Sorry for taking so long with this one. The semesters almost over, so I've been doing a lot of studying and paper writing and whatnot. Exams next week!! Eeeee! I can pretty confidently say that my next chapter will be up by Tuesday. I've got it half done, and I've pretty much given up on studying at this point. My brain is FRIED. Anyways, thank you all again for the wonderful comments. I love it when you guys tell me nice things. Well, I hope you enjoy this installment - please review. It makes my day. :)
I do not see Kartik again for several days. When I finally do come across him, it's only in passing. I am with Tom, so I can only nod a polite hello and continue on my way. While I am constantly on edge, always expecting to be suddenly attacked, nothing happens. I do not see or hear from Simon, Kartik sends me no messages, even Grandmama has been peculiarly uncritical.
For my part, I am bored out of my mind. I called on Felicity twice, but both times she was out. I wish desperately that I knew where Ann is. After we left Spence neither Fee nor I ever heard from her again. I hope against hope that she has at least escaped the trap of serving as governess to her vile cousins' children. What a fate.
A week after the run-in with Simon, and I have completely forgotten my original fears. Boredom and loneliness have dulled my senses to the point where I rather long for a little run-in with the Rakshana. I consider darting out to the stable to see Kartik after everyone else has gone to sleep, but on what pretense could I explain my visit? It would be too mortifying for him to know that I came simply because I crave his company. He would think me pathetic, a pitiful, clinging puppy.
Fortunately, excitement soon arrived in the form I least expected.
Late at night, I idle in bed, flipping distractedly through a book of poems. It is a ridiculous, soppy collection, penned by an empty-headed, love-sick nitwit, if ever there was one. But, I can't throw it out, because it was a gift from Grandmama. Irritated, I stuff the volume back onto my bookshelf and go to my window, staring plaintively at the stable.
My door opens slowly, almost inaudibly. I turn to see Emily sliding in, pressing the door shut as quietly as possible. She looks up and grins at me, with a confidence that is not her own. Her face is drawn, pale, and lit from within by an unnatural glow. Her eyes, normally a plain brown, are frightening violet – ringed with red.
I remember Pippa's threatening declaration – that she could cross into my realm – and gasp.
Emily, or Pippa rather, smiles a vicious leer. Her voice is still the double-edged harmony that makes my skin crawl. "I see you remember, Gemma. But why so pale? You look as if you've seen a ghost." She cackles mirthlessly.
"What have you done to Emily?" I demand. I sound braver than I feel, but that is often the case with me.
"She'll be fine," Pippa admits carelessly. "She is a tormented girl," she sighs after a pause, her wicked eyes alight with fresh mischief. "She wants your little Indian boy. But she knows that he is yours… Oh, how she could ruin you, Gemma! She sees much more than you know."
"Poppycock," I deny feebly. There's no way Emily could know anything – I only ever visit Kartik in the dead of night, where prying eyes cannot see us.
"It's true," Pippa insists, delighting in my discomfort. "Enough about your witless servants. I am here for you, Gemma, darling." She takes a shaky step towards me. I can see that her control over Emily is weak, at best. I take comfort in the fact that she is likely unable to hurt me.
My comfort is short-lived.
She reaches me, Emily's face tight as Pippa concentrates on controlling her limbs. Haughtily, I watch her struggle. She can barely walk. What threat does she pose to me? Pippa's wicked eyes turn up to me, the blood-red circles disarming me.
"You are mistaken if you think you've nothing to fear from me. I am the most powerful of Circe's followers." She catches me by the arm, Emily's fingers cold and clammy as they dig painfully into my skin. Before I can shake loose of her, I am consumed by a flash of darkness.
I suddenly stand in a field of blackened flowers and dead, brown grass. The sky is murky, gray, oppressive. A barren wind whistles through the deadened land, stirring the grass in an ominous whisper. The atmosphere is strange – I feel safe, but confused. The smell in the air is like the bitter taste of Absinthe, with no sugar to balance the wormwood. Pippa is next to me, in her own body. She is beautiful again, just as she was in life. There is no hint of the maddened demon that lurks beneath her sweet, violet gaze. Her voice is her own when she speaks to me.
