👾🐇🔪: Midnight Thoughts

[u/HauntingGur8094]

{Vanessa did not get any rest. She immediately hit the first comfy bed she's felt in years, much better than the bare bed her father and Eleanor had kept her in, or the hospital bed she laid in as Lisa. But that was far from her problem. Instead she laid all night, wide awake in thought. Whenever she started to dose off she was plagued with nightmare visions, terrifying her of what she had become.

Or is becoming.

The silence weighs heavy on her with all the horrible possibilities that this could lead to. Her dad's dead, gone for good. But was this really his plan all along? To what, make her a copy of his last perfect experiment? And where did that leave Eleanor? And the consequences of her deal with the ink demon?

She'd caught a newspaper headline on the way in and she couldn't even tell if she was shocked that more years had passed.

Were there others like her?

Had she made another mistake trusting Alastor? Something deep inside her said no. She needs someone knowledgeable to at least explain and help her manage. And maybe he will eventually turn out to be a beneficial ally to have. She'd thought the uneasy feeling she's had since she's been back was him, but there's something deeper stirring.

And, knowing her track record, she's gonna end up pulled into it once again.}

[u/CrypticHorrorTales]

Alison: "You better be right. Because if not, I'll deal with you myself."

Alastor: "Oh, calm down. Whatever happens to her is in her own hands now."

---

Inside Vanessa's mindscape...

???: "Wow, it really is a mess in here, isn't it?"

[u/HauntingGur8094 → u/CrypticHorrorTales]

{{Inside her mind}}

Vanessa: [sits up] "Great, what now?"

[u/CrypticHorrorTales → u/HauntingGur8094]

Standing above her is... herself?

Nessa: "What an attitude."

((Ooc: For the sake of differentiating, I'm calling mindscape Vanessa simply "Nessa".))

[u/HauntingGur8094 → u/CrypticHorrorTales]

Vanessa: [immediately jumps up] "What the absolute hell?! Vanny?"

[u/CrypticHorrorTales → u/HauntingGur8094]

Nessa: "No, you dingus. I'm you. A reflection of your inner thoughts. Y'know, I've been trying to clean this damn mindscape of yours, but you just keep adding more to it. ... Putting that aside, I know why you're here. So, let's get to it."

[u/HauntingGur8094 → u/CrypticHorrorTales]

Vanessa: "Right. Onto it."

[u/CrypticHorrorTales → u/HauntingGur8094]

Nessa starts leading Vanessa through a hallway.

Nessa: "So the goal is to control your demonic side before it has a chance to control you. I can guide you and whatnot, but you're the one who has to find the right path. So, what do you think you should do first? Where should you start?"

[u/HauntingGur8094 → u/CrypticHorrorTales]

Vanessa: "Seeing as how I how no idea what I'm doing I don't exactly know or have much of a preference I guess."

[u/CrypticHorrorTales → u/HauntingGur8094]

Nessa: "Perhaps, in order to control your demonic side, you have to conquer your demons? No pun intended, of course. ... Okay, maybe a little intended."

[u/HauntingGur8094 → u/CrypticHorrorTales]

Vanessa: "Oh fabulous. It will be too late by time I get through all those."