The Possession of Emily Borden

The Possession of Emily Borden 3

"Anzaki artifacts have been found as far north as southern France and as far south as the Gold Coast region on the western African continent. This suggests that they possessed a vast mercantile empire. Among the few surviving pieces discovered were tablets detailing their ancient lore. They apparently were practitioners in ritual sacrifice, or at least that was the impression received from the scholars who first translated some of their surviving documents. Blood featured prominently in what are believed to be religious texts, as well as references to someone or something called Tas'Ashuran... "

-Excerpt from the Archeology Archives

University of Cambridge circa 1938 CE

Note: This is the only surviving snippet that mentions anything regarding the Anzaki

Empire.

The graduate student who wrote this paper disappeared shortly after publishing this paper and the departmental archives suffered a fire later that year.

Foul play was suspected but the investigation was eventually dropped.

Reunion

"Hi Emmy," her mother spoke into the silence only sporadically punctured by the sound of her own breathing. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you again."

In that colorless, featureless room, Emily Borden did not know what to say or how to feel. This woman claiming to be her mother stood before her with an apprehensive smile on her face. The lines of her body screamed anxiousness yet she stood calm and patient, willing to give Emily all the time she needed to process her new surroundings. Seeing her there, composed and wise while she herself was a spiraling ball of confusing emotions and experiences, the accumulated experiences that for her had happened in a single day was enough to drive her over the edge. She felt like exploding and this time she had no reason to hold back.

"Why are you here,

MOM,

if that's who you really are? You and your pals, not to mention our beloved

Mistress,

have already turned me into a lesbian and made me enslave my only friend. My, what fresh new experience do you have for me today," she finished in a nasty sing-song voice, the sarcasm dripping off every word like hot venom. Her mother opened her mouth to respond but she cut her off. "No! No, you don't get to talk! I have been through hell today! Now I'll admit that I liked some of it but becoming a witch was not on my fucking to-do-list!" A sob escaped as she caught her breath. "And now I apparently have a blank book that hungers for blood, powers I don't understand and a contract with a goddess that is probably gonna take my soul when all's said and done. Oh, and lest I forget, I'm now having fireside chats with a mother who's been dead for 10 years in a white room with no doors or windows. I thought my life was shitty before but this is an entirely new level."

Agnes tried to butt in. "Now honey, I know you've had a somewhat traumatic couple of days..."

"'Somewhat traumatic' she says! Boy aren't you the queen of understatement today! As my friend, oh excuse me, my

minion

would say, No Shit Sherlock!"

Agnes lost a bit of her calm, her daughter's diatribe clearly getting under her skin. She spoke with the exaggerated patience of a negotiator talking down an active shooter. "Look Emmy, I'm trying to help you and I don't have much time..."

"Not much time? You're not dead I'm assuming. You had 10 years to explain some of this shit to me. NOW you're in a fucking rush?"

"Dammit Emily, do you think this is easy for me?," Agnes asked as her temper finally broke, unacknowledged tears beginning to flow from her violet eyes. "I had to leave, otherwise the Tasurani would have taken you." She held up a finger to forestall another interruption. "Before you ask, that is what our mistress is, a Tasurani, a nature spirit. She's nearly as old as human history and has been entering into contracts with humans for almost as long. If I'd have stayed with you and your father long enough for you to start menstruating then she'd have gotten me, you and your father instead of just me. But I'm getting off track; none of this is important right now. My fate is sealed, I'm paying the price for the power I had. There's no hope for me but you and your friend have a chance to break free. A small chance, but more than I ever had."

Emily was mesmerized. That voice, the one that used to read her stories when she was still afraid of thunderstorms and calmed her fears, that voice cut through all her pain and confusion, struck her heart despite her defenses. It was too good to be true; she began to get suspicious. "Why would you help me," she asked quietly. "Aren't you a servant? Does she not own you, mind, body and soul?"

