Queenie

Prompt: „Maybe Señor Scratchy was a gift to Agatha from Rio? So you could write how that went about and how Señor Scratchy became part of Agatha’s life?“ From raspburrythief on Tumblr

Let’s go!

_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_

Senor Scratchy is a superstar. I know that, because everyone always only asks about him. It’s

probably like when people have dogs and others only engage with them, because of said dog.

Señor Scratchy is my dog in that sense. And you’re all probably dying to know how the story

went. How did I get this iconic bunny? So buckle up and find out:

It all started back in Salem, when I was no more than 16 summers old. My days were filled with

endless loneliness, for my mother kept me on a tight leash. One one hand I always got the

impression she hated me, but on the other hand I didn’t want to believe that sentiment to be true.

How can a mother hate her only child? All I ever tried was being good. However it didn’t serve me

at all. Everyone in my coven saw me as weird and I was not accepted for who I was. So I

constantly had to modify my personality to be at least tolerated. Man that sucked! I had no

friends, neither in human form, nor in animal form. Everyone was afraid of my powers, for they’ve

only ever heard about them spoken in cautionary tales about evil witches. No one even tried to

understand how I felt with these powers. It was so isolating that I felt like the only person on earth.

Like I was standing surrounded by people, screaming as loud as I could, only to be completely

blocked out by everyone, looked through as if I were a ghost. As sad and depressing as that

sounds there was, in fact, one thing I loved to do that I only could do, because I was as invisible

as I was.

Reading by the riverbank. Reading in general always gives me calm and peace, it doesn’t really

matter what I’m reading, I just enjoy the aspect of reading, analyzing and applying other peoples

way of viewing the world into my own reality. There’s just something so liberating about that. So I

would take a book with me to the riverbank every two days and spend hours out there, for it felt

like it was the first time that day I could breathe. Gosh I’m so dramatic, I know! It must’ve been

late August when I started feeling a presence lurking somewhere between the trees of the forest

nearby. However it wasn’t menacing or scary, it was more like a calming presence, like something

or someone I just immediately recognized as being safe. Even if it weren’t, I certainly could defend

myself, especially if some magic user were to attack me (these siphoning powers sure could be

useful sometimes).

So one day while I was reading and feeling the presence again my curiosity got the best of me

and I said, nose still buried inside my book of choice for that day: „You know it is rude to stare. I

know you’re here, so don’t be shy and come out.“ In hindsight it was either tremendously stupid

to just blurt this out like this, or incredibly brave. I just was so sick of all the passive stalking I was

being subjected to. Not really expecting an answer at all after getting none for a few moments I

shrugged and continued reading. Therefore it came as a complete shock when I heard a soft

female voice answer: „Apologies, my lady. It was not my intention to make you feel

uncomfortable.“

„You didn’t. Just come out, if you want to talk. I don’t like not seing who’s addressing me.“ I

replied once I recovered from my initial shock. To my surprise a beautiful young woman, dressed

in a long green dress intertwined with vines and leaves came out from beneath the trees. Her soft

looking brown hair was framed by a flower and twine made crown that looked self crafted.

„Here I am.“ The mysterious stranger said.

There were a million questions I wanted to ask, but I settled for a simple „Who are you?“ In the

end. The stranger hesitated for a moment, which made me a little suspicious. Had she never been

asked her name before? Was this gorgeous creature maybe, just maybe as lonely as me? Wanting

to ease the sudden tension I blurted:

„My name is Agatha. Agatha of the Harkness family to be exact.“ The stranger looked

contemplating for a moment, looked at the river next to us, then answered with:

„Rio. That is what I am called. Rio Vidal.“ She looked insecure, as if it was the first time she ever

spoke her name out loud.

„River of life. That is beautiful.“ I mumbled fascinated.

„You are an intelligent woman, Agatha.“, Rio said impressed with my quick translation.

„Well I read. A lot. It’s actually why I come here so often. That and the beautiful nature around us.“

I rambled.

„I See.“, Rio said. And for some reason it seemed like she really did.

„What brings you here?“ Is what really interested me, for I already disclosed my reason, but Rio

was being mysterious and I wanted to crack her open.

Her eyes widened for a millisecond, but she quickly composed herself and answered: „My work is

here, so I am always around.“ More vague insight, great! As if sensing my growing frustration, Rio

decided to give me a little more than that.

„Maybe one day I am able to tell you more. However right now I have to be cautious with people.

Wrong judgements can hurt my profession and I take that very serious.“ Well even though that

only raised more questions than answering them, I decided to go easy on Rio for now. Since I

never had a friend before I didn’t want to scare her of, five minutes after meeting me.

„I See, Rio. It was nice talking to you, but I really have to hurry home now or my mother will be

enraged.“ I replied. For some reason the notion of me leaving seemed to invoke a restlessness in

Rio.

„Agatha? Can I ask something of you?“ Rio asked. It excited me, because so far she hasn’t asked

a single question and I felt like an interrogator trying to get a confession out of a suspect.

