“Hello…”
I’d gasped and looked to the door to find her standing there.
Her smile widened and it made her eyes twinkle. “I am Doctor Rachel Troy.”
But I hadn’t heard the door open or close. She’d just appeared. I hadn’t thought anything of it. I’d assumed I’d zoned out from the stress of the night—
The church bell rang a second time and then I saw the nurse putting in my IV. She’d been telling me what was about to happen. Dr. Troy had been standing by my side, squeezing my hand. But she didn’t acknowledge Dr. Troy at all, not even a glance or a nod or a smile.
The bell rang again and this time I felt it echo through my body. I gripped the wooden pews for support as the world crashed down on my shoulders.
“W-will you stay?” I’d asked her in the hospital.
Dr. Troy smiled wide. “Until you ask for me to leave.”
The fourth bell thundered through my bones, I flinched and jerked back.
“You have a visitor…and she’s coming in right now.” Dr. Troy pointed to the door.
There was a soft knock on the door then it slowly slid open. Landreia stuck her head through the opening. “Hi, may I come in?”
“Of course!”
“I’m just going to step out for a bit, but I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Dr. Troy leaned down and whispered.
Landreia stopped beside my bed. “Hi, sweetheart.”
She hadn’t spoken to her either. Landreia of all people, had not paid Dr. Troy an ounce of attention. Busy nurses were one thing, but my witch foster mother who loved everyone? It made no sense. What is happening?
The fifth church bell felt like it hit me right in the chest. My breath left me in a rush.
The door to my room swung open, Dr. Troy walked in behind Dr. Allen, with the same nurse from last night and another woman in a gray suit.
None of them reacted to her speaking. Not even a single glance. Now that I was thinking about it, none of them seemed to hear a word she’d said.
The sixth bell rang and it ripped a violent gasp from my throat. People were gathered around me now, staring and shouting at me but I couldn’t see them. All I saw was that hospital room.
“So I’m stuck like this?”
“I certainly hope not. I think that the best thing to do is wait and see. Sometimes these things just need time. We monitor you and adjust treatment as we go. Psychologists can be a huge help in this area.”
Dr. Troy winked at me.
I didn’t know how I didn’t see it. Dr. Allen spoke about psychologists like there wasn’t one right beside him. If he had seen her standing there he would have just said her name.
A seventh bell tolled and sent a chill down my spine. My body trembled.
A new memory flipped into my mind. I saw myself sitting in that park by school and then saw Dr. Troy walking down the sidewalk.
“Hello! Fancy running into you here.” I’d said to her.
Dr. Troy chuckled and sat down on the bench beside me. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
The eighth bell rang and my vision blurred.
My memories were flashing by like a slideshow of horror. Now I saw myself sitting on the airplane by myself. Savannah and Gigi had just been standing there not two seconds prior when Dr. Troy showed up.
I turned and gasped. “Dr. Troy? What are you doing here?”
She smiled and tied her hair on top of her head. “Ms. Kelly thought given your situation, it would be safest if I was on the trip. But I have work to do, so I’ll just be at the hotel in case I’m needed.”
“That actually does make me feel better— oh, are you sitting next to me?”
She shook her head and my heart sank. “Sadly, no. I just wanted to stop and let you know I was here.”
I tried to think of a single moment when I saw Dr. Troy talking to Ms. Kelly — wait a second, did I ever TELL her Dr. Troy’s name? My pulse quickened. Goosebumps covered my body.
A ninth bell tolled and it brought tears to my eyes. I gasped for air around the hot lump in my throat. Then I saw myself sitting on that bench at Hidden Kingdom, mere moments after Savannah and Gigi went inside the bathroom.
“I thought you were going to be at the hotel?”
“I couldn’t help myself.” Dr. Troy said with a laugh and a shrug.
Another bell rang and then I was standing in the hotel hallway, struggling to rein in my magic and emotions. She’d appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. She kept showing up right when I needed her and always when I was alone.
