Ghosts and the Machine
Nov 10, 2016 16:31:44 GMT -5
Post by AshCandor on Nov 10, 2016 16:31:44 GMT -5
[OFF CAMERA]
Salem drove along drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, the Foo Fighters’ cover of ‘Baker Street’ blasting in the vehicle’s speakers. She rocked out during the heavy parts and parked her car in the parking garage. Walking out to the street level, she went a half block and then down a small stairwell to a certain basement studio located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She knocked, and upon waiting a bit and getting no answer she went inside.
“Hello? Anyone here? Hellooooo, anyone home?”
She walked down a hallway, seeing rooms with various computer banks and drafting boards with photos and artwork laid out this way and that. Television monitors, and mounds and mounds of tapes and cd’s stacked here and there. Finally she came to a little room where a female was hunched over a computer screen, headphones on and nodding off. Salem tiptoed up and tapped her on the shoulder.
“F-Flavia?”
“Ahhh!”
The other woman flung her arms up and knocked a plate off the table. A half-eaten donut went flying as well. Salem, exhibiting almost catlike reflexes caught the plate and the donut, putting them back on the table without missing a beat. The woman looked at Salem, wide-eyed.
“Oh… Salem Cartier…hey.”
The woman in question was named Flavia Rocha, and she made her living as the Digital Media Director and Head of Broadcast Marketing for Hard Knox Wrestling. A native of Brazil, her olive complexion and dark hair and eyes were a bit exotic. Beyond her official tasks for HKW, she was heavily involved in art and computer graphics. She had a close knit group of friends from UCLA that kept her in the loop on the latest innovations in computers and graphics.
“Did you forget I was coming, Flav?”
Flavia slapped her forehead, and looked at her wrist for a nonexistent watch.
“Ehhh, ya got me, witch lady. But, what you contacted me about, I have handled that. I also have something else I want to show you, if you have a few minutes?”
Salem sat on the desk, looking about the room at all the monitors and electronic equipment.
“Are you going to show me some gadgets? I swear I feel exactly like James Bond going to visit Q before his latest mission.”
Flavia giggled, and slid her rolling chair over to another monitor.
“Working with some of my friends back out in Cali and using video footage from various wrestling organizations, we’ve started compiling this…”
She tapped a button and two blocky figures in red and green began fighting each other, performing basic wrestling moves.
“A wrestling game, Flav? They already make those, chick.”
Flavia looked up and furrowed her brow at her before looking at the screen again. She shook her head.
“No, no. Not really a game per say. It’s a wrestling simulator. Using existing footage of wrestlers, and applying the physics and tendencies into a digital realm. Like so… This is who you’re fighting this week, right?”
She tapped another button, and it was near perfect renderings of Salem Cartier and Savannah Taylor walking down to the ring. The bell rang and they began to fight.
“That’s no big deal, we’ve actually fought before, Flav.”
“Ah see, this takes in all your best tendencies and makes each wrestler wrestle their optimum match. The finished product is based on thousands of iterations and simulations.”
Savannah took Salem down with a hard boot to the face on the screen.
“Ouch, yeah maybe I should watch out for that one, huh? So this is like that thing they did in that Rocky Balboa movie, okay I think I got it now. Um, you think I can get a copy of that. For science?”
She giggled, and Flavia smiled. She popped a disc in the computer.
“Yeah sure, I can do that for you.”
Salem frowned a bit and folded her arms.
“Who else knows about this little set up you’ve got here?”
Flavia shook her head.
“Nobody. This was just a pet project between old classmates.”
Salem patted her arm.
“Well, let me study that “match” and I’ll get back to you. If it helps me win on Vertigo it will be our little secret from now on, okay?”
Flavia nodded and then extracted the burned disc, handing it over to Salem.
“Ah, and also… what you came here for about originally. That photo you found that you wanted to run an aging process on, we finally got that sorted out.”
She tapped a button and a large color photo printed out behind them. Flavia grabbed it and handed it over.
“A little girl, about six years old, just like you said. Here’s the original picture as well.”
Flavia handed the small picture back to Salem. It was a photo she had found in an old family album of her daughter Lily as a baby. She looked at the two pictures side by side.
“God, she looks just like m-
“Hmm?”
“I mean, she looks just like my old classmate from when we were kids, yeah… She was just curious about what her daughter might look like at six years old.”
Salem thought to herself how much Lily looked like her at that age. She quickly wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye out of view of Flavia. She leaned over and hugged Flavia.
