A Rosy Revalation

A woman appeared. Her pink purse was by her side, and her glasses were hardly noticeable and tiny. She had seen multiple children dressing up in costumes. It took every ounce of her not to scold them about it. Most of the children wouldn’t understand, she told herself. But when she saw the teenagers, both dressed in outdated witch attire, she was enraged. Venefica didn’t intend to scream at them over the inaccuracies of their clothing, but she found herself doing so anyway. One said it wasn’t a big deal. The other was calling the police. 

Venefica had slipped away before it could escalate. Besides, she had a meeting. She would speak about it there. Of course, she was upset it had been at this time of the year. She tried to explain why it shouldn't be on Halloween of all days, but Flores said it was fine. Venefica wanted to tell her to shut her trap.

After seemingly endless walking, she finally made it to the home. It was a small shack. Nothing pleasurable. What did please Venefica was the sign that said OUT CELEBRATING, NO CANDY THIS YEAR on the door.

She walked inside. There was a small couch, uninhabited, near the corner of the room. There were a few chairs, where a couple of witches sat. The largest chair was the pink one, which had already had a suitor. Venefica put her purse to the side and smiled at the other witches.

"Venefica, you came!"

Venefica stuck her nose in the air. “Of course I would come, Tenebris,” she scoffed. “I haven’t missed a meeting in ten years.”

Venefica trotted to the couch with nobody on it. She had been late due to those teenage hoodlums, so she didn’t get her pink chair. She muttered rosea and watched the blue couch take on an elegant, rosy hue.

She felt something brush up on her leg.

She shrieked, clinging onto the furniture. When she looked down, she realized she was staring at a brown, shaggy dog.

“Shoo, mutt-- shoo-- shoo-- reliqui-- shoo!” Venefica screamed. It remained motionless.

Suddenly, there wasn’t a dog anymore. Instead, there was a little boy. He couldn’t have been older than ten. His hair was messy and wild like he had no care about his appearance. His clothes were torn, and his eyes were wild and blue. Venefica wondered who would let their children go out in such a condition.

He gave her a large grin. “Why’d ya change the couch, missus?”

Venefica forced herself to sit again, scrunching her face at the boy. “That’s none of your concern, you mangy mutt! Who would let you inside?”

“I did, Venefica.” a voice interrupted. Venefica looked to see a woman. She was clearly the youngest woman in the room, with brown hair and eyes that reminded Venefica of trees. 

She was disgusted. Who would bring this into their meetings? She could forgive it if they were a wizard, but to bring something other than a wizard to a made Venefica frustrated. “Flores,” Venefica put on a slight, forced smile. “Why would you bring the little… termite with you? This is for witches only.”

“I had permission from Tenebris to bring my son with me,” Tenebris nodded in response. “Just this once.”

Now Venefica had remembered. Flores was forced to marry that Lycanthrope (Flores had sworn it wasn’t forced marriage. Venefica disagreed). As a result, the two must’ve created that half-breed. The woman shivered at the thought. 

It was one thing to speak about your peculiar habits, but to bring the consequences to force them on other witches was where she drew the line. “Well, I don’t think that we should keep it here at all. Besides, what are we going to talk about that it will understand?” 

“Malum’s a smart boy, I’m sure he’ll be able to keep up.”

“If he was so intelligent, he'd be enrolled in a school.”

“He is in an academy, I assure you.”

“How many threats did you make to the school board?”

Flores sighed and turned back to her papers. She pulled out her wand and muttered something. The pen to her right began to scribble down on a piece of parchment.

“There's a Non-Magical theme this month,” Flores started. “Therefore, we're going to go “trick-or-treating” with Malum. I’ve been reading about it. It’s relatively simple--”

“Why would we do such a thing?” Venefica growled. “The whole holiday is simply too offensive!”  

Everyone seemed to have ignored Venefica and instead got up. Flores, after talking to a few witches, had scurried to Malum with something in her hands. She watched as the half-breed was wriggled into something. Venefica turned back. How could they have just betrayed her like this? Why would they let Flores do such a thing?

