It’s such a simple thought—a simple word, but it sparks something inside me and I look around. A faint silver string captures my attention and I reach for it. It vibrates softly in my hand and information is passed through it straight into my consciousness.
I’m meant to follow it.
Curiosity burns inside my awareness and with the string resting gently across my fingertips, I move forward, allowing it to guide me. The dark and gruesome images subside, giving way to a large wooded area. The trees are enormous and lush, some draping their branches across the ground as they sway lightly in the breeze.
The trees open up, revealing a small pond. Steam rises from it, catching the sun’s rays in its search for the sky. Far out on the other side, swans gracefully settle into the water, making me smile.
I edge closer, wanting to see them more clearly. As I do, an old dock extends outward like a boardwalk to infinity. Without thought, I step onto, walking out as far as I dare.
When I reach the end, I take a seat, letting my legs dangle off the edge. Though I don’t remember taking off my shoes, my feet are bare and I dip my toes into the water. Oddly enough, I don’t feel a thing.
I stare at my feet, curious about the lack of sensation. However, my gaze moves from my feet, to the reflection in the water beyond. My red hair is wild with the wind and sun, but my face is far too young. For some reason, I can’t remember what I’m meant to look like, but I’m certain it wasn’t this.
I’m older. Right?
Twisting around on the dock, I scramble to my feet. Something isn’t right about all of this.
I’m lost…
Something glitters in the sunlight, demanding my scrutiny. I race down the dock, listening to the way my feet press upon the boards, making the most haunting music. When I reach the spot that caught my eye, I pick it up, and once again, it’s the silver string.
Had I dropped it?
Determined not to lose my focus again, I hold the string firmly between my fingers and palm, using it like a guide rope to my destination.
The string leads me to an area on the other edge of the pond and while I can see the string ends, I can’t fathom how it does so. It’s as though it vanishes into nothingness.
Stepping up to the end, I run my hand along the string to the point it no longer exists. Surprisingly, my hand pushes straight through, vanishing along with the string.
Confused, I pull my hand back and stare at it. While it seems whole and complete, there’s something in the back of my mind that tells me this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.
All of a sudden, a remarkable resolve washes over me and I pick up the string again. With it clutched in my hand, I close my eyes, walking forward into the space where the string vanished.
When I open my eyes, I’m no longer outside by a pond, but instead, in an enormous garage.
The space is sparsely decorated with metal shelving and storage units. Light streams in the windows, illuminating the pain in cars before me. Suddenly aware of them, I realize the space is full of vehicles of all makes and models. They’re all lined up, going down as far as the eye can see.
With the string still clutched in my hand, I follow it around to the front of the nearest vehicle. The blues and purples in the paint sparkle like a fireworks display and I bend in, mesmerized. Then, to the right, movement catches my eye, making me jump.
I nearly drop the string, but instead, clutching it tight, I race to the front of the car to get a better view. The string tugs back, pulling me forward and I practically stumble as I make my way to the front of the cars.
Gripping it tighter, I’m startled as I realize the string is attached to a body.
And not just any body, either.
Dominic leans back, resting his elbows on the hood of a bright red sports car. “We’ll it’s about damn time.”
Chapter 16
Them’s the Rules
My thoughts sputter as I try to pull them into a cohesive unit. Nothing makes sense at first, but Dominic doesn’t give me long to question it. He hops off the car and walks over to me like a man on a mission.
“I was beginning to think I overestimated your abilities,” he says, smirking at me.
I shake my head, trying to clear the confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Look, we don’t have a whole helluva lot of time here, so let me get straight to the point. You have a lot of work to do and it means getting serious now.”
He steps forward, tapping my forehead with the tip of his middle finger.
Suddenly, everything that’s brought us to this moment comes flooding back to me with an intense clarity that makes me double over.
I blink back my surprise at how easily I was confused and led astray in this realm.
“It’s not just you,” Dominic says, clearly reading my thoughts. “This place is meant to break you down to your simplest form. Heaven, hell. It’s all here.”
“What?” I say, narrowing my gaze.
“You must have felt it—the pull through all the good and the bad. But ultimately, you end up one place or another. Your heaven or your hell, based off your soul’s experiences. Mine is clearly taking form as—this,” he says, widening his arms and twirling around. “Gotta admit, it’s not a bad place to be.”
“You can’t stay here,” I say, suddenly filled with anger. “Why wouldn’t you come back? You promised to help me.”
“And I am,” he says, cocking his head to the side. “We needed a safe space.”
“You call this safe? We’re in the realm of the dead, Dominic. Neither of us belongs here,” I sputter, panic bleeding into the very fabric of who I am. “If we don’t get back—”
The garage space around me flickers briefly, like someone trying to adjust the antenna to get a clearer picture.
His lips press into a thin line for a moment. “I know that, I do. Hell, I honestly had no idea if this was going to work for sure. I just knew it had to be done.”
“So, the whole idea of leveling up was a lie?” I sputter.
