I know Halloween was like a week ago but still XD

Carmen Sanderson, The Black Cat, The Witch, The Scourge of Bayfield village, was not enjoying the night of her 194th Halloween as a nightmare.

Even when the moon was full and brilliantly white, even when her broom of deep red cherry wood was at its fastest, even when the children of the town were happy and squealing in their costumes of ghosts and ghouls and horrid creature, instead of cowering behind the closed doors of their homes, pulled tight to their mothers as they whispered to stay quiet at night- the immortal maiden could feel nothing but sorrow.

She had once danced among the children. She had once skipped fearlessly with her parents along the streets, collecting treats of chocolate and peppermint and sweet bread. Her friends had once waved at her with happiness and excitement- the neighbors with adoration as she showcased her black cat tunic and trousers. They would comment on the ears her mother had taken hours to sow together, using wicker and black cloth from her younger brother's worn baby clothes.

She had once been welcome in her home.

But never again would they see her and smile.

Never again would they dare to utter her name.

For she was Carmen, a witch. A monster. A stain on humanity. Death. Terror.

She did not age. She still looked to be just barely eighteen, even at the age of 221. She did not tire, not unless her magic was spent. And she did not show her face to the people who might've once been family. She did not dare.

They would kill her. Trap her, tie her up, burn her at the stake, as it was the only way- a Witch Hunt, it was called. They had one every year the night of Halloween, the older men and boys of the village. Normally Carmen did just fine to avoid them- it wasn't too hard for a fabled black cat to slink among the shadows, unnoticed, now, was it?

But this year was different.

Because she already had company.

"Put that down, you slimy brat!" Carmen screeched, her wave of ebony red hair flying wildly as she darted across the creaky wooden floor of her cottage. The young girl, her own short, blazing curls bouncing, rolled right under her arms and jumped back to her feet, the glowing bottle of elixir held gingerly in her pale hand.

She smirked and leaned against the wall, holding the vial up tauntingly. The freckles on her cheeks seemed to dimple as she winked a chalky, blue eye. "What, this?" she asked, her thick accent different than that of the natives of Bayfield. The girl shrugged. "You can have it, if you let me out."

Carmen resisted the urge to scream and gouge out her own eyes. "Oh, how I despise teenagers," she seethed, teeth clenched. "For the last time, you twit, I cannot let you go home! You'll just tell the men where I am."

The girl shook her ginger head, expression almost genuine. "I wouldn't. Not as long as you don't hurt me."

"Why would I believe you?"

"Why would I believe you?" she simply countered.

Carmen felt the tips of her ears heat as she balled her fists and pointed an accusatory finger. "What is wrong with you, anyway!? Your people hate me! Why in the bloody name of Xenyoph did you come out into the forest!?"

The girl snorted. "I'm not scared of the forest."

"Those are brash words, you stupid, stupid child. The forest is full of untold dangers. You could get killed faster than I could snap a mouse's neck."

Her face flushed, shoulders tightening. "I'm not a child!" she insisted. "You barely look my own age!"

Carmen took a menacing step forward, torn black skirts swishing, steel toes of her boots clicking on the boards. She gave a vicious smile, her elongated canines gleaming in the fire light. "I am centuries your senior, girl," she spat.

A step forward.

"I have lived to see this town destroyed and rebuilt over."

Another. The ginger flinched back, precious elixir still in hand.

"I have brought terror to that village for almost two hundred years. I have been a shadow on the people. Have you not once heard the legends from your parents?"

There was a moment of silence, in which Carmen willed her gray-blue eyes to flash with the brightest of golden fires. The girl noticed this, her own eyes widening, before growling, "Yes, I've heard them. And I think they're absolute rubbish." Doubt had crept into her voice, though she shoved it back.

Carmen flicked her hand up, pulling the glove off. Her palm immediately burned beneath the skin, the cursed magic in her blood fighting to break free. The girl winced again in terror as Carmen leashed the power and channeled it where the pain throbbed the most, allowing a single spark of shadow to hover above her hand. "The legends say that I have magic, do they not?"

"...They do."

Carmen bared her teeth. "And the pointed teeth of the vampire. They speak of them, yes?"

"...Yes."

Carmen stepped closer, her shadow bending to fill the house. "You couldn't kill me if you tried, mortal," she hissed. "Another piece of the tale."

"But what of the death?" the girl suddenly rushed anxiously. "What of the death they say you bring? Do you steal children? Do you actually terrorize the people? Do you burn the trees, the animals, the sky?"

Carmen paused, her shadow immediately sinking back to its normal shape. She pulled her glove back on numbly, staring at the girl. Did she kill? Did she pillage?

"I did, once," the witch uttered softly. "When I first learned of my magic. It was so long ago. I had recently turned seventeen. They were after my head, and-" She stopped. "Well, let's put it shortly and say that a demon had seemed to possess me. I wasn't myself. I was a monster."

The girl stared back at her.

Carmen sighed and snatched the vial from her hand before she could react, spinning on her heel and striding away to her kitchen table, tucked away into the corner. "What's your name?" she asked behind her bitterly. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I also can't trust you and let you leave. I'm sorry."

There was shocked silence for just a moment. "I- Ivy. My name is Ivy," she said.

"Well, Ivy, it looks like you will be here with me, for a while." Carmen tucked the elixir away and turned to face her, leaning against the table with her arms folded over her chest. Ivy's face sported pure confusion, her eyebrows furrowed deeply. Carmen sighed. "I'm not going to eat you. I'm not going to torture you. I'm not going to tie you up. I do not partake in such horrors."

"But the legends..."

"Were just now proven to have inaccurate information, yes? Even if mostly correct?"

