Anne

Despite the situation, David found himself oddly thinking of Doctor Doofenshmirtz from Disney Channel. "Ha ha, you're trapped!" he would shout, and then proceed to explain his grandiose schemes of world conquest. There was definitely a certain similarity around the nose and eye area. But he wasn't a secret agent animal, and the hag was quite a bit scarier.

"The rest of the monkey scum that pollute this planet will soon be wasted, the world wiped clean of your filth," She leered, leaning in close. Her long-taloned finger reached into the cage, and David quickly swiped at it with the sword in his hand, but it just scraped by as if he'd tried to slice a stone. "Feisty, aren't you my precious? But the earth will not harm her children." She waved her arm in demonstration. "Don't worry, I won't kill you. Not yet anyways. You're so pretty that I might keep you for my personal collection." Her claws slide across the bars with a soft rasping sound.

"Where's Claire?" David growled.

"Your little friend? She's safe for the moment. My son loves his playthings," The hag gestured to the rest of the room, where the animals in their softly rotating cages watched with avid eyes. "He tries to take care of them, but his methods are rather... crude. When they are no longer pleasing, he consumes them with great gusto. I imagine that will be her fate, if I do not decide to destroy her first." The hag's eyes glinted. "Do you wish to see her? She's here, right now. You passed her not moments ago." The creature stalked over to the wall of statues and grabbed the one of Claire. She carried it... her easily over one shoulder and settled it carefully in front of David's prison, so that they could face each other.

David saw with horror that the eyes of the statue tracked his face, and the mouth closed, almost imperceptibly, inch by slow inch. David reached out of the cage, just barely brushing her hand. The fingers twitched.

"What did you do to her?" David shouted.

"I should think that was obvious," the hag purred, mockingly holding Claire's shoulders. The hag grinned, mouthfuls of sharp teeth like pins poking out of her mouth. She walked away slowly, "I suppose my son has taken care of the blind one by now. He should be coming back with the boy's mangled remains in his teeth at any moment." She pulled aside some chests that David hadn't noticed before, revealing a small parlor complete with couch and big-screen TV. She plopped herself in front of it, changing the channel until she found Chucky.

"You don't know Hod," David growled.

"On the contrary, my precious, I did." The troll-wife said, her voice like acid. "One of the most repugnant of the gods. The only thing he and your friend have in common is their blindness to the obvious."

David reached again towards the statue that Claire was, again holding her hand. Maybe he imagined it, but the hand seemed to move a slightly more quickly as it folded around his own.

David remembered the funeral, and the rain, and Hod's wet face, set like stone. He wouldn't use an umbrella. Everyone said it wasn't David's fault, but he knew. David knew how everyone looked at him. He had liked it, liked playing with their emotions. He'd liked the power it gave him, to get anyone to do whatever he wanted, just by asking. Just because he had a pretty face. He had thought that everyone loving him was only right. Of course he was the center of the universe.

So when Hod had said he liked someone, David had gotten a little jealous. Anne was one of the few people besides David that paid any attention to Hod. She was kind to him, opening doors, telling him when he was about to run into something or where he could sit in class. Hod was David's friend; they knew each other's secrets, how Hod brought the cold with him, how David could literally charm birds from the trees.

So David charmed Anne. He played with her emotions and then, when he was sure that she was in love with him, David broke her heart in the cruelest way possible. He let Anne find him kissing another girl; then he told her that he was just playing with her, and nobody could really like her.

Anne was found hanging from her closet at week later. Hod never blamed David out loud, but they stopped being friends for almost a year after that. Even then, it took the divorce of Hod's parents and a couple big fights before they could hang out again on a semi-normal basis.

From then on, David was terrified of what he could do; what he could make others do. He swore he would never let it happen again, to anyone else. Definitely not now, when finally Hod had found a girl he really liked.

Holding Claire's stone hand, he whispered to her. "It's going to be alright," he said. "We're going to get you out of this." He tried to put as much confidence in his voice as he could.

The stone seemed to warm in his hand, and the eyes seemed to almost flutter. A moan escaped her lips. Excited, David, concentrated harder, willing Claire to melt from the stone. She developed some color in her cheeks, her hair, her fingers. The rough surface softened, and pores appeared. David glanced nervously at the corner with the TV, but the hag seemed not to notice anything. She was completely engrossed in shears and blood and evil toys.

Claire's chest moved, up and down, and she gasped. The troll-wife glanced over irritably. "Keep it down, my sweet," she glowered. "Mother is watching the television."

David covered his mouth with his other hand, coughing, but after the first breath, Claire seemed to be doing better. Her fingers twitched.

"We're going to get you out," David whispered confidently, "Once you get free, hide. You won't have to wait long."

Claire shook her head almost imperceptibly. She jerked her head back to the witch. Slowly her lips formed the words. "Tell me when she's not looking."

David nodded. "She's watching TV."

Claire dropped to a crouch and turned back. Rifling in her pocket, she pulled out a pin, and fiddled with the lock. In a moment it was opened. "Come on."

"No," David whispered back, "It'll squeak. Get away, hide, get some weapons or something to protect yourself. I'll wait, and then before she starts looking for you I'll distract her. It's your best chance."

Indecision warred on Claire's face. "Thanks," she said.

"Thank Hod," David said. "I don't know how he did it, but he found you."

A moment later Claire was gone, and not a minute to soon. The hag looked backwards, irritated, a retort on her lips. "I said be SILENT! Wait, where'd the--?" She streaked across the room, clawing at the spot where Claire had been moments before. "WHERE IS SHE???" She screeched, glaring at David.

"She got away," David said grimly.

The witch turned around, screaming "I'll KILL her!" pawing through piles of treasure. David slammed the door of the cage open before she could get to far in her search.

"First," David said smiling, "You'll have to get through me." He raised his sword and charged.