Natasha’s motherly instincts kicked in as she rubbed his arm in an attempt to calm him down.
“Willow, Phoebe, Ricker; take the car and start driving around campus,” she instructed.
“Stasia, Tina-“
“Hold on.” Finn stopped mid-step and tilted his head as if listening to something. His head swiveled sideways and then up toward Charon, who was standing on the front step of our villa.
Charon nodded at him in agreement with whatever he was thinking. “The beach.”
“You can hear her?” Tina gawked in disbelief.
“I can sense what’s inside her. They’re in control. Not Carmen,” Finn informed us darkly.
“And they’re growing stronger. We need to hurry.” The beach was a mere block away, so we decided that Tina and Charon would stay back in case she returned. Everyone else took off toward the beach as fast as our legs would allow. Not surprisingly, Finn and I were the first to cross the main road. We hurdled over several scraggly- looking shrubs that lined the beach and made it onto the thicker, white sand at the same time. Undisturbed sand stretched out on either side of us, void of any people.
“I can tell she’s near,” Finn murmured, perplexed. Ricker ran up beside me and scanned the beach as well, followed closely by Natasha, Willow, and Phoebe. We all rounded on Finn questioningly, until an eerie voice spoke up behind us. We whirled around in surprise to see Carmen standing a couple of feet away.
“It’s about time you showed up,” Carmen glared at Ricker with rage burning in her eyes.
Ricker stepped forward like he was going to approach her, but stopped mid-step when she actually hissed at him. “We’ve been looking for you.” The threatening edge to her voice (along with the crooked smile that didn’t reach her eyes) sent chills down my spine. A vision of the possessed girl from that movie
“Carmen,” Ricker cautiously inched towards her. “Let’s go back to the house and talk.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him in a silent challenge.
“Carmen-“ Ricker pleaded again.
“I said NO!” she shouted and walked away in defiance, but Ricker wasn’t one to give up easily. He followed her several yards until she spun around and charged at him; shoving him down onto the sand.
“What is your part in this?” she fumed at him. Ricker pushed himself up into a sitting position, exhaustion settling over him.
“Carmen, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he sighed.
“Liar!” she scowled down at him accusingly. “The litany of emotions you evoke tells me different. Liars can be punished just as easily.”
“If you’ll tell me what you need,” he surrendered willingly, “I’ll do anything…” Without another word Carmen growled and lunged for him, but thankfully Finn was faster. He subdued her by holding her arms behind her back and pulling her away from Ricker. As she glared at Ricker with an icy hatred, an idea formed in my head. I grounded my feet without thinking about it and drew a line in the sand with my eyes. A wall of sand shot skyward, blocking her view of him.
“We must hurry,” Natasha’s brows furrowed as she continued to watch Finn restrain Carmen.
“I hear you are in need of help?” A melodic voice drifted up the beach, as a tiny woman with long silver hair made her way over to us. She greatly resembled what I would categorize as a gypsy.
She wore a long, black dress with an equally black shawl draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were a reflective gray, swirling with all the colors of a summer storm. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings boasted an impressive array of vibrant stones.
“Elina!” Natasha rejoiced and embraced her lovingly. “Come. There is much to be done.”
They walked up to Carmen, who was continuing to struggle against Finn’s grip. To my surprise Elina walked right up to her nonchalantly, tapped a finger to Carmen’s forehead and mumbled something under her breath. Carmen’s body suddenly fell limp, throwing Finn off balance and making them tumble backwards. Carmen landed on top of him, awake but very lethargic. Her dark eyes were unfocused and her movements were sluggish. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was drunk.
“Now, where shall we begin?” Elina regarded Natasha with a bright smile. Finn untangled himself from Carmen and left his mother and Elina to prepare for the purification ritual. I had no idea what a ritual like that entailed, but I was intrigued to find out. I allowed the sand wall to dissipate, since Carmen was too out of it to notice Ricker now. He was still sitting in the same position, hanging his head in defeat.
“Walk with me to the store up the road?” Willow asked him. I knew she just wanted to get him away from Carmen. He could use some time to clear his head a little bit.
“I think that’s a good idea,” he murmured. He slowly raised himself from his sitting position and eyed Carmen, before he stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed Willow back up the beach.
My heart broke for him. Watching Finn be tortured for just ten minutes ripped me apart - so I couldn’t imagine witnessing the slow destruction of his psyche for an entire five days.
“I don’t know how much more he can handle,” Phoebe commented, mirroring my own thoughts.
“You’d be surprised,” Finn inserted. He threaded his fingers through mine and gave me a warm smile. “Love brings out the fight in all of us.”
“You should write Hallmark cards,” I teased him gently. He wrapped his other arm around my shoulder and pulled me close.
“I don’t think the world’s ready for the romantic muse I keep hidden beneath this strong, virile, manly exterior,” he joked back, puffing his chest out.
“We may need that manly exterior of yours to assist in subduing Carmen once the ritual begins,” Natasha interrupted Finn, shooting him a stop-joking-around mom look. “We can’t be sure what effect it will have on them.”
“Them?” Phoebe asked hesitantly, looking at Finn.
“I sensed multiple beings in her, all with the same agenda.”
“Who...are they? Charon said they weren’t evil, so what do they want?” she pressed.
“I’m afraid Carmen has been sentenced to be judged.”
“For what?”
“I’m not sure.” He ran a hand through his hair, “In the Underworld, Persephone decides the fate of the souls - in other words, which part of the Underworld they belong. However, Persephone is not perfect and she sometimes needs assistance. Certain souls are sentenced to be judged for crimes they may or may not have committed. It is the job of the three Erinyes to figure out if they are guilty or not.
“The Erinyes?” I asked.
“Also known as ‘The Furies’,” Finn continued. “The word ‘Erinyes’ means “the Avengers” in Greek. They reside in the Underworld and once the soul’s fate is in their hands, they have the choice to pardon or damn it for all of eternity.”
“But Carmen’s alive! She shouldn’t be judged yet!” Phoebe cried out.
“Unfortunately, if given the instruction they will judge any soul. I’m afraid someone had to give them the instruction to judge Carmen.”
“Nadia,” I spit out without thinking.
“That was actually my hypothesis. The Erinyes serve Persephone, which means they will also listen to the demands of Hades as well as Nadia.”
“The next time I see her…” Anger flared in my heart as I contemplated how to subject the same amount of pain Nadia had inflicted onto
“It would appear that Nadia must know something about Carmen that we do not. She would have had to instruct the Erinyes to judge her once she entered the Underworld. They can’t travel to this realm unless they are within a soul. I’m afraid that is who has taken her mind hostage.”
“But Nadia doesn’t even know her!” Phoebe shouted. She stomped a foot, sending waves of sand rippling outward. “How does she know what Carmen has or hasn’t done?”
“I wish I knew. Unfortunately, having Persephone as your mother gives you the opportunity to obtain information others cannot.”
“This is bullshit!” Phoebe shouted. The sand beneath us quivered and I suddenly wondered how mad she