„Yes, what is it, Rio?“, I enquired.

„Please be careful. Usually I am not allowed to say this but please be careful around your mother

tonight. She is not who she appears to be.“ It was difficult to describe how Rio made that

statement. Rio’s voice was measured, controlled but it held a certain urgency without sending me

into panic mode. Something about her made me trust this stranger completely, which was

frightening in itself. As if, once again, sensing my uncertainty Rio came closer and held me by the

upper arms.

„Do not eat or drink anything she gives you tonight. Pretend to, if you must, but do not do it.“ Is

what she elaborated on.

„Rio what do you mean? Are you a divination witch, about to tell me my fortune? My mother may

not like me very much, but she would never kill me.“ I told her, trying to play down my worries her

statement caused.

„Please, Agatha. Trust me on this.“ Was all the brown eyed woman added.

„Okay. Will I See you again, Rio?“ I replied.

„Te veo.“ She said before magically disappearing in a cloud of green smoke.

After that interaction, which deviated drastically from all my other outdoor trips I took, I grabbed

my things and headed home. What did she mean by not eating or drinking anything my mother

offered me tonight? Of course her plea was pretty self explanatory, but that doesn’t mean that I

understood it. When someone you just met, tells you something like this, it comes as a huge

shock to the system. Would my mother want to poison me? There was no way, or was there?

Maybe it would be a good idea to keep Rio’s warning in the back of my head as a kind of failsafe

option.

After I walked through the forest I started to see the cottages my coven lived in. Once I arrived

home my mother informed me that dinner would be shortly after I wash up. Usually it was just the

two of us having dinner but tonight the whole coven assembled, which I found strange. However I

tried to shrug it off. Mother served dinner and everyone started eating, except for me. I couldn’t

get Rio’s words out of my mind and the fact that we had my favorite food for dinner didn’t make

me any less suspicious. Usually no one gives a shit about what I like to eat, since my existence

tends to be ignored, so this display of thoughtfulness made me feel more on edge, instead of

less.

„Agatha why are you not touching your food? I made your favorite today, you ungrateful child.“

My mother Evanora scolded me.

„I am sorry mother. I’m afraid I ate too many berries today by the riverbank and spoilt my

stomach. May I be excused?“ I reasoned politely.

„No you may not! Why do you always make everything difficult? If you refuse to eat, let me make

you a cup of tea to soothe your stomach.“ She dictated.

I nodded, for there was nothing else to do, really. However because of mothers reaction I sure as

hell wasn’t gonna drink that „soothing tea“ she would make me. All eyes were on me as I took a

sip and pretended to swallow. After that my coven stopped staring at me and continued eating. I

used that moment to discreetly spit the tea into my handkerchief. After a while I pretended to be

tired and told everyone about how exhausted I was and that I wanted to go to bed early. They

seemed to believe my acting and exchanged glances. Maybe I was paranoid because of Rio’s

warning earlier, but I decided to set them a little trap. Once I went to bed I would pretend to be

asleep and wait for something to happen. If Rio was correct, something would, in fact, happen.

It took maybe an hour until I heard faint footsteps approaching. Voices were whispering behind

my door, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. The door slowly opened and someone

entered my room. Out of the corner of my almost closed eyes I could see a knife held by none

other than my mother. My heart was pounding and I couldn’t believe she would really try to kill

me. Just shortly before she took a stab at me, literally, I rolled out of my bed to the other side,

grabbed the heaviest thing I could grab and threw it at her and her companion . I used their shock as momentum to run past them and out of the cottage. My mother screamed after me but knew better than to attack me with magic, which is probably why she chose the cowards method of killing someone. I ran as far as I could and until my safety was assured. Alone in the dark, with only my dress of the day I shivered and didn’t know where to go. In the end I went to my favorite spot by the riverbank, sunk down next to my favorite tree and cried my eyes out. What did I possibly do to deserve this? That night I was grieving for the life I had and the uncertainty that lay in front of me. In retrospect it’s so interesting how one day, or even a moment can divide your entire life into a before and after. After crying for a while I heard a rustling sound in the bushes. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand on edge for I didn’t know what would lurk in the total darkness. What came out of the bush made me burst out laughing. It was a bunny, fluffy looking, fur the color of brown and white and not at all threatening. The bunny hopped straight towards me and sniffed first yet after it seemed to sense me not dangerous it jumped straight into my lap. I caressed it’s fluffy fur coat and began to hum a melody. It may sound stupid, but suddenly the night didn’t feel cold anymore because of my fluffy companion. After a while I started falling asleep, bunny still cuddled into my lap.

