Hellfire On The Other Side

Chapter 49

   Doreen appeared behind Verity, whose back was to hers. "I mean, I know you like children and all, but seriously. First my daughter, then her two friends and now Ash? How does one woman like children that much," she laughed. Verity turns around to face Doreen. "Hey! Good to see you!" "It's nice to see you too. I have been meaning to visit. Been needing to apologize. I should have told you about Adrianna all those years ago. I just didn't want Iven to get angry if I did. But hey, everything is good between him and I now in the Soul Realm. Though I don't know how much Adrianna actually likes me anymore. I mean I hate Clara, Clara hates me. I don't even think your son likes me much," Doreen said. Verity smiles. "He just gets angry when he doesn't get what he wants sometimes," she says. "But he's told me how much of a nuisance you were at times. Mainly because of your opinions on Clara." Doreen shrugged, "Hey but I was serious about the child thing. How do you like children so much? I mean I was even pregnant and had Adrianna and I still was iffy about kids. I never planned to get pregnant and have any. But that is mostly to do with who my family is and how our magic works. Not saying I regret having her though!" "I think it's because I've always liked being a caretaker," says Verity. "Back in high school, I was known as the mom friend of the group." "And how many times did you offer to hurt Iven for me? To many," Doreen laughed, "You know, you should have another child. I mean adopt if you don't want to get pregnant of course. I know it was tough with Shane, with him having not only your voodoo but Facilier's too. Besides, he might enjoy having a sibling. He does seem like someone who would be a good big brother."  "Well, he did have to deal with Clara for as long as they've known each other," says Verity. "Just something to think about. You are a better mother than I could ever be. Dead or alive," Doreen said.  

