chapter nineteen!
•••

THE THROBBING HEADACHE HIT BEFORE anything else, and Kamden groaned against the pain.

As she slowly came to, she realized that she was no longer in Thornhill's conservatory. She was alone in the strange, unfamiliar room, and the only light came from a flickering candle in the corner. The walls around her were made of rock, as well as the ground beneath her dangling feet.

Startled by the fact that her feet were hovering a few inches above the ground, Kamden quickly looked up towards the ceiling, gasping when she saw that her hands were shackled above her head. The chains around her wrists were attached to the stone roof, and no matter hard she pulled against them, she couldn't loosen them.

Suddenly, a wash of light flooded into the room, and Kamden had to squint against it. Some kind of door had been opened, letting in a glow from the outside. Somebody was coming inside, heavy boots falling onto hard ground.

Thornhill.

"Where am I?" Kamden's voice came out much meeker than she had intended.

Thornhill — or Laurel — waved her off. "That doesn't matter. I just need you to remain calm, there's nothing you can do to stop this."

A chill traveled down Kamden's spine. "Stop what?"

Silently answering the question, Thornhill pulled a small, rectangular object from the inside of her coat. It was only when the candlelight in the corner reflected off of the engraving on the cover did Kamden realize what it was. Annabella's diary.

"Where did you get that?" Kamden tugged roughly against her restraints, but it only hurt her wrists even more.

"Oh sweetie," Thornhill spoke in a pitying voice. "I think you underestimate how easy it is for a teacher to get into a student's dorm, especially when I knew exactly what I was looking for." She held up the book, inspecting the cover.

"I've heard all about this little diary." She told Kamden, starting to pace around the room. "Annabella Palmer was quite the piece of work, I mean," she scoffed. "Planning to murder such a prominent figure? She definitely had some screws loose."

Kamden scowled. "Joseph Crackstone is a monster who killed innocent people!" She barked. "Annabella was doing everyone a service."

Thornhill laughed. "That's where you and I differ," she tucked the book under her arm. "You think that Outcasts are innocent, and I see the truth. Throughout history, Outcasts have done nothing but cause trouble for Normies, losing control and slaughtering families, tormenting towns with their abilities. Crackstone was the one doing us all a service." She reached into her coat once more, and sighed dreamily. "I am so grateful that I could be a part of his plan."

"What are you talking about?" Kamden felt her heart rate increase. "Joseph Crackstone has been dead for years."

"Oh, I know." Thornhill wasn't phased. "But that's all about to change."

She removed her hand from her coat, something new in her hand this time. Kamden caught the purple of the flowers in the glint of the candlelight, and recognized them immediately.

Thornhill must've seen the look in Kamden's eyes, because she answered her unspoken question, "The Perfumed Aechard. A plant native to South America, nobody knows how it first came to be or how it has the effects that it does." She tilted her head to one side, taking a dramatic pause just to mess with Kamden. Finally, she said, "It was brought over to the original colonies in the United States in the late 1600s. The scent that the flower produces seemed to do wonders on weeding out real witches from the merely accused by putting the authentic to sleep. From your reaction to the smell earlier, it appears that you are not a fake."

Kamden felt the urge to hold her breath as Thornhill crept closer. With a wild look in her eyes, she continued on, "It's so crazy how easy you made this for me. I thought that I would have to capture you and Wednesday separately, and put you together for the first time for this night, but you brought yourselves right to me in some kind of package deal."

"Don't you dare hurt her," Kamden said through gritted teeth.

Now standing only a few inches away, Thornhill raised the flower that she was squeezing in her hands. For a moment, she held it up to Kamden's face, but pulled it away before the girl could completely slump over.

"Luckily for you," There was a smile on her face, like she enjoyed ridiculing Kamden. "I'm not going to fully put you to sleep, I just need you to relax a bit."

Agonizingly slowly, she pulled a single petal from the purple flower, dropping the rest of it to the ground. Then, she started to wave the follicle right beneath Kamden's nose.

