"We're going to do what?"
Tory was not impressed. He stared at us, mouth open, from his spot at the edge of the kitchen island. Ethan was at his side, looking just as shocked by our plan as his partner.
"What's not to get?" Polly said. She was leaning casually against the kitchen island, sipping at her coffee. After everything yesterday, she seemed to have made her peace in the night. Nothing shocked her anymore. "We're gonna bust Luc out of The Whatever's HQ."
"That's what I don't get!" Tory snapped back at her. "You think we can take on The Gathered? Are you nuts? They're the largest organized circle in the western world. It's like a minor religion."
"More like a cult," Lillian said, speaking through me again without waiting for permission. It bothered me a little. More than a little. It felt like she was getting too comfortable. "I'd know."
Tory turned his glare on her—me. "Then you would know that this is absolutely insane."
"How else do you propose we save Luc?" I asked, pushing Lillian aside for command. I crossed my arms. "Ask nicely? Or—"
Lillian's voice took over again, cutting me off. "They won't give him up without a fight."
Annoyance bubbled inside me. I made sure Lillian could feel it.
If she did, she ignored it. "If we don't go get Luc soon, he'll die. We have a little time, but I'm not entirely sure they won't be rushing, now."
Tory's entire face tensed—his jaw, lips, and brow pulled taut in deep agitation. He didn't have to say it; I saw it in his swallowed words and the wild panic in his eyes. He was loyal to Luc to the end. Letting him die was not an option.
"So say we get in," he said, dropping his argument. His voice shook. "Then what? Are we gonna duke it out with the whole order?"
"I'm not saying we go in, guns-blazing," Lillian snapped, rolling my eyes now. I instinctively clapped one of my hands to cover my eye to stop it. The others exchanged a strange look but didn't mention it.
"We go in quietly," she continued, ignoring my actions. "I used to live there, and when I did, I did my fair share of sneaking around. So, I know the place pretty well." She sounded almost proud.
Tory folded his arms and studied us with narrowed eyes, but he said nothing. I took that as some small measure of belief.
"So, we'll get in, we grab him and..." Polly said. "Then what?"
"What about the Malix?" Tory butted in. "You said it's there, with him—"
Polly's eyes darkened. "Yeah, and if you guys think The Whatevers are going to put up a fight... Then you have no idea about the damage the Bea—the Malix can do."
"Can't we just leave it with them?" Ethan asked, speaking up for the first time since we had settled down to talk about plans. "If they want to kill it so bad, let them do it."
"But they think the only way to do that is to kill Luc," I said. "So they won't let him go—they need them both. And from what I saw while I was there, I don't think it will tolerate being separated from him." I could still clearly picture the many-armed monster crouched over him, fending off the waves of blue cloaks. For some reason, its murderous intent had turned into protection.
For a moment, the situation's hopelessness seemed to descend on us like a thick fog, weighing us down with its inconvenient realities.
Tory dropped back down into his seat. "This... This is impossible..." he sputtered.
"It is not," I snapped, slamming my fists on the counter. "I mean, it won't be easy, but..."
Ethan reached for my hand. "Rachel—"
I saw the pity in his eyes. It only made me angrier. He thought I was lying to myself. Maybe I was. Maybe I needed to, because to consider the alternative...
"No," I said through clenched teeth. "Do not tell me it's impossible. It isn't."
Ethan just nodded, gently holding my hand. "It's not impossible."
"We can do this," I continued, glancing between every one of them. "We can save him. We have to." My voice shook then. "We have to... at least try."
One by one, they exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.
"I'll do whatever you need me to," Polly said.
I gave her a weak smile. "Thank you."
We were going to do this.
"So," Ethan said, pulling us back to the plan. "We get in, we get Luc, and..."
"We kill the Malix," I said, taking a deep breath.
That dropped another silence. Everyone's eyes went wide.
"Kill... it?" Ethan echoed, his voice small.
"How the hell are you going to do that?" Polly asked. "That binding spell we used last time didn't kill it. It didn't even keep it down for long."
"We're going to do what I did," Lillian said. "Seal it inside someone and then kill them. Only we're going to get it right this time."
Polly eyed me carefully, but her gaze was sharp enough that I knew she was looking for her sister. She knew something was up. "And just who is that someone?"
I swallowed. "M-Matilda."
Polly just stared at me.
Tory did one long blink before folding forward and resting his head on the counter. There was a quiet moment before he gave out a muffled scream.
"Look," I said. "We can do this, we just gotta focus on one step at a time. Before we can even worry about that, we need to worry about getting there."
