Anna's House, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, A Few Months Ago
Anna dimly knew there was a fight going on, that she was supposed to...she was supposed to be helping. But the athame had cut deep, like it had a mind of its own (maybe it did) and it was pulling her, and she'd lost so much blood...
That didn't make sense, she remembered thinking when Cas cut her. She was a ghost. What use did she have for blood? But it was all around her now, an oily black puddle with the red blood from her dress mixing with it. And there was...a fight. The sofa wasn't where it was supposed to be any more, and Cas...Cas was fighting the Obeahman? She could hear it, but she couldn't even summon up the energy to look up and see what was happening. She thought she heard Carmel yell something, and then the Obeahman howled and someone shouted Carmel's name as she shrieked in pain, and Anna...Anna got it together.
Anna remembered how to be angry, and the whole house shook with it as she rose out of the pool of oil-black blood, rose until she was hovering a foot off the ground, hair writhing, black veins all across her face, dressed for a fight in her dress of blood. She could see now; they were all over by the staircase. The Obeahman was biting Carmel's leg with teeth like a crocodile, and Thomas was trying to pull her away as Cas sawed at the voodoo spirit's jaw with his athame, trying to free the prom queen. He was hurting her friends. In her house. This wasn't his house. It wasn't his territory. How dare he?
She was still bleeding from the wound on her arm. She wasn't quite right, she could feel it. It didn't matter.
She grabbed the Obeahman from behind and tossed him into the banister, and as the others pulled back she watched and waited as he pulled himself to his feet, dusted himself off and grinned at her, baring those sharp teeth. "You think you can kill me with my own knife?" he asked.
"It's not your knife," Anna told him. "Not after tonight." She looked over her shoulder at Cas, who was trying to keep most of his attention on her and the Obeahman while tying Thomas's jacket around the wound on Carmel's leg at the same time. She smiled at him. "I'm going to give it back to him," she explained to the Obeahman.
"Anna," Cas started, and then stopped.
Anna remembered now. She remembered what happened to her. She remembered the curse. She was free, and that was thanks to Cas, but the curse still lingered. She could work with that. She made a fist and punched straight down into the floorboards, breaking and splintering them, sending pieces halfway to the ceiling. When she pulled her hand back, there was a glow. Red, like embers. She felt a rush of relief--she hadn't known if it would work; it was a gamble. But it did. And she could work with it. She looked up at the Obeahman, bared her teeth, and hooked her fingers. The Obeahman hissed as she moved toward him, and then the fight was on. She was weak from her wound, but she was still stronger. She knew it. She thought he did, too.
She twisted his head around on his neck just for him to snap it back around, and they kept trading blows, the sounds they made shaking a house already coming apart from what she'd just done to it.
"Anna!"
She wrenched the Obeahman to the right and left; he snarled and jerked his head forward. She reeled back and saw Cas coming toward her, on the floor, using the athame like a mountain climber's pick on the house's shuddering and breaking floorboards. That was...not in her plan. That was unacceptable. "Cas! You have to get out of here! You have to get everyone out!"
"I'm not leaving you!" her beautiful, brave, stupid human boy shouts back. "Anna!"
She wanted to respond, but instead she screamed in pain. The distraction had given the Obeahman an opportunity, and he'd unhinged his jaw like a snake, biting down on her arm. Cas leapt toward them, grabbing the Obeahman by the hair and sawing at his face with the athame again, using the knife to pry at his teeth until he let go. They both put everything they had into throwing him away, against the broken staircase. Anna found her words again. "Cassio, you have to go! Now!" Dust was falling all around them, the hole in the floor getting bigger. What she'd done to the house, she couldn't take back, and they both knew it.
"You're coming with me," he said, taking her arm and pulling, but she was immovable. He might as well have been pulling a statue. The others were out; she could feel it in her bones. She just had to get Cas to go with them.
She put one hand on his face and whispered tenderly, "I don't regret this," and then she put her hands on his chest and shoved him in the direction of the front door, as hard as she could. It probably broke his ribs. If it meant he survived, she didn't care. She turned toward the Obeahman where he still lay at the foot of the stairs, took him by one arm and one leg, and started dragging him toward the hole in the floor. He began to stir, and when he looked over with his stitched-over eyes and saw where she was taking him, he got scared. He started raining down blows on any part of her he could reach. She didn't care. She was going backward, and when one foot found the edge of the floor and sank down into the glowing red place, she felt a rush of relief. This was going to work.
"ANNA!" Cas screamed as the house really started to shake. She kept pulling, kept sinking into the firelight glow. No turning back now. There was someone else in her house--Thomas? Yes, Thomas. He would get Cas out. He had once before, after all. As Anna sank down into whatever dimension she'd ripped open, one of the last things she registered was that they had gotten out. They'd gotten out, and she'd taken the Obeahman down with her. She'd won.
