When Katherine opened her eyes again, she was laying in bed wearing fresh pajamas with Adelaide sitting in a chair next to her. Scrunching up her face, Katherine couldn't remember anything that happened after she threw up. She willed herself to sit up.
Adelaide held a glass of water and a piece of bread on a plate from the kitchen. Katherine lifted a shaking hand as if to take the plate but, swatted it to the ground instead, scattering shards of glass around Adelaide's feet.
"Somebody's cranky" Adelaide snapped at her sister.
The two young women stared at each other with matching scowls before Katherine asked, "What happened with the ritual?"
Adelaide sighed heavily taking more than a second to respond as she leaned over to pick up the glass.
"We were able to complete it, not perfectly as we had to use you as a conduit since you were incapacitated, but no one will know the difference but us."
"And the poison on the floor?" Katherine inquired, knowing her body was no longer infected thanks to Mabel's special remedy.
"I always seem to cleanup your messes when we visit", Adelaide muttered before continuing. "Mabel is taking a sample of it back to the hospital to find out where it came from."
Adelaide set the water and broken glass pieces on the side table and stood up. She hesitated before going down the stairs and lingered for a moment before she turned back to look at Katherine whose color had almost completely returned.
"You need to think about coming back home. You know why." Adelaide said with a serious tone in her voice and laser like stare.
"There's nothing for me in The Valley" Katherine's words were quiet, but the meaning was clear.
Adelaide looked hard at her younger sister and without a word turned her back to leave. Hearing the front door slam, Katherine knew Adelaide was upset with her for choosing to leave home and her sisters behind, but this forest in the human realm was where she belonged.
There was such a quiet peace here that she had come to love. Birds whistled beautiful songs and the animals had now become her friends.
She especially loved the owls that roosted in the tree just beyond her garden gate. They were a pair mated for life and for that she envied them. Her thoughts wandered over all the things she loved. The sounds of rushing water, the leaves shaking in the wind and the way the sun rays flitted against the meadows as if they were dancing beams of light; those were the things she loved. This kind of peace didn't exist in The Valley of Withes, her parents made sure to keep it that way.
Katherine wasn't sure how much time had passed before she heard a loud banging at her door. Throwing the blankets off of her, she ran down the stairs thinking one of her sisters had forgotten something. She reached out for the door nob but stopped herself. This wasn't right, too many bizarre things had happened and alarms were going off in her head.
In an instant Katherine's door was kicked open, forcefully knocking her against the stairs behind her. She froze with her mouth hanging open at the sight of a figure with a black cloak and black face covering. Her brown eyes, now saucers zeroed in on the gold dagger they unsheathed, its jeweled hilt sparkling in the dim light of the glowing candles.
"No, don't" she whispered under her breath, Katherines chest heaved for air and knots formed in her stomach, with the last bit of her strength she held her hand out in front of her.
"Uro", Katherine chanted from the floor, but nothing happened. She felt powerless and lethargic from the ritual and also the poison. Katherine tried to kick the person coming toward her but her leg was easily slapped away toward the ground with a thud.
Fuck this, Katherine thought with a surge of anger. She was tired, mentally and physically, of everyone in her life always putting her down and being told to stay or go like a dog. With a single burst of energy, Katherine pushed herself off the stairs, lunging at the person in the cloak, her long nails at the ready to remove the hood and claw their face off. As if reading her thoughts, the person grabbed Katherine's wrists throwing them sideways using her own momentum against her.
Falling towards the ground after having her torso jostled, Katherine smacked her forehead on the banister before twisting in air to fall hard on her back knocking the air from her lungs. The hooded figure stood over, situating their feet on either side of her and with one swift motion the figure in the cloak swung the dagger in a downward arc planting it firmly in Katherine's sternum.
Looking down at her chest, blood started to seep through her blue pajama top as panic permeated her being. She was still disoriented from hitting her head when cloaked figure turned their back to leave her for death. Katherine breathed steadying herself for what must be done. She had to remove dagger and heal herself before anymore damage could be done.
She slid on her side, digging her nails into the wooden floor to claw herself forward as she choked on the blood now coming out of her mouth.
Turning to her back again, she starred at the vaulted ceiling. In her final moments Katherine's thoughts drifted to her sisters and how they probably wouldn't find her body until the winter solstice, and then to the handsome man she met that day. As her mind raced, her breathing slowed, and body relaxed while everything faded to black.
Katherine's eyes fluttered open as she tried to sit up taking a deep breath, the air that filled her lungs was crisp and sharp. Coughing from the sudden coldness in her throat she looked around only to realize there was nothing but the feint silhouette of grave markers.
Slowly she stood up from the cold cobblestoned path. Katherine held her arms out in front of her as a dense fog danced around her body, making her unable to see past her own fingertips.
Fear crawled over her heart like a thousand tiny spiders when she remembered the hole in her chest. Her hand instinctively grabbed her pajama shirt where the jeweled dagger should have been, but her shirt was no longer cut nor covered in blood. Hearing a soft clicking noise in the distance she turned her head to the side in time to see the shape of a person growing closer.
Taking two steps backwards Katherine lost her footing, tripping over a short gravestone. Her legs turned to rubber nearly refusing to hold her up but she pushed herself to stand. Her eyes fixated on the person approaching her.
After what felt like an eternity, a woman came into Katherine's view. The woman's long white hair cascaded down the back of a tan fur coat that was draped around her shoulders. She wore an all white suit that cinched in the middle accentuating her shape, while holding on to a long black cane with a leather gloved hand. Katherine couldn't help but stare in awe at the woman whose sharp face was so pale it bordered on translucent.
As if to awaken her from her trance the woman slammed the sharp tip of her cane down between the cobblestones for it to stand freely. Questions swirled into Katherine's mind one after another, but before she had the chance to say anything the woman fished an old black pocket watch attached to a thin gold chain from her jacket pocket. Flipping it open, the woman studied the watch face before setting her vibrant green eyes on Katherine.
"Katherine Deighton, approximate age.. 101 years, you are much too early," the elegant looking woman said with raised brows, as she clicked the watch closed.
"Too early for what? I don't understand what's going on here! First, I'm stabbed, then I wake up in a graveyard…" Katherine stopped as her own words sunk in, she doubled over grabbing at her chest with a trembling hand, her eyes welling up with tears as she came to the realization. She was dead, she thought, was this woman here to collect her soul?
"Where is this place?" Katherine forced the words out of her dry mouth, her head spun with confusion and heart began to thump loudly in her chest, everything happened so fast today she hadn't had time to fully unpack the events that occurred. The woman raised her hand as if signaling to Katherine to take breath.
"I am not here to answer any of your questions, only to buy some time, you may call me Death," said the woman with a soft smile. Katherine opened her mouth to say something but the woman with the fur coat intervened by taking two long strides to stand in front of her. She placed a gloved finger on Katherine's lips, Death slowly shook her head back and forth before saying, "You do not have to be scared, Katherine, its already time".
"So does this mean I'm still alive?" Katherine inquired knitting her brows together, but Death only smiled. Katherine couldn't help but feel uneasy at the sight of the woman's smile, as if she was the butt of some sick joke.
"Say 'hello' to your sister for me", Death teased making Katherine shake her head in surprise at the words. Katherine felt the need to ask which sister Death was speaking of but at the same time she wasn't sure she wanted to know the context of the 'hello'.
In an instant everything around Katherine, including Death, was swallowed by the dense fog, her vision became hazy as she tried to steady herself. Katherine closed her eyes and inhaled the feint smell of honeysuckle and vanilla that wafted from Death, before losing consciousness.