Chapter 37 Dorian
Dorian
The entire world is a dreadful collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her!
—Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
Not-Atticus smiles at us, and my whole world shatters.
I don’t believe what I’m seeing. It’s Atticus, he’s here, but—he’s not.
Not really. Same face, same clothes, same hair, but it’s all wrong.
It’s like looking at a portrait and seeing a forgery.
There’s some element, some stroke, some touch that’s missing.
Invisible to an untrained observer. Invisible to someone who doesn’t know him like we do.
“Adelina…” says Raven, standing in the doorway to the cell. “It’s you, isn’t it?”
Adelina steps toward us, wearing Atticus like a costume.
She’s stolen his face and his body. I don’t know why I didn’t see it.
Maybe I just didn’t want to acknowledge the strangeness of what was happening.
Maybe I was too relieved to see Atticus alive.
But now, as the ghost of Adelina Ward approaches, it’s unmistakable.
“I know what I did wrong last time,” Adelina says. “I know how I failed. And I know how to do it right. I’ve had a long time to think about it.”
“Let him go,” I say. Angry tears burn my eyes. “If you hurt Atticus—”
Adelina giggles. “Atticus isn’t here right now.”
No. It’s not possible. It can’t be true. He’s in there, he has to be.
“Atticus! It’s us!” Raven pleads, trying to break through, but Adelina smiles mockingly.
“Don’t worry,” Adelina says. “It was over quickly. He didn’t want to be in this world anymore.”
I don’t know what to do or how to stop this. Is there anything I can do? This is magic that goes beyond me, beyond nature itself. Bringing someone back from the dead, it shouldn’t be possible. And yet, here she is. Using Atticus’s body like it belongs to her.
“So,” she says, looking at the wand in Raven’s hand, “let’s stop wasting time, shall we?”
I step in front of Raven and slam the cell door closed, shutting Adelina inside.
She presses up against the bars, smashing her face against the frame, a grotesque smile on her face. “This won’t stop me.”
Adelina throws out a hand.
As if pulled up by invisible strings, Raven rises off her feet and goes flying toward Adelina’s hand. With a bang, Raven slams hard into the cage.
“Raven!”
She drops the book and the wand and collapses into a heap.
I catch her just before her head can hit the floor, but Adelina grabs the book and the wand, grinning in victory.
Raven is dazed, but unharmed. Her eyelids flutter open, and she grabs on to my shirt, hauling herself back to her feet as she gapes at Adelina in fear.
“Thank you for bringing these back to me,” Adelina says. “I’ve missed them.”
She raises her wand, pointing it at us—
Then Adelina’s head snaps back like she’s been struck by an invisible fist. She stumbles, reeling. Blood leaks from her nose. She looks at us, and her eyes are somehow changed; they’re different. They’re his.
“Atticus!”
He’s back.