And then all was fire.
((Establishy! Heavily adapted from Chapter 23 of Anna Dressed in Blood. Contains spoilers.))
That didn't make sense, she remembered thinking when Cas cut her. She was a ghost. What use did she have for blood? But it was all around her now, an oily black puddle with the red blood from her dress mixing with it. And there was...a fight. The sofa wasn't where it was supposed to be any more, and Cas...Cas was fighting the Obeahman? She could hear it, but she couldn't even summon up the energy to look up and see what was happening. She thought she heard Carmel yell something, and then the Obeahman howled and someone shouted Carmel's name as she shrieked in pain, and Anna...Anna got it together.
Anna remembered how to be angry, and the whole house shook with it as she rose out of the pool of oil-black blood, rose until she was hovering a foot off the ground, hair writhing, black veins all across her face, dressed for a fight in her dress of blood. She could see now; they were all over by the staircase. The Obeahman was biting Carmel's leg with teeth like a crocodile, and Thomas was trying to pull her away as Cas sawed at the voodoo spirit's jaw with his athame, trying to free the prom queen. He was hurting her friends. In her house. This wasn't his house. It wasn't his territory. How dare he?
She was still bleeding from the wound on her arm. She wasn't quite right, she could feel it. It didn't matter.
She grabbed the Obeahman from behind and tossed him into the banister, and as the others pulled back she watched and waited as he pulled himself to his feet, dusted himself off and grinned at her, baring those sharp teeth. "You think you can kill me with my own knife?" he asked.
"It's not your knife," Anna told him. "Not after tonight." She looked over her shoulder at Cas, who was trying to keep most of his attention on her and the Obeahman while tying Thomas's jacket around the wound on Carmel's leg at the same time. She smiled at him. "I'm going to give it back to him," she explained to the Obeahman.
"Anna," Cas started, and then stopped.
Anna remembered now. She remembered what happened to her. She remembered the curse. She was free, and that was thanks to Cas, but the curse still lingered. She could work with that. She made a fist and punched straight down into the floorboards, breaking and splintering them, sending pieces halfway to the ceiling. When she pulled her hand back, there was a glow. Red, like embers. She felt a rush of relief--she hadn't known if it would work; it was a gamble. But it did. And she could work with it. She looked up at the Obeahman, bared her teeth, and hooked her fingers. The Obeahman hissed as she moved toward him, and then the fight was on. She was weak from her wound, but she was still stronger. She knew it. She thought he did, too.
She twisted his head around on his neck just for him to snap it back around, and they kept trading blows, the sounds they made shaking a house already coming apart from what she'd just done to it.
"Anna!"
She wrenched the Obeahman to the right and left; he snarled and jerked his head forward. She reeled back and saw Cas coming toward her, on the floor, using the athame like a mountain climber's pick on the house's shuddering and breaking floorboards. That was...not in her plan. That was unacceptable. "Cas! You have to get out of here! You have to get everyone out!"
"I'm not leaving you!" her beautiful, brave, stupid human boy shouts back. "Anna!"
She wanted to respond, but instead she screamed in pain. The distraction had given the Obeahman an opportunity, and he'd unhinged his jaw like a snake, biting down on her arm. Cas leapt toward them, grabbing the Obeahman by the hair and sawing at his face with the athame again, using the knife to pry at his teeth until he let go. They both put everything they had into throwing him away, against the broken staircase. Anna found her words again. "Cassio, you have to go! Now!" Dust was falling all around them, the hole in the floor getting bigger. What she'd done to the house, she couldn't take back, and they both knew it.
"You're coming with me," he said, taking her arm and pulling, but she was immovable. He might as well have been pulling a statue. The others were out; she could feel it in her bones. She just had to get Cas to go with them.
She put one hand on his face and whispered tenderly, "I don't regret this," and then she put her hands on his chest and shoved him in the direction of the front door, as hard as she could. It probably broke his ribs. If it meant he survived, she didn't care. She turned toward the Obeahman where he still lay at the foot of the stairs, took him by one arm and one leg, and started dragging him toward the hole in the floor. He began to stir, and when he looked over with his stitched-over eyes and saw where she was taking him, he got scared. He started raining down blows on any part of her he could reach. She didn't care. She was going backward, and when one foot found the edge of the floor and sank down into the glowing red place, she felt a rush of relief. This was going to work.
"ANNA!" Cas screamed as the house really started to shake. She kept pulling, kept sinking into the firelight glow. No turning back now. There was someone else in her house--Thomas? Yes, Thomas. He would get Cas out. He had once before, after all. As Anna sank down into whatever dimension she'd ripped open, one of the last things she registered was that they had gotten out. They'd gotten out, and she'd taken the Obeahman down with her. She'd won.
And then all was fire.
((Establishy! Heavily adapted from Chapter 23 of Anna Dressed in Blood. Contains spoilers.))