The next morning came and with it the realization, that bunny was still with me. It also followed me as if we belonged together now. Maybe we were bound by fate. I knew that I had to keep moving, leave as far as I possibly could to escape my coven and especially my mother. So we walked the windy roads of the forest, always hiding out in nature, eating whatever food came our way. Scratchy (as I called my little bunny, for he sure could be feisty and scratch deep) always seemed to protect me from unsafe foods. It felt like having my personal taste tester to keep me protected. One day I made the stupid mistake of trusting other witches again. I was so hungry and my judgement was clouded. They invited me in and soon I realized they knew who I was and wanted to kill me to get some coin for it. However these witches were stupid, for me being who I was and taunting them was enough for them to attack me with magic. Fatal mistake. That meant my siphoning powers activated and since no one ever taught me how to control them, they sadly died. Which is truly unfortunate for I believe not all of them to have been rotten to the core. After five witches lay dead in a circle around me I stood there, shocked. It’s been a while since I accidentally killed witches. The first time it happened I was no more than a child, all wide eyed and innocent. My mother punished me for weeks at that time. Withholding food and locking me inside my room. It was a horrible experience.

But now, at almost 18 summers old, I noticed the strength coursing through my veins after killing someone. It felt like their magic transferred directly into my bloodstream and gave me a huge energy boost. I felt more awake, more rested, more…powerful than I ever did.

„It is good to see you again, Agatha.“ I startled. That voice! It was Rio who literally saved my life.

„Rio! What are you doing here?“ I asked.

„Well you called me.“ She said, looking at the corpses around me. That completely stunned me.

„You- you mean the dead bodies? I did not call you, it was an accident!“ I screamed frantically. If Rio truly felt called by the dead bodies that could not possibly be a good thing. What kind of witch was she? As if hearing my inner monologue (and maybe she did, who knows at this point), she smiled gently at me.

„I apologize. My intention was never to scare you. I thought you killed these witches on purpose because…“

„Because what?“ I asked.

Rio blushed, which was interesting: „Because I thought you wanted to see me again and leaving dead bodies behind is the best way to do this.“

„So what does that mean, are you a necromancer or something like that?“ I asked incredulously.

„Not exactly. You said it yourself when we first met. You know who I am.“

Great, another riddle. I thought about it long and hard for a minute before I burst out:

„My Goodness! River of life means…are you Lady Death?“

Rio’s pupils dilated upon hearing me call her that name. She seemed to like it.

„Once again you leave me quite impressed of your sharp mind. You are correct Agatha. My job, among other things is to guide the dead to the afterlife. Many of them do not like it, some even try to fight me on it. However in the end all roads lead to me. Do I scare you, now?“

That might have been the clearest statement Rio ever gave me and it left me stunned.

„No, you do not scare me. I don’t think you ever could. Tell me, Rio. Am I the first living human being you ever spoke to?“ I asked, curious.

„Yes you are. Never in my entire existence have I felt the urge to speak to a human being.“

I blushed: „Why me, then? What is so special about me?“

Lady Death looked just as confused as I felt.

„If I only knew. There’s something about you that just draws me in. Makes me want to break all my rules which I told you I take very serious.“

„Which rules do you want to break for me? I mean you already warned me about my imminent impalement at my mothers hand. For that alone I am beyond grateful.“ I inquired.

„Yes that was one rule. I am never supposed to mess with destiny. Your destiny was to die that night and I changed the course of history because of it. I shall not do that again. Also the no contact to humans rule I am breaking right now and another one would be to give you a companion that is of the supernatural kind…“ Rio trailed off.

„Supernatural kind? Do…do you mean Scratchy? He is supernatural?“

At that Rio did not even try to hide her admiration for my logical thinking skills. She just smiled at me cutely and nodded.

„Yes, he is truly special. I am so glad Señor Scratchy found a good familiar in you and hopefully you with him, too. He is immortal, that was not my doing by the way. That’s what makes him so special. He defies all natural order of things and breaks the natural balance of the universe. He and you are the only two exceptions I ever made in my line of work as Death in eons and honestly it frustrates me to no end to not know why that is. But if being Death has taught me one thing it is that sometimes there are things, people, animals that will surprise you and that are special. To me that is you and Señor Scratchy.“ Rio explained.

„Mh, I did find the cute bunny that came conveniently right in my hour of need a little suspicious if I may say so, but I never thought he came from you. Thank you. I, uh never had a friend before. I mean you’ve seen my mother. She is not really the most warm person to walk this earth.“ I replied.

„Understatement of the century, my love.“ Her eyes grew wide upon uttering the term of endearment. I smiled at her.

„You know, for a cosmic entity you sure are rather cute and like a big fluffy bunny.“ I teased Rio gently. At that she burst out laughing, scratched Scratchy, or well I guess now his name is Señor Scratchy behind the ears and said:

„You know, Agatha. I think whatever it is between us could work. I mean you will probably cause me a lot of work judging by what I can see here.“ Rio started, looking around the dead witches lying in a circle. I smiled, bashful.

„But I see a true connection between us. So if you want, we could do something together sometime and..“

„Rio“ I asked, smiling.

„Yes?“, she responded uncertain.

„Shut up and kiss me.“ And she didn’t need to be told twice.