As another bell reverberated through the church I remembered a few moments ago…the woman…she kept looking at me weird because she thought I’d been talking to myself.
And then it all clicked into place. Dr. Troy sat silent and calm, despite everyone fussing around us. Despite the fact that someone had shoved a candle through her body. Despite the fact that my whole world was crumbling around me. Because she knew this was coming. This wasn’t a surprise to her. She knew. She knew.
I hadn’t been talking to myself…I’d been talking to a…a…ghost.
I met her transparent, glowing eyes and something broke inside me. “Y-y-you’re n-n-n-ot r-r-real…”
She smiled sadly. “I am no longer living, but I am real.”
The twelfth bell rang so loud I jumped back – and landed on the floor. Everyone around us shouted in alarm and dove for me. I scrambled to my feet then scurried back - away from her ghostly form that kept flickering back to that real image I’d been seeing for two weeks. With each rapid beat of my heart her form switched back and forth. Ghost to real, real to ghost. Yet no matter how real she looked to my eyes…no one else saw her.
She stood up then walked through three women who’d crowded around me. “Saffie—”
“I can’t,” I cried, then spun and bolted for the door.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Saffie
I sprinted down the side aisle toward the door, dodging little old ladies and young girls in sparkling dresses. Behind me, the crowd rushed after me. I heard their hushed voices and the hardwood floor creaking under their footsteps. I could still hear the echo of the church bells striking midnight, like twelve stabs to the heart.
She’s not real. She’s not real. She’s not real.
I glanced over my shoulder and my stomach turned. At least half of the church was staring at me. All of those little candles flickered in the dim light. Dr. Troy moved through the crowd, not even bothering to try and look alive anymore as her ghostly form went right through them like water over rocks.
Because she’s dead.
A cry escaped my lips and I shoved the door open. The ice-cold air outside felt like bathwater against the chill in my veins. I was frozen right down to my core.
“Wait!” The woman from my row screamed from behind me as I flew down the steps.
But I couldn’t. I had to go. I had to get as far away from there as possible. She’s not real. She’s not real. This whole time she wasn’t real. The world blurred around me. My mind replayed each and every moment I’d spent with Dr. Troy over and over, like a nightmare I couldn’t wake from. I just had to get out of there. I had to get away.
Blue light flashed in front of me and then Dr. Troy stood directly in my path. She held her ghostly hands up. “Saffie, talk to me—"
I screamed and leapt to my left, then sprinted around a tree and away from her. No, no, no, no. Go away. Go away. Tears stung the backs of my eyes. I pumped my arms and ran as fast as I could. My legs burned from how hard I pushed. This can’t be happening.
A few trees ahead, Dr. Troy appeared in a flash of blue light. Her eyes were soft and pleading. “Saffie, there’s no reason to be afraid of me.”
But I was. Because she was dead. Oh God, she’s dead. She’s a ghost. This can’t be real. I cried out and turned to my right.
Dr. Troy appeared in the middle of the street. She waved her ghostly hands. “Turn around. You’re going the wrong w
ay.”
I slid to a stop but my feet slipped in the snow on the ground and I flew back. My pulse raced. My whole body trembled. A fire exploded in my chest and I knew I wasn’t breathing. Dr. Troy’s ghostly form moved toward me. I gasped and scrambled back up but when I turned to go back the other way I found half the church out front looking for me.
The woman from our row spotted me and her eyes widened. She pointed at me.
No. No, no. Please no. I can’t explain this. How do I explain this? She’s dead. A ghost.
I swallowed through the hot lump in my throat and made a sharp left turn between two trees — and slammed into something hard. The smell of burning embers filled my lungs. I bounced off of it and flew back but something caught me by the arms, keeping me upright. I blinked through the falling snow and darkness to find bright golden eyes staring down at me.
RIAH.