Ivy nodded, still pressing herselfagainst the wall.

Carmen pursed her lips, eyes narrowed. "You suddenly do not seem as brave, child."

"...I truthfully thought your spoken of p-powers were a hoax," Ivy stuttered. "...madam."

The witch snorted, waving a dismissive hand. "Do not call me madam. I am a witch, not a mistress. My name is Carmen. And you needn't fear me, really. I don't plan on cursing you."

The ginger seemed to relax. "...and yet you say I cannot leave."

Irritating speaker again. "Yes, I did say that."

"Why?"

"I told you that, too."

"I promise I wouldn't sell you out, our tales and stories of you are obviously wrong, and I-"

"You will do nothing. I cannot let you go home. They will ask where you've been, and even if I did trust you not to open your mouth, they will have hounds on your scent leading here before the moon is down."

Ivy flinched. "If you don't kill like they say you do, why are they so afraid of you? And you of them?"

Carmen frowned, her dark painted lips curling. "They believe what they want to believe. Not what is true. The hearts of the men of Bayfield are dark and corrupt. The people have changed much since I first left."

Blue eyes darted across Carmen's house, roaming over shelf's of bottles and old gilded books, over hooks holding kitchenware and heavy iron cauldrons, over doors and candles and her broom and hat on the wall. Ivy seemed to take it in, swallowing a lump in her throat. "You... they try to catch you every year, don't they?"

Carmen's striking features twisted into a scowl.

"That's why you're afraid."

No answer.

"You're afraid that they have a way to kill y-"

"Enough!" Carmen suddenly shouted, her hands bursting into silver flame, incinerating the gloves in an instant as she snarled, her eyes flashing not gold- but a deep ebony red. 

Ivy scrambed back with a yelp, her body smashing against a small book shelf littered with empty bottles and heavy books. The shattering of glass and the thump of paper and leather against the floor deafened her, but even the destructive cacophany couldn't drown out the witch's pained howl.

The dust settled, Ivy's breathing ragged as she sat among the debris, staring eyes wide. Carmen lay just feet away, doubled over with her hands pulled to her chest. Her back shook, pupils dilated and shining with tears, even as she only looked blankly down at herself. Black blood dripped in a steady stream from where her hands were clasped to her chest.

"What- what did you do?" Ivy stammered, gasping.

"...I have not-" Carmen sucked in a heavy breath, misery seeping through her voice. "I have not felt pain like this in almost 200 years."

Ivy could only struggle to stady her own breathing.

"It is as terrible as I remember. My senses had become numb to it- to the damage my own power does to me." She clenched her teeth, tears slipping into her mouth.

"...I do not think even our oldest stories of you are correct, Carmen," Ivy whispered, still gazing dumbfoundely at the witch. She hadn't been ready for the black blood when her brother had dared her into the forest, the changing eyes, the colored fire, the fangs- "Why- why does your power hurt you?"

Carmen looked up to her, pale face bearing an expression glazed with pain and horror. "I myself am supposed to be the only thing that is capable of bringing physical harm to me. My power is a curse. Being a witch is a curse. Bayfield knows it, too. Supposedly, burning at the stake would kill me. I do not wish to find their claims as truth. My- my hands are the outlet of my magic. But it has only gotten stronger over the centuries I've been alive. I struggle to contain it. Never have I snapped like I just did. I fear that my own blood will one day end me."

The girl gaped, silent.

Carmen groaned, cradeling her hands to herself as she shakily stood. "I need to tend to my wounds. Be careful getting up. That's a lot of glass. And I wouldn't suggest trying to leave while you're unsupervised." She limped from the room, pushing against a door with her shoulder. There wasn't any shape-shifting in her immediate future, that was evident.

And if I can't morph tonight, when the men are out and about...

She cursed, stretching her blistered and bleeding fingers out from their fist-shape with a grimace once she'd reached her washroom. Magical burns took ages to heal, she'd read. She was surprised at how quickly the pain had lessened, though. "Carmen, you really are a blundering fool," she muttered to herself, flicking her pinky to bring a bucket of rain water and a cloth to her from the small table. The floated over slowly, and she eased her hands into the cool liquid with a hiss as her skin seemed to wither in protest.

"A fool," she grumbled again, biting her lip to keep herself from sobbing as a wave of crackling heat washed over her arms. How had she lost control so suddenly? It had almost felt like her restraint had been weakened-

Carmen's fears were confirmed as soon they appeared in her head by the sound of her front door crashing open. There was a startled yell from Ivy, and the witch thrust her damaged hands into the towel before dashing out to the kitchen, body still shaking in pain.

She froze, not quite believing her own eyes.

Her very blood seemed to still.

For at her door, with three men in shadowed robes behind him, was a spirit of mist and madness, longing and darkness. Wisps of blue energy drifted from him as a non-existent wind tossed the curls of his once-brown hair around his too-pale face. Blank, colorless eys met hers, and the spirit smiled before solidifying into a young man, no older than her. Color returned to him, though it was dampened. Legs and feet formed from the air and stood upon her floor.

"Hello, Bruja Carmen," he said, dimples appearing on his cheeks with his borderline-mocking words.

Carmen swallowed against the scream in her throat. "Hello, Fantasma Graham."

So! That's the first part to my Halloween AU, I hoped you enjoyed! I've got a little news, now. For those of you who weren't already aware, I'm puttng this book on hiatus. This chapter finalizes that. I just need a break. I don't know for how long, but I do promise to come back XD

Thanks so much for reading and understanding!

ALSO GUYS WHAT THE HECK 30K READS!?!?

THANK YOU SO MUCH I CAN'T EVEN START TO SAY HOW GRATEFUL I AM-

I LOVE YOU GUYS