A witch in a green jacket came up to Venefica. She seemed confused. “Don’t you want to see him?”

“I’ve seen plenty of dogs in my day, Marilan.” 

Marilan darted her eyes across the room like she didn’t want anyone to hear. “I understand what you mean, I thought so, too. Surely you can consider trying something new. Her child isn’t horrible, Venefica. He’s okay.”

“He’s a consequence of not reaching purity.” Venefica snarled. “Nothing more.”

When the child had finished, he yelled and darted across to the door. What he had worn was a white cloth, only his eyes were visible. Venefica snorted in disgust.

All the witches had followed closely behind Malum. Marilan turned to Venefica. “Aren’t you coming? It's part of the meeting, after all.”

She narrowed her eyes. “With that?” she gestured to the boy wearing the white sheet. “Don’t be absurd, Marilan! I won’t be associated with that thing!”

Malum looked around as if he didn’t understand what Vernefica was talking about, not that she was surprised. It seemed as if no Lycanthrope could understand more than barks and howls, even half-ones. His mother sighed. “Go ahead. I’ll come later.”

Everyone had left, lowering their voices and murmuring amongst themselves. The only two that remained were Venefica and Flores. Flores, for the first time, didn’t seem calm. Her once-twinkling eyes had darkened, and her breathing grew shallow.

Venefica could feel her own breathing shift to an abnormal pace. She still managed to speak. “Leaving your own pet, Flores?”

“He’s my son,” she responded dryly.

“Oh, dear!” Venefica laughed, she sounded more confident than she felt. “Every other witch would disagree with you, dear. When you marry a dog, you have dogs. Everyone knows they’re mangy--”

“You can talk about me as you’d like.” Flores interrupted. “But keep your opinion to yourself around my child, please.”

Venefica got up from the couch. She tapped the furniture with the back of her wand and watched it return to its original sapphire color. “I think I'm done here. Why would I waste my time with you or your dog?”

“Don’t call him a dog.”

“Who’s going to make me? Your other pet? I’m terrified, dear. Really.” 

“He’s not a dog, either.” Flores insisted. “Just consider doing this for me, Venefica. For him.”

She flicked her wand in the air once, bringing her purse to her side. “You should be doing more things for yourself, dear. You confuse platonic love with romance. It’s disgusting to like a dog. But perhaps I could forgive it if you chose not to…” she cringed. “... mate with it. Then to curse that poor puppy with something the stud can’t control, it’s selfish!”

“There’s nothing wrong with him!” She yelled. Flores’ eyes looked wild, much like Malum’s. Now Venefica knew where he had got it from.

Venefica could tell that she had touched a nerve, but she didn’t care. If this is what it took to make her point clear, then she will do it. “How do you know? You’re young. You’ve only been with us for two years! Lack of experience will blind you! It certainly clouded my judgment!” 

“I made the right choice!”

“NO, YOU DID NOT!” Venefica screamed. “YOU HAVE SINGLE-HANDEDLY CURSED THAT CHILD AND HAVE RUINED THIS GROUP’S REPUTATION!”

What happened after was a blur. Within a moment, Flores had her wand near Venefica’s throat. She grew stiff, she didn't dare speak, she hardly drew breath.

“You will go with my son.” She poked the wand further into Venefica’s throat, causing the older woman to gag. “And that's not a request.”

***

The two had met up with the other witches down by the forest. They had been waiting for Flores so that she could sort out how it worked. Even Malum, the little brat, didn't know what to do that night.

Unfortunately, Flores was there to help. She had reviewed it with the group. Venefica waited until Flores was finished before speaking. “You do realize there’s a portion that says trick, right?”

“I’m more than aware, Venefica,” she said. Her calm demeanor was back again, but now she knew it was all a charade. “Hardly anyone does those.”

