House of the Angels

“I swear, the moment I get my hands on the spawn of Rasputin’s ass, there will be HELL TO PAY!!” Sybilla stormed.

“Sybilla…” Anne said.

“Do not ask me to sit back any longer and watch while they go all over the place causin’ chaos Anne!” Sybilla snapped. “Look at what she did to Kyle….aw Kyle…..poor boy….he been like a son to you since the day he was born and look at what that gottdamned, brimstone breathed hag did to him!”

“What else are we supposed to do Sybilla?!” Anne questioned angrily.

“You can start by making sure the next time somebody plants the bitch in the ground that she stays there.” Sybilla answered testily.

Anne went silent and went to the window as she usually did when she was upset. Millions of thoughts collided with each other, all the what ifs, maybes, would’ve-should’ve-could’ves, all flying around and knocking against the inside of her skull.

“I’m sorry.” Sybilla told her, rising from her throne and joining Anne at the window. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that.”

“We’re all to blame.” Anne replied, staring out over the gardens.

Sybilla came to the sudden realization that her good friend was right. She had been so clouded by her own temper and desire for revenge against Sally that her poor judgement had nearly cost Kyle his life. “Tell us what to do,” Sybilla said. “And we’ll do it.”

“We need another plan.” Anne told her.

“Go on,” Sybilla said. “I’m listening.”

“Napoleon once said that the best thing to do when attacked is to counterattack.” Anne explained. “Sun Tzu also said that if an enemy leaves a door open you must run in.”

“What’cha gettin’ at?”

“Well I think it’s obvious isn’t it?” Anne pointed out. “Sally’s latest misstep obviously is good grounds to launch a counterattack. And I think she’s left the door wide open for us to rush in and finish her off while we can.”

“Oh I’m likin’ the way you think.” Sybilla chortled wickedly. “There’s the Annie we all know. Comin’ back from the dead like Lazarus.”

“The next opportunity that comes our way, we strike.” Anne said. “And then we finish her off. No more waiting around, we get out there, we grab the opportunity by the horns and we wrestle it to the ground.”

“But we ain’t gonna go it alone this time.” Sybilla added. “No more….. we’ve gotta keep it together.”

And so the plans were drawn up as were backup plans in case something went awry. Every step was carefully taken to make sure no one would get hurt again….and they were both sure of it.

Anne left Sybilla alone for the better part of that day to decompress in her room. She placed a few sticks of incense into the small stone urn on the altar on the right side of the room where a statue of a Haitian loa stood beside a small replica of Christ the Redeemer, struck a match and lit the smokey powder in the urn. Though she was assured Anne’s plans were better than before, she was still doubtful. In times of great doubt she found herself turning more and more to the good spirits, praying for some sort of strength to see them through the hard times. As she breathed in the smokey haze, Sybilla could feel her thoughts slowly fading away until her mind was at ease.