Dominic chuckles, shaking his head. “No, not at all. It wasn’t until I was here, until my abilities tapped into the universal energy, that I realized what needed to be done. You wanted me to help you, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“How in any way, shape, or form is this helping me? We could get stuck here, Dominic,” I say, shoving him in the shoulder. He just chuckles at me as if it’s the actions of a child. “Stop laughing. This is serious.”
He shakes his head, but the movement transforms into a nod. “Yes, I know. But this was the only way to pull you outside of the earshot, so to speak, of the Moirai. They’re powerful as fuck, and grounded in the land of the living. But once their job is done—meaning, once a soul has moved on—they no longer have access to it. Do you see what I’m getting at?”
“We haven’t moved on,” I say, alarmed at his flippant attitude.
He shakes his hands in front of him. “No, I know that. But for now, we’re still outside their realm. We can talk freely here.”
I narrow my gaze. “All right. So, talk already.”
“Don’t give me that look. Trust me, this was the only way.”
I can’t help but maintain my skeptical stance as I arch an eyebrow.
“Look, turns out I’m not the only one here who needed to level up. You do, too,” he says. “Only you’ve already done it—you just don’t realize it.”
“What are you talking about, Dominic? We need to go.” I twist around, suggesting we go…somewhere else. Only, there’s no clear exit. It’s all just a never-ending garage.
“Dammit, Autumn, listen to me. This is prophetic. Divine intervention, even.” His face is deadly serious, but now it’s my turn to laugh.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I snicker.
“Not even a little bit,” he says, taking a deep breath and stepping forward. He rests his hands along the sides of my arms and I look down, suddenly acutely aware that everything we see here isn’t even
real. Our actual bodies are somewhere else—and they’re fading. Dominic clears his throat and continues, “You have powers no necromancer has ever had because you’ve been to the other side and returned.”
“And you had to bring me here to tell me that?” I say, incredulous. “I learned that a year and a half ago. This is ridiculous.”
“No, it’s not,” he says, dead serious. “You’re not just a necromancer, Autumn. You’ve evolved, and you have to figure out how to embrace it so you can break your family’s curse. That’s what this place is telling me. It’s what everything has been pointing toward—I just couldn’t make sense of it.”
“Evolved?” I mutter, clenching my jaw. “Into what, Dominic?”
He inhales, pinching the bridge of his nose. When he looks up, his eyes plead with me as he says, “A sin-eater.”
I can’t help it, I actually snort at him. “A what?”
“I didn’t make up the name, for crying out loud,” he says, defensively. “Look, I don’t know what being a sin-eater entails, I just know you are one. And it’s how you’re going to break the curse. That is what you still want, right?”
“Of course it is,” I snap.
“Then you need to learn to harness it. Whatever you did to evolve, it happened when you were a kid. Maybe that’s the problem. You won’t listen to me…but maybe you’ll take her more seriously,” Dominic says, tipping his chin upward.
I look over my shoulder, confused. Behind me, a little girl with red hair and hazel eyes stares expectantly back at me. The girl is me—or at least, seven year old me.
I turn back to Dominic with wide eyes and a creepy sense of déjà vu taking over me.
“When I first saw you back at Windhaven Academy, I couldn’t get the words veritas vos liberabit out of my head. You know this,” Dominic says, raising a hand to the ceiling. “But here’s the thing… I didn’t know why. I just knew that you needed the message. Of course, I knew instantly who you were. I knew there were things you didn’t know and needed to uncover. But that wasn’t what it was all about. Not really.”
“What do you mean?”
“Now I understand why. It’s a helluva lot deeper than your family history. It was about you specifically. About who you really are—what you really are and what you’re capable of doing,” he says quietly.
“And this revelation only came to you because you ‘leveled up?’” I say, shooting a sideways glance toward the little girl behind me. She’s still there, waiting patiently.
“Yes,” he says, point-blank. “Now, go. Get some answers. I’ll be ready to go back when you are.”
“But what about—?” I begin.
Dominic shrugs. “Them’s the rules. You gotta get your answers before we can go back.”
I groan, unable to make sense of anything he’s saying. However, there’s a fierce sense of curiosity and truth vibrating in the energy of the space.
“Fine,” I say. Gritting my teeth, I turn back to the little girl—the younger me.
Wordlessly, she raises her right arm, extending her hand to me. With a final glance at Dominic, I take her hand.
Instantly, the world around me shifts, falling away like a virtual reality that’s been completely altered. At first, I can’t see anything. It’s like the entire space has been erased and I’m surrounded by nothing but a beautiful, white light that emanates a sense of peace beyond anything I can comprehend. Yet, I’m not alone. I can still feel the warmth of a small hand in mine.
As the white light pulls back, I’m suddenly in a small, dank cavern. Water fills much of the space and it drips from the ceiling, walls, and pools across the bottom of the enclosure. I don’t know how I can see, since there’s no light source anywhere. Yet somehow I can, but I wish I couldn’t. Along the far side of the space is a stack of bodies—all children. All are in various states of decomposition. My body included.
Memories flood back to me and I’m acutely aware of the fact that this is the place where I died.
I remember the Vodník—the way his demeanor had changed after he got me away from the manor and the safety of my parents. He’d been so nice, telling me he’d show me a place where the mermaids lived. I’d believed him because I was trusting—too trusting.