“Hey girl, thanks again. You keep those corporate types straight up there in HKW, okay? And how’s Sean doing?”
Flavia blushed at the mention of Sean Sands.
“He… we… are doing okay I think. Yeah. And my door is always open when it pertains to the witch. Tell me if that simulation helps, yeah?”
“Of course, but hey I need to get on back up to Toronto and start cleaning up around the house. Holidays are hectic, you know?”
Flavia nodded and they said their goodbyes, as Salem took the disc and the photos. The scene fades with a close-up on the aged photo.
-
[OFF CAMERA]
Fading back in on a face not unlike the computer-generated photo, this was a living breathing person. The little girl ran around the room, kicking a ball.
“Yeahhh!”
A few other small children also ran around and played in the room, which was clearly a part of a daycare of some sort. A young woman sat at a desk, flipping through the newspaper only halfway keeping an eye on them. There was a knock at the door, and a tall man with dark hair entered.
“Hey Jenny, how’s the kiddos today?”
The woman looked up and smiled, rising to greet him. She hugged him.
“Everything’s fine. They aren’t a bother.”
“Listen, I’m organizing a fundraiser at the rec center next weekend. I want some of the funds to go to this place, you know? I just need to talk to the owners.”
Jenny nodded, and the little girl ran up and hugged the man on the leg. He looked down and tousled her hair, giving her a big smile. She looked up for a moment and grinned at him before running off again to play. The man hugged Jenny.
“Listen, I’ve got to get back to the book store. Maybe I can call you later, have some coffee?”
“Sure.”
The man left, and the little girl stood still in the middle of the room watching him leave. A small disembodied voice filled her ears.
“Lily, that’s just as I told you… that’s your uncle Stephen. Stephen Cartier.”
-
[ON CAMERA]
Salem moved around the outside of her house taking down Halloween decorations and carefully putting them away in designated boxes. Taking a break, she wiped her brow and put her hands on her hips. Regarding the camera with a wry smile, she nodded acknowledgment.
“Hey out there in FGA land. Time flies, right? One of my favorite holidays is over and the leaves are starting to fall. Before you know it, Christmas will be here and snow on the ground. Another thing I know that as time flies, also this business moves fast. You can go from epic highs to the lowest doldrums in the blink of an eye. To say that it’s just business and that we are just able-bodied performers would be a disservice to all the proceedings, right?”
She unzipped her hoodie and pushed it back to reveal the FGA Mid-Atlantic Legacy title around her waist.
“But it’s really not just about working hard for hard work’s sake is it? Or even to just draw a paycheck. Every wrestler going today wants to achieve success. And there are varying levels of success, don’t get me wrong. There are multi-time World Champions and living breathing Hall of Famers in this business. Hall of Famers that can still go in that ring even. Now I’ve never been a World Champion. Heck, I’ve only ever been directly involved in one match where a World Championship was on the line, and it was an elimination chamber styled match in HKW; a multi-person match in which I lasted a long, long time in. But ultimately I did not win that match. As an aside, I will hopefully get to rectify that this weekend at the HKW ppv, Catastrophe. You guys know of Fran, right? Well, you may not know of her after I get done with her in that Last Woman Standing Match.”
She moved around and took down a few plastic bats that were hanging from a tree and put them away.
“What does that have to do with FGA, you ask? Similarly, my only brush with a World Championship here was being involved in that lethal lottery styled tag tournament. Unfortunately, Neo Darling and I failed to win our match against Izzy Anders and Savannah Taylor at the last Vertigo. So that particular journey toward the vacated FGA World Title caused by the sudden departure of Zero McHannon ended rather abruptly. I knew going into that match it would be a challenge. As you saw, Izzy and I got tangled up outside the ring, leaving Nero to fall at the hands of Savannah. I tried, but I couldn’t get back in there to prolong the match. I will say that even though it was a random draw, I felt very fortunate to get to team with Nero Darling. She’s a sweet gal.”
Salem moved to the porch and picked up a couple of small carved jack-o-lanterns, tossing them in the trash.
“It almost seemed proper in a way that we were facing Izzy and Savannah. Izzy gave me my first memorable shot at gold within FGA, when she possessed this very belt around my waist at the time. Izzy and I have a complicated existence around each other… she being such a friend to my wife, but… not so much so between us. But even looking past all that, she’s very good at what she does. She gets in people’s heads. She made me incredibly angry. I’m not too proud to admit she probably got me so heated that she got me off of my game a bit in that match. I know she made darn sure I didn’t figure into the outcome of that tag team match.”
