."

"Okay. Okay. But... But if I call you by name, they'll get mad at me..."

"When we're alone then. I'm nobody special, Naomi. I was just born into a rich family. I'm not better than anyone else, I'm not more than anyone else. And I don't want to be treated as such. Unless I've earned it."

"All right, Amy. Now I... Now I should be going. With my work."

She hadn't managed to reassure her. That was more than clear.

Amy grabbed her arm.

"Give me a moment, please. Just a moment. Come with me and leave the basket over there. Come on, sit down."

"What do you want me...?"

"To talk."

"We don't know each other."

"That's exactly why. That's how people get to know each other. I've been away a while, and you're a new face to me, but I've made an effort to get to know all the servants. Even if it's just a little. This isn't some kind of test... you're not risking losing your job. It's just my... my personal vow. Uh, so to speak."

"Okay."

"Tell me something about yourself."

"Like what?"

Amy reached out a hand, touching her shoulder, also staring into her eyes. Feeling incredibly stupid. Feeling like an actress who had gone on stage without a single glance at the script.

Well, not exactly.

More correctly, an actress without a script. She couldn't have even glanced at the script because it was blank.

"I'm cheating on my husband with Mike, the next door neighbor," she said with an empty tone, no inflection, and eyes like foggy glass. But as she finished saying it, life returned to her eyes, to her whole face. Her eyes opened wide, herchin trembled.

Amy clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Well, I said it.... half jokingly, I didn't expect you to.... Anyway, if you want to talk about it with me..."

"No! I don't even know why I said that. Hey, miss, please, forget it." She lowered her head, red as a tomato, still trembling.

She felt really bad.

No, Amy should feel very bad about what she had done to her. But what she felt was just the opposite.

Joy.

Because it had worked.

Joyfulness.

Because thanks to that she could clearly see a path to the future she so longed for.

"Of course. If that's what you want. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

But, under the hand covering her mouth, her twisted heart gave birth to a bestial smile, baring all her teeth like a wild animal opening its mouth.

It was all about control, in the end.