"You see all this, Gemma? This is what you have done to the Realms. You have destroyed them with your foolishness – you destroyed the runes, and released the magic in terrible ways. The creatures of the Realms have stolen what they can, and use it for wicked ends. This is why the Order existed – to protect the Realms from their own power. You destroyed the Order. You tried to destroy the one person who could've helped you create a new Order – the one person who knew the secrets that you needed to fix the mess you created. Instead, you turned against her, tried to lock her away." Pippa's voice, while her own, is darkly melancholic. Her prose carries all the weariness of one burdened with revealing the awful truth, against one's will. The smell of bitter wormwood grows stronger. I believe her. The truth of her words rings in my ears like a tolling bell, nearly drowning out the sound of my blood pounding, pulsing.
"No!" I cry, unable to admit to myself that I could have been so mistaken.
Pippa sighs, taking my hand. Hers is surprisingly warm, soft, alive. "She doesn't blame you. Wicked things live in the Realms – you have been misled. Circe will welcome you with open arms. She will help you restore the Order."
Something is not right. I can't put my finger on it. My thoughts seem more confused, disjointed. I can't remember why I ever fought against Circe.
"My mother told me she couldn't be trusted," I say, my muddled brain producing a vague memory of dissent.
Pippa shakes her head sadly. "That was not your mother, in the realms. It was a wicked creature – an illusion."
The word illusion jars another memory of my mother. She warned me of Circe's power of illusion – that she could make me see kittens where there were monsters, and monsters where there were kittens. "No," I say, slowly. The smell of absinthe fades. "She was my mother."
"I knew you would be stubborn. You are blinded by your pride." Her voice rasps, an angry hiss, slipping for a second into her shared voice. She purses her lips tightly.
I look around at the barren landscape, clearing my head from the overpowering bitter, intoxicating smell. "This is all a lie!" I realize out loud. "It's an illusion!"
The smell is gone, and suddenly we are back in the beautiful garden. Pippa is hideous again – sallow, emaciated, red-eyed fury. She hisses at me, red eyes narrowed furiously.
"You will never be forgiven, Gemma Doyle! You destroyed the Realms and you turned your back on those who loved you! Now Circe will stand against you, as you stood against her!"
Pippa tries to strike me hard across the cheek, but her icy cold hand only sweeps through my face harmlessly. I feel myself go rigid as her unnatural coldness fills me from head to toe. Her cry of frustration dies on her lips as she flushes, regaining her rosy cheeks and losing the dark circles under her eyes. Her thin, white lips are suddenly full and soft, and her eyes have lost their maddened edge.
"Gemma?" she gasps, her voice completely her own. "You – you've gone pale!" She cries, her concern alarming me more than the paralyzing cold that has consumed me. "You look ill," she whispers fearfully.
"Wh-who are you?" I stammer through chattering teeth.
Pippa looks confused. "I'm Pippa," she says uncertainly.
"Yes," I nod stiffly. "What has happened to you?" By now my whole body is wracked with uncontrollable shivering. Pippa shakes her head.
"What has happened to you, Gemma? You must go back!" she cries, gripping arm urgently. Her touch sends another wash of cold over me, and I fear I'll pass out. Pippa flushes with healthy color again, looking almost entirely restored to her original beauty. She recoils from me, looking fearfully at her perfect hands.
"I'm doing this to you!" she cries in anguish. "I'm stealing your strength!" Tears well in her bright eyes, slipping down her cheeks.
I can't find words anymore to voice the questions in my mind. What has happened to Pippa? Why is she… not evil? Pippa shows no concern for her own good fortune. She gestures impatiently at me, careful not to touch me.
"Go back, Gemma! Go back!"
- - -
I am slumped on the floor, next to Emily. A fearful coldness plagues my limbs, but nothing so awful as what I felt in the realms. I rub my arms and blow on my hands, but nothing helps.
Emily stirs. Her eyes open wide, going to me.
"Oh my God," she gasps. "I saw it all."
Voila! Cliff-hanger! Please review! I will love you forever!