Austin picked up the old photograph he’d placed facedown on his desk several months earlier. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.
Nicole placed a kiss on his cheek. “Of course. I need to know if I can trust Rebecca. I mean, she’s asking me to do some pretty crazy things.”
He nodded. “Let’s go, then.”
They walked out of Austin’s room and down the hall to where Coolidge and Lizzie waited in the living room.
“Got it?” Coolidge asked, a little too eagerly.
Austin handed him the picture and Coolidge stared at it. “How often do the changes happen?”
“Every few hours,” Austin said. “But only when the person hasn’t looked at it in a while.” He put on his jacket, zipping it up. “We’re not going to wait for the process to complete—I think having you look at it is enough to get things started, and I want to catch her when she’s first digging herself out of her grave.”
“This is going to be creepy,” Lizzie said.
Nicole couldn’t agree more. Several months earlier, Austin’s older brother, Will, had given him an old photograph. It had turned out to be enchanted. Or possessed, depending on how you looked at it. Elizabeth was a dead woman who was tied to the photograph.
The plan was, they would talk to her and ask her to spy on Rebecca. Figure out if Rebecca was trustworthy. Honest.
Nicole put her hand in her pocket and fingered the elixir. She’d asked herself many times if she would still go through with Rebecca’s plan if she found out the woman was lying. The answer was always yes. Destroying the embryonic manipulator was just too important.
The four piled into Austin’s car and headed toward Britnell Manor, Elizabeth’s resting spot. It was cold enough for a light snow to be falling, and Nicole shivered, pulling her coat closer.
It didn’t take long for them to find where Elizabeth had been buried—the dirt had already been pushed away from her grave.
“Digging her way out already?” Coolidge asked.
“It’s the first part of the process,” Austin said. “I wasn’t sure if what we did previously changed anything, but it’s a relief to know that even this much is still happening.”
Coolidge took the photograph from Austin and looked at it. “No changes yet.”
“She’s here, then,” Austin said.
The four stepped closer to the grave, and Austin held his hand over it.
“Elizabeth,” he said in a commanding tone. “We need to talk to you.”
Nicole held back a smile. She’d seen enough séances to know that this wasn’t the way they were typically done. But Austin never did anything the traditional way.
The snow stopped falling and the breeze died. Nicole felt a presence, and for a moment, she panicked, thinking it was Rebecca. But a quick glance around didn’t show any spiders. It did reveal that the others were probably sensing the presence too, though. No one but Nicole had ever felt or seen Rebecca.
“She’s here,” Austin said. He rolled his eyes. “Elizabeth, show yourself to us. It’s not like we haven’t seen you before.”
“The fourth one is new,” a woman said.
Coolidge looked around. “I know about you, and I don’t mean any disrespect by coming.”
The woman laughed. “You’re all looking in the wrong place. I’m down here.”
Elizabeth had materialized in her grave. Nicole swallowed, trying to hide the revulsion from her face. The woman had chosen to take her decomposing form—part skeleton, part flesh. Only a chunk of hair on the top of her decaying scalp still existed, and her clothes were rotting off her corpse. She raised a hand.
“Help me out, Austin.”
Austin nodded. Without hesitation, he got to his knees and grabbed her moldering hand with his own. Nicole half expected Elizabeth to drag him into the grave with her, but the woman allowed him to heave her out.
The corpse flopped on the grass next to the grave and chuckled, getting to her feet. One eye had fallen back into her head and the other was frozen in place.
Elizabeth turned to Austin. “You are disgusted by my appearance. How would you like me to look?”
Austin shrugged. “Whatever is most comfortable for you is fine with us.”
Nicole couldn’t believe how well he maintained his composure. The guy was fantastic!
“That’s the right answer.” Elizabeth shimmered, and her rotting flesh gave way to healthy skin. The hair that was still stuck to her skull became fuller, lusher.
After only a few seconds, a stunning redhead in a black dress stood before them, one hand on her hip and an infant in the other arm. She bent and kissed the baby, then glanced at Nicole.
“You want something from me, Nicole.”
Did everyone who died know everything? That wasn’t fair. “I do.”
“Feel free to ask it, but I make no guarantees.”
Nicole nodded. “Do you know a Rebecca Price?”
Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, I know of her. Why?”
“She’s my great-great-grandmother.”
“And?”
“She’s asked me to do a very difficult task.”
“So?”
Nicole tried to hold back an eye roll. “I want to know if she’s lying or manipulating me.”
Elizabeth threw back her head and laughed, her hair cascading past her shoulders. “And you expect me to tell you? How petty! Was I this ridiculous when I was still living? I must have been. Oh, this is rich.” She stared at Nicole. “You want me to spy on your grandmother, someone you should trust without question, just so you can possibly prevent yourself from doing something difficult? How have Aretes become so lazy and turned into such wimps?”
“It’s not a simple task. And it affects every living person on the planet right now.” Nicole pulled the elixir from her pocket and held it in her hand. “It involves this gift from the Great Ones.”
A shadow crossed Elizabeth’s face and she snarled. “Why do you have that?”
“It’s part of Rebecca’s plan.”
Elizabeth hesitated, then finally nodded. “Fine.” She shifted the baby to her other arm. “But I don’t work for free. It will take time and resources—access to the right people so as not to make Rebecca suspicious. She and I don’t exactly walk in the same circles.”
“What sort of payment do you want?” Austin asked.
Elizabeth glanced at him. “What could you possibly have that would be of interest to me? Your money is useless and powers aren’t transferrable.”
A smile played at the corners of Austin’s mouth. “I have something that might work.”
She scoffed. “And what is that?”
Austin shrugged. “Nothing big.” All his playfulness disappeared, and he held her gaze. “Just your husband’s journal.”
Elizabeth stared at him for several moments, and Nicole held her breath, praying the woman would take the bait.
A smile crossed Elizabeth’s face. “I’ll do it.”
###
Would you like to know what was on Austin’s mind when he first met Nicole—why he was so upset when she talked to him? Austin’s Perception, a short story, is available only to members of Andrea’s readers group. Receive it for free when you join. Enjoy!
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Note from the author:
Thank you for reading Perceive! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, would you consider writing a review about it so other readers can enjoy it too? Just a couple of sentences. It would mean a lot to me.
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- Andrea
Books by Andrea Pearson:
The Kilenya Series:
The Key of Kilenya
The Ember Gods, Kilenya Series Book Two
August Fortress, Kilenya Series Book Three
Rise of Keitus, Kilenya Series Book Four
Eyes of the Sun, Kilenya Series Book Five
The Golden Symbol, Kilenya Series Book Six
The Key of Kilenya: Special Edition with Illustrations
Grail Bestiary Volume I: Creatures of Grail and Kilenya
Kilenya Romances:
Samara, A Kilenya Romance
Midian, A Kilenya Romance
Shirley, A Kilenya Romance
Kilenya Adventures:
Dmitri, A Kilenya Adventure
Mosaic Chronicles:
Discern, Mosaic Chronicles Book One
Praxis Novellas, Mosaic Chronicles Book Two
Perceive, Mosaic Chronicles Book Three
Observe, Mosaic Chronicles Book Four
Reclaim, Mosaic Chronicles Book Five
Ranch City Academy:
Bezza’s Book of Enchantments