NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12: The Devil You Know
Dan still hadn’t returned for church the next morning, and so Diane had told Lydia that perhaps it would be best that they stay home that week. Lydia was relieved, if anything, because that meant she didn’t have to explain who she was to people yet. Her mother had offered to cover for her, but she knew full well that that was a little bit much to expect of someone whose husband didn’t have her back. Instead, Diane decided to have a sleepy day in with her daughter, and teach her how to paint her nails, since Lydia had expressed some interest in it.
“What colors would you like, sweetheart?” Diane asked, “I’ve got navy blue, black, and a little bit left of the red.”
Lydia thought for a moment, then responded, “I like black, for now.”
“That sounds good!” her mother replied, setting the other two bottles down on the other side of the table.
Her mother painted her nails delicately, only catching the edges a few times as she painted all the fingers. Meanwhile, Lydia was having trouble sitting still as her mother had instructed her earlier, but she concentrated on it. Eventually, the nails were done, and her mother began to work on her own.
“Hey mom,” Lydia asked, “do you think I should go to school tomorrow?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied, “assuming your father is back with the truck.”
“I guess I’m just worried about what they’ll think. Alexis said that a lot of people had similar changes to me, but I’m still worried that they might think less of me because of how I look now.”
Diane paused on painting her nails for a moment, then turned to look at Lydia. “There’s more than just you?”
“Yeah, Alexis said like half of the school made some kind of change to their body. I don’t know exactly what all but that’s what she explained to me when I called her yesterday,” Lydia replied, her tail swishing anxiously.
“Well, dear, then I don’t think it will be an issue,” her mother replied, smiling gently at her, “just remember, you’re too young to date boys still.”
“What about girls?” Lydia asked as she covered her mouth.
“Lydia, that’s enough of the attitude,” her mother replied.
“I was being serious, mom!” Lydia replied emphatically.
Her mother stared at her for a few seconds, thought about it for a moment, then sighed, returning to painting her nails.
“Whatever makes you happy, just remember to stay pure,” her mother replied.
Lydia lurched a bit as if to hug her mom, but then remembered the polish on her hands, so instead she just responded with a ‘thank you’. The mother and daughter waited for the nails to dry, making small talk about dinner. Lydia tried to poke the polish to test it a few times, but her mother chastised her for her impatience. Once an hour or so passed, her mother told her it would be alright to do things carefully with their hands. Lydia responded to this by running to the couch and faceplanting into a pillow.
Diane sighed wistfully at her daughter’s shenanigans, before she heard the doorbell ring. As she went to answer, she saw the same woman from a few nights before…Cindy, was it?
“Hello Diane,” Cindy said, smiling, “I was just checking in on everything. May I come in?”
“Yes, of course,” Diane replied, her nerves tensing as she remembered their last meeting, “do you take coffee?”
“Not right now, no,” Cindy replied, “and you don’t have to worry, I am aware of how you’ve been treating Lydia. I’m proud of the progress you’ve made.”
“Thank you,” Diane said quietly, “she’s in the other room, napping, possibly, if you’d like to see her.”
Lydia was very much not sleeping, her ears twitching wildly, but she pretended to be. She was honestly exhausted from talking to people about this, even her own family, and while she was grateful to Cindy for the spell, she wasn’t super in the mood for chatting.
“Lydia,” Cindy spoke, “I know you’re awake.”
“No I’m not!” Lydia said, her cry muffled by the pillow.
“Your ears give you away,” Cindy said, stifling a giggle, “trust me, having a catgirl for a partner will teach you a few things. I don’t want to chat long, I just want to talk to you and your mother about your father.”
Lydia sighed as she sat up, looking at Cindy. The woman in front of her seemed deadly serious behind her charming demeanor. From what she knew about Cindy, she knew she was capable of many things. If it was serious enough to warrant a second visit…
“I’m listening,” Lydia replied solemnly.
“Relax,” Cindy said, trying to soothe her, “I’m taking care of it, that's what you need to know, first things first.”
