Wooden , who sought out dark magick to hex two people . Her life and soul had been tainted by that hex , destroying her reputation , her parents ’ marriage , her father ’ s career , and leaving her unable to ever mother a child .
That was thirteen years ago , and that girl turned into a woman , wiser yet jaded . She shed her privileged life and donned a new name when she forged ahead alone , leaving the name of Emily Wooden behind when she turned her back on the life she had ruined . Now , she went by a more suitable monicker . “ Ivy !” Ivy turned , her dark red hair swishing under the lights of the State Street Diner . “ Yeah ?” she asked , looking at her boss , a dark-skinned lump of shit of a man named Otto .
“ Don ’ t let me catch you taking the tip money from the tables !” Otto shouted , pointing at her with a filthy finger . Otto was notorious for taking the waitress ’ s tips and doling them out at the end of the night as he saw fit .
“ Yeah ,” Ivy said , rolling her eyes as she put on her coat , followed by her huge purse , which was an old laptop bag she bought at a thrift store . She had successfully pocketed most of her tips when Otto ’ s back was turned , and she had given him a wad of ones that would likely keep him entertained at the strip club for about a half hour .
Ivy left , walking home well after midnight the four blocks toward her apartment . She wasn ’ t in the worst area of New Haven , but it still payed to be safe . She held onto her purse with one hand and kept her other in her jacket pocket , wrapped around her box cutter .
Ivy longed to avenge her past self . She sought answers after all that had happened . Her father was gone , his career destroyed .
Her miscarriage had happened a little over a year after her younger brother had killed himself during his stay at the gay conversion camp . Her mother was inconsolable , dying five years later . Ivy hadn ’ t even gone to her funeral . She was already on her own when it happened with no intention of returning .
Before Ivy left home at 21 , she was confessing her sins regularly to the family ’ s most trusted priest , leaving out the details of Lillia and the demon she had summoned . The priest had always given her the same advice : “ You cannot move on until reparations for the past have been made ,” he had said . She knew he meant her jealous and wrathful nature that led to her family ’ s upheaval , but the girl named Emily knew she ’ d have to seek the reparations from others if she was to ever move on . But that was impossible . “ Spare change ?” an old bag lady said , wrapped head to toe in an old blanket . “ Sorry ,” Ivy said , not giving too much attention to the lady .
“ I helped you once before ,” the bag lady said . Ivy kept her pace , putting enough distance between herself and the insane woman to make her comfortable .
“ You changed your name to match your new persona !” The bag lady called . Ivy was shaken by the comment , and she made sure the blade of the box cutter was extended if she needed it . “ Isn ’ t that right , Emily Wooden ?”
Ivy stopped , turning around . Nobody in New Haven knew that name but her employer , and she was sure he forgot it a week into her job . “ How do you know that name ?” she asked .
The bag lady pushed the blanket back from her face , revealing herself . “ I was there ,” she said . The face was more wrinkled and haggard , but it was one she had remembered from her nightmares since she was 19 years old . It was her , the witch who bartered the deal between a lovelorn teenage girl named Emily and