Page 80 of Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
Cold pressed all around them.And then a hand tugged at her skirts.She looked down into Lily’s wide, frightened eyes.
“Lily?”
The girl pointed to a second door, faint light spilling through the edges.She slipped through, the wood creaking.
Gabriel stepped closer to her, his body pressing against her to let her know he was there.Giving her strength.Fueling her determination.Victoria squinted in the darkness to see the door.Closed.
The ghost girl disappeared through it.
The door creaked open revealing shadows and strange flickering, otherworldly light.Light that did not belong.
“Come in.If you dare.”
Lenore’s voice again, taunting them.She cut a glance to Gabriel, who’s eyes were fixed on the open door.He gripped her elbow, his hand a reassuring presence.She clutched the matchbox in her other hand as she took a deep breath.Ready to face Lenore.
Before she took a step, he whispered, “Be careful.”
Together, they stepped into the room.The altar was there, bathed in yellow-gold light and in the center, the knife gleamed bright, waiting for her blood.
Chapter 32
Theairintheroom was stifling and heavy with the sharp metallic tang of blood and old magic.Black candles surrounded the altar.The first time she was in this room she hadn’t noticed the state of the candles.Now, she did.Some were burned down to nubs, while others were coated in a fine layer of dust with spent wicks and dried wax dripping down the side.The symbols carved into the floor and the altar seemed to pulse with a life of their own.As though it were alive, breathing, and waiting.
Victoria froze, unable to move as her determination waned.There was a strange oppressive energy in this room, making it feel dark and terrible.Perhaps because of what had happened here before.She stared at the knife in the center, her nerves jangling as she steeled herself for what must be done.
“We should light the candles,” he said.His voice was a roughened whisper.
She lost a quiet breath in the frigid air.A shiver snaked up her spine, and she shuddered.
“Victoria?”His hand on her arm jarred her out of her thoughts.
She shoved the matchbox into his hands.“You do it.”
“Are you…?”
“I’m all right,” she said, trying to reassure him and regain her confidence.
Now that they were here ready to face Lenore, she wasn’t sure she could go through with it.
But she had to.For him.To release him from his eternal torment.
Gabriel’s hand shook as he struck the first match.He started on one end, lighting the shortest candle.When the green flame flickered to life, he snuffed the match and then picked it up.He used it to light the other candles along the altar one by one.
When finished, he returned the candle to its place.
The curved knife in the center gleamed.Beckoning her.She reached for it.The moment she did, a sharp pain shot through her hand.A sharp inhale hissed through her teeth as she drew her hand back, clutching her wrist as though she’d been burned.
“What was that?”he asked.
“I…I don’t know.Now what?”Her voice shook.
“You are of the bloodline.Now you take my place and I can forever rest.”
Lenore’s voice rang out before she fully formed next to the altar.Gabriel moved to stand between her and his former wife.
“No.That will never happen.”
Her glittering ghost gaze flickered to him.A smile—cold and evil—pulled at the corners of her lips.