The feeling of my soul when he had ripped it from my body, burns through my insides. He had wanted to collect it, stealing it away in his jar as a prize, just as he’d done to countless others.
I hadn’t let that happen, though. Something inside me had shifted and grown more powerful by not being bound to my body. It wasn’t my time yet and somehow, I knew that. I had tapped into something primal and expanded—breaking the rules. I refused to go into his container to be a part of his collection.
In that moment of clarity, a man was at my side, entering the cavern by way of his dark, smokey portal. His silver eyes held me like a warm embrace as he took my hand, guiding my soul away from the catastrophe the Vodník had created.
Wade’s father had been there—he’d been with me the day I died. He’d guided me to the other side, just as he was meant to. Only, when I got there, I couldn’t let go of the intense feeling I couldn’t stay. I had to return because I still had work to do.
It wasn’t meant to be this way…
We had sat on the edge of the pond, dangling our feet over the edge of the dock. For some reason, he had stayed with me. I remember talking with him as if he was an old friend I hadn’t seen for a long, long time.
When I told him I couldn’t stay, he wasn’t surprised. In fact, he seemed relieved. His expression softened as he extended his hand out between us.
In the small movement, the remaining forgotten moments blocked out in Death’s presence come rushing back. My confusion, my wiped memory—all of the forgotten time had nothing to do with my parents.
It was all Death’s fault.
Leaning over, the Angel of Death whispered to me, “When the time comes, this will be your most powerful weapon.”
In his outstretched hand, an intricately carved wooden box materialized. The same wooden box gifted to me in my dad’s will.
Before I have time to sit with the revelation, things shift again. This time, I’m standing beside my father in the middle of my bedroom. He sits on my bed, staring at a picture of me. His fingertips trace my face as tears drop onto the glass’s surface. My heart bursts open, and I reach for him, only to have my fingertips grasp at thin air.
Suddenly, the small resurrection room door bursts open, practically swinging off its hinges.
Dad’s head jerks up. He stares at the door with wild eyes, his body trembling and his mouth agape. I turn to look at the younger version of me and she smiles, vanishing before my eyes.
As I turn back to my dad, he’s on his feet, making his way to the small doorway. Fear and apprehension are splattered across his features, but he pushes through all of it, walking down the ancient wooden steps. I follow him, just as curious as he is because I have no idea what he’ll find, though I should have guessed.
At the bottom of the steps, he turns the corner slowly. His eyes float to the small altar table in the center of the space. Two large pillar candles are lit, glowing brightly. Confusion flashes across his face as he walks up to it, setting down the photo frame in between them. However, just beyond, stands the young version of me. Dripping wet and shivering, she looks up at my dad with his confusion mirrored in her eyes. In her hands is the wooden box.
Without hesitation, my father races forward, practically tripping over himself to get to me. He drops to his knees at my feet, wrapping his arms around my body. As I watch, the memory of his warm arms encompassing my cold, wet body had been the most beautiful feeling in the whole world. If love had a sensation, that was it.
However, the moment wasn’t meant to linger. At least, not for me.
Though my dad couldn’t see him, the Angel of Death placed his hand on the back of my head—wiping my memory. He left me behind with nothing but a wooden box and a bunch of questions that would
haunt me for years.
Dominic was right…I had leveled up the last time I was here. But it didn’t happen alone.
It came in the form of a gift from Death himself.
Chapter 17
Clear the Sins Away
As soon as the revelation of the box comes to me, a force stronger than a hurricane whisks through the memory. It wipes it away like someone clearing a drawing board and it carries me right along with it.
I try to grasp on to something, anything, to keep my bearings, but it’s no use. The force sucks me into the vortex and I’m lost within in it. At first, I’m terrified, but a voice breaks the chaos telling me to let go…
I don’t know why I should trust it, but I do. The worry and terror fade into the background and I release. I release all that I am to surrender to what is.
Whatever it is I’m meant to be.
For a few blissful moments, there’s nothing but peace.
With a jerk, I bolt upright in the middle of the resurrection chamber, clutching at the dirt and coughing up the metallic taste of blood. Everything about the box and the Angel of Death lingers with me, holding me like a vise. I need to talk to him—demand some answers.
Beside me, Dominic rolls over, gasping for his own breath.
“It is about time,” Abigail hisses, clutching at her chest as if her heart could actually beat. “I was certain I would be mourning your loss—and believe me, the irony was not lost on me.”
Though her words are an admonishment, relief is clear across her face.
My mouth is dry, sucked of all moisture as I try to speak. The only word I seem able to croak out is, “Sorry.”
Looking to my left, Dominic rights himself and shoots me an apologetic shrug. “So, that happened.”
I narrow my gaze and ball my fist. “Ugh—” I groan, pushing him in the shoulder so he tips back over.
He clears his throat. “But it worked. Right?” His voice is just as hoarse as mine.
“Not the point,” I say, scrambling to get to my feet. My body feels like lead as I struggle to stand. Everything in the realm of the dead came easier. Moving, changing space and time—it was all so much lighter. But like a dream, the memory of it fades quickly, becoming nothing more than a distant memory.
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