   Her smile faded, "But that's not the reason I came. Is Ash around, she shouldn't hear this." Verity places her hands on her hips. "Fortunately, she's upstairs. I finally managed to get her to calm down enough to rest up a bit," she says. Doreen nodded, "I looked into her past, I know basically everything about her life before slavery now..." "Whoa." Verity sits on her couch. "Tell me," she says. "Well, Ash isn't her real name. Turns out her real name is Rosalena. She used to only speak Spanish, didn't know any English. When she was three, she and her parents were kidnapped and taken to my dimension and turned to slaves. Or at least I think. Her parents, they don't remember anything. All they remember is going to bed and waking up a year later when she'd be four and she was gone. They found out that the three of them had been missing for a year," Doreen said sitting down next to her, "And that's only the beginning."  "Oh, no," says Verity. "That's horrible." "Oh, it gets worst. Ash, she is an orphan. Her parents died of natural caused, they were an older couple when she was born. And I am pretty sure voodoo laws say you can't bring someone back unless they went before their time. I checked everything I could, it's all confirmed, Ash's parents died exactly when they were supposed to, three days before we freed Ash. I looked into other family members, the same deal. No aunts or uncles, no sibling, grandparents died right when they were supposed to. She doesn't have anyone here..." Verity starts to tear up. "Well, we can't take her back. That'd defeat the whole purpose of us saving her. But I guess it'll be worse than if we don't. Oh, Doreen, what should I do?" "Are you kidding Verity? You can't take her back! Well, one because you don't have the powers to do so and two, I didn't even get to her slave part. That girl is not safe. there is only one reason my parents let Ash's parents go. They didn't want her to have any way of remembering her old life. They know she is gone and they are hunting her. She was my parent's favorite. If you take her back... I don't want to think about it. the favorites get the worst of it. Even the smallest mistake and you get the worst punishment. That's why she is more fragile than the other slaves. For ten years, which I did confirm she is thirteen, she had been my parent's favorite and was held by those standers. A three-year-old! I haven't even gotten to the worst part!" Doreen exclaimed. "Oh, they are so cruel!" Verity growls. "Verity you can't tell Ash about this. Or call her Rosalena. She doesn't have any memory of it. That's the thing about hypnotism. They can take away any memory they want. She won't remember the time before her being a slave. I mean, if I take her to another dimension or the In-Between where I am alive, I can hypnotize her and take away her slavery memories but only my father or mother, depending on who took them, can give her back the memories they took. If I take away her slavery memories, she is most likely to be an empty body basically. She'll need to learn how to walk, talk, all that. She'd be a baby in a thirteen-year-old girl's body. It's not worth the risk," Doreen explained, "And if social services hear there is an orphan girl with no family, they'll take her and put her in foster care. With her major trust issues and my family looking for her... Verity, she doesn't stand a chance in foster care. The only thing that is even slightly good about this, they will stop focusing on Adrianna until they get Ash back. Anf that isn't even that good because Ash will either go willingly with what they drilled into her brain or they'll have one of my race go grab her and hypnotize her to come." Doreen fave a small curse, "If only Veronika was alive! She knew a way to fight hypnotism but she never got the chance to tell me what it was! And when we die in our dimension, I don't know where we go, we don't go to the Soul Realm." "I know where!" an elderly woman's voice calls out. Doreen sighed, "Your crazy mother is here, isn't she? I don't think she likes me much either..." Odie appears next to Doreen. "First of all, I'm Verity's great-grandmama. Second of all, this is the first time I've met you. How could I have an opinion on you? And third of all, I'm not crazy. I'm eccentric," she says, shifting around the room. "There are a whole lot of talk in the Soul Realm and mostly, I hear a lot of souls talking about me, my sister has quite a... what's the word? Reputation so most souls, just don't like me," Doreen sighed. "Mama Odie! You can help us?" Verity asks. "Of course I can, child. Especially now that I have ascended and now exist in the astral plane!" Odie cackles with delight as she sits down next to Verity. "Your family is just annoying, have I ever told you that," Doreen said to Verity. "You hush up!" Odie whacks Doreen with her cane. "Ah, I missed that a lot Mama Odie," says Verity. "So where do people go when they die in Doreen's dimension?" "Hmm. Depends on how they were when they were alive. If they were good, they ascend to the Astral Plane. But if they were bad, they get sent to Limbo," Odie explains. "But Veronika wasn't good or bad. I mean, I was the only one she showed her good side to. She wanted to make our parents proud, so around anyone she'd act like every other Dark Fairy Witch, around me, she was different. Well, until her eighteenth birthday when Maleficent killed her," Doreen said, "And how would you know this. You aren't even from my dimension!" "I said hush!" Odie whacks Doreen with her cane again. "There's only two ways to ascend to the Astral Plane. Die in your dimension, or have infinite knowledge of the afterlife," she says. "Take a wild guess what qualification I met!" Doreen backed up some, "She is my sister! If it is about her, I get to speak! I lost her when I was sixteen right before I ran away here, so forgive me if I am a bit confused and shocked I might get to see her again!" Odie sets her cane down on the floor. "So, you said that Veronika acted bad around everyone else, but good around you. Tell me, were her intentions good?" "She was heir to the throne and we age a lot longer than humans. I don't know what she was going to do when my parents stepped down and gave her the throne. Most likely she wouldn't have changed much, at least not until our parents died. And by that point, she would have been married and most likely have children of her own. I love Veronika, but she never did have the guts to stand up for herself like I did. Her intentions were most likely, keep everyone happy with her. You tell me, is that good or bad?" Odie looks at Verity. "Sounds a lot like you when you were growing up," she says to her. "Yeah, I always tried to keep Mama Odie happy. But as much as I hated to admit it, she was really forceful. Every time I'd act out of line, she'd basically... do what she did to you twice now. Once I turned eighteen, she told me that she knew that I wanted to be myself and still keep her happy. So I guess that means Veronika's intentions were good, even if some of her actions were bad," says Verity. Doreen nodded. "You know, Veronika, she is the key to everything. If she somehow came back and if I could get her back alive in my dimension, we can't do it like you and Shane can with humans. You guys are so weak that bringing you back is so simple that my race didn't gain that power. Anyways, if she comes back, they don't need Adrianna because Veronika would be heir to the throne and..." Doreen's eyes widened. "I know how to keep Ash away from that dimension! I won't explain it twice and I am gonna need your son so you might want to call him..." Verity looks at Odie. "Should I?" she asks her. "If he's the only one that can really help, I guess there's no other choice," says Odie. "Alright, then. I'll call him," says Verity.