I don't remember what happened next. I just remember waking up, still suspended in darkness. Only now I was alone. Lillian had disappeared. My head felt heavy and it was hard to focus—like someone had slipped me a sleeping pill and I was fighting off a dream.

I tried to turn my head to look for my 'guest' only my head wouldn't respond to my commands... I attempted the same with my arm but again my limb refused to move. As panic began to brew in my chest, I frantically tried to move various parts of my body—my tongue, finger, toe, eye—but each time I was denied. I tried to get myself to move, to wake up, to break free.

I was trapped inside, screaming at my own body to move, to wake up, to break free.

But nothing I did worked.

And then it was like my dream had shifted—I was outside myself, helpless, as my own body floated beside me in darkness.

Then, as I watched, my own head turned, looking up to meet my gaze. Me staring back at me. Only there was something wrong about this version of myself. Instead of my familiar brown eyes, they were now a bright, shining blue.

A realization started to creep up on me. It felt like my air was coming in short gasps, only I had no lungs to fill. I wanted to scream, but she had control of my mouth.

"It's just for a moment," Lillian said, her voice moving through my lips.

Before I could object—if I could object—we were moving.

It was like gravity had been suddenly introduced to the darkness. Floating turned into falling.

We dropped further into nothing and the blue-cloaked crowd above was quickly out of sight, smothered by the depth. I could see nothing, feel nothing, but I still knew that we were still falling. Falling and falling and falling. The landing was not going to be soft—how could it be? I tried to brace myself for the inevitable, even though I knew my body would not respond.

And then, just like this really was all a dream, we jolted to a stop before impact. There was light again, now shining up from below us, a blurry but bright mix of blue and green.

Gravity shifted again; above was now below and the light was now coming from overhead. It would've been nauseating if I still had a body.

We were back to stillness on this other side. I watched myself, waiting for them—me—to say something. Instead, they began to ascend, floating up towards the light—towards the way out.

Only I wasn't going with them.

I was being left behind.

I tried to chase after them, attempting to swim upwards but it was no use. I made no progress in the emptiness. I was just flailing in place. I could only watch as they broke through the surface and stepped into the real world—

And just like that, I was standing outside. I blinked in the sudden brightness and breathed a sigh of relief that my eyelids closed when I told them to.

What? A voice—her voice—echoed inside my head. Did you think I was going to leave you in there and go on a spree with your meat suit?

"No," I muttered, but it was a weak lie.

If you're taking it this well, she said with a sigh, then I can't wait to see what Polly is gonna say...

"Polly?" I said, glancing around. Did that mean she was nearby? She must be worried sick...

But Polly was nowhere in immediate sight. We were standing in some unfamiliar garden that looked like it had once been quite grand; it had a full pond and waterfall but now the pond was green with scum and the clogged-up waterfall had been reduced to a weak trickle. The towering hedges were lumpy and unkempt, and weeds broke through the seams of all the stone fixtures.

It seemed distantly familiar, but not enough to orient me.

"Where are we?" I asked.

I thought you might know this place, Lillian said. She sounded kind of... disappointed? It was hard to read it by the sound of her voice alone. But judging by the state of this place, I don't think you would've spent much time out here. These are the back gardens behind our—uh, behind Polly's house.

"Oh!" I said, suddenly remembering. I did remember this place, only I had seen it from a different angle. There was a view of this place from the kitchen sunroom—I had sipped many a coffee from that spot, studying the tangled mess from afar. "That means..."

With sudden confidence, I tramped through the towering weeds, heading for the edge of the overgrown hedges. And as I rounded the corner, just like that, the back of Polly's grand ancestral home came into view.

They're inside, Lillian said.

I rolled my eyes. "I could've figured that out myself, thanks."

I ran up to the glass-paned door that led off of the sunroom in the kitchen. I climbed up the steps and raised my fist to bang on the door, but stopped.

The door was open and ajar. In fact, the bottom left pane—the pane just right above the door knob—was broken through.