Lillian spoke through me again. "And that's something I have a plan for. If everything is where I left it," she said, "then I think I have everything I need to draw a door."
Draw a door? I had no idea what that meant, but the dawning of understanding that came across Ethan and Tory's face told me it wasn't unusual. Only Polly seemed to share my confusion; her brow pressed together under her red curls.
"Left what where?" Polly asked her brow diving further.
"I have a few hiding spots in the house," Lillian added.
"I know," her sister replied. "I found them."
"There are ones you wouldn't have found."
"So quit bragging," I added as soon as she finished with my mouth, "and show us."
"I'm not bragging," Lillian shot back indignantly.
Without warning, she pushed us back in the chair.
What are you doing? I thought at her. Quit that.
I'm doing exactly what you wanted, she thought back, a tinge of snark in her voice. I'm showing you. It will be easier if I lead the way.
I tried to object, but she was already standing and stalking out of the kitchen. A sudden burst of screeching and clattering broke out as the others abandoned their chairs and cups and chased after us.
Lillian directed my body, striding across the foyer and heading up the stairs as easily as if it were her own. She was getting too comfortable. It was getting to be too much. But even my palatable annoyance didn't distract her. It was as if I wasn't even there.
As she reached the upper floor, she took another stairwell tucked away behind a wall. It led to the uppermost level, into a dusty attic I had only been in twice. It was a wild forest of sagging cardboard and furniture under white sheeting. Dust kicked into the air as Lillian began to dig through the debris, making us—me sneeze.
Polly was the first to catch up. "What're you doing? I've been through all this shit before," she said. "If you hid something up here, I would've found it."
"I'm sure you would have," Lillian replied.
Tory and Ethan soon followed. Ethan took one look at the dust and pulled his shirt's neck up over his nose and mouth. "Nope," he said, before disappearing back down the stairs. Tory did the same with his shirt but stayed, hovering over Polly's shoulder.
Lillian didn't care about the dust, though it was now making my eyes water and my nose stuff up.
This is my body you're fucking up, I reminded her.
You'll be fine. We'll get you a Reactin or something, she replied huffily. But then something caught her eye. A large rectangle draped in canvas. Lillian practically leapt on it, ripping off the heavy cloth.
It was a large painting, a portrait of an old woman, wearing a white, high-necked gown from several generations past. The painting's immense size meant that the woman was life-sized as if she was sitting on the other side of an ornately framed window. She held an ornate gold chest on her lap and stared out at the viewer as if she were challenging them to steal it.
Lillian pushed me closer to the painting, bending my body until we were eye level with the golden chest. Amongst the gilded engraving, captured in the paint with excruciating detail, I could see a small black keyhole.
"Now we just need the key," Lillian said.
"What key?" I asked back. It was weird to have a conversation with someone else through the same mouth.
"The key," Lillian said. "Our family's skeleton key. You've seen it, haven't you?"
Of course. "That key will unlock that?"
"The key is special," Lillian explained. "And it is even more special while on these grounds. "It opens any lock and locks any door. I mean, as long as it is within this house."
"Even a painting?"
"Even a painting," she repeated, and then sat up. "Polly, where's the key?"
"We don't have it," Polly said, her voice muffled. She had her shirt over her nose and mouth now, too. "Why the hell do you think I broke the sunroom door?"
As she said it, it rushed back to me. Matilda had pulled it off my neck as she strapped me to the chair in her house before her first attempt at an exorcism.
We never took it back.
She still had it.
Lillian read all this through my mind. The horror that gripped her shook through my body. She has it? How could you let her take it?
You were there! I shot back. And it wasn't like I was in a position to stop her. Why didn't you?
Lillian scoffed. I was still getting my bearings. I wasn't in a position to do much. But that doesn't matter...
"What's going on?" Polly asked. Our internal conversation was leaving everyone out.
Lillian spoke aloud now. "Without the key, I can't get my stuff. Without my stuff, I can't draw the door. Without the door, we can't get into the HQ." She suddenly ceded control and dropped my body to the ground.
Inside, I felt her crumple up. She was losing faith.
No!
"There's got to be another way," I said aloud. Panic was bubbling in my chest, closing it up. "Can we get more stuff? Is there anywhere we can buy it? Anyone who would have it?"
I felt Lillian perk up at the last question. A face flashed through our minds, a face I only sort of recognized. She huffed. "I think... I might know someone that can help us."
🔮
Lillian seems to be getting pretty comfy in Rachel...
Would you let a spirit take control of you?
🔮
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