"I love you. Of course I'm going to help you in any way I can. And I am able to because you were once a part of me. That connection is what allows me to defy her even temporarily. But I cannot do it for long. I would have run out of time already if it were not for your marvelous friend Natalie. Her defiance added to her witch hunter blood took much effort to subdue and the Mistress isn't as attentive as she normally would be. Anyway, important things. One, this is your place as the forest glade is the Mistress'. Only she can enter here without your permission, and only with great effort. You can make it however you wish and can spend as much time as you wish here. Time does not move inside this bubble in your mind. Two, I bespelled the amulet before I...left to hide you from her eyes. When the chain broke it compelled your dad to leave town for as long as possible. The credit card he left has no limit, you can buy whatever you need or want with it. The spell could not be made permanent, he will be in danger when it wears off and he returns home. Lastly, there will be a time when you know you must resist her at all costs or all will be lost. You will know when. Find my amulet, hide it somewhere and hide your knowledge of its location here. When that time comes, my amulet will help you overcome her strength. Your friend will help too. But until then give no resistance, make her think you meek, hide your true strength. And learn, child. Learn everything there is to know about yourself, your powers, and our mistress. You can win, I know it!" Then her body faded, first becoming one with the white background then losing distinct form. But her voice was still strong. "I love you, sweet Emmy. Now go back to your friend before the Mistress suspects anything amiss."

Then she was gone and Emily was speechless. Heart in her throat at the thought of the aborted reunion, she returned to Natalie on the couch and then, finally, to real sleep.

------------------------------

The sun was well past its zenith when they awoke on the couch, bodies still tangled with each other. Emily was rightly concerned. She loved Natalie and she did not wish to force her compliance. They were bonded, nothing could pry them away from each other, yet she wanted her best friend to stay of her own free will, not just because of the spirit that now ruled both their lives. She looked to her friend with pleading in her eyes and not a little guilt.

Please don't try to leave,

she thought, her body tense.

Never,

replied Natalie, her mind voice strong.

We're in this together girlfriend. Always.

They smiled at each other, faces close, their mirrored expressions of relief and apprehension quite easy to read. "So, do I call you mistress now?" Natalie joked weakly.

"Oh Jesus, please don't!" Emily replied with some heat and exasperation. "Or, at least not here. In the dream the Mistress may require some form of obeisance and for that, my lady will be just fine." She sighed, took a breath, then continued. "Look hun, I'm super sorry I brought you into this, I didn't understand what I was getting into until far too late. I'd let you out the deal if I could..."

"Stop," interrupted Natalie, seriousness replacing her earlier joking tone. "I know all this. You know I love you and I'd never let you face something like this alone. Even before this blood bond or whatever that you as close to me as my own family. Whatever happens we gone get through it, okay? Besides," her smile returned, as sudden as the passage of summer rain, "I got an amazing makeover out of it!"

"Oh Natalie!" Emily embraced her hard, her eyes overflowing with tears. "I love you too, girl!" They cried and comforted each other for awhile, never bothering to leave the couch or even to let go of each other. They shared tentative kisses and commiserations; they showed their love for each other in more than just words. And before they eventually rose to clean off the sweat of their efforts Emily stood in that room in her mind. She made two resolutions in that secret room that day. One, that she would ensure that her and her friend would get everything they were promised and more. Two, that they would find a way to eventually overcome the tasurani that currently ran their lives and make it pay for all it had done. To do that, she had to trust the information her mother had given her no matter how much the idea still galled her. It was all she had to go on if she didn't want to spend eternity dancing next to a fountain.

Beginnings and Blood

Emily Borden walked the halls of her school that Monday as a vastly different person than the one who ran away in tears the week before. Flanked by Natalie, she moved with the confidence of a goddess gracing earth with her very presence. A shopping trip with her father's credit card had resulted in new clothes to match her new body and had gotten her accustomed to the stares she'd be receiving from men and women both. Emily assumed the Mistress also had a hand in keeping her heart rate steady too, though she'd been strangely quiet since their merger. Regardless, it was gratifying to her when she saw the astonished faces of people who previously either ignored or bullied her. Her smile was predatory.