"Polly's in here?" I said as I cautiously pushed the door aside. Regardless of how much this Lillian sounded like she was telling the truth, there was no way for me to be certain.

Yes, Lillian replied.

"And this isn't some kind of trap?"

No, she replied again, starting to sound agitated. If this really was Lillian, she seemed to have a temper to rival her sister's.

"Then why did you dump us in the garden?" I asked. "Why not right in front of her?"

I thought you might want a moment to figure out what you're going to tell her.

"Tell her? Tell her what?"

I could almost feel her eyes rolling behind my own. What do you think?

My mouth fell open. "No way! Why do I have to tell her? This is all you!"

She'll take it better hearing it from you.

"Now, wait a fucking minute—"

"Hello?"

A familiar voice cut us off—Tory. It sounded like he was in the hall and likely headed this way.

I shrank back against the wall.

He must've heard us arguing, Lillian said.

"You mean, 'me'. I'm the nutter who's talking to herself," I grumbled under my breath. I peered cautiously around the corner.

Tory was just stepping into the kitchen, glancing around with suspicion. With a quick breath, I stepped into sight. It took him a moment before he actually noticed me. When he did, he made a choking noise before throwing himself into a run—straight at me. I cowered back, but it was too late. He had already launched himself at me.

He wrapped me into his arms, and spun me around like I was a doll. Despite only being barely a couple inches taller than me, he was quite strong. And he was hugging me. Tory was hugging me.

"Rachel!" he cried, squeezing me until I gasped for air. "Oh god, we were so worried!"

"You don't say," I wheezed. His grip on me was making it hard to breathe

Tory dropped me to my feet and took a step back to get a proper look at me. "Are you okay? In one piece?" he asked, checking me over for any injuries. "And where's Luc? How did he manage to break you guys out of there?"

A cold chill ran through me as I remembered Luc and how I had last seen him—collapsed and blood-streaked.

"H-He's not with me," I mumbled.

"Huh?" Tory said, glancing around the room as if I were lying and he'd be able to find his mentor crouching in some corner. "Where is he?"

"He's—"

"Tory?"

It was Polly now, running through the kitchen door. "I thought I heard you shouting, are you—" She stopped dead as she caught sight of me.

I tried to smile but failed.

"Rachel," she said, her voice uncharacteristically small. "Is that really... you?"

I grimaced. "Mostly."

Lillian stirred inside me. It was like I could feel her agitation now.

Polly staggered forward before wrapping me into a hug of her own. My eyes began to prickle and I hugged her back. There had really been a moment there that I thought I might never see her again.

"What the fuck happened?" she cried, pulling me back to take her own look at me. "What did that old bitch do to you?"

"And where's Luc?" Tory added again, looking more and more concerned.

The prickling in my eyes turned to stinging as the tears began to rise. "Matilda still has him," I choked.

"What?" Tory gasped.

"Then how did you get out?" Polly asked, her eyes narrowing.

I swallowed hard, pushing the tears back. There'd be time for tears later. "I had some help." For a moment, I locked eyes with Polly, but it was too hard to hold eye contact for long. I dropped my gaze.

"The spirit possessing you?" Polly asked, blinking with surprise. "They finally decided to crawl out of their cave and be of some use?"

I nodded and felt a distant twinge of annoyance from Lillian.

"Who is it, anyway?" Polly continued, cocking an eyebrow. She seemed almost excited, like a kid eager to hear the solution to a riddle.

Do it, came Lillian's whispering voice at the back of my mind. Tell her.

Again, I tried to force an encouraging smile, but my lips only twitched before giving up. "It's... Well, y-you're going to be very surprised."

Polly's smirk collapsed as she studied my guilty face. Her brows folded in over her narrowed eyes. Then her icy grey eyes lit up as the spark of realization struck like a match.

With a snarl, she reached out and grabbed my throat.

🔮

Do you think Polly will trust Lillian?
I mean, it doesn't really seem like it now...

🖤

Shout out to my patron moonlight_Delight ! Thank you for all your support.