Chapter 5
(Gemma)
I shook my head, blinked my eyes, doing everything to make this horrible nightmare vanish.
You re not dead. You can t be dead.
Gemma,
my mom said, hovering before me, thin and virtually invisible.
There s no point wasting time trying to deny what s right in front of your eyes. We don t have time for that.
I was still shaking my head moronically. But I didn t care.
You can t be dead. I barely had time to know you.
I have to be dead,
she said.
Otherwise, he d use me to get to you.
I didn t have to ask.
Stephan. He did this to you?
She shook her head, sighing tiredly.
I did it to myself. I had to.
She traced her finger along her wrist, where the Mark of Malefiscus used to be.
I had to, otherwise I d have led Stephan straight to you.
She paused.
It s always the same, Gemma. No matter what you do, I don t belong here. I was supposed to die.
I wanted to cry, bawl my eyes out until they were so swollen I couldn t see the pain. Everyone was gone. My dad. Alex. And now my mom was dead.
My hands were shaking, my stomach in knots.
How did & how did it happen?
She pressed her lips together and headed for the table.
That doesn t matter. What matters is that I m here to help you.
She floated down in a chair, her fingers seeking the ceramic cow.
With what? Saving the world?
Tears stung at my eyes. I wanted to touch her, but knew it wasn t possible. The loneliness that possessed me for most of my life was resurfacing.
She placed the cow on the table.
To help you learn what you need to do.
Her gaze moved to the ring on my finger.
I m here to help you use that.
I covered the ring with my other hand.
I don t want you to help me with that.
Tears started to drip down my cheeks.
I want you to go back to your body and keep living.
That s not possible,
she said.
At least not for me.
I blinked through my tears.
Are you saying that it can be done? That someone can die, then return to their body and come back to life?
Yes,
she replied simply, moving for my hand, but then pulling away.
If done right.
I thought about my nightmare, about the crow, the coffin and how I lay awake inside it.
Am I going to do it?
She nodded.
You are, but it s going to be tricky.
Again, my nightmare resurfaced; Alex standing above me, fully alive, which didn t make sense.
But what about Alex? Is he going to die too?
She shook her head.
No sweetie. He s the one who s going to bring you back.