🖤 Evil, but Never Empty. The Making—and Unmaking—of Rachael Winifred, The Pandora's Box (CPT)'s antagonist. {Red Spoiler Alert}
A personal reflection by LS Franco
SPOILER ALERT: RED LEVEL!!!
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If you’re a parent in a custody battle with a narcissist...
If you’ve had to watch your child be fed lies about you...
If you’ve ever feared that your child’s light could be twisted into shadow...
Then you already know the ache behind Rachael Winifred’s story.
Not because she’s real—but because the fear that shaped her is.
Rachael is the main antagonist of Pandora’s Box.
But behind her sharp tongue, elitism, and cruelty… is a girl who once could’ve been the brightest child in town.
And that's exactly what makes her evil so haunting.
💔 Her Story Begins with a Lie—A Damaging, Deliberate Lie
She was four.
Her mother, Irina, left home—fleeing Montgomery's violence.
And in that moment, her father struck the cruelest blow of all:
“She’s gone, Rachael. Your mom left us. She despises us.”
That was the moment Rachael's world split in two.
She didn’t just lose her mother—she lost the truth.
From then on, she lived with the pain of abandonment that never actually happened.
And worse?
She was never allowed to grieve it.
Not in Montgomery’s house. Not in Grizelle’s war machine.
Pain, in her world, wasn’t something to feel. It was something to weaponize.
🧠 She Wasn’t Raised—She Was Manufactured
Montgomery needed a daughter who could lead.
Grizelle needed a student who could recruit.
So they turned Rachael into an asset.
She was praised when she intimidated.
Mocked when she hesitated.
Ignored when she cried.
She was taught to equate power with value, and control with love.
And so she perfected the performance: the flawless spells, the commanding presence, the sneer that cut like glass.
“She is afraid of rejection, Montgomery. She’ll go to great lengths to please you.”
They all saw it. But no one stopped it.
Because Rachael’s descent wasn’t an accident.
It was allowed.
🔥 Yes, She Was Evil. That’s the Tragedy.
She chose cruelty.
She enjoyed watching people squirm.
She belittled others and wielded fear like a crown.
And yet…
That darkness was born from a stolen innocence.
She was a child who could’ve been a healer, a leader, a protector.
Instead, she became exactly what her manipulators needed:
A reflection of their emptiness. A soldier for their cause. A product of their agenda.
🕯️ She Didn’t Die Alone—She Died Conflicted
In her final moment, her mother came back for her.
Annya’s spirit appeared, weeping, begging Rachael to see the truth:
“He lied to you… He killed me so I couldn’t stop what you were becoming.”
For one breath, Rachael almost believed her.
She lowered her staff. Her mother vanished.
But the years of gaslighting had done their job.
She didn’t know what was real anymore.
And when Montgomery screamed for her to kill—she refused.
“I won’t,” she said. “I can’t.”
She didn’t choose redemption.
She didn’t choose revenge.
She froze—caught between who she was told to be and who she could’ve been.
And then… she was gone.
💡 Why Rachael Haunts Me
Because I know there are real girls out there—real boys, real kids—growing up in homes where love is twisted, withheld, used as bait.
Where truth is rewritten.
Where parents fight wars through the hearts of their children.
Rachael is a villain, yes.
But she is also a monument to every brilliant child whose potential was corrupted by the very people meant to protect them.
I wrote her that way because her story exists outside fantasy.
And maybe, by seeing what could’ve saved her, we remember to save the ones around us.
🖤 She was evil. But once, she wasn’t. And that is the real tragedy.
Want to know more about the Conjurer's Prophecy Trilogy? Go to www.conjurersprophecy.com
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