She exhaled and shrugged, patting her belt.
“That brings me to my opponent this week. With us being out of the ring, it was left to Nero and Savannah in the ring and Savannah took care of business and pinned Nero. She dashed my team’s dreams to advance. The frustration I felt in those moments, even days after… it stung really bad; to come off freshly winning this Legacy Title from Annie Z. Dupree and improving my record to 2-0 against her. Yes, DQ’s count.. haha. But to come off of that elation to finally holding gold here in FGA, and then finding out there was the possibility to climb the biggest mountain in all of FGA, and find it squashed? It brought me back down to earth and just reminded me that there are few guarantees in life, and most of them aren’t all that pleasant. So tell me this, after you found similar elation in winning that tag team match, how did it feel Savannah? How did it feel to go on and have to compete again that very night against your partner from moments earlier? Knowing you were the reason your team advanced and then your dreams were also squashed when Izzy Anders does what she does quite often, and won? Were you also frustrated? Watching in the back I saw the look on your face after the bell, I knew it all too well. The look of ‘not again’. “
Salem sat on the steps of the porch for a moment and shook her head, drawing her knees up in front of her, rocking slightly.
“How times has it been? How many times have you had that look on your face here in Frontier Grappling Arts, Savannah? I remember how pissed off you were the first time we fought each other here, Sav. Do you remember, Annie as the special guest referee? She got a bit distracted, and yes we all realized her calling was indeed in wrestling and not referee stripes. You can blame it on whatever reason you’d like. The fact was I won that encounter. But then we fought again and you evened it up didn’t you? But then you went after the Mid-Atlantic Legacy Title, didn’t you? How’d that go for you? That look was on your face again. But then the last time we fought one on one, the results were a bit… inconclusive right? It was a bit lacking in resolution. And now here we are, fresh after the high and lows that we have both experienced recently: me, having actually defeated Annie for this title, but then losing to your team. And then you winning for your team but then getting no farther than the next round. Bittersweet; a lot of wrestling is just that. The same can be said for life at times.”
Salem got up and pulled a skeleton off the front door, dancing around with it a bit before shaking its boney pointed finger at the camera.
“And here we are at the Five Year Anniversary show for FGA. The bright lights and big city feel of Atlantic City. It’s a good spot as any to continue this on-again off-again series of matches right? Perhaps whoever wins this will get a bit of satisfaction in knowing they edged ahead in the win-loss column, hmm? I can only say that I’ve experienced FGA for one year out of its existence. I’ve had opportunities to be in the ring with some of the biggest names in this business. And I haven’t always fared the greatest in those contests, I will be the first to admit that. I’ve gotten my ass kicked by some of the greats. And I’ve stood toe to toe with them and vanquished my fair share as well. Even if I don’t respect some of the people I face, I acknowledge their talent. I won’t name drop here but they know who they are. The question you might ask yourself, is do I respect you, Savannah? The answer is… I do. You might be a snake, but at least I know what I’m getting when I face you. I respect and acknowledge what you are, and just as a leopard can’t change its spots, a snake can shed its skin but still be a snake all the same.”
She brushes a bit of falling leaves off her shoulder.
“But what will we shed in that ring, Savannah? One of us will surely shed some frustration, whichever one of us gets our hands raised at the Anniversary Show of Vertigo. We’ll remember the good times and learn from the bad as we edge ever closer to bidding 2016 farewell and greeting 2017 head on. This Vertigo is a perfect opportunity for one of us to bounce back and regroup. I definitely need it, as I gear up to start defending this title that I have fought so hard for and won. What’s your focus, Savannah? What do you want to accomplish? Because I know by now you figured you’d be in my shoes, wearing gold within FGA. Hasn’t panned out exactly right for you, has it? You’ve had your greatness elsewhere, even more than a taste. And you’re hungry, now more than ever. You’re about to starve aren’t you? Well you’re not going to dine at my expense. The only consolation I can give you is offering you a spot at a table where crow is on the menu for you to eat, dear.”
She cupped her hand to her ear as if on cue, a distant crow begins to caw.
“Do you hear that? It’s going to be fresh, by the sound of it. You can wash it all down by drinking from the pool that is the pity of the witch. And it flows just for you on that night. Drink up and realize, that even though Halloween is over and all the decorations are being put away…. It is still my time, and not yours. There’s a little magic left in the air for me to weave that spell; the spell that pulls me through, time after time. ‘Tis the Season…. The Season of the Witch."
