“One last chance”, she upped herself from her seat and shoved the table towards Nora. “Read the last card and let the wraith in”.
Nora refused, just as her aunt Laura groaned from where she remained on the floor. “Nora, don’t do it!”
Sarah looked to her sister and smiled, before slowly stepping closer to Nora, almost breathing down on her own daughter. “I will not let you die when there is so much we can accomplish together”.
She stretched out her arm towards Laura, lifting the lady into the air and slowly dragging her along the walls as Laura screamed and pleaded for mercy.
“You foiled my plans once and I will not let you do that again!” Sarah yelled at her sister.
Laura spat in Sarah’s direction. “You never deserved the family’s gift and you certainly deserve to rot in hell!”
Sarah cackled and continued to do so while Nora felt powerless to do anything about the situation. She looked past her mother’s shoulder and out the window to see the Mega-Onamega dragging something along with it.
“You were jealous… you were always jealous and it continues to show in you even after my death!’ Sarah yelled, tossing her sister towards the gnawing wraith from beyond the wall.
Muzin turned around to watch the large claws sink into Laura as it dragged her into the wall and beyond the veil.
“It might be weak, but it wouldn’t be for long”, Sarah smiled.
Nora’s eyes widened in disbelief at her mother’s actions and her father’s demeanor was no different too. Naomi stepped forward, obviously disgusted by the outturn of things, but Nora held out her had to stop her friend from going any closer to the woman she wasn’t even sure was her mother anymore.
“What of the memories I saw and witnessed?” Nora asked. “Was everything a lie?”
Sarah bit her lower lip, shot her daughter a rather bothersome look and replied, “The mind is easy to manipulate my dear, and I will show you a millions ways to become better at it than I am”.
Like a sharp blade had been plunged into her heart, Nora stepped backwards and groped her chest.
“What is she talking about?” Muzin asked, looking from his wife to his daughter.
Sarah motioned to speak, but stopped as Laura’s loud cry echoed around the room and sent shivers down their spines.
“I am truly sorry, Muzin”, Sarah whispered. “I should have told you the truth about Sam, but you seemed too weak and unable to handle the truth back then”.
Muzin felt his jaw drop.
“I’m guessing she sacrificed my brother for her cause or whatever she is trying to accomplish”, Nora explained to her father. “I also guess she couldn’t get it done by herself before and now she needs me”.
Sarah waved her finger at her daughter and shook her head. “I was going to get what I wanted… I was going to usher in spirits from world beyond to serve at my command, had that pesky bitch not gotten in my way”.
Muzin tightened his fists and began to breathe wildly.
“Is this a game to you and your sister? Is that what this is all about and nothing else?” he asked. “You’ve been playing gods with our lives, all for you own accomplishment”.
Sarah remained silent before breaking her words out. “You don’t understand what is before you, Muzin! Those cards are what separates the living and the dead… like a shield meant to be torn apart so we can reach for greatness on the other side”.
“You want the dead to serve under you”, Nora whispered.
She had not figured it out before but things were slowly taking shape. The reason behind her mother disappearing without any trace had baffled her dearly, but even more worrying was why she and Lara seemed to be at loggerheads without any clean intentions in their hearts obviously.
“It is why you sacrificed my brother”, Nora continued. “An innocent life for the damned souls of the dead, and you left me the cards knowing I will someday read them and bring you back”.
Sarah capped her hands together and smiled wildly at her daughter.
“Why?” Nora asked. “Why did you have to leave?”
Sarah shrugged and slowly turned away from her daughter to look at the Mega-Onamega standing outside, almost as if it was itching to come inside.
“Only the damned can control the dead”, Sarah explained without looking at any of them. “It is something I had to learn the hard way after sacrificing my son and almost including my sister in the deal”.
Nora felt her stomach walls suddenly weaken, and her heart plunge into one of absolute dismay.
“Now I know better and I have enough understanding on how we can rule this realm with the power of life and death on our side”, Sarah continued
Nora held up her hand and halted her mother from speaking. “The journals I found… everything you made me believe from the onset… they were all lies?”
Sarah nodded her head to attest to the validity in her daughter’s assumptions.
“Now that you know everything, will you join me?” Sarah inquired without a hint of remorse on her face.
Muzin looked gob smacked, while Naomi could barely look the woman in the face.
“The cards aren’t just cards to tell the future or the course of events!” Sarah tried cajoling her daughter. “They are the gateway between life and death… the path between the world of the living and the dead!”
A loud ad eerie sound screeched from the walls and around the house, causing Muzin to mishandle his gun and let off a shot in anxiety.
“It is here to heed my bidding”, Sarah cackled and slowly began stepping back from her daughter. “It is a simple decision to make darling, and all I ask is that you read the cards for me”.
Nora understood too well what reading the cards and granting her mother the ability to shape the course of events would be. She