By lunchtime Emily was the talk of the school. People she hadn't spoken to since freshman year were coming up to her, asking for her secret. Did she get a makeover? Contacts? Plastic surgery? She had gone from a nobody to a celebrity in an eyeblink, and she basked in the extra attention. A part of her was disgusted though, a part that had nothing to do with the Mistress, a part that was still her. Sure she was pretty now, but she was still the same person mostly. It shouldn't be this easy to grab attention and become popular; she did nothing different than what she did most days. She went to class and stayed quiet, yet the reaction she got from her classmates could not be more different.

But this is what you wanted, right?

she asked herself. And she did want this, had asked for it, had bargained her soul with the closest thing she knew to a demon for this. She would not turn back now, she could not. If not for her own sake but to protect Natalie.

While Emily was adjusting to the new reality others were not so eager to embrace the new her. Sarah Chase in particular was rich, beautiful, popular, and very protective of her school status. She'd worked hard to reach the pinnacle, charming teachers, joining and eventually taking over clubs, dating the boys of highest status, cutting down any girl who dared to challenge her right to be queen. She had no intention of letting Ms. Emily Upstart waltz in with zero effort and assume primacy. She was going to confront that little bitch and cut her down in front of the entire student body, or at least the most important ones. She didn't see Emily as being much of a challenge; she at least believed as Emily did, that not much had changed on the inside despite the makeover and the designer clothes. She was still the little mouse she'd always been.

Lunch was nearly over when Sarah approached the new and improved Emily at a nearby lunch table, her clique surrounding them. "Wow," Sarah said with derision. "Looks like the ugly duckling finally became a swan. And she brought along her little mutt friend for the ride. Congratulations on no longer being an embarrassment to the entire senior class."

"Look Sarah," Emily replied as if bored. "I'm trying to eat here. What exactly is it that you want?"

"Oh nothing," said Sarah, her tone turning to fake sweetness. "I just wanted to check in on our most pathetic seniors. Call it a charity project. Anyway, that's a cute top you have on. I have a closet full of ones just like it. Tell me, did that outfit bankrupt your poor father or did you somehow win the lottery without telling us? Sorry, don't answer that. I wouldn't want to embarrass the less fortunate by pointing out how ridiculous they look wearing clothes that don't fit them."

Natalie snarled and was halfway out her seat before Emily put a restraining hand on her arm.

Don't worry Nat, I got this,

she spoke into her friend's mind. Aloud she said, "I know what this is Sarah and I'm sorry. I honestly don't care about this school and all of the bullshit anymore; we have two months before we graduate. I am not here to take over your petty queendom, emphasis on dumb. But I'm warning you. You are testing my patience, especially when you insult my friend. Now you have two options. Walk away and don't speak to me for the remainder of the school year, or I destroy you and everything you have built here. I'm not the same girl you've always known and tormented, I am beyond that person you've felt it has been your right to torment. Take my word for it, you do not want these problems. This will be your only warning."

Sarah struggled to dismiss her threats as no big deal but she knew that there was no backing down from this challenge. She crossed her arms and put on an airy expression, but she could not hide the heat in her voice. "Emily, you're an upstart pissant with exactly one friend. You're a pathetic loser and have always been a loser. Your little makeover can't change that. You? Destroy me? You aren't worthy to lick the dust off my Red Bottoms. You and your mutt friend should go home, wash off that cheap makeup and take those clothes back to the store before your families go bankrupt.

If Emily had been the same person that fell out the chair a week ago, she might have done just that. But she had seen things, felt things, things beyond comprehension. She didn't feel too much different inside but she was, and this moment proved it in her mind. Nat was seething beside her, but she felt excited. She recognized some of that as coming from the Mistress, always eager to prove her mastery over others, but not all. She surprised Sarah, surprised herself when she didn't wilt under the scrutiny of her and her clique. Instead she smiled, sharp as a razor and colder than winter's heart.

