The Psychic Legacy

Chapter 21: See

She didn't have to say it. I could easily guess.

"Those girls Rachel kept seeing?" Lillian continued, echoing what I knew to Polly. "They were there, too. They were trapped inside the Malix—they were all its victims. It had eaten them, just like me. That's what it does—it eats us and then keeps our souls like trophies." She clenched my hands into fists on my lap. I could feel the heat of blood as it rushed across the back of my neck, flaring up with her rage.

Her anger stirred another one of her memories. My vision began to slip again, as if I was being pulled away from my current view. The walls around them began to bend and sag, like they were trying to melt away. I tried to ground myself, focusing my attention on the physical details of the room. The intricate patterns in the rug, the exact texture of Polly's jeans. Even the very hairs on my own head, still uneven but growing longer. But Lillian's memory loomed, throbbing all around me, threatening to overtake me again. A hum had started, too, lingering at the back of everything.

"But why? What even is the purpose of the curse?" Polly asked, "Just to kill as many woman connected to Luc as possible?"

Lillian shook my head and gave a half-laugh. "No," she said with a snort. She turned and glanced up at where I was floating. I could barely see her—she seemed to vibrate in my vision. "You—Rachel—realized that they couldn't all be Luc's, didn't you?"

Focusing on the answer to her question seemed to still my shaking, just a little. "Y-Yeah. Too many."

Lillian narrowed her eyes at me. Could she see that I was struggling?

Hurry up! I thought at her.

She mouthed 'soon' back, and turned away from me.

I felt a pang of annoyance. Who's body is this again?

She ignored me. "That's when I realized that the curse was beyond just Luc," she said. "This went back generations. This was his entire bloodline."

"You mean, his family?" Polly echoed, her eyes wide.

Lillian nodded. "His entire family has been cursed, going back centuries. That's why this particular Malix is so strong. Most Malixes are temporary. Once the goal of their curse is completed, they fade away. But not this one. This curse is a cycle. It will never end.

"They tried though. You know how Luc's mom died at a young age?"

"Yeah, but what—"

Lillian barely listened to her response. It was like she was rushing, racing through her story, trying to outrun... whatever was happening to me.

She didn't have long. It was getting worse. I couldn't even focus on details to ground myself now—the whole room shook for me, making everything into a nauseating blur. I couldn't hold on for much longer...

"Well she died sealing the curse inside Luc. Not to kill it, or him, but to keep it dormant and—" she was speaking rapidly, barely stopping for breath to fill my lungs.

But I couldn't fight it anymore.

I let her memories overtake me.

I landed in some sparsely decorated hospital room. I was in Lillian's position, lying prone in the bed with wires and lines connected to me in all sorts of ways. I—she felt woozy, unsure if it was from the pain meds, or the blood loss... Her arms were striped with patches of gauze, taped over the stitches that held her together.

At the door was a woman. She had a hoodie zipped up over her blue cloak, making it look more like a long skirt than a cape. A thick black braid snaked out of her hood, and even just by profile Lillian recognized her—Sofia. She had been a recruit, just like Lillian—they had studied together under The Gathered. She was a loyal follower, too; she had opted to take her oath early.