4.

Early on in the evening that sees a debutants ball take place, even before an entrance into the building hosting the ceremonies can be made, Anna Mitchell savours the thoughts of having her own way with a certain Majella Smith. Majella is the only sister that Anna has yet to meet. She knows that this Majella is not on board with the rest of them; she knows that this Majella is not likely to fully join the shadows and for this Anna wants to have her own way with this girl.

She is not allowed to have her way here at the Ball, Darkness will not allow it, in actuality he forbids it. He has plans for Majella and he still fully expects her to be a full-on sister of darkness. For Majella has yet to come out against him, she is not even fully aware of what it is she is though she is getting the picture, she is putting it all together. Anna obeys. She wants to be where she is and will not put her own position at risk.

Still, Darkness knows what is in his daughter's heart; he knows what is in each of his daughter's hearts. Majella's heart is not completely black, it is not completely clean either, how could it be clean when Satan is her father? He is the reason why she is what she is. No matter what claims Darkness has on her, Majella has but one father, one dad and as far as she is concerned it certainly is not Satan.

Yeah, another daughter has been sent forward at the beginning of the Ball, another daughter is charged with ensuring that all daughters unite as a group of nine so, for a while at least, Anna must keep away, keep to herself and trust her father's judgement. When she will get a chance, a chance she is sure she will get, Anna has plenty to use against her ... misguided sister.

Indeed, as for such time as this, when all nine girls are eighteen years of age, Anna has accepted that her own heart is black, if anything she revels in such a thought. All the things she can do, all the things she has done and all she can use against Majella. Oh, she is going to enjoy it. She is just itching to reveal what it is she knows about the death of a blood sister.

The Smith family indeed had three blood sisters, of which Majella is the youngest. Just wait until Anna can reveal the part Sammy Fontaine had to play in the death of the eldest Smith sibling. Anna knows all about Majella, Majella virtually knows nothing about Anna and next to nothing about the other seven girls either. From the night of the Ball onwards, things are absolutely going to get dark and as dark as dark can be.

***

Darkness always had Anna. What he needed most was for his daughters to choose to obey him; anything else would be anarchy and chaos. He is a fan of anarchy and chaos though only when it is organized, specifically by him; still he needs compliance and obedience to come willingly. Even with all the power he has he cannot force their allegiance, this is just one hindrance imposed on him by the man above, something even the playing field a little as the man of light struggles with killing. Light will not kill and would not condone killing if it so can be helped. If one daughter chooses not to obey him, well could such a thing as not killing be counted upon? Could kill or be killed be a thing to be laid upon a table?

From the moment Darkness first came to Anna when she was only six-years-old, he knew he had her. No convincing needed, no display of power or anything of the likes, she belonged to darkness no matter what mother Mitchell wanted for her daughter. Confident in this father-daughter arrangement, Darkness scheduled Anna's first performance for when she was just eight years old.

At school it would happen, right in the classroom in the middle of the day. Twenty-two children, all eight-year-olds, can be a handful at the best of times and especially at playtime, and on this particular day all hell would literally break out.

Another girl, Tammy Lester, was playing with a handheld mirror. The handle and frame was plastic and made in such a way that the mirror would be protected if it were to fall. It may be encased in plastic though the reflective mirror was still glass. Teacher kept an eye as best as she could and if she could have known what was to come, she would not have allowed such an item into the classroom but how could she have known? How could anyone foresee what was about to happen?

During this playtime the classroom darkened a little, not enough to cause worry or even to be thought anyway strange by anyone in a position to think such a thing. A shadow moved through the room. It directed and instructed. When the time came, the shadow told Anna to concentrate, and she did. She done as instructed with ease and without distraction.

As Tammy pretended to be a grown up while looking into her mirror Anna indeed concentrated. With the power of her own mind, she made the glass shatter. When the glass shattered Tammy, in shock, immediately let the mirror fall to the floor. One shard, one large shard of glass rose up from the floor and hovered at eye-level.

'Now Anna' Darkness would speak and, of course, only Anna would hear him.

She did as commanded. The shard of glass moved suddenly and with great speed went right into the left eye of little Tammy Lester. Most everyone in the room saw this happen or at least the effects of it. The screaming occurred immediately. Mayhem, pure mayhem, to which other classroom teachers had to abandon their classrooms to come do whatever they could, Anna enjoyed every moment of it, to the point that despite only being eight years old she had to try prevent herself from laughing.

Yeah, Anna knew others would think it wrong to laugh or find enjoyment in a moment like this, she knew too that it would, at some stage, bring unwanted attention her way. Darkness really had her and already had her well versed in pure evil.

The Ball, when it came around, had its intruders, invitees, gate crashers, in essence it had its fair share of attendees whether intentionally invited or not. One such intruding gate crasher just so happens to be an eighteen-year-old named Tammy Lester. It has been ten years since she lost her left eye. In her head the time is long overdue to take an eye for an eye.

Tammy believes she knows what it is she is getting into and that revenge might come at a cost. If she can get her revenge, then she may just be willing to pay the ultimate price.