“No,” she said, shaking her head. She turned to run the other way. She made it a few steps down the hall before Marcus appeared in front of her again. “Don’t run from me, Celine,” he admonished.
She stopped dead, pushing through a door into an unused bedroom. She bolted the door behind her. His voice echoed through the house. “Celine,” he said in a singsong manner, “Celine, don’t hide from me.” She covered her ears, tears streaming down her face as his voice echoed in her head.
His voice continued to call to her, the doors and windows began to shudder and bang. Howling wind swept through the house, carrying Marcus’ voice so it seemed to come from every direction. Josie slid down the wall to a seated position, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her head in them. The calls continued to get louder until they were almost unbearable to listen to.
Josie bolted upright, looking around the room. She was in her bed; the lights were still on. She must have been having a nightmare. She was almost afraid to move, afraid that the dream had been real. The bedroom door opened; her pulse quickened as she wondered who was on the other side.
Gray entered, “You’re up. How are you feeling?”
“How are the children?” she said jumping out of bed.
“They’re fine, are you okay?”
“Are you sure? Did you check on them?”
“Celine, they’re fine. What’s wrong?”
“I… I had a dream; it was awful. He gave me until tonight, Gray. He will do something. What time is it? I need to sit with the kids.”
“Okay, sure, go sit with them. Let’s see what happens tonight. Don’t panic yet.”
“Okay, it’s six, six hours to go until midnight. If we can get through midnight, we may have a chance.”
Josie made her way to the children’s rooms, first checking on Maddy then Max. There was no change in either child. Avery left Max to sit with Maddy and Josie took over sitting with Max, holding his hand while she watched him sleep. Minutes seemed like hours as Josie waited for the night to end.
After a while, Gray joined her, rubbing her shoulders. “How are you doing? Need a break?”
“No, it’s eleven, one hour to go.” She sighed. Time seemed to stand still. After what seemed an eternity, the clock in the foyer struck midnight. Josie listened, every nerve in her body on edge as the clock chimed. She waited for the twelfth bell sound. As it did, she let out a sigh of relief.
“There,” Gray said, “we made it. See, everything was fine.” Gray hugged her close to him.
“We should check on Maddy,” Josie said.
“Yes,” Gray agreed. They left Max’s room and looked in on Maddy, she was sleeping peacefully. They left the room. “What do you say to you getting some rest? I think you need it.”
Josie was just about to agree when they heard shouts coming from the foyer. Josie glanced at Gray, a look of concern on both their faces. They ran toward the foyer, meeting Michael and Damien who were also on their way. They reached the gallery that overlooked the foyer. Josie’s eyes grew wide, her heart seizing at what she witnessed.
Theodore made his way into the foyer, in his arms a lifeless Celeste. “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no,” Josie said, rushing down the staircase to them. “What happened?”
“Celine!” Gray called, hurrying down after her.
Theodore laid Celeste’s body on the large table that sat in the middle of the foyer. Millie was already there, having come from the sitting room. She checked her pulse, her pupils and breath.
“Is she…” Josie began, not able to finish her question.
“Yes,” Millie answered, “She is dead.”
Josie threw herself across Celeste, inconsolable. Sobs wracked through her body. She clung to her sister’s body as she turned her head toward Theodore. “How?” she cried out.
“The Duke. He… he…” Theodore struggled. “He took away any protection she had. Then that thug he has with him killed her. Strangled her right in front of me,” he said, his voice breaking.
Josie buried her head, crying. “No, Celeste, no,” she said, weeping. Throwing her head back, she screamed, “NO!”
“Celine, why don’t we go sit down?” Gray asked, gently.
Josie sniffled, standing, wiping her tears. “No,” she said in a low voice. She looked up toward the ceiling, spreading her arms wide and crying out in a loud voice, “I have made my choice, I call upon every power that I have ever had to return to me, make me what I was before. Return to me now, give the strength and power that I once had, give me the protection from death that I had before. Return to me… RETURN TO ME!”
Celine took a deep breath in before returning to a normal stance. “Give me a knife,” she requested, staring at Celeste’s limp form.
“Celine,” Gray hesitated, “did you just… are you back? Completely?”
Celine threw her hand toward the gaping fireplace in the foyer; it burst into flames instantaneously. She set her gaze on Gray. “Yeah, I’m back. Now give me a knife.”
Michael and Damien watched the scene unfold from the gallery. “Um,” Damien said, “what the hell? Did she just snap or something? And did that fireplace just spontaneously burst into flames?”
“Yeah, yep,” Michael said, in shock, “something is super weird and I’m not sure I even want to find out what she needs a knife for.”
“I’m suddenly not so sure following her was a good idea!”
Michael didn’t answer as they watched in astonishment at what was unfolding in front of them.
Theodore handed her a pocketknife. Celine sliced her index finger, not even wincing in pain as blood poured from the wound. She looked down at her
