Work Text:
It has been a few hectic months after the sisters got shunned from Salem and found shelter in the depths of the Forbidden Woods, but finally they found some sort of peace within the wooden walls that they now called home.
These past days have gone through with some sort of normalcy, even so that the one they called Mother came to check on them to make sure they were doing alright. And they were, for the most part.
Since the day Salem turned its back on them, Winifred have had been acting... strange. Well, stranger than usual, her sister Mary would say to her youngest sister, Sarah. But they shrugged it off and decided to let it be for the time being. They were all already stressed enough to accidentally worsen the situation.
Every day, Winifred would excuse herself, claiming that she had "more important things to do", and so she would leave, Book in hand, and go upstairs to her room, if it was even possible to call it so, being only a bed separated by some curtains, barely giving a sense of privacy.
Normally she would get absorbed in seek of the knowledge her sentient friend had to offer, but there was something that prevented her from doing so this time.
Her sisters' voices pierced her brain like needles, and although she couldn't fully grasp what they were saying, there was a little bit of commotion going on.
With a deep sigh, she carefully placed Book beside her, and with swift, light-footed steps, she peeked her freckled face from above, just enough so that she could see what the fuss was all about without alerting her sisters.
Earlier that day, Mary and Sarah found a barely alive rabbit near their house, so they decided to take it in... and have an anatomy class with it.
Both of them were keen on learning all kinds of anatomy, although from different standpoints. Mary was more academic, as opposed to Sarah, who was more practical. Despite their differences, they found it as a way of bonding, Sarah dissecting the poor animal while Mary explained to her the parts and what their purpose was.
Winifred was never as interested as they were, but seeing them together doing what a normal person would regard as a questionable bonding activity brought such an ache on her chest that she wouldn't ever be able to describe with words.
And so, she yearns. For what it could have been. She yearns to experience just an ounce of what they have. That familiar closeness she once felt and cannot afford anymore. No, not this time.
Everyone she cared for, she lost. All the love, turned into grief and despair. She couldn't take it. Of course, she was only a child, and being exposed to such feelings so early in life without someone to hold onto warped her perception of everything. It didn't help that she has always been someone who feels emotions really strongly, no matter which one it was. It was her personal hell, in a way.
She was never the same again. All the love, turned into loathing. It was the only way she could save herself from the pain. Using those negative feelings as a way to distance herself from others, although it was barely an excuse. That's all she needed, an excuse. She'd rather be harsh and distant than let herself be vulnerable in any way. That would save her from any inconvenience, or so she tried to convince herself.
Oh, but little did she know, far from saving herself from this pain, she set her own doom in stone.