His eyes widened. “Saraphina—”
I dove for him. The sound of his voice was a welcomed wildfire in the tundra. I jumped up and he caught me mid-air. His big hands gripped my waist and gave me the boost I needed so I could wrap my arms around his neck. He pulled me tight to his chest and the tears I’d been holding in burst free. I choked on a sob and buried my face.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding my feet off the ground and squeezing me tight. “I’ve got you.”
I tried to respond, to say anything but it just made the sobbing worse. The noise that came out of me was pathetic. I was falling apart. My world was crashing all around me. Is anyone else not real? Or have I been hanging out with ghosts this whole time?
Riah spun us around then took off running. I barely felt the motion, he moved gracefully like a cloud through the sky. Cold air rushed over my back and through my hair so I nestled in closer. I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want to see Dr. Troy’s ghost again. I didn’t think I could handle it anymore.
Bright light flashed, piercing through my eyelids. I hissed and turned my face into Riah’s hair. But then a wave of sharp energy slammed into my back. I gasped and pushed away from Riah, my back arching as electricity rushed through my veins. Riah tried to hold on to me but my golden magic shot out of my hands and blasted him. He let go but didn’t move away. I scrambled away from him, swatting at my own body.
Little golden lightning bolts coiled around my arms and legs. They shot out of my fingers, slicing through the golden glitter of my normal magic. My pulse quickened. “What – what is – what’s happening? What is this?”
“Saraphina,” Riah said in a low, hushed voice.
I looked up at him – and my breath left me in a rush. My eyes widened.
We were literally in a tunnel. It was maybe fifteen feet in diameter. There were no flowers, no hint of natural light. The tunnel was made up entirely of thick green vines covered in leaves. Everything was tangled together almost like a spider web. The air was thick and smelled like wildflowers, but there was no breeze. The tunnel stretched far to my left and right, fading into black nothingness. A cold chill slithered up my spine and I shivered. I spun in a circle then stumbled into the wall.
I placed my hand on the tunnel wall and color exploded from under my palm. The dark green vines glowed neon green. Pink and yellow flowers sprouted from under my touch. I yanked my hand away and they vanished. I frowned and shook my head. I pressed my hand to the vine wall again and held it there. With every second my skin touched the wall the colors brightened and more flowers appeared but it was different than it had been before. These were glowing.
I walked a few steps forward, dragging my fingers over the vines and leaves. Wild, raw energy tickled against my fingertips. With every step, the buzz grew stronger and stronger. The tunnel grew brighter and more alive. My eyes burned. My magic rushed to the surface. I felt its tingle in my fingertips. Every nerve ending in my body pulsed with power and energy.
Whatever this place was it was strong and powerful…and I hated it. There was something sinister and sharp about it, an edge that made me want to draw my sword and prepare for battle. It made my pulse rage like an earthquake and my magic surge.
“Riah…Riah, where are we? What is this —” I looked up at him and froze. A strangled kind of gasp ripped up my throat.
The man in front of me looked like Riah but so entirely different. Something bright shimmered from behind him, casting his face in light that highlighted all the differences. His long golden hair was now white as snow. His golden eyes were brighter than the sun’s yellow rays. He had gold lines on his face that glowed as bright as his eyes, they cut across his cheekbones, through his eyebrows, and down his chin. He cocked his head to the side and his hair fell over his shoulder, revealing sharply pointed ears.
He took a step forward and the shimmering light behind him fluttered and moved — I sucked in a gasp of air. WINGS. He had wings. Big, sparkling silver wings.
I stumbled away from him until my back hit the tunnel wall. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. All of my thoughts vanished. My mind was blank and numb. My chest burned.
“Saraphina—"
“Y-y-you have…wings?”
He nodded slowly then arched one pale eyebrow, though his gaze was locked on something over my shoulder. There was something in his expression that I could not read, nor did I recognize. “As do you.”
“No, I do not.” I turned my shoulder to show him and screamed.