“Okay,” Lydia replied, waving gently to her mom as she brought a mug of coffee in for herself.
“Diane, now that you’re here, I’ll explain the issue to you,” Cindy began, “it appears that your husband has gone to his father’s house, and has enlisted him to help kidnap your daughter to a conversion therapy camp.”
“What’s a conversion therapy camp?” Lydia asked.
“It’s where they send you to a place away from home try to make you not gay or transgender anymore,” her mother replied, looking down guiltily.
“H..how do you know about that, mom?” Lydia replied, her eyes widening.
Cindy began to speak, but then Diane gave her a look as if to say, I’ll handle this, then turned to Lydia and explained, “I wanted to wait until your father was back, so I could explain to him that I didn’t want this anymore, but seeing as it’s gotten out of hand, allow me to explain. I suggested the idea to him after he proposed that this was just a phase a few nights ago. He became increasingly convinced of it, but I became less convinced after I saw how passionate he was about it. I did more research, and that’s when I came downstairs.”
“Y…you wanted to make me not me anymore?” Lydia asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Lydia,” Cindy spoke up, “I know this is hard, and what your mother did was not in any way okay. But I know, just from how she is approaching this, that she knows it is wrong. But you are right in thinking that that doesn’t fix it. In fact, your uncles and grandfather are coming this way tonight to do exactly that to you, because of that suggestion.”
Diane held her face in her hands, her eyes staring blankly at the floor, in shame. Lydia stared Cindy in the eyes and began to speak, but sobbed instead, running towards her and catching her in a hug.
“Remember,” Cindy replied, “you will be okay. I’ve got you, Lydia.”
“What were you proposing be done?” Diane asked, turning her eyes to Cindy before looking down again, “I’ll help in any way I can. I don’t deserve to be here anymore after what I did to my own daughter.”
“Unlike your God,” Cindy replied, “I am not wantonly cruel or demanding of perfection. I understand why you did what you did. All that matters to me is that your daughter is safe. Is she safe with you?”
“Yes,” Diane spoke softly, “I swear she’s safe with me.”
“Then I have no quarrel with you. Your husband, however,” Cindy began, “needs a little bit of correction, to understate the matter. I was not aware of the camp they were going to, but I had been tipped off by others about its existence. Suffice it to say, it no longer exists.”
“Then I’m safe?” Lydia asked, looking at Cindy as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“As I’ve told you, yes,” Cindy replied, “but work will need to be done. I have come here to ask for your blessing for my plan. I hope to confront them in their truck a few blocks before they reach your house, then try to reason with them. If they will not see reason, I will do as you may have seen me do to certain people on the news.”
“You mean you’ll–” Diane began.
“Yes. I try not to waste spells on killing people, if I can. Too gruesome,” Cindy replied.
“If it means I get my husband back and compliant with her well-being, in any form, you have my blessing,” Diane confidently said.
“Lydia,” Cindy said, releasing the girl and looking deep into her eyes, “I want your blessing too. I know it’s a very hard thing to go through, I’ve been through something similar at your age too, but I’d like for you to decide.”
Lydia turned around, and curled up on the couch, facing away from them, her tail swishing pensively. Eventually, she turned back around, her face solemn and set in a frown.
“Do what you have to do,” she said, “I’m not giving any of this up.”
“Very well. I am busy, so I must be off to do other things,” Cindy spoke, “if Daniel messages you at all, forward them to me through the tipline.”
“We will do so, Cindy,” Diane said, “thank you for your help.”
“It’s no problem, Diane,” Cindy replied, smiling, “why don’t you go thaw that fish?”
And with that, Cindy was gone without even a flash, leaving the other two alone. Lydia picked herself up and went to her room, emphatically jiggling the lock as if to say “I’m staying locked in here until this is over.” Diane sighed, rubbing her temples as she went to pull the trout out of the freezer, setting out some tin foil for it to thaw on.