"Oh Sarah," Emily said, pitching her voice to carry to every corner of the packed cafeteria. Students and even teachers were following the exchange and were paying rapt attention. "You really think you're better than me, huh? Someone has been lying to you. The truth is that you're completely ordinary, there is nothing at all special about you." Emily continued, voice measured and even, completely cold. "You've never accomplished anything on your own. Your looks, your clothes, your grades, even your so-called friends were bought and paid for by dear ole daddykins. I thought you realized that but I should have expected you not to get it, you never were too bright."

Sarah, face beet red, tried to interrupt with something akin to how dare you but Emily kept speaking as if Sarah wasn't even there, "You say I have one friend? That's more than you'll ever have. These people standing around my table aren't your friends, they're wolves waiting to see you fall. Tiffany, your so-called bestie is screwing your boyfriend to spite you but they all hate you because you treat them like shit. Then again, it's not like you care about them or your boyfriend either for that matter. I mean, you are fucking Mr. Thompson, have been since you turned 18, right?"

"No!" Sarah screamed. "None of that is true, right?" She looked around the table but her five companions would not meet her eyes. Tiffany's face was as red as her own, shame blanketing every feature.

"Yes," Emily went on implacably. "You thought it was a secret? Hardly. Everyone talks behind your back. The entire school knows you for the dirty, slutty, spoiled rich girl you are, they're just too afraid to say so. Now your ugly antics have quite ruined my appetite. Go away. Oh, and I hope you have a change of clothes in your locker. There's something on your dress."

"My-my dress?" Sarah questioned her; her next response short-circuited in mid-thought. She looked down at her spotless attire and did not see as Emily picked up the remainder of her food and flung them at Sarah. The food splattered on her and Tiffany and the clatter of the tray seemed to release the room from a trance. Laughter and some scattered applause erupted in the cafeteria. Tears sprung to Sarah's eyes, from fury or mortification even she couldn't tell. But she knew she could not bear to see the smug look on the face of someone who was a nobody just a week ago. Fury won out. "You BITCH!!!," she shrieked. "I'll KILL YOU!!"

She reached out for Emily with both hands, murder plain in her bright blue eyes. She looked as though she intended to choke her but her hands never reached their target. Emily did not rise from her seat, did not even seem concerned by Sarah's charge or apparent murderous intent. She calmly, almost contemptuously, slapped Sarah's arms wide before grabbing her by the back of her head. Then she slammed her face on the lunchroom table once, twice, three times. Emily shattered Sarah's nose, handling her as if she were a toddler, and her blood flew everywhere. Some of it splattered unto Emily's dress and a speck of it even reached her face. She cleaned the offending spot with her pointer finger and licked the blood off the tip before speaking. "Oh look, you stained my pretty top Sarah. I'll be sure to send your dear ole dad my dry cleaning bill. Come on Nat, let her so-called friends pick up that piece of garbage. We're leaving."

Everyone in the room looked as dazed as poleaxed Sarah at the sudden violence and the apparent calm of the perpetrator. Emily and Natalie walked out of a room that had gone completely silent again, almost as though they were afraid of what she may say or do next.

Pleasure and Pain

Emily was summoned to the Principal's office shortly after her demonstration in the cafeteria. Now that the confrontation had been concluded and she had time to think, she was by turns amazed and horrified at her performance. Her memory of events was crystal clear, yet it was as if she were watching a movie. It hardly seemed like her at all. It was time to speak with the tasurani sharing her soul.

It's Mistress,

she admonished herself.

Until I learn enough to break free, it's always Mistress. Do not forget!

In her mind she pictured a clearing in a forest glade, filled with women dancing in gossamer gowns, a fountain of flowing blood, and an ivory throne on a dais. In her vision she knelt at the foot of that dais, waiting for permission to rise.

The Mistress was sitting in the throne, looking upon her newest vessel with kind yet steely eyes, her posture one of near impossible poise. "Rise and approach child," she spoke softly, with none of the fury or dominance games of the last meeting. She looked somehow sated, as if the last few days had been a meal she'd been deprived of for ages. "Why is it you come to this place, child?"

"To learn, Mistress," Emily replied humbly as she rose and approached the throne. "I... said things and did things that I would have never contemplated before. How much of that was you and how much was me?"