heart sinks as the truth settles in. Everything in the room has gone undisturbed for quite some time.
“She’s not here anymore,” I whisper as I plop myself into a chair. A cloud of dust flies up in the air around me.
Zoë takes a seat next to me as Charlie fumbles around the room.
“I don’t get it. Why would the pendant show us the memory of Cardine if she’s not here anymore?” I ask Zoë.
“I don’t know. Maybe there’s something here that can help us. Maybe she left some sort of clue behind.”
“Uh, guys?” Charlie calls to us from the other side of the fireplace. “I think she’s still here.”
“What?” I say, jumping to my feet and hurrying over to where he stands.
As I walk around him, the bed Cardine slept on comes into view—but it’s not empty.
“Oh my God,” I gasp, my stomach turning.
A badly decomposed body lies in the bed. All that remains of the once human form is a skeleton with wiry, silver hair. The carcass is still draped in the same brown wool dress and green vest that Cardine always wore.
Zoë enters the room on the other side of the fireplace. She slowly walks up to the bed and stands silently staring at the rotted corpse.
“Did you hear that?” she asks us.
“Hear what?” I reply.
“It sounds like whispering. There's a voice. You really don't hear that?”
Charlie and I stand silent listening for whatever it is Zoë hears.
“I don’t hear anything, Zo.”
She stands motionless, staring intently at the body. Her breathing becomes heavier, her brow furrows. I call her name, but she doesn’t respond. I call her again but it’s like she can’t even hear me.
“Zoë!” Charlie yells in a deep, vociferous tone.
She instantly snaps out of her trance and startles. “Zoë, what’s wrong?” I ask walking over to her.
“This is definitely Cardine’s body,” she begins. “But she’s not dead.”
“Really?” Charlie asks. “Because she looks pretty dead to me.”
I turn and give him a disapproving look.
“I can hear her voice. She’s trapped in there. Isabel cast some sort of spell on her. I might be able to undo it, but I’ve never done anything like that before. It’ll be an experiment.”
“Will it hurt her if it doesn’t work?”
“No more than whatever was already cast on her hurts.”
“Do you need us to do anything?” I ask.
“I need your energy to help revitalize her. We have to stand in a circle around her body and hold hands while I cast the spell.”
“Is that safe for us?” Charlie asks suspiciously.
“It’s safer than walking through the archway was.”
“Good enough for me. Charlie, come on,” I order him as I walk to the opposite side of the bed. He walks to the foot of the bed and we link hands.
Zoë instructs us. “Close your eyes and focus all of your attention on Cardine. Breathing slowly and deeply will help you get centered.”
Charlie gives me a judgmental glare but does as Zoë asks.
“Maldición da morte, non hai máis. Maldición da escuridade, non hai máis. Volte esta muller para nós. Corpo e alma únense neste mundo.”
A cool breeze blows through the room. Zoë repeats the same words again. The hearth at the center of the house explodes to life with a roaring fire and blazing flames. My eyes fly open. I am too shaken to keep them closed. I look down at Cardine. Her withered skin, barely clinging to the bones of her skeleton, slowly reforms with life. Beneath it, muscles and organs fill the space making her human once again.
A distant screeching scream fills my ears, growing closer as every second passes. It transforms into a pained growl before disappearing altogether.
Zoë repeats the words a third time. A crack of thunder echoes loudly throughout the valley. Within seconds, Cardine’s body is completely restored. She pants heavily and appears disoriented. She jerks back and forth in the bed, looking desperately at all of our faces, searching for answers. After several different glances in each of our directions and some incomprehensible babbling, she settles into a deep stare with me.
“Emma? Is that you lass?” She blinks her eyes heavily, trying to focus on my face.
I nod slowly and smile. “It’s me,” I manage to squeak out barely above a whisper.
28. CARDINE
“Help me up,” Cardine commands me.
Charlie hurries to my side and grabs hold of her arms. He lifts her off the bed and onto her feet. She wobbles on her weakened legs.
“Who did this to you, Cardine?” I ask.
She steadies herself on Charlie's forearms. “It was