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Lily struggled for breath as she laid on the forest floor. How had she gotten here? It was hard to remember anything with the pain in her throat. She tried to reach up and touch her neck, but her arms wouldn't move. She tried not to panic; her mother had always told her never to panic when a situation seemed helpless. Mother always told her to take a deep breath. But she couldn't take in enough air for a full breath. When she tried, blood entered her mouth. She coughed, trying to clear her airway. Her head could turn at least. That was good.
She remembered the poison. Through the blood, she could taste it on her tongue.
Tenebra tenebrarum. Tenebra tenebrarum. Tenebra tenebrarum.
Juniper.
That's what this was all about. This was supposed to bring Lily to her. One last effort to fix past mistakes.
Lily laughed, pushing more blood into her throat and mouth and lungs. Juniper was right. She always was. She coughed the blood out again. There was more of it this time, and it began to seep slowly into her mouth as she wheezed and coughed.
The ground beneath her was cold and damp. A patch of grass tickled her cheek, but she lost the will to move her head.
She was going to die here. Would wolves find her body when night fell? Would they erase every trace of her or would she rot into the ground and become part of the forest floor? There would be a funeral with an empty casket. How pitiful.
For a moment, she heard her mother's voice, screaming her name. She tried to call back, but it came out garbled and weak. She would have to wait until her mother got closer. But she never did. Her voice grew softer and softer as she moved farther and farther away from Lily. Why had Lily gone out this far? Her mother had told her never to stray so far into the woods. She knew better.
She would count herself lucky if her mother or the police found her corpse before it began to decay. To ease her fears of dying, she imagined her funeral. No doubt, her mother would have the most beautiful and grand flower arrangements prepared. Everyone she and her mother knew would attend. Jo would cry and cry. Who would get her belongings?
She prayed that Sally would have the sense not to bring Mabel. Who knows what Mabel would do to her. Even though Mabel was only four, Lily feared what she could do. The Devil was in that child. That, she knew. She also knew that her mother would not risk the controversy that not having Mabel attend the funeral would cause. She would be keeping a daughter from her mother's funeral. There would be too many questions, too many curious neighbors.
For weeks afterward, concerned friends and neighbors would leave gifts for her mother and daughter. Lily regretted that she wouldn't be there to revel in the attention.
With nothing left to do as her life slipped away into the frigid air, Lily found herself watching the sky through the branches of the trees around her. The few clouds that were in the sky moved slowly as they passed over the sun.
A small bird landed near her. It cleaned its black wings as it perched on a nearby rock. The clouds above finally revealed the warm sun which now beamed down on them. The house martin watched her carefully before settling down on the rock and stretching out its wing to sunbathe. Where was its colony? Its family?
The bird darted away as Lily began to choke on her blood and saliva again. It wouldn't be long now.
She watched deliriously as it mocked her with its freedom and health. When she stilled, the bird glided down and landed on her torso. As she died, she felt the sharp spikes of its feet graze lightly over her stomach.