Flores continued. “One of us can take Malum, the others are dismissed from the meeting. I have to get back home to make sure Malthus isn’t--” she hesitated. “Is someone willing to help Malum while I check?”

The other witches stared and coughed in response. Some glanced at Malum. Venefica didn’t blame them. She had expected the response from any sane witch.

Flores sighed. She went to Venefica and put her hand on her shoulder. “Just for right now. Please.”

She wanted to scream that she would not be entertaining such an offensive holiday. She wanted to demand to know who Flores was, and what authority she held over her. She wanted to shriek and tell her that her dog wasn’t her responsibility and was supposed to be walked by the owner.

Instead, Venefica sighed. “If I must.”

She turned back to the other witches. “You’re dismissed. I’ll see you all in November.” Each of the witches simultaneously twirled their wands, causing them to vanish. Flores turned to Venefica. She didn’t say a word, but her expression made Venefica believe she was thanking her. Then she, too, made a circular motion with her wand and vanished.

Now it was just Venefica and Malum.

“I’ve always wondered how Mama did that right,” Malum said, his eyes seemed full of wonder. Was that possible? “I haven’t done it right yet!”

That’s because you’re a filthy mutt without any magic, Venefica wanted to say. Instead, she pulled out her own wand. She ignored the intrigued boy and shouted. “Auxilium, Lorum!”

After a few seconds of waiting for the Department, a leash had appeared in her hands. It had been a rope with a clumsily crafted loop. Venefica attempted to pull it over his head, but the boy stepped back.

“What do I need that for?”

“To walk you,” Venefica growled. “Come, boy.”

“Mama said I don’t need walking.”

“Your mother isn’t here, is she?”

Venefica knew she wasn’t actually here, but she could be. She knew that it didn’t take much time to appear back in an area you recently saw. She turned back to Malum, whose head was down.

She chuckled. “Leashes are overrated, anyhow. Besides, you’re far too old for this leash. You’re a big boy!”

Malum grinned, the same toothy one as before, but he glanced away at Venefica’s stare. “We're gonna go, Missus?”

“Yes, yes of course.”

The two walked through the forest to the small town. There were plenty of children wearing inaccurate costumes like before. The only difference was that there were many more running around. Parents held toddler’s hands, and other children ran and screamed at each other. Children were “dressed” as elderly depictions of every creature. She noticed a couple of decent costumes, particularly the children with wolf masks, but they were completely overshadowed by the wrong ones.

"We gotta go to a house!" Malum pointed at one of them, smiling. “How ‘bout that one?”

The house he had chosen was large, with paper phantoms and petite pumpkins leading up to their door. In front of the door was a bag of (nearly empty) candy. The sign on the door said TAKE ONE. Something told her that the children here either couldn’t read or didn’t want to read. 

She nearly instructed Malum to pick another place, but he had already raced off. The boy had zoomed up the steps, dug into the bag, and grabbed a piece of candy. Venefica decided not to speak. Flores could be here at any moment, and she wasn’t going to be transformed into flowers.

She waited until the boy was back. He held up the piece of candy. “It’s chocolate!” Malum said excitedly. “‘Reckon it tastes like Senior Scelerisque bars, miss?”

Venefica’s eyes widened. Did he really know? “You know about Senior Scelerisque?”

The boy stared at her like she was crazy. “Yes, missus. Thought we all knew about 'em.”

Venefica remembered when the first episode had come out. She had been eight years old when she saw it on the special film. Each of them showcased Senior Scelerisque, a wizard. He would go on fighting adventures with the silly sidekick Frodo. Her favorite parts were always when Senior Scelerisque found the Lycanwolves and removed them from WandVille. 

“They discontinued the series,” Venefica told the boy, frowning. “Don’t lie to me. Surely you must have heard someone else speak about it.”

Malum shook his head. “Nuh-uh,” he took a bite of the chocolate bar. “Saw it myself!”

Now that the woman had thought about it, it made sense. With his wolf tendencies, he would have found an old tape. “Who was your favorite character, then? Surely it was the bad guys?”