Kamden felt her muscles going slack, the chains holding up her weak shoulders. She fought to keep her chin up and keep her eyes on Thornhill.

Using her free hand, Thornhill pulled the book from under her arm and flipped it over to the back, sticking her fingers into the small opening in the leather. She removed the hidden paper and let the diary clatter to the ground, peeling open the page with one hand, an excited look in her eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Kamden mumbled, her tongue feeling numb as she tried to speak.

"You'll see very soon." Was all that Thornhill said, finally able to get the paper fully spread open. She held it out in front of her, her eyes running over the first few lines before she began to read, translating the language on the paper that had confused Kamden when had seen it like it was nothing.

By now Kamden couldn't hold her heavy head up any longer, and she could only stare at the floor as Thornhill spoke. Her head was pounding, and a loud whooshing sound was in her ears, so she could only pick up parts of what Thornhill was reading off.

"As I read off these words, may the recipient become keen to serve...this is a strong and hard to break verse...causing you to be coerced."

Kamden's vision blurred, and she felt like she was about to pass out, but she clung to her consciousness, desperate to fight back against Laurel.

"...with only a feeling as strong as this curse, may ever these words be reversed."

Then, Thornhill switched to reading in the unfamiliar language, and that's when it really started to hit Kamden. Her head snapped back on her neck and her eyes shot wide open, despite the groggy feeling that still weighed down her limbs.

A wave of memories that weren't hers flashed across her mind, the pictures moving too fast for her to pick out anything specific. She could feel her body slowly being pulled towards Thornhill, like she was some kind of magnet.

Finally, Thornhill's voice trailed off, and she lowered the paper down to her side, looking at Kamden expectantly.

Kamden's head felt foggy, like she wasn't entirely there. Eagerness lit up in Thornhill's eyes and she dropped the paper onto the ground and stepped back.

"Burn those." She said, motioning to the diary and the spell.

Without so much as a second thought, Kamden's hands jerked to the side in their shackles, and the papers burst into a wild flame.

As she watched the fire rage however, she felt her heart aching, wondering why she couldn't fight back and preserve the last memory of Annabella. Meanwhile, Thornhill was laughing maniacally, stomping out the flames with those stupid red boots of hers.

When the fire had finally gone out, Thornhill looked to Kamden, smoke billowing all around her. She reached up and undid the chains, catching the dazed girl as she struggled to rebalance herself. Once Kamden was mostly stable, Thornhill let her go and took a step back.

Through the large smile on her face, she commanded, "Come with me."

Kamden couldn't do anything to stop her feet from moving after Thornhill, and the two of them left the room together.

They walked down a stone corridor, and Kamden tried to look around at her surroundings to take it all in, but she found that she couldn't even turn her head to her own will. They passed several rooms before slipping out a small side door in the wall, stepping out into the darkness of the night and stillness of the woods.

Once outside, Thornhill grabbed Kamden's shoulders and said, "Go back to Nevermore, wait in the courtyard, behind the tree in the center. You'll know when to come out."

And so, Kamden left. She didn't even know where in the woods she was, or where she was headed, but the determination that raged through her blood to obey Thornhill somehow brought her right to Nevermore's gates.

•••

Kamden waited behind that straggly tree for what felt like hours to her mind, and mere seconds to her body. Her limbs were tingling with the anticipation of her next command, but her mind kept on only one topic — Wednesday. Where was she, and what had Laurel done to her?

Several students flooded the corridor, speaking in hushed and panicked voices as they headed for the exit. There were a few people that stopped to check on Kamden, but none of them could get her to move an inch. And every single one of them gave up on her and went off with the others. Kamden was begging them in her head to help her, to get her out of the school, but her mouth wouldn't so much as open.

Suddenly, with a loud crash, the main entrance to the corridor was flung open, and booming footsteps could be heerd. The students that were still around started screaming and running away from the doors, rushing to escape the courtyard. Still, Kamden couldn't move.

