Page 64 of Big Witch Energy

“Oh, ow,” Alice said, wincing and blinking. “Caroline is having an extremely powerful vision. And I can see it over what I am currently seeing right now.”

Riley nodded, keeping one eye shut. “It’s like a double photo negative with a side of stabby migraine. Oh, this sucks.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Ben asked.

“Prescription-strength ibuprofen?” Alice suggested, wincing.

“What are you seeing right now?” Edison asked gently.

Riley’s voice took on a spooky, hollow note as she said, “We’re the girl from Caroline’s vision. Emily. Her name is Emily. And she’s running to Vixen’s Fall. She’s thinking, Emmett anchored his boat nearby. It’s risky and they’re going to have to sail the long way around the island to get to the mainland, but it’s the only way to leave without being seen.”

Alice’s voice took on that same eerie tenor. “Emmett’s family doesn’t want him to marry a servant. They have a wife in mind for him, a rich one. These dreams of being an artist are ridiculous, they say. And honestly, Emily sort of agrees with them, because his drawings aren’t very good, but she loves that he wants to do something different with his life. She can’t even trust the people she works for, because they have too many connections to Emmett’s parents. But the moon is full and the water is high and they were going to sail together.”

It was…well, downright creepy when all three women snapped their heads to the left in unison—as if they all heard something behind them. Together, they said, “Emmett?”

Ben and Edison had to turn around and look, because—yikes.

“Emmett, come out. This isn’t funny, and we need to leave,” the women chorused together. Their voices had taken on a sort of softened British accent. The hollow echo of it sent a shiver down Ben’s spine.

“Emmett, the boat—”

Both Riley and Alice let out screams that were absolutely bloodcurdling. They dropped to the ground, their eyes rolled back, showing only white. Caroline stayed on her knees, head tipped back, but her eyes were white now too.

Edison scrambled forward. “Riley!”

Before Ben could reach Alice, Caroline caught his arm—even with her head tilted back. Slowly, she tipped her head forward until her still-white eyes were level with Ben’s. She reached up and cupped Ben’s face. “Emmett.”

“Who are you right now?”

Caroline shook her head and smiled as if he was being silly. With her eyes rolled upward, it was…really upsetting. “Emily.”

“OK, Emily. Nice to meet you. Could you get out of my girlfriend?” Ben asked.

Caroline shook her head. “She has to see.”

“What does she have to see?” Ben asked.

Rising to her feet, Caroline took his hand and led him behind the Vixen’s Crown, close to the cliff’s edge. Too close. She knelt in front of the middle stone and ran her fingers over its surface. She took Ben’s hand and placed it on something sharpish carved into the rock. Even in the dark, it felt like four boxes stacked into a cube. It reminded him of something, but it escaped him.

“Our initials. Two E’s turned toward each other, to make four squares,” Caroline-Emily said. “He buried me here. They would have left me there, in the dirt by the churchyard. They gave so many reasons why I didn’t deserve a decent burial with decent folk. But the real reason was her. They didn’t want to cross her. So Emmett brought me here, in the dark, to our place, to bury me where I was loved.” She smiled sadly. “And then he left, ran far away from his family. And he never came back.”

The sense of loss in her voice was deep, so profound that he couldn’t say anything besides, “I’m so sorry.”

“He did his best for me, to keep me safe. But now, there’s no one left to care. Except for Caroline. She came here, made contact with me—despite her. Caroline cares. Bury me, in a real grave, somewhere respectable. And I’ll be able to rest,” Emily spoke through Caroline.

“That’s your unfinished business?” Ben asked.

“Wouldn’t you say that’s enough?” she asked dryly.

“That’s a good point,” Ben admitted. “Do you think you have an attachment object?”

Caroline-Emily seemed to think about that for a moment. “If not my bones, perhaps the buckles on my shoes? They were real silver, and I worked hard to earn them. They were buried with me, as I would have wanted.”

Ben smiled gently. “That makes sense.”

Caroline sagged against him, to where he had to hold her up by her elbows. That otherworldly Emily voice was still coming from her lips. “I can’t hold this for long. I needed all three of them, together, here, to speak. But she’s so much stronger. It’s not right, her being this strong.”

“Is it so hard for you, to talk to Caroline? Through her?” he asked. “Because of this other ghost?”

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