The boy gave her a shocked look as if nobody could ever like the villains. “Nuh-uh, miss. Frodo’s my favorite. He’s like me.”

“Like you?” Venefica repeated. Her heart boiled. How could this child be making such bold claims? “How could he be like you?”

“Really nice, he is,” the boy went to go down at the rest of the wrapper, but there wasn’t anything left. “He’s smart. Mama told me I'm smart. He can be a real dog, like me!”

Venefica was enraged. How dare he make Frodo something he wasn’t? How dare he ruin something so special? She put one finger in the air. “You listen to me! What you’re doing is disgusting! Especially to those of higher status!”

Malum looked confused. “Can I tell ya about shows or not?”

“W-why, I oughta…” she glanced around. “Not the shows! You can’t lie to adults!”

“I ain’t lyin’!” Malum insisted. “In Senior Scelerisque and Frodo’s Adventures, he acts like me in every-”

“Senior Scelerisque and Frodo’s Adventures?” Venefica narrowed her eyes. “That’s not the name of it.”

“It is, ma’am.”

Venefica paused. The show had been discontinued, and she never knew why. When she turned thirteen, she never saw it again. In fact, multiple shows about defeating creatures were taken off and were replaced with magical study tapes in her household. Whenever she begged to see other shows, her parents refused. They said she was too old for the content. Or were they?

The older woman nearly fell down to the ground. Fortunately, her wand had stopped it itself just in time. She thanked the wand as it went back into the purse. Malum had gone closer, cocking his head to the side. “You alright, ma’am?”

“No, I’m not,” she said quietly, trying to find her glasses on the ground. Once she had found them, she could see the boy’s face. It was mostly covered, other than his eyes, which seemed calm. “You still haven't talked about the adventures.”

Malum went on and on about adventures while they trick-or-treated. Venefica couldn’t help but cringe at the parts on Frodo, but she would smile and pretended she liked it. She did, however, enjoy the descriptions of Senior Scelerisique saving his own chocolate bars from the dangerous Viola, Frodo chasing away enchanted cats sent to invade WandVille, and the two together defeating all-powerful witch Nagini, and in turn, saving the world.

It wasn’t long before they had finished. Fewer children came, and lights went out. The bag, to Malum’s amazement, was overfilled. 

“How many are in here?” Malum wondered. “More than the ones in the factory? Think so, ma’am?”

“Please,” Venefica scoffed. “Just Venefica, dear. Don’t hurt yourself with manners.” She hesitantly had pulled out her wand but stopped herself. “You keep talking about wizards but you aren’t a wizard.”

“Is too!” Malum protested

“Then prove it,” she said coldly, putting her wand out. “Don’t touch the whole thing, either-- that’s right, the VERY bottom-- now, tap it once.”

The boy had tapped the bag once. Nothing happened. Then twice.

Venefica snatched the wand. “Better luck ne-” She nearly jumped at the sudden explosion of blue smoke. The smoke formed the number 259.

“That much?”

“You can read, can’t you?” 

A figure emerged from the shadows. At first, Venefica thought it was Nagini herself. However, it was Flores. She called Malum’s name, and he came, balancing his bag.

She bent down to the child’s level. “Was Miss Venefica nice to you today, Malum?”

“Yeah!”

“Really?” Flores seemed surprised. 

“We talked about Senior Scelerisque, Mama!”

The woman looked up at Venefica, who stepped back at Flores’ stare. “Go with your father, I’ll be there in a moment.”

Though Flores had given him instructions, the child still stood there. Venefica focused on Flores. The woman put her hand on Venefica’s shoulder, a sense of reflection in her eyes. “Thank you,” Tears rolled down Flores' cheeks. “Thank you so much for trying.”

Venefica nodded. Flores walked back to her son and grabbed his hand. Malum waved Venefica farewell with his free arm. Venefica smiled. If that child believed in her enough to say goodbye, maybe she was alright.