Page 24 of When Bones Whisper
“No, God no,” she spluttered, her eyes adjusting to the heavy darkness
This wasn’t possible. She’d fallen asleep in her bed at Sallow Manor, unless, the witches had come for her in her sleep and somehow…
Slowly, she turned her head, her heart pounding violently against her ribcage when she saw her sister’s corpse. Penny-shaped holes oozed sludgy liquids from her rotting skin as maggots burrowed deeper into Alice’s flesh, feasting upon her glistening, decaying tissues.
The cloying, rotten odor was overwhelming, invading her nose and throat, making her gag until a fit of coughs wracked her chest. Wood splinters drove into her nail beds as she pushed against the coffin lid, but it wouldn’t budge. Her throat constricted when she choked on her cries, banging her fists against the lids, forced still by the confines of the coffin walls.
Bugs crawled over her body, their bites sending tiny shockwaves all over her skin. “Stop it,” she spluttered through coughs. “I’m alive. I’m still alive!”
Her throat was dry from screaming, the heavy silence punctuated only by the sound of the maggots and her own heartbeat. A loud scream rattled her chest when her sister’s neck snapped to the side with a loud crack. The corpse's maggot-infested lips pulled back, and Alice screeched, “You did this to me.”
With a jolt, Charlotte was wrenched from the nightmare and landed back in her bed. Sweat dripped from her forehead and into her dark eyebrows, her hands clammy when she gripped the sheets, getting her bearings. The soft moonlight filtered through the long, crimson drapes, and the sound of rain pattered gently against the window. She must have slept all day and was dreaming again. She did that a lot since they were gone, but this time it felt real. The smell of her sister’s body still lingered in her mouth.
Her hand flew to her chest when an ache cracked through her core at the thought, her eyes brimming with fresh tears. It was bittersweet, to have been loved so deeply by her family. She was fortunate to have felt it, but it was all the worse now that itwas gone, especially knowing she would never experience that kind of unconditional love again.
Her mother taught her so much, except for how to live without her.
A sharp pain shot through her hip, halting her thoughts. She angled her body to get a better look and hiked up the skirt of her nightgown. Her fingers brushed the dark veins spreading outward from the decaying core of the mark.
It was getting worse.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound against her bedroom door sent her jumping to her feet and pulled her chemise over the decaying mark. She needed her clothes from home, or new ones. She couldn’t remain in that nightgown much longer.
“Hello?”
“Good evening, miss,” Hartley said shakily, walking inside with a tray before setting it down. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I assumed you would be up. Everyone else in the manor is.”
“I was already awake,” she said, although it had only been for a few minutes.
Hartley placed the tray down and lit a second candle. “How was your sleep?”
“Fitful,” she confessed. “Do you sleep during the day too?”
“We all do.”
“Of course,” Charlotte said with a shake of her head, feeling silly for asking the question.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Yes. Some lavender, mint, and witch hazel, if you wouldn’t mind.”
It was a concoction her mother always used on bug bites, and she needed it before the one on her hip got any worse.
“I will bring that shortly after I attend to Mr. Young,” she explained.
“Alexander?” she asked, trying to recall his name.
“Yes. He retrieved some of your things last night,” she said before walking out the door. “You should check your wardrobe.”
Her eyes widened. “He was in here while I slept?”
“He wouldn’t hurt you, Miss,” she said upon spotting the horrified look crossing Charlotte’s face. “I will fetch you the herbs you require.”
“Thank you.”
She watched her leave, ensuring the door clicked shut, before turning to the wardrobe and pulling open the paneled, polished doors to reveal three shelves on one side, filled with drawers, stockings, petticoats, chemises, corsets, bonnets, gloves, silk hair ribbons, and a pair of unlaced brown boots. On the left, hanging from a rail, were all her dresses, including the ones Alice had made for her.