A few more seconds passed, and she was frozen in place until a dark figure loomed over her. Finally, her muscles allowed her to face the arrival, and she felt her entire body grow cold.

The man that was standing before her had a deformed face, decorated with many stitches and cuts. A dirty pilgrim hat rested on his head, completing his full get-up. He had a scepter in his hand, an intricate pattern carved into the top, revealing some kind of stone underneath. It didn't take Kamden more than a moment to recognize who it was.

Without so much as a word to her, the newly-revived Joseph Crackstone wrapped his ice-cold fingers around her wrist and jerked her closer to him. Then, he placed her hand on top of his scepter, the magic from Annabella's spell not allowing her to pull away.

He looked around the courtyard, and let out a guttural scream at all the terrified students, "I will expunge you abominations from this earth!"

Kamden felt her palm heating up against the scepter, and without any control over what she was doing, her arm lifted itself up and slammed the wooden staff into the ground. Flames erupted from the ground where it contacted, and they shot out uncontrollably all over the courtyard. The fire snaked up the tree, lighting up the branches in a blaze. Larger gusts of flame shot up the walls, knocking students back with the force of it.

Kamden felt the heat all around her as it started to burn her skin, but she couldn't move away or pull her hand back from the scalding wooden stick under her palm. She wanted to cry out from the searing pain, but her jaw was clamped shut.

"Howdy, pilgrim."

Kamden almost turned at the sound of Wednesday's voice, but of course, she couldn't. Only when Crackstone himself faced the raven-haired girl, was Kamden able to look at her.

Blood ran down from Wednesday's forehead, streaking messily across her face. Her uniform was tattered and dirty, and her hair was coming undone in a frizzy mess. Kamden felt her heart tug at the sight, but still she couldn't move away from Crackstone.

"How canst thy heart still beat?" Crackstone bellowed. "What demon sorcery is this?"

Kamden only noticed the sword in Wednesday's hand when she raised it at Crackstone, lowering her eyes in an intimidating stare. He merely smirked at her attempts to scare him.

In a blur, Wednesday ran forward, thrusting the sword at Crackstone, which he dodged easily. He took the scepter from Kamden's hands, jamming it out on Wednesday, barking out another command as he did so, "Burn her, witch!"

Kamden's hand twitched at her side, and with the movement, a branch from the burning tree snapped off and plummeted towards the ground. Before it could land, Crackstone stuck out his arm and stopped the flaming twig in mid air and turned it towards Wednesday before shooting it at her like an arrow.

Kamden's breath caught in her throat as she imagined the stick embedding itself into Wednesday's shoulder and the fire overtaking her clothes. The first part of that horrible thought did happen, but somehow, the flame went out before it could hit.

Wednesday fell backwards from the force of the stick driving into her arm, but before Kamden could react, Crackstone was whipping around to look at her and screaming in her face, "How did thou disarm the curse?"

Kamden's brow furrowed. What was he talking about? She was still very much under his spell, hence her stiff muscles and inability to fight against his commands.

He raised his scepter and struck her across the cheek with the still-hot end, and she fell to the ground from the force of the impact, landing on her side.

"I commanded thou to burn her!" He yelled.

Kamden was able to reach up and touch her cheek, brushing against the red-hot mark that the staff had left. She felt a ripple of anger in her gut.

Wednesday was also still on the ground, a few feet back, and she rolled onto her side and yanked the arrow out of her shoulder without so much as flinching. When she saw that Kamden had gone down, she lunged at Crackstone with a grunt, able to slice off a corner of his hat with her blade.

He cried out in anger, shoving the scepter back at her until he was able to shatter the sword with a partially powerful blow. The metal of the blade exploded into pieces, clattering loudly onto the ground, leaving Wednesday unarmed.

With an invisible force that shot out from the end of the staff, he was able to throw a stunned Wednesday back a few feet, pinning her against some rubble that had fallen from the first burst of flames. He cackled manically while Wednesday layed there defenseless.

