Mom hadn’t made it once, not since he left, but I had smelled it every Sunday for years in a row, so I knew its trademark scent. That meant that in the reality of this room, my father was still with us.
I braced myself. Facing a shadow scared me half to death but having to face my father again was even more terrifying. Would it break my heart all over again?
You have to be strong, I told myself.
“There you are.”
My father’s voice just about ripped my heart in half. I hadn’t heard it in ten years, yet I would recognize it anywhere. Out of a thousand voices, I would be able to pick out his voice. The voice that had read me bedtime stories, that had sung to me when I was sick, that had comforted me when I felt sad.
Biting my lip until I tasted blood, I slowly turned around to face my father. He hadn’t changed one bit since the last time I had seen him, so obviously he was a memory conjured up by this wicked place, not a real life-and-blood version. Still, it hurt, because he looked so familiar to me, yet he was a complete stranger.
I wanted to yell at him, accuse him of walking out on me and mom, but all I could do was stare. Take in the features of the man who was supposed to protect me and keep me safe from harm, and who instead abandoned me to fend for myself.
Father put his hands on my shoulders, gently, and bent through his knees until he was at eye-level with me.
No. Of all moments, not this one. This was the one moment I couldn’t take, the moment I had relived over and over again in my dreams, in my memories. The moment I had so desperately tried to change. Maybe if I had said something instead of stayed quiet. Maybe if I had begged him not to go. Maybe…
“I have to go,” Father said to me, his blue eyes gazing straight into mine. Exact replicas of my eyes. For most of my features, I took after my mother, but my eyes were completely inherited from him. “I have to leave in order to protect you. Know that I will always love you, my Devilina. This is not your fault.” He leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the forehead.
His eyes were glistening with tears, but his lips were a hard line, showing resolve. He squeezed my hands one final time, and then let go.
I watched him leave, stuck in the same loop of memories as I always was. Even in this dream-room, I couldn’t stop him from leaving. “Dad…” I whispered, the word drifting on the wind, chasing after him, but he didn’t turn around, he didn’t come back to me.
A cackling laugh resonated from the other end of the room. I snapped my head in the direction of the sound.
The shadow stood in the corner of the room, watching the spectacle, and obviously enjoying how much it hurt me. But the shadow, which had been a quiet presence so far, had now laughed.
And I recognized that laugh, that raspy sound, like nails on chalkboard.
The woman from my nightmare. The queen on the flesh-and-bone throne.
Chapter Ten
“What… what do you want?” I asked the woman.
She moved forward, out of the shadows, and now her grotesque features were revealed. The gaping mouth, the impossibly thin frame, the long nails so sharp they could slice someone’s throat.
“Desssssstiny,” she said in that raspy voice. Maggots swirmed in her empty eyesockets.
She reached for me, her claw-like nails scraping agaisnt my skin.
I stepped back, retreating from her.
“It’sssss coming…” She glided closer to me, urging me to back up against the wall of the replica of our kitchen ten years ago. The scenery changed all around me. The wallpaper peeled back, revealing the walls covered in dark stains. Was it blood? The kitchen sink looked rusty, as if it hadn’t been used in years. The cabinets were open, revealing empty shelves, cobwebs the only occupants.
The woman floated over the floor like a phantom. Her dress of human skin hovered inches above the ground.
“Devina….” The queen of maggots clacked in her hoarse voice. She was so close now that I saw every single maggots crawling in her empty eye sockets. I felt bile rising in my throat, ready to throw up.
You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for, Cassie’s words resonated in my mind.
This was just a test. I had faced the nightmare woman for years, practically every night. If I could face her in my nightmares, I could defeat her in the real world too.
The woman opened her mouth, letting out a high-pitched scream that went through marrow and bone and for one horrifying second, I thought her mouth would grow bigger and bigger until she would swallow me in one bite.
Those sharp claws snatched at my neck, trying to hurt me, while she kept on screaming, destroying my eardrums. Then, she snapped her mouth shut, circled her hand around my throat, and lifted me up around the neck. Her iron grip crushed my neck with tremendous strength. A gurgling sound, like the last tremors of a corpse, escaped from her.
Black stars danced in front of my view. I was going to die if I didn’t do something soon.
You’re strong, Dev, I told myself. Be strong.
I thrashed and kicked, withering to get free from the iron grip the monster had on me.
A strange, electric current floated through me, something unfamilar and bizarre. Or maybe it was something that had always been there, but I just hadn’t noticed it yet.
Don’t give up, I