Salem drove along drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, the Foo Fighters’ cover of ‘Baker Street’ blasting in the vehicle’s speakers. She rocked out during the heavy parts and parked her car in the parking garage. Walking out to the street level, she went a half block and then down a small stairwell to a certain basement studio located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She knocked, and upon waiting a bit and getting no answer she went inside.
“Hello? Anyone here? Hellooooo, anyone home?”
She walked down a hallway, seeing rooms with various computer banks and drafting boards with photos and artwork laid out this way and that. Television monitors, and mounds and mounds of tapes and cd’s stacked here and there. Finally she came to a little room where a female was hunched over a computer screen, headphones on and nodding off. Salem tiptoed up and tapped her on the shoulder.
“F-Flavia?”
“Ahhh!”
The other woman flung her arms up and knocked a plate off the table. A half-eaten donut went flying as well. Salem, exhibiting almost catlike reflexes caught the plate and the donut, putting them back on the table without missing a beat. The woman looked at Salem, wide-eyed.
“Oh… Salem Cartier…hey.”
The woman in question was named Flavia Rocha, and she made her living as the Digital Media Director and Head of Broadcast Marketing for Hard Knox Wrestling. A native of Brazil, her olive complexion and dark hair and eyes were a bit exotic. Beyond her official tasks for HKW, she was heavily involved in art and computer graphics. She had a close knit group of friends from UCLA that kept her in the loop on the latest innovations in computers and graphics.
“Did you forget I was coming, Flav?”
Flavia slapped her forehead, and looked at her wrist for a nonexistent watch.
“Ehhh, ya got me, witch lady. But, what you contacted me about, I have handled that. I also have something else I want to show you, if you have a few minutes?”
Salem sat on the desk, looking about the room at all the monitors and electronic equipment.
“Are you going to show me some gadgets? I swear I feel exactly like James Bond going to visit Q before his latest mission.”
Flavia giggled, and slid her rolling chair over to another monitor.
“Working with some of my friends back out in Cali and using video footage from various wrestling organizations, we’ve started compiling this…”
She tapped a button and two blocky figures in red and green began fighting each other, performing basic wrestling moves.
“A wrestling game, Flav? They already make those, chick.”
Flavia looked up and furrowed her brow at her before looking at the screen again. She shook her head.
“No, no. Not really a game per say. It’s a wrestling simulator. Using existing footage of wrestlers, and applying the physics and tendencies into a digital realm. Like so… This is who you’re fighting this week, right?”
She tapped another button, and it was near perfect renderings of Salem Cartier and Savannah Taylor walking down to the ring. The bell rang and they began to fight.
“That’s no big deal, we’ve actually fought before, Flav.”
“Ah see, this takes in all your best tendencies and makes each wrestler wrestle their optimum match. The finished product is based on thousands of iterations and simulations.”
Savannah took Salem down with a hard boot to the face on the screen.
“Ouch, yeah maybe I should watch out for that one, huh? So this is like that thing they did in that Rocky Balboa movie, okay I think I got it now. Um, you think I can get a copy of that. For science?”
She giggled, and Flavia smiled. She popped a disc in the computer.
“Yeah sure, I can do that for you.”
Salem frowned a bit and folded her arms.
“Who else knows about this little set up you’ve got here?”
Flavia shook her head.
“Nobody. This was just a pet project between old classmates.”
Salem patted her arm.
“Well, let me study that “match” and I’ll get back to you. If it helps me win on Vertigo it will be our little secret from now on, okay?”
Flavia nodded and then extracted the burned disc, handing it over to Salem.
“Ah, and also… what you came here for about originally. That photo you found that you wanted to run an aging process on, we finally got that sorted out.”
She tapped a button and a large color photo printed out behind them. Flavia grabbed it and handed it over.
“A little girl, about six years old, just like you said. Here’s the original picture as well.”
Flavia handed the small picture back to Salem. It was a photo she had found in an old family album of her daughter Lily as a baby. She looked at the two pictures side by side.
“God, she looks just like m-
“Hmm?”
“I mean, she looks just like my old classmate from when we were kids, yeah… She was just curious about what her daughter might look like at six years old.”
Salem thought to herself how much Lily looked like her at that age. She quickly wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye out of view of Flavia. She leaned over and hugged Flavia.
“Hey girl, thanks again. You keep those corporate types straight up there in HKW, okay? And how’s Sean doing?”
