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“She is unwell,” Eli rebutted.
“Well, the whole fucking lawn and the parking lot are filling up with zombies again. That’s her doing.” The man’s voice grew louder as he yelled, “Crowe! Stop whatever hocus pocus you’re doing. I ordered take-away, and the delivery man is quivering in his car.”
“Could you walk to his car?” another voice asked.
“Sure, right. I’ll just march through a herd of zombies. Great idea, Martha.”
And then, no one spoke.
I felt Beatrice arrive. The air and the space that had been vibrating with anger was suddenly still. Terror rippled through the air. No one would have doubt as to what she was.
“Lady Beatrice,” Eli said warmly.
“I come for Geneviève. Do I need to kill these people to reach the door?” Beatrice’s voice was loud enough to carry.
“No,” Eli said drolly. “They noticed that Geneviève was dying and came to speak to her.”
“Indeed.” Beatrice sounded amused. “Shall I disperse those worrying in the lot?”
“If you wouldn’t mind,” my neighbor, Rosemary, said cheerily. I’d always liked her. No nonsense. No fear. If I lived long enough to grow old, I wanted to be like her.
If I could laugh, I might.
“It’s a temporary solution, unless Geneviève dies or recovers. Currently, her magic is…summoning the dead,” Beatrice said lightly. “Includingdraugr.”
My neighbors’ replies were too muffled to hear, but whatever their opinions, they weren’t arguing with the scary dead woman in the doorway to my home.
I heard the others leave, as well as a cheerful voice from Rosemary, “Well, she seems nice, doesn’t she?”
Nice? I doubted that Beatrice was nice by anyone’s standards, but she was efficient. Right now, I was grateful for it. If I recovered, I suspected I’d need to figure out why she was so interested in me, but not today.
I can hear you,Beatrice whispered in my mind. She sounded like she was amused.
Really?
Did you think you were the only one who can read minds?she asked.
I swear she sounded like she was laughing.No . . .?I replied.Is it adraugrthing?
After a long pause, she said,No.
Then I heard Beatrice and Eli come into my room, but I was still silent and motionless as he filled her in on my situation. I could not move or speak. My body had entered some sort of stasis.
“Paralysis,” she said, meeting my eyes. “She hears us. Sees us. The venom paralyzes as it starts to liquify her organs and muscles. It should have been painful before this stage.”
“It was.” Eli stroked my face. “Can you . . . is there something we can do? I’ll do anything. I’d really rather not have to kill her.”
At that, the olddraugrlooked appalled. “Why ever would you do that?”
“Her wishes.”
Beatrice shook her head. “If you stay this way, between living and dying, the dead will continue to gather. Do you understand me?”
Help. HELP.I wasn’t sure what I needed, but this, this weird vegetative state, wasn’t it. I’d rather die.Someone help me!
She looked at me. “Don’t yell, daughter. That’s why they are all gathered. If you stay like this, they will drain you. We could fix this, but the paralysis will last for days. If there are bones, you will find them.” She paused. “When you sleep, Geneviève, you will have no control. Would it not be better to be like me?”
No. Not ever. No. Please no.
