Scene 3: The Ceremony

"You saw it!" Claire manages to press out between sobs. "You saw it and you fought it. Why are you lying, Alexander? Do you want me to die? Like they do?" She takes off her glasses and wipes her eyes. "Why?" she cries. "Why do you want me to die? Because of Annabelle? Because I took her away from you?"

Nathaniel is desperate to leave the manor and find his family, but it seems his body is working against him at every turn. His bones, which are normally, well, boney, are loosing their rigidity. Putting his hands against the wall doesn't help, as his fingertips don't appear to grip anything, there's little to no friction and he slides slowly along the wall. His body feels sweaty, but it's not wet.

Alexander turns toward Claire as if ready to pounce. "Annabelle! You dare utter her name! Claire, Annabelle is the shadow consuming our family! She's a dark sun swallowing us whole!" He pauses. "But... I don't want you to be consumed. Whatever Annabelle's become, you're my only link to whom she used to be..."

Claire blinks, completely taken by surprise by Alexander's response. She didn't know what to expect. For him to scream at her, hit her, curse her, maybe. But this?
"No," She protests, looking up at his face. "No, you don't understand! I lied. To you and to her." She takes off her glasses and wipes at her eyes. "She was never the villain in what happened. I was." She bites her lip and scrunches up her face, trying to stop herself from crying anymore. Eventually, she manages to press out, "I was in love with her. And... and I thought if I broke you two up, she would fall in love with me as well."

As Claire finishes her emotional revelation, the light suddenly fades from the room as a dark cloud covers the sun. Immersed in the dark, the women just stood there as Claire broke down. In the silenced that followed, the raven haired woman turns her attention to Alexander "Who is this Anna...belle she speaks of?"

Alexander almost replies, but then he remembers something Claire said before entering this cursed place: "Claire... You pulled Annabelle away from me? How do I know you're you?"

Claire's posture tenses at this and she looks at Alexander with an almost bitter expression. "What do you mean?" she asks. "You don't recognize me anymore?" Fears shoot up inside of her. Is this that curse again? People forgetting her. Before she can fully panic, she remembers their brief conversation outside, however, and realizes that Alexander must be referring to that. She bites her lip and says, "I was supposed to tell you the password. Annabelle." She lowers her eyes. "And now you know why she was on my mind, seeing you again."

The women whisper to each other in a strange language. You only understand the name of Annabelle being repeated many times. Clearly they are paying close attention to what will happen next

---

"Ah there you are cousin!" Nathaniel, still sitting by the wall next to Alexander's room, hears a familiar voice. Looking up, see Elias looking offering his hand to help him stand. "Are you feeling ok"

Alexander regards the strange women, eager to know so much about a chapter of his past he's tried to forget. "Annabelle and I were betrothed. I was smitten, of course. It's rare in families such as ours to find both a perfect social match and a powerful attraction between the fiancés. But Annabelle broke off our engagement mere hours before our wedding ceremony." He turns to glare at Claire. "And now, perhaps, I have some inkling why."

Claire shrinks away under her cousin's glare. "I'm sorry," she sobs. "I..." She can't find the right words, so she gives up. She's terrified that he will hate her now, knowing what she did. And knowing why she did it. That she likes women. That she's wrong like that. "I wouldn't do it again," she finally manages to press out. "It was wrong."

Nathanial slowly turns his head toward the voice he hears. "No actually, Not by any definition of the word." Nathanial is not quite sure if he can trust Elias, or anyone in the manor for that matter, but his options are few, so he takes the helping hand. "We should probably find the others." hoping to distract Elias from the stench of decay that has been lingering recently.

Alexander seems puzzled by Claire's response, but then it dawns on him. "That... That's why Annabelle was so distant for those few weeks... It was wrong, Claire! But wrong because you are my blood—and you both kept it from me!" His gritted teeth strain his jaw. "We both... wandered from time to time. With girls and boys. But we were always honest with each other!"

Claire's eyes go wide behind her glasses. "No!" she quickly responds. "We never... I never... She and I..." She shakes her head emphatically. "I've never done that," she says, her cheeks burning bright red. "With anyone. I wanted to, but Annabelle only had eyes for you. I..." She lets out a shaking breath, then confesses, "I wrote a letter. I made it look like it was from you to grandfather, and I showed it to her. I had you write that you knew she was only in it for our family's wealth but that you didn't care because you were never serious about her anyway and were planning to get rid of her after you had your fun."

It's hard to say those words. But she did this horrible thing. She at least has to be able to speak about it now if she ever wants to be forgiven.

The woman look at each other. "The little lamb it's already tainted..." one comments as the other worries that "Maybe her curse is what its upsetting the dead". They continue discussing Claire's and Alexander's conversation as the teenager reveals her secret.

---

Elias looks around at someone who is not there before helping Nathaniel stand. "Don't worry about them, they will be gone to their place when this is all over." he reassures his cousin, without actually explaining of what. "Claire and Alexander were enthralled by the three witches. We have to stop them."

Alexander stands silent for a moment at Claire's revelation. Tears stream down his cheeks, but he otherwise remains motionless. "You always did have a remarkable capacity to mimic others' penmanship." He retrieves a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes his eyes. "Please excuse me for a moment. I need a moment to collect myself."

As Elias helps him along, Nathaniel ask "Wait, just to clarify, are we trying to stop the witches, or stop our family?"

"The witches of course" Elias replies to Nathaniel as if the answer was obvious. "That is what the family wants. No matter what happens, the Ceremony cannot be stopped". He rushes to rejoin the others.

The three women watch as Alexander leaves. They let the man go, focusing their attention on Claire. For a moment everything is quiet and Claire can hear the wind outside slowly picking up strength. "Could she be the key to door which stands on the twilight?" the blond woman casually mentions, mostly ignoring Claire's presence. The others appears to agree in some strange language.

However, their thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of Nathaniel and Elias...

"Leave her alone!" Elias shouts as soon as he sees Claire on her own with the three women, drawing his sword with the clear intention of fighting them if he needs to...

Claire has just opened her mouth to say something in response to the beautiful blonde witch when Elias storms into the room and begins threatening the trio. Claire, without thinking, jumps in between them, stretching out her arms as she shields the witches against her brother. "What are you doing?" she asks him. "Elias, they're on our side. They're here to help. They're friends! Leave them alone!"