Flavia blushed at the mention of Sean Sands.
“He… we… are doing okay I think. Yeah. And my door is always open when it pertains to the witch. Tell me if that simulation helps, yeah?”
“Of course, but hey I need to get on back up to Toronto and start cleaning up around the house. Holidays are hectic, you know?”
Flavia nodded and they said their goodbyes, as Salem took the disc and the photos. The scene fades with a close-up on the aged photo.
-
[OFF CAMERA]
Fading back in on a face not unlike the computer-generated photo, this was a living breathing person. The little girl ran around the room, kicking a ball.
“Yeahhh!”
A few other small children also ran around and played in the room, which was clearly a part of a daycare of some sort. A young woman sat at a desk, flipping through the newspaper only halfway keeping an eye on them. There was a knock at the door, and a tall man with dark hair entered.
“Hey Jenny, how’s the kiddos today?”
The woman looked up and smiled, rising to greet him. She hugged him.
“Everything’s fine. They aren’t a bother.”
“Listen, I’m organizing a fundraiser at the rec center next weekend. I want some of the funds to go to this place, you know? I just need to talk to the owners.”
Jenny nodded, and the little girl ran up and hugged the man on the leg. He looked down and tousled her hair, giving her a big smile. She looked up for a moment and grinned at him before running off again to play. The man hugged Jenny.
“Listen, I’ve got to get back to the book store. Maybe I can call you later, have some coffee?”
“Sure.”
The man left, and the little girl stood still in the middle of the room watching him leave. A small disembodied voice filled her ears.
“Lily, that’s just as I told you… that’s your uncle Stephen. Stephen Cartier.”
-
[ON CAMERA]
Salem moved around the outside of her house taking down Halloween decorations and carefully putting them away in designated boxes. Taking a break, she wiped her brow and put her hands on her hips. Regarding the camera with a wry smile, she nodded acknowledgment.
“Hey out there in FGA land. Time flies, right? One of my favorite holidays is over and the leaves are starting to fall. Before you know it, Christmas will be here and snow on the ground. Another thing I know that as time flies, also this business moves fast. You can go from epic highs to the lowest doldrums in the blink of an eye. To say that it’s just business and that we are just able-bodied performers would be a disservice to all the proceedings, right?”
She unzipped her hoodie and pushed it back to reveal the FGA Mid-Atlantic Legacy title around her waist.
“But it’s really not just about working hard for hard work’s sake is it? Or even to just draw a paycheck. Every wrestler going today wants to achieve success. And there are varying levels of success, don’t get me wrong. There are multi-time World Champions and living breathing Hall of Famers in this business. Hall of Famers that can still go in that ring even. Now I’ve never been a World Champion. Heck, I’ve only ever been directly involved in one match where a World Championship was on the line, and it was an elimination chamber styled match in HKW; a multi-person match in which I lasted a long, long time in. But ultimately I did not win that match. As an aside, I will hopefully get to rectify that this weekend at the HKW ppv, Catastrophe. You guys know of Fran, right? Well, you may not know of her after I get done with her in that Last Woman Standing Match.”
She moved around and took down a few plastic bats that were hanging from a tree and put them away.
“What does that have to do with FGA, you ask? Similarly, my only brush with a World Championship here was being involved in that lethal lottery styled tag tournament. Unfortunately, Neo Darling and I failed to win our match against Izzy Anders and Savannah Taylor at the last Vertigo. So that particular journey toward the vacated FGA World Title caused by the sudden departure of Zero McHannon ended rather abruptly. I knew going into that match it would be a challenge. As you saw, Izzy and I got tangled up outside the ring, leaving Nero to fall at the hands of Savannah. I tried, but I couldn’t get back in there to prolong the match. I will say that even though it was a random draw, I felt very fortunate to get to team with Nero Darling. She’s a sweet gal.”
Salem moved to the porch and picked up a couple of small carved jack-o-lanterns, tossing them in the trash.
“It almost seemed proper in a way that we were facing Izzy and Savannah. Izzy gave me my first memorable shot at gold within FGA, when she possessed this very belt around my waist at the time. Izzy and I have a complicated existence around each other… she being such a friend to my wife, but… not so much so between us. But even looking past all that, she’s very good at what she does. She gets in people’s heads. She made me incredibly angry. I’m not too proud to admit she probably got me so heated that she got me off of my game a bit in that match. I know she made darn sure I didn’t figure into the outcome of that tag team match.”
