Chapter 11

Despite the fact that I expected the Glen to look like something out of a horror movie, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked just like Walker Bay. The only thing that made it different was the houses were set back from the roads, with shrubs and trees crowding in the front yards, effectively hiding the houses from the street. It looked like the residents of the Glen valued their privacy. Maude had given us clear instructions on how to get to Helen Napier's house, and it wasn't long before we were parked in front of it.

"You ready to do this?" Tilda asked.

I swallowed nervously. "Would you think any less of me if I told you I'm terrified."

"I'm right there with you. If this wasn't the only way we could think of helping Flora, there is no way I'd be doing this."

"Do you think we're going to be able to break the curse?" I asked. "I want to believe that we can, but the feeling I had inside that dungeon was horrible. I felt trapped and I had this feeling in my throat like it was closing over. I was only in there for a short amount of time, and when I came out, I had to get some air. Even your house felt like it was closing in on me." I looked over at Tilda. "I've never felt true evil before, but I think what I felt last night was pretty close."

Tilda closed her hand over mine. "I don't know if we can break the curse, but I do know one thing. If it had happened to any one of us, Flora would do absolutely everything to save us, no matter how remote the chance. We have to do the same for her."

"You're right." With my resolve hardened I got out of Tilda's car. I could do this.

From the road we couldn't see Helen Napier's house. As we got closer to the front porch, I noticed that the plants closest to the house were wilting. Tilda's breathing rate increased, and I put a hand on your arm.

"What's wrong?"

"Something happened here. The plants are hurting."

"What does that mean?"

Tilda's gaze was swinging around me. "I don't know, they're not talking to me."

Okay. I was going to file that statement away with questions about weird things that I had no hope of understanding.

As we mounted the porch, I had a really bad feeling that only got worse when I knocked on the door and it swung open on its own. "This can't be good."

"What should we do?" whispered Tilda.

As if I should know. "Okay, we have two choices that I can see. One, we turn around and walk away, forget we were ever here and hope the others have been able to find some information on curses."

Tilda started pacing along the porch. "That seems to be the defeatist, not to mention cowardly, option. We came here for a reason. We need to speak to Helen Napier."

"Number two option is that we completely ignore our instincts which are screaming at us to get the hell out of here, and illegally enter the house to see if we can find something that will help Flora."

Tilda stopped pacing. "I think we have to go with option number two."

"I just want to point out that option number two sucks and is the one likely to result in bad things happening."

Tilda gripped her amulet. "We'll be okay. We've got these, remember."

I grabbed my own amulet. I really hoped my belief wasn't required for this thing to protect me. "I never thought I'd say this, but I really wish Margot and Isobel were with us."

"Me too," Tilda muttered.

I crept through the door with Tilda following me. What kept getting to me was how normal this house looked. Photos of landscapes were dotted on the walls. The lace curtains fluttered in the breeze. This did not look like the house of a woman who tried to cast a curse on her husband's mistress.

Tilda tapped on my shoulder and I turned my head. "Shouldn't we be calling out to her? Let her know that we're creeping through her house."

"You do it, you're the one she likes."

"When I was a baby. Everybody likes babies. That doesn't make me special."

"Fine," I muttered before raising my voice. "Miss Napier, my name is Sadie and I've got Tilda Atwill here. We're a bit worried about you because your door was open, and your plants aren't talking." Yes, I know, I was sounding exactly like the person you didn't want creeping around your house.

There was no answer.

"Maybe we should call somebody," Tilda suggested.

"Who, the sheriff? I'm sure he'd be understanding about the whole breaking and entering thing."

Tilda grimaced. "I don't like this."

"I don't like it either but we're here now." I took in a deep breath. "What if we look around for five minutes and then sit out on the porch and wait for her to come back."

I could see Tilda thinking about the suggested compromise. "That sounds good." She straightened her shoulders. "Let's get this done." She pointed towards the back of the house. "If this place is like most houses built in Walker Bay, the steps to the basement should be through the kitchen. If she's doing anything it will be in the basement."

My stomach twisted. That sounded great.

We found the steps and slowly made our way down them. Unlike every horror story I had ever imagined, we'd found a light and the whole basement lit up brightly.

There were shelves everywhere, creating a maze-like structure within the basement. Each of the shelves was stocked with jars containing items that I didn't even want to guess what was in them. Now this looked more like the house of a woman willing to curse her husband's girlfriend.

"I thought her magic was bound," I hissed.

"Maybe she was just keeping in practice, as a hobby, without her abilities." Tilda looked as confused as I felt.

We came around a set of shelves into an open area and I stopped. Tilda, still distracted by the items around us, bumped into my back.

"Why did you...?" She stopped her question as it strangled in her throat.

Neither of us made a sound as we stared at the horrific scene in front of us. The body of a woman was laid out on the ground with markings on the floor and the ceiling above us. My mind shied away from the thought that those markings looked like they'd been written in blood, the same blood that was pooled around the body. Small mounds of wax dotted the floor, indicating where candles had once surrounded the gruesome scene.

I clapped a hand over my mouth as I turned away. I could almost handle the sight, but the smell when we got close to the body was indescribable. Both Tilda and I bolted for the stairs and raced out of the front of the house, collapsing to the ground. I dragged in some clean air, doing anything to wipe away the stench of that basement. I looked over at Tilda to see she wasn't doing much better than me.

"Are you okay?" I croaked.

Tilda was holding her hair back, looking intently at the ground. "I think I'm going to throw up."

I was right there with her. In fact, I was amazed I hadn't vomited already. "Just keep taking in deep breaths," I said, gently while rubbing her back.

Tilda nodded as she concentrated on her breathing.

"Do you think that was Helen Napier, or a victim of hers?" I asked, not sure which of those options I wanted it to be.

"I don't know," Tilda said as the color started returning to her face.

"We need to call the cops." This was not going to help me get off Sheriff Tolan's radar.

Tilda groaned. "Yeah, we do." She pushed herself up to a standing position. "But first we need to get some photos."

I was stunned. "Are you out of your mind?" Of all the things I had expected her to say, that was not even close to the top of my list.

"The police won't tell us anything after we've been interviewed. Whatever happened in there has to have something to do with Flora's curse. We need to get a copy of the symbols and writings to the coven. They're the only ones who can tell us what they mean and whether they have anything to do with the curse."

She was right. I really didn't want her to be right, but she was. I dragged in as much of that sweet clean air as I could.

"Okay, let's get this done now so we can call the cops. I have a feeling we are going to have a long day."

I followed Tilda back down to the basement and concentrated on breathing shallowly, trying hard not to focus on the dead woman in the middle of the horror show.

"I think I've got everything," Tilda announced, her voice sounding nasally as she'd decided to pinch her nose shut to deal with the smell.

"Great, can we please call the cops now?"