Page 73 of Hallows End

I’m walking in a forest, through the trees, and everyone I’ve ever known is hanging from the limbs with ropes tight around their necks.

I’m too late.

I search and search for Lucy, still hopeful that she was spared, but all I hear is silence. No one calls out for help.

All that’s here is death.

I swear I hear footsteps behind me. Rustling in the fallen leaves. A twig snapping underfoot.

But when I whirl around, no one’s there.

“Hello?” I call out.

“Jonas!”

“Lucy?” I whip in the direction of her voice. “Lucy!”

“Jonas, help me!”

I’m running now, my lungs burning from exertion. But I can’t get through the mass of hanging bodies. It just never ends.

Suddenly, something falls on me, tackling me to the ground.

I can’t breathe under the weight of it.

“Bark!”

I struggle to sit up, but Nera’s lying on my chest, his nose against mine.

“Nera?” I glance over, but Lucy’s not in bed with me. “Where is she?”

He barks again and jumps off the bed, bouncing and eager for me to follow him. I step into my shoes and hurry down the steps to the first floor—and stop cold.

The entire apothecary shop has been destroyed—everything tossed from the shelves and spilled, shattered, or broken on the floor.

“Nera?”

I hear another bark from the kitchen and almost slip in the remnants of broken tincture bottles on my way across the room.

More destruction here. The wards Breena made have been thrown and smashed against the wall, along with the simmer pot. It looks like a child had a temper tantrum and broke all his toys.

And, standing at the open door, is Lucy. She’s on the threshold, the door wide open, and she’s simply staring outside, her hair fluttering in the cold breeze.

I rush to her, take her shoulders in my hands, and turn her to me. She’s bloody from head to toe, and my stomach jerks as I wonder if it’s her blood or if she struggled with an intruder.

“Lucy?” The white film covering the irises of her eyes makes me shudder. “Where are you going, honey?”

She doesn’t blink. Her eyes don’t focus on mine.

“To him.”

Nera barks and dances beside me. He stares outside, then looks up at me and whines, but whenIlook, no one’s there.

I don’t see what he does.

I raise my hands high over my head and begin the first spell that comes to mind, sending flames into the outdoor fireplace and the oven here in the kitchen.

Calling on my element and the deities, I repeat the spell over and over until the wind dies, and Nera calms, whining as he nudges Lucy’s hand with his face.