The Fetch of Cat circles around Wade and his spirit, a look of determination painting her features.
Abigail flickers into the room, but only a glimmer of her former self. Whatever she did to try to stop the Fetch clearly drained her.
“Help me…” I say, pointing to Wade’s body. “I don’t know what to do.”
Cat’s Fetch steps forward, curiosity lighting up her eyes. She jabs a single pointer finger into Wade’s spirit, but her hand goes right through him the way it did Abigail. Wade steps away, pulling back his arm and gawking at her. As if pleased with this outcome, she looks up, her eyes locking again on me.
Clutching the grimoire to my chest, I turn back to Abigail. Her essence shivers in and out of existence until she vanishes completely again.
Dammit.
Dropping to my knees, I flip through the pages of the grimoire, trying to find something—anything that makes sense. The words are a jumbled mess, and I don’t even take in the pictures or symbols. It’s like it’s all Greek.
“There’s no one here who can stop me now… Not you, not them,” the Fetch says, walking around Wade’s spirit.
Suddenly conscious of the predicament, Wade comes back to himself, and his spirit turns to face Cat’s doppelgänger. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”
The Fetch shakes her head, completely unconcerned by his admonishment. Instead, the kinetic energy I felt as she ran by me rises again, making my hair stand on end. Behind me, the revenant gets restless as he begins to struggle against the energetic cord tying him to me.
“Tsk. What a predicament… Let’s see, which one will you choose to fight first?” the Fetch says, smirking. “Do you save your lover boy here? Stop me from getting your grimoire? Or stop him?”
The revenant’s extremities begin to twitch, its eyes widening with some kind of self-awareness he didn’t have before. He grabs hold of the energetic cord, tugging on it hard. However, unlike a real rope, it doesn’t pull me toward him, but it crackles under his cognizant touch. Instead, he turns his eyes to me, rushing forward and groping at the air. He stops just feet from my face, as if some sort of invisible fence separates the two of us.
While relief flashes through me, there’s an undercurrent of crushing horror that threatens to engulf me. Without thinking, I close my eyes. I have to do the one thing I know how to do. I don’t know how to stop a Fetch or inter a revenant, but I know how to save a soul.
Summoning as much energy as I possibly can, I draw on everything I’ve learned and lean on the power I have yet to understand. I may not have Abigail here to guide me—but I do have her gifts. My only hope is that it’s enough… I don’t have a sacred circle, candles…an offering. But one thing I know for sure is this is not his time. I can only hope the universe will side with me.
There’s an enormous shift in the energy of the space as I tap into my innate gifts and birthright. This is my family’s space—it’s under our protection—and I’ll be damned if I let a Fetch or a friggin’ zombie destroy hundreds of years of preservation. Determination settles over me and my eyes flick open.
Cat’s doppelgänger steps back, concern flitting through her smug face for the first time.
Refusing to take my eyes off of her, I mutter under my breath, “Death—taker of life, power of gods and givers, grant me this request. Bone, blood, breath, flesh. Recover Wade’s soul—his remnants—and return him to me.”
“No—” the Fetch screams, her mouth open in horror as she rushes at me, stopping just inches from my face.
I hold my ground and continue to mutter the incantation. Wade’s spirit encloses itself in a sort of cocoon, as it starts to slide toward his body like it’s being pulled by a magnet.
Before his soul can merge with his body, Cat’s Fetch charges, stepping into its place instead. As she vanishes, Wade’s body animates again, despite his soul still being outside.
“Well, this is new…” Wade’s hand rises as he looks at it with curiosity.
“Get out,” I demand, taking a step forward. My pulse thrums like a hummingbird’s wings as it hammers in my ears.
Without warning, Wade’s body rushes at me and tackles me to the ground. The grimoire slides across the stone floor, landing a few feet away from the two of us.
“You know, it never occurred to me I couldn’t actually interact with your book in my astral form,” the Fetch says in Wade’s voice as she claws her way up my body.
The strange cocoon around Wade’s soul begins to dissipate and as he comes to himself, he rushes to my side. Reaching down, he tries to lift his body from me, but his hands go straight though.
However, the weight of his physical body on top of me takes my breath away as Cat uses her newfound strength to pin me to the ground. Extending her reach, she tries to collect the grimoire, but the revenant’s renewed fervor works against her as he kicks it out of the way.
Wade’s body rolls off of mine and crawls its way to the book and I lurch forward, trying to pull him back. Instead, a sharp pain shoots through my torso and I curl over to catch my breath.
“Don’t let me, er—” Wade’s spirit calls out, racing forward again and trying to pull his body back, but unable to make contact with anything.
It doesn’t seem the revenant is very discerning about who it attacks, as it reaches down, yanking Wade’s body back by the hair. It’s a byproduct I’m sure Cat’s doppelgänger hadn’t anticipated when she tried to wind it up like a toy soldier. She cries out, groping at the gnarly fingers.
A few feet away Abigail manages to materialize, her essence still not one hundred percent as she shimmers in and out of solidity. Her chin
