Sometimes waiting for a punishment is worse than the actual punishment itself. Evelyn would definitely agree with this. The jawbreaker punishment was pretty bad on its own, but apparently worse was yet to come. Even as she was being introduced to the other snake Animalians, she was being told that her punishments weren't over. It certainly kept her own toes (well, if she still had them), but after a while, she wondered when they would just get on with it. Maybe the punishment was in the paranoia that was building up. But she was pretty certain that something more physical would be involved.
She was almost relieved when Lucy invited her out to the Lover's Woods campgrounds. Evelyn wasn't really sure what would be going on there, but it had to be better than waiting for her punishment to come. She couldn't imagine why it would be at the campgrounds, but at least there would be no one else there. With the pandemic going on, going to camp was probably the last thing most people would be thinking of doing. Evelyn was extremely nervous as she made her way to the camp, but she kept telling herself that she'd finally be over this.
Lucy had told her to come well after sunset and as such Evelyn found her sitting in front of a campfire. She seemed to be throwing in a few herbs that made the fire turn green briefly. There was a bit of a heady aroma in the air already. As the cobra approached the firelight, the black cat witch said, "I've been thinking about what you've done, Miriam." Evelyn flinched at hearing her old name. She was not proud of how she acted before she became an Animalian, how she had been a 'hunter of her own kind', spreading HIV to other lesbian women. "Your old church, they had very strong...opinions about a woman's choices, didn't they?" asked Lucy in an accusing tone.
"I didn't really choose it," said Evelyn, "My parents were already in that sect before I was-"
"To them, women who went against God's plans were condemned to hell, weren't they?" asked Lucy.
"But I-" started Evelyn.
"Have you not considered where you will end up after all you've done?" asked Lucy, "Not for being a woman who loves women, but for what you did to other women?"
Evelyn cringed and said, "I said I was sorry. I just want to put that behind me."
"Not tonight," said Lucy, "This is where you confront your ill deeds and the dark path they put you on." With that, she stood up and handed Evelyn something, "Eat this."
Evelyn looked at the object in her hands. It was a small disc, red with white spots on it. "Er, this isn't a poisonous mushroom, is it?" she asked.
"Don't be silly," said Lucy, "It's a tart."
Evelyn looked closer. It was obviously made of dough, with food coloring on the top and white sprinkles. "Oh, ok," she said. She wasn't sure if a tart would agree with her carnivorous digestive system, so she just took it one bite, one of the benefits of being a snake. "It tastes a little funny..." she said.
"Well, that would be the secret ingredients," said Lucy, "Including a few hallucinogenic mushrooms."
"What?!" yelped Evelyn who starting to feel dizzy.
"Oh, this is just a prelude," said Lucy, "Get ready for the main event."
Things started getting hazy for Evelyn. The fire seemed to surge in different colors and Lucy's dark shape seemed to blur and shift in the gloom. Then she heard music starting from nowhere. It took her a while to realize she was hearing 'Night on Bald Mountain'. And as if they were summoned by the dark music, strange figures started appearing from the darkness. Evelyn wasn't sure if she could trust her eyes, but she saw demons, creatures with bat wings, serpentine coils, black and white beasts that seemed to have no coherent shape. As the music built up its crescendo, the demons rushed around her in some mad dance.
Evelyn couldn't flee if she wanted to. Her slithering muscles seemed to lock up, whether out of disorientation or fear she wasn't sure. But the demons kept her from running as they got close to her. Her bespelled eyes saw frightening shapes that made her recoil. The fire seem to surge up higher. It seemed less like a campfire and more like an infernal gateway. It didn't help when the demons grabbed at Evelyn and made her join in their deranged dance. It seemed like at any moment they were going to toss her into the fire where she'd fall into a deep pit to the inferno below. Evelyn wasn't quite sure when she fell asleep or if she even did, but the night became more fantastical and terrifying...
==========
Some time later, Evelyn was waking up, or at least regaining her consciousness. She half-expected to find herself in a fiery pit with demons jabbing her with pitchforks. She was being poked, but it was only by fingers who were trying to see if she was alright. Evelyn slowly blinked as she realized she was only in one of the cabins.
"I said, are you avake?" asked a demon. No, it wasn't a demon, it was Miss Vivian wearing some sort of demon costume.
"I think she is now," said Ki-ko, also wearing a demon costume.
Evelyn blinked, becoming aware of a dryness of her mouth. Looking around, she saw other Animalains dressed in demon costumes: Mercy, Annie, Stuart, the Anacondas. "What's going on here?" she asked, though the words came out a little mushy. God, her mouth felt dry.
"Drink this," said Lucy, handing her a glass of water, "Nothing in it this time."
Once Evelyn had drank the glass, she was thinking a little more clearly. "Did you drug me with mushrooms?" she asked accusingly.
"Not a heavy dose," said Lucy, "But the herbs in the fire made you a bit more open to hallucinations."
"It thought it was appropriate for your old nickname. You know, 'Destroying Angel'," said Annie.
Evelyn frowned and said, "That doesn't sound very legal."
"It's a bit of a grey area, but zis vas more about shock therapy zan getting you high," said Miss Vivian.
Evelyn groaned and said, "Well, I'm definitely never taking shrooms again. Those things are literal nightmare fuel."
"Well asides from that, any other lessons you gleamed from this?" asked Lucy.
"Besides not to accept more gifts from you? I guess it's that even if I set myself on the right path, I still have to sins to atone for," said Evelyn.
"Well, we can help you move along with that," said Ki-ko, "We have a priest who's ready to do a confessional with you."
"A priest? In these times?" asked Evelyn.
"Well, he's open-minded enough to not be judgemental," said Annie, "But we're taking precautions against viral infections, etc."
"But I'll be done, right?" asked Evelyn.
"Vell, you'll still have your conscience to deal vith," said Miss Vivian, "But aftervords, you vill be cleared."
Evelyn gave a sigh of relief. It looks like she'll be able to move on now. Hopefully when this pandemic is over, she'll have more options and possibilities in the future.