''Little sister, I hear you're looking for me. I hope you don't mind- I brought friends.''
Harper and Nicholas reeled as the somners sapped their strength.
Audrey and Finneas stepped forward, joining the hostiles, each holding a somner.
The crystals forced Harper and Nicholas to their knees.
''how are they still conscious?'' Audrey murmured.
Lara approached Harper, grabbed her chin, and tilted her head up.
''So you've grown more powerful. Did you eat your newborn to achieve this? Witch'' She sneered. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a somner.
Harper felt her vitality reach critical lows.
''What are you?'' Lara said, stunned by the fact that her sister was still conscious.
''Careful Lara'' Audrey said.
Lara scoffed, letting go of Harper chin, she collapsed weakly to the ground, barely aware of her surroundings.
Lara then whispered into Harper ears.
''It has to be some kind of record, a mother losing her newborn a few minutes after birth. You're a disgrace to motherhood. Honestly, the child's better off.'' she rounded off with a loud, cruel and mocking laughter.
Laras biting words hit a nerve Harper hadn't even known existed. A sharp rage ripped through her. She let out a scream that sent everyone flying, crashing into the surrounding walls. Her hair and eyes glowed green.
Panting, Harper rose. She glanced at Nicholas—he was back on his feet.
She stormed toward Lara, raining slap after slap across her face, she switched to a fist—each punch harder than the last. Her knuckles bled, but she didn't stop.
''don't…ever… talk …about …my…child!'' Harper yelled, each word punctuated with a blow.
''Harper….Harper!'' Nicholas called.
"WHAT?!" she snapped, turning to him. Her dark green eyes were wild and terrifying.
''We need all three of them alive.''
Nicholas used his powers to move the somners, attaching two to each of the reapers where they lay on the ground.
Harper rose, straightening her shirt.
''Now,'' she said, using her power, she suspended them four feet off the ground, facing each other. ''let's get to why we're here.''
''Where's my daughter?'' she demanded.
Silence.
Then—snap. Audrey's forearm broke with a sickening crack.
She shrieked in agony.
''NOOOOOO!'' Lara let out a loud scream.
Snap. The other forearm broke clean through, blood dripping onto the carpet beneath her.
''You filthy witch,'' Lara fumed.
Harper sighed.
Snap. Finneas's shin broke, twisting grotesquely. He let out a choked, strangled scream.
Lara screamed, deep in anguish, ''stop it Harper!'' she cried ''Dad…''
''And now… here goes his knee…in three…two…''
Finneas stared into Lara's eyes, bracing for another wave of pain..
''We don't know who took her! I swear!'' Lara cried. 'We heard what happened at the hospital and sent our people there along with some reapers, but you were gone!''
Blood, sweat, and mucus streaked Lara's face. Harper studied her— and in what little she could see of her swollen eyes, there was truth.
Nicholas, calm through most of the ordeal, finally spoke. "Who took us from Albany?"
''Lara, don't,'' Audrey whispered.
Snap! Audrey's shin shattered. Bone pierced skin, the broken limb dangling obscenely.
''Harper stop! She's your mother too!'' Lara cried. Her tone shrill and poignant.
''F*ck you!'' Harper spat ''She stopped being my mother the moment she tried to trap me like an animal and do God knows what to my unborn child. Now that child has been taken, and I will have answers….You're the only daughter she has now. Keep her quiet or I'll start breaking your bones and make her watch.''
''You vindictive bitch,'' Lara hissed.
''Answer Nic's question…who took us from Albany?''
''We arranged it with The Glades'' Lara sniffed. ''But we lost track of the reapers we sent. They reported back hours later— claimed they didn't know where you were, who took you, or how it happened. That's the truth."
Nicholas again: ''Where were we supposed to be taken?''
''To Salem,'' Lara said.
''What's in Salem?'' Harper asked, her rage briefly replaced by curiosity.
Audrey shook her head.
Lara hesitated.
Harper turned to Lara.
''Wait… I'll tell you,'' Lara said before Harper could punish their hesitation. ''It's the site of an old burial ground —part of a splinter branch of our coven. We were going to perform a ritual there."
''What ritual? And why?'' Harper asked.
''It's your child…''
''That's enough Audr…'' Fineas began.
Before he could finish, Lara's feet twisted at the ankles, turning backward. Her scream pierced the air like glass shattering.
Audrey and Finneas broke into wild wailing.
"I curse you, child!" Finneas bellowed. "I curse the day you were born! You hear me?! I curse you!".
''Now, keep each other in line, I will not tolerate any more interruptions'' Harper said, serenely.
"I'll kill you, Harper. I swear it," Lara growled, her voice stiff through the pain.
"Oh no, sister," Harper said coolly. "I'm the one who kills you. Just not today."
Nicholas looked at Harper, surprised.
She turned to Audrey. "Carry on. You were saying—about my child…"
But before Audrey could speak, Harper staggered.
''You feel that, Nic?'' she asked, blinking.
''I do'' he said, steadying her.
They moved to the window. Outside, a circle of witches held hands, blood dripping from their palms, chanting.
"They've given blood, Harp," Nicholas said. "The illusion's drained your energy, and I'm tapped from digging through their twisted minds. We need to leave—now—before I'm too weak to get us out of here.''
''Did you get what we came for?''
''I did,'' Nicholas replied.
Harper closed her eyes and exhaled.
The three captives now saw themselves seated side-by-side—battered but whole. The only real injuries were the burn marks on Finneas and Audrey's temples, and the cuts from Lara's beat up face.
They looked around in stunned silence, touching their limbs, testing for breaks.
"An illusion," Finneas muttered.
"Yes, Finneas," Harper said, stepping forward. "I'm not a monster. We needed a distraction—enough to lower your defenses so Nic could have a look around your minds. And I knew the only pain that would truly break you wasn't your own—but each other's."
She placed a hand gently on each of their heads, healing their wounds. ''the emotional and mental effects would however remain very real.''
Finneas stared coldly at Nicholas, watching as he held Harpers hand and vanished.