Page 103 of Conjure

“I don’t know.”

“There was no one else there that day, was there? The day you killed Wilfred?”

“We didn’t kill him.”

“Was there anyone else there?”

I swallow. “No, there wasn’t.”

Gwen stares at me for a beat, eyes glassy with tears.

“But I think I saw someone in the window upstairs.”

“What do you mean?”

“The curtains twitched when Dominic carried me out. I thought it was a trick of the imagination.”

Gwen breaks eye contact, staring out the windshield at the imposing gates. “Now that person is dead.”

“I swear I didn’t know.”

Lily shifts in the backseat.

The caw comes again, causing my heart rate to spike. I open the file and suppress a shiver as I glance at the photograph. Those dead eyes, rimmed in dark circles, peer into my soul.

“Let me see,” Gwen says.

I hand her and Lily the photograph and the first few pages to look through.

“The girl could have done with chapstick,” Gwen mutters, handing Lily the photograph and reading over the paperwork.

“Psychosis…shock treatment,” I mumble, skimming the text.

“They kept her in a straitjacket toward the end because she wouldn’t stop scratching,” Lily reads. “Said worms crawled beneath her skin.”

I look up from my paperwork and over my shoulder, nerves rippling through me.

Lily pales. “Oh, this is grisly.” She hands me a picture and presses the back of her hand over her mouth as though she’s smelled something bad.

I see why when I look at the photograph. Deep, infected lacerations decorate both of the woman’s arms—so deep the sinew is visible.

“Fuck me,” Gwen whispers, staring at it. “That’s…disturbing.”

“Tell me about it.” I flick to the next paper in the file.

We read silently, exchanging the odd comment here or there until Gwen stiffens. She smacks my shoulder and says, “Look at this.”

I place the file on my lap and accept the sheet she hands me. My heart pounds as I read.

“What is it?” Lily asks, popping her head through the gap.

“Miss. Kriger—Magdalene—claimed a demonic spirit was after her, trying to enter her body.

“The demon…” My voice comes out low and haunted.

“She spoke of visions, delusions.”

“What I would like to know is…” Lily says, swallowing. “Why didn’t it enter her?”