She exhaled and shrugged, patting her belt.
“That brings me to my opponent this week. With us being out of the ring, it was left to Nero and Savannah in the ring and Savannah took care of business and pinned Nero. She dashed my team’s dreams to advance. The frustration I felt in those moments, even days after… it stung really bad; to come off freshly winning this Legacy Title from Annie Z. Dupree and improving my record to 2-0 against her. Yes, DQ’s count.. haha. But to come off of that elation to finally holding gold here in FGA, and then finding out there was the possibility to climb the biggest mountain in all of FGA, and find it squashed? It brought me back down to earth and just reminded me that there are few guarantees in life, and most of them aren’t all that pleasant. So tell me this, after you found similar elation in winning that tag team match, how did it feel Savannah? How did it feel to go on and have to compete again that very night against your partner from moments earlier? Knowing you were the reason your team advanced and then your dreams were also squashed when Izzy Anders does what she does quite often, and won? Were you also frustrated? Watching in the back I saw the look on your face after the bell, I knew it all too well. The look of ‘not again’. “
Salem sat on the steps of the porch for a moment and shook her head, drawing her knees up in front of her, rocking slightly.
“How times has it been? How many times have you had that look on your face here in Frontier Grappling Arts, Savannah? I remember how pissed off you were the first time we fought each other here, Sav. Do you remember, Annie as the special guest referee? She got a bit distracted, and yes we all realized her calling was indeed in wrestling and not referee stripes. You can blame it on whatever reason you’d like. The fact was I won that encounter. But then we fought again and you evened it up didn’t you? But then you went after the Mid-Atlantic Legacy Title, didn’t you? How’d that go for you? That look was on your face again. But then the last time we fought one on one, the results were a bit… inconclusive right? It was a bit lacking in resolution. And now here we are, fresh after the high and lows that we have both experienced recently: me, having actually defeated Annie for this title, but then losing to your team. And then you winning for your team but then getting no farther than the next round. Bittersweet; a lot of wrestling is just that. The same can be said for life at times.”
Salem got up and pulled a skeleton off the front door, dancing around with it a bit before shaking its boney pointed finger at the camera.
“And here we are at the Five Year Anniversary show for FGA. The bright lights and big city feel of Atlantic City. It’s a good spot as any to continue this on-again off-again series of matches right? Perhaps whoever wins this will get a bit of satisfaction in knowing they edged ahead in the win-loss column, hmm? I can only say that I’ve experienced FGA for one year out of its existence. I’ve had opportunities to be in the ring with some of the biggest names in this business. And I haven’t always fared the greatest in those contests, I will be the first to admit that. I’ve gotten my ass kicked by some of the greats. And I’ve stood toe to toe with them and vanquished my fair share as well. Even if I don’t respect some of the people I face, I acknowledge their talent. I won’t name drop here but they know who they are. The question you might ask yourself, is do I respect you, Savannah? The answer is… I do. You might be a snake, but at least I know what I’m getting when I face you. I respect and acknowledge what you are, and just as a leopard can’t change its spots, a snake can shed its skin but still be a snake all the same.”
She brushes a bit of falling leaves off her shoulder.
“But what will we shed in that ring, Savannah? One of us will surely shed some frustration, whichever one of us gets our hands raised at the Anniversary Show of Vertigo. We’ll remember the good times and learn from the bad as we edge ever closer to bidding 2016 farewell and greeting 2017 head on. This Vertigo is a perfect opportunity for one of us to bounce back and regroup. I definitely need it, as I gear up to start defending this title that I have fought so hard for and won. What’s your focus, Savannah? What do you want to accomplish? Because I know by now you figured you’d be in my shoes, wearing gold within FGA. Hasn’t panned out exactly right for you, has it? You’ve had your greatness elsewhere, even more than a taste. And you’re hungry, now more than ever. You’re about to starve aren’t you? Well you’re not going to dine at my expense. The only consolation I can give you is offering you a spot at a table where crow is on the menu for you to eat, dear.”
She cupped her hand to her ear as if on cue, a distant crow begins to caw.
“Do you hear that? It’s going to be fresh, by the sound of it. You can wash it all down by drinking from the pool that is the pity of the witch. And it flows just for you on that night. Drink up and realize, that even though Halloween is over and all the decorations are being put away…. It is still my time, and not yours. There’s a little magic left in the air for me to weave that spell; the spell that pulls me through, time after time. ‘Tis the Season…. The Season of the Witch."