I had wings. I have WINGS. Why do I have wings? I spun in a circle, praying it was a sick joke but the wings moved with me. I swatted at them and my fingers passed right through. A wild tremor rippled through my body. What is this? What is happening?
The wings sticking out from my back looked like nothing I’d ever seen. They were nothing like Riah’s even. It was like they weren’t wings at all, but a cloud of glitter stuck in the shape of wings. They were bright white and twinkling, like stars against a black sky. Between the little metallic dots, the air held a slight shimmer of pink so fine it was translucent.
“No,” I heard myself whisper. This can’t be real. These can’t be real.
I craned my neck around to try and look at the wings – my wings – but I couldn’t get a clear view so I reached out and tried to grab one. My wings fluttered on their own out of my grip. I jumped and stumbled forward.
Riah’s hands gripped my arms. The heat of his skin burned through my winter coat. I looked up at him and his eyes widened. A cold chill slid down my spine. He stared at my face like he’d never seen it before, like it held the answer to a riddle he’d been chasing for decades. The intensity in his eyes as they raked over my face sent shivers through my body. It was too much to look at. He reached up and ran his fingertips over my cheekbones just hard enough for me to feel him but soft enough it felt like a feather. His jaw hung open, his breaths ragged.
I focused on those golden lines on his face. They were intricate yet simple at the same time. The way they cut across his skin made the angles of his face sharper, more intense. He looked terrifying and almost sinister, yet even more breathtakingly beautiful. And they glowed. There were two of them right down the center of his chin, from the bottom of his lip straight down. On each cheek, slicing at the exact angle of his high cheekbones, were three lines – two close together and a third a little lower. But the creepiest, most unsettling ones were the ones that shot out of his hairline and through his eyebrows to stop right at his dark eyelashes.
There was…something about them. Something in the back of my mind told me I knew what these were. I felt it in my bones. These meant something. Something more important than anything else. It was right on the tip of my tongue and it was going to drive me crazy.
“Y-you have…what are those…gold lines o-o-on your face?”
He frowned and shook his head. “W-what?”
“T-the lines…” I pointed to his face. “O-on y-your f-face.”
His face fell but before I could question it, he glanced over his shoulder and pressed his palm to the tunnel wall. Silver magic billowed from und
er his hand and then a round piece of glass materialized from within the vines. No, not glass. Mirror.
Riah gasped. He leaned closer to the mirror like he needed to get a better view. He dropped one hand from my arm then traced his fingertip over the golden lines like he’d just done on my face. His eyes widened. His jaw dropped. I watched his expression in the mirror change from confusion to…happy. I didn’t understand what I was seeing. Whatever these lines were he hadn’t expected them to be there and he was not upset about them. His expression was wild. His eyes were glassy and glistening. If I didn’t know any better I might’ve thought he was getting emotional.
But then he turned to face me and that expression was gone.
In its place I saw pure, raw fear.
“Riah…where are we? What have you done?”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Riah
“Riah…where are we? What have you done?”
I opened my mouth then shut it. I glanced over my shoulder to the mirror and my heart lodged in my throat. The gold lines on my face were unmissable, they stood out in stark contrast against the tan hue of my skin. I eyed them anyway, memorizing every detail. Then I turned back and let my gaze land on Saraphina’s face…and the gold lines on her face.
They were identical to mine.
I looked to the mirror one more time, then back to her face. Still identical. I sighed with more relief than I’d ever felt in my entire centuries-long life. When we’d first emerged into the tunnel and I saw the lines on her face…my heart had shattered a little. All my plans and preparations for what to say to her when we came through died on my tongue the moment I saw them. My mind had raced, trying to figure out who.
And then she’d pointed to my face and asked what the lines meant. I thought I’d imagined it but no. The mirror didn’t lie even if my heart was afraid to trust it. My poor heart. My poor tortured, miserable heart. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to earn this or deserve it.
The Cursed Witch Page 35