The Hushing [#ONC2022]

Chapter Ten

Some of the girls wore modern clothes like Marion did – jeans and t-shirts, sweatpants and tank tops. Others wore old-fashioned dresses with bustles, petticoats, and corsets. Still others wore simple tunics, leggings, and no shoes at all.

The wraiths chattered with nervous energy, churning closer to the girls but they kept their distance. They must have still been under Lady Ingrid's claim.

"We've been awake all this time," one girl said with short, dark curls and a sailor's jacket.

"You kept us conscious as you fed on our souls for years," another girl said, with a white cap and an apron over her plain, homespun brown dress.

Lady Ingrid held her ground. "I promised you wouldn't become wraiths. I was true to my word. If you wish to be angry at anyone, it's Marion. She's the one who broke the mirror. She's the one who took away your only chance to return to the world of the living."

One by one, the girls turned to look at Marion. They regarded her openly, looking her up and down. But their expressions remained neutral and unreadable. Were they angry? Did they blame her?

Marion didn't know what the future held in store for her anymore. She'd been so focused on finding the mirror and getting home that she hadn't considered the alternative. What would she do now that she was stuck in The Hushing forever?

Standing face to face with the monster who held her captive, a calm came over Marion. Before, Lady Ingrid had filled her with dread – all sharp teeth and black blood and an insatiable hunger for power, controlling her subjects, controlling Marion, draining the souls of dozens of girls for what looked like centuries.

Now, Marion wasn't afraid anymore. Lady Ingrid was a creature of nightmares but she wasn't scared to face that nightmare anymore.

"Looks like we're stuck together for good," Lady Ingrid said with a smirk. "But you will waste away in The Hushing while I will remain. With my caskets broken, my mirror shattered, I can't do anything to save you. This time, you're on your own. You should have been grateful to me when you had the chance. You should have surrendered."

Slowly, she started to approach Marion. But the wraiths didn't part for her as they usually did. They stood firm, watching her with their hollow pits for eyes. The mirror had given her power. The mirror had given her souls stronger and warmer than the common wraith was ever able to gain access to. Now that the mirror was broken, was Lady Ingrid's position in the kingdom slipping? Was she no different than a common wraith?

Then Lady Ingrid came to a stop just outside the ring of broken mirror, forming a silver halo around Marion.

"I remove my protection and my claim on Marion Price's soul," Lady Ingrid declared with a wicked gleam in her eye. Her voice echoed in the chamber of the crypt. "Her soul is fresh for the taking."

Marion squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable swarm of wraiths to descend. For several seconds, she held her breath. She waited for the cold to slam into her and freeze her lungs from the inside out. But...nothing happened.

After another moment or two, Marion opened her eyes. The wraiths had turned toward Lady Ingrid, pressing in around her. They didn't make a sound, their steady, silent creep like a cat after a mouse. The hairs on the back of Marion's neck rose. When the wraiths had hunted her in the forest, their screams of hunger had haunted her. But this was worse. This was deliberate, calculated, years – decades – centuries in the making. Lady Ingrid had kept her wraiths too hungry for too long in favor of feeding her own appetite.

"What are you doing?" Lady Ingrid demanded. "I am your queen."

One wraith hissed, low and dark. Followed by another. And another. Until the room was full of them. Lady Ingrid retreated.