"I will send you back to hell." He smiled creepily down at her, and reared back his arm, preparing to bring down the scepter on her chest.

All at once Kamden found herself running forwards, this time not controlled by Crackstone or Thornhill, but by the fury that was raging in her own heart.

She placed her hands on the back of Crackstone's shoulders and lit his coat up in flames.

He stumbled away from Wednesday, slapping at the fire next to his face wildly, roaring with anger. His eyes were shining red when they met Kamden's. "You were supposed to obey me!" He bellowed, still unable to put the fire out.

He started to stumble towards Kamden, his movements jerky and unnatural, when all of a sudden he froze. His eyes went wide as he dropped onto his knees.

Once he had gone down, Kamden saw that Wednesday was standing right behind him, a jagged piece of wood still in her hand. She had plunged it into Crackstone's back, shoving it deep until it had reached his heart.

His chest ripped open in a swirling cloud of dust, his body evaporating right before the two girls' eyes. He roared in pain as the fire on his clothes blended into his ripping chest, coming together in a searing, growing wound.

Smoke shot out of his open mouth as he dissipated further, his insides now on the outside, and all of him was on fire. He kept screaming, his voice becoming more and more distorted until finally, with a deafening explosion, he vanished, shattering into a cloud of ashes that slowly fell onto the grass.

After the ringing in her ears had calmed down enough, Kamden dared to glance up at Wednesday, who was already staring at her.

"Are you okay?" Kamden asked, her breathing ragged.

Wednesday opened her mouth to answer, but the sound of a gun cocking quickly distracted them both. Thornhill entered the courtyard, her arm extended as she pointed a loaded pistol at the girls.

"You brought a gun to a sword fight." Wednesday commented. "It's probably the first smart decision you've made today."

Thornhill clicked her tongue, anger burning in her pupils. "I might not get to kill all the outcasts, but at least I'll get to kill the both of you." She moved the gun between the two, as if she couldn't decide who to shoot first.

Suddenly, a faint buzzing sound could be heard and Thornhill froze. A small bee landed on the end of the gun, staring her down.

She furrowed her brow, confused by the insect, unable to move when the bee shot out and flew at her face. She yelped as it landed on her cheek and was joined by several other bees until there was a swarm of them surrounding her head. Several of the bees swooped in and planted painful stings all over her, making her drop the gun and hit her knees, swatting the buzzing air wildly.

Eugene came out of the same hallway that Thornhill had entered, holding out his hands like he was controlling the swarm. "Yeah, that's what you get for messing with Nevermore." he smiled over at Kamden and Wednesday before adding, "Bitch."

Kamden snorted, and even Wednesday almost smiled at his comment.

Thornhill whimpered from her place on the ground, covering her head from the hundreds of stingers that were attacking her. After taking a moment, Wednesday approached her, taking slow steps. As soon as she was close enough, she raised her leg in the air and slammed it down against Thornhill's head. Kamden winced when she heard her skull cracking against the pavement.

"She's out." Wednesday said, turning back around to face the others.

"Yeah, I can see that." Carefully, Kamden un-scrunched her face.

"Are you okay?" Wednesday asked, an unusual amount of concern in her voice.

Kamden blinked at her, feeling slightly taken aback by the question. "Yeah, I think so. Are yo–"

Before she could finish talking, Wednesday bridged the gap between them and threw her arms around the taller girl's neck. Kamden almost didn't believe what was happening, and it took her a second to react. Slowly, she wrapped her own arms around Wednesday, finding a place in the small of her back.

The two girls stayed just like that, both of them finding great comfort in the hug.

•••

hello again!

i hope the finale was worth the long wait, and i hope you liked what i did with kamden and the plot :)

also, how did kamden disarm the curse you may ask? well...

"...with only a feeling as strong as this curse, may ever these words be reversed."

eh? eh? get it?

anyway, i just have to edit the last mini chapter and that will be season one complete!!

please vote, comment, and follow me if you'd like, to be notified when i update!

~ catie