Page 88 of Soul of a Witch

It was whispering. Someone was whispering my name.

It didn’t sound like my mother.

Something grabbed my hair in a sudden, unbreakable grip andpulled. I tumbled down, screaming as I fell until I landed hard on the dirt floor. With the air knocked out of my lungs, I lay there, my candle gone out, completely blind in the dark.

The music stopped. But I could still hear the whispering.

“Come closer, Everly. Come, come, come, my dear sweet girl. My child.”

“You’re not my mother.” I scrambled to my feet. Extending my hands, I turned in a complete circle, feeling frantically for the ladder so I could get out of here. But as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I realized there was no ladder.

It was gone.

Pressing my back against the cold dirt wall, I could see something crouched near the entrance to the tunnels. Long, wet blonde hair hung in its face. Dirty, gnarled fingernails tapped upon its knees.

“Come closer,” it whispered. “And you’ll see.”

Shaking my head, I tried to summon fire. Sparks cascaded away from me, but my efforts were useless, unless I could somehow get my mind under control.

This was a nightmare. It had to be. This was all in my head.

I had to make it stop.

Slowly, the hunched being that looked like my mother stood. Its proportions were all wrong. Too tall, its limbs too long, its rib cage too wide.

“Perhaps you do not love your mother,” it hissed. Its head was still low, so I couldn’t see its face. It lifted its hands, running its grotesque fingers through its hair. The long blonde tresses fell away, leaving behind silky black strands.

My breath caught.

It looked at me with Callum’s face. But his eyes weren’t black. They were white.

“Come to me, Everly,” he said. “I have something to show you.”

Again, I frantically shook my head. I needed to calm down. My breath was coming too quick and panicked, my thoughts moving too fast.

Callum raised his hand, curling his finger at me. “Don’t make me come get you.”

Dread shot through my veins. Sucking in a deep breath, I forced myself to hold it before fully exhaling. Again and again, I gulped in air until I felt light-headed.

“You can’t touch me,” I said. My voice was too frightened, too uncertain. I tried to think only of the ticking metronome, filling my mind with its repetitive tone.

The thing took a step toward me, tipping its head to the side. “You don’t believe that. Your mind is full of doubts.”

This was a dream. Only a dream. I could wake up, and this would all go away.

Callum laughed eerily. “Are you really dreaming? Or do you only wish you were?”

My chest was tight with fear, but I could control this. I could wake up. The God had found a way into my nightmares, but It was inmyhead and I could force It out. These were only thoughts, figments of my imagination. I could control them, I couldmake them stop.

The creature with Callum’s face abruptly stopped walking. Its lips curled, revealing black-stained teeth.

“Get the fuck over here, Everly,” it snarled. “You know who I am.”

“I know exactly who you are!” I said, raising my voice. “You’re a liar! You’re not Callum! You’re not —”

There was a flurry of motion, and everything changed. I was no longer underground, staring at the thing wearing Callum’s face. I was sitting up in bed, my hands gripping the sheets, my skin cold with sweat.

Callum stood at the foot of the bed, his hand outstretched toward me. His eyes were wide with concern, and they were black, as dark as the deepest reaches of the night sky.

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