Chapter 75

'If they are unwilling to follow the Laws of the Universe, then we cut the string and let them go on their way,' my monster said in a soft, comforting voice. 'We are the fates, nothing more, nothing less. We obey the Laws as much as the next person, if not maybe more,' she continued as I tried to wrap my head around what she was saying.

'Is that what we did to Mother?' I asked for the first time. A big part of me didn't want to know the answer, but I couldn't—wouldn't bury my head in the sand. I needed to know the truth

'Your mother was a… special circumstance, one that is very rarely seen,' hedged my monster. I could feel her hesitating, unsure about what she should say.

'Just tell me,' I said, making a hard decision of my own. 'I can take it.'

'Your mother was not who you thought she was,' came the hesitant reply.

'My mother was Pandora, the Keeper of the Box and Head of the House Gypsy,' I said, firm in my belief.

'No,' came the reply deep inside. 'That was only half of who she was and that alone would not have allowed her to be reborn over and over again.'

'What do you mean?' I asked confused.

'Your mother, was Pandora and Head of the House Gypsy,' started my monster. 'But those things do not allow for reincarnation. When she died the first time, an old Witch was also on the verge of death and decided to jump into her body, for lack of a better word.'

I scrunched my brows in confusion. 'I don't understand.'

'Your mother's thread became entwined with that of Baba Yega allowing the two to become one. Pandora was able to be reborn again, able to do whatever it was that she wanted to do, and Baba Yega would never fully die.'

'Great,' I murmured to myself. 'As if my mother wasn't a big enough bitch on her own, she then became one with Baba Yega.'

My monster hummed in agreement. 'But when Baba Yega took over your mother's body, she violated the Laws of the Universe.'

'Is that why Mother was so adamant that I never accept you? That you and I should never become one?'

I felt my monster nod her head. 'The only way to kill them both and correct the imbalance is to cut their thread, but you cannot do that without me.'

It was my turn to nod. It was nice to finally know what was going on and how she was always able to come back… but it was a bit unsettling that my mother was actually Baba Yega. Although I guess they did have similar personalities.

'Now,' said my monster, bringing me out of my thoughts. 'Find the thread that needs to be cut tonight.'

"How do I do that?" I wondered out loud, my voice startling me in the silence that was my office.

'You feel it,' replied my monster before I felt her settle down inside of me, no longer caring about the conversation.

Feel it, huh? Not exactly the most enlightening advice I have ever gotten, and only mildly more helpful than, 'Don't stick your tongue to a metal pole when it is cold outside'. Looking at the snow outside, I thought about the second piece of unhelpful advice and wondered if it was cold enough to count.

Yes, even my mind was procrastinating over what I needed to do next, but that was ok. It would take me less than a second to cut the thread once I found it, so I could take my time. As long as it still happened before the sun rose, I would be keeping my promise to General Greyson.

Threat?... Promise?... Either way, I would still be keeping my word.

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I spent the evening cuddled up into the chair that smelt like Viktor, reading an over-the-top, instalove story that was guaranteed to put me in a good mood. What could I say? I was the Queen of Procrastination, more so than Gypsies, and short books that were only 45 pages long were the perfect thing to help me in my quest not to do work.

I think I had managed to read about 4 or 5 of them before the alarm on my phone went off. It was 12:00, midnight, and the deadline that I had given myself before I had to get to work. Between midnight and 1:00 am was always considered the witching hour as far as I was concerned, and so, it would be perfect for taking down those that considered themselves to be working with witches.

I sneered at the very idea that a witch and a gypsy were one and the same, but humans were more foolish than not. Still, I would use their beliefs to spread a bit more fear into them…

I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of Viktor, even though it was starting to fade after all this time. I would need to call him tomorrow to come over to replace it… without knowing it of course. Filing that thought away, I concentrated on the threads coming into my view.

Ignoring the colored ones that were healthy, I concentrated on the ones that showed serious rot and decay. Most of them were all the same, like a big ball of worms frantically wiggling to get out. But there was one thread in the very center of the mass that somehow seemed different than the rest. This one did not wiggle, in fact, it seemed to freeze every time I looked at it like it was trying to hide from me.

Was that even possible? Could a thread know that I was here and looking at it? Were they… alive… like that? Curious, I took a closer look at the tread and noticed that the rot seemed to shiver like it was actively trying to infect the others around it. But then, a light shone down onto the thread and a faint gleam of metallic purple flared briefly before covering itself in rot.

"That's the one," I breathed.