Chapter 8
Tessa didn't hesitate for a single second; she trusted her daughter's impossible knowledge over the nightmare unfolding around them.
She looked down at the base of the giant apple tree and spotted a moss-covered granite stone marked with a faint, painted red clover symbol.
Dropping to her knees in the freezing mud, Tessa shoved her fingers under the heavy stone, pulling with all her remaining strength.
The rock shifted with a wet suction sound, revealing a small, oil-wrapped metal object resting in the dirt beneath it.
She pulled off the oiled cloth to reveal an old, ornate brass skeleton key—identical to the lock on the icehouse door.
"Over there! I saw movement!" one of the council members shouted, pointing his lantern directly toward Tessa’s position.
"Get her!" Lenora ordered, her voice screeching like a raven across the orchard.
Tessa didn't run away; instead, she sprinted directly toward the heavy iron door of the icehouse, breaking out from the tree cover.
"Tessa, no! Don't open it!" Evan screamed, dashing toward her with hands outstretched to intercept her.
Sheriff Miller fired a warning shot into the air, the loud BANG echoing wildly across the mountain ridge.
Ignoring the thunderous gunshot, Tessa jammed the brass key into the frosted lock and turned it with all her body weight.
The ancient lock snapped open with a sharp, metallic crack that sounded like a rifle report.
Tessa threw her shoulder against the iron door, shoving it inward with a heavy, grinding screech of rusted hinges.
A wave of air so cold it instantly froze the moisture on Tessa’s eyelashes rushed out from the dark stone chamber within.
Inside the icehouse, illuminated by the moonlight filtering through the doorway, was a circular stone altar surrounded by carved runic symbols.
And floating directly above the altar was a suspended sphere of swirling, black water that defied all physical laws of gravity.
Inside the sphere of liquid, perfectly preserved down to her dirty sundress and red shoes, was the body of four-year-old Abigail Hawthorne.
"My God..." Tessa gasped, backing away in utter horror as the floating water began to vibrate violently.
"You've undone the seal, you fool!" Lenora screamed, rushing toward the open doorway with her silver lantern raised to strike Tessa.
Before Lenora could reach the threshold, the sphere of black water burst open, spraying icy liquid across the entire stone chamber.
The water didn't fall to the floor; it surged outward like a living, writhing beast, hitting Lenora dead in the chest.
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The old woman let out a blood-curdling shriek as the freezing liquid wrapped around her limbs, knocking the lantern from her hands.
The fire from the lantern instantly caught the spilled oil on the floor, igniting a blinding, blue flame that spread rapidly across the wooden support beams.
