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[b] “I don…”[/b]

There it was. The disappointing answer for the Coven and for Max’s future. Lyss looked away from the ghost hunter. Her hope was just starting to fade, but as Kimberly changed her answer Lyss looked up at her with anxious excitement. Kimberly had a lead. The Coven could seek it out. If it worked for these girls and their families, it could work for Maximillian too. Maybe Lyss could solve the Coven and the DENs problems with one stone.

Everything looked like it was going to work out, until Lyss heard Kimberly mention the words “Dollhouse” and “black market.” Lyss immediately felt her stomach clench. She’d heard about the Dollhouse once in passing. Something about how they helped a fellow apparition dealer cure a curse that had fallen upon them during a job. She was surprised that she hadn’t remembered the encounter until now. Even so, if she’d remembered the dealer’s story, would she have shared it with the group? The Dollhouse operated in Miami. The central hub for the black market in the U.S. If the Coven wanted to go, to give this group a chance, Lyss would put herself at risk for being found. Could she risk a trip into the city if it meant helping the Coven? If it meant saving Max’s life?

Lyss swallowed as she watched Kimberly continue. It was only fair that if Kim got them into the group’s den, the Coven would help her in turn. What she didn’t expect to hear was the name Annabelle Heart escape the celebrity’s lips. For the second time in this conversation Lyss was uncomfortable. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise but she didn’t rub her neck again. It seemed like every corner the Coven turned Annabelle Heart loomed over them like a thunderstorm. The universe was bringing them closer and closer to her with every step. All of the signs were there that this was the time to act, but was the Coven ready? Was Lyss herself ready?

For a second there, Lyss thought that Maya had completely ignored the fact that Kimberly mentioned Annabelle until she asked if a cure would even work on Annabelle. Then Quinn, as insensitive as ever, asked if the cure would kill Annabelle. Lyss pressed her lips together and gave Kimberly an apologetic glance before turning to Quinn and Maya.

[color=D3D3D3] “There is a chance that the cure will work on Annabelle. It depends how much the curse has consumed her soul whether she will survive or not. There is also a large chance that the curse has become too powerful, and the cure won’t work at all.”[/color]

She looked back at Kimberly.

[color=D3D3D3] “You’re not the only ones looking for Annabelle Heart. There is an extra-normal organization called the DENs that is also trying to stop her, but they have been unsuccessful so far.”[/color] One of their own has fallen too, like poor Izzy. Their names would only fall into a long list of lives that Annabelle has taken so far.

[color=D3D3D3] “I think we have a deal, if Claudette agrees to what I have to say.”[/color] She gave Claudette a glance. The other leader needed to give her opinion too. [color=D3D3D3] “We will bring back a cure and give it to you, but I also think that we should ask for help from the DENs as well. They have many powerful agents, and they could be there to help us whether the cure works or fails. We cannot do this on our own.”[/color] She looked back at Claudette. [color=D3D3D3] “I don’t want to put anyone’s lives at risk, but I think it is time that we do something about Annabelle. She’s already taken Izzy. What if she comes for us next?”[/color]

She looked at Kimberly now, a question popping into her head. It was more of an itch that Lyss wanted to scratch.

[color=D3D3D3] “Do you know anything about the origin of Annabelle’s condition? Are you sure that she is cursed, and not just affixed to some powerful apparition?”[/color] She also wanted to know about the one who made her this way. [color=D3D3D3] “Is Luther Saul responsible for her rage?”[/color]

[color=D3D3D3] “I just want to fill in the details that I’m missing about this. I’d like to know everything you have about Annabelle Heart and what caused this in the first place.”[/color]