The Possession of Natalie Glasgow by Hailey Piper

Author:Hailey Piper [Piper, Hailey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-02T05:00:00+00:00

5

Margaret sat in the waiting room outside the ER, her head in her hands. She didn’t know what had become of Heather yet. The ambulance took her hours ago and she was already in surgery by the time Margaret arrived. She tried to call Heather’s sister, but there was no answer at Alicia’s house and she hadn’t tried again.

She spent the following hours ruminating on her failure, with intervals of sleep here and there. Morning arrived before any news.

A demon had seemed so obvious until it wasn’t. Nathaniel’s ghost wasn’t a bad guess, for everything Heather had suggested. Margaret had considered other options, other kinds of spirits. With Nathaniel’s penchant for world travel, anything was possible.

Margaret hadn’t considered possession by animal. She had heard of animal avatars that were welcomed to commune with human hosts as part of religious and spiritual practices. This was different. This was an eleven-year-old girl in the heart of Connecticut, who made the innocent mistake of sitting in her late father’s study, likely because she missed him. It wasn’t her fault that dead animals lined every nook and cranny of that room.

Which brought Margaret to the recordings. She hadn’t had the chance to listen to them until after the ambulance pulled away, after the police finished questioning her, while she decided whether she was going to drive home from the Glasgow house or head to the hospital. Before she listened, the recordings didn’t seem like they could tell her much she didn’t already know.

She was wrong about that, too. They pushed her to drive to the hospital and warn Heather herself.

“Ms. Margaret Willow?”

Margaret placed her spare spectacles on her face and looked up at a nurse in blue scrubs. Her nametag said Rachel.

“Heather Glasgow is awake,” Rachel said. “She’s going to make it.”

News that should’ve filled Margaret with ecstasy only gave her the slightest relief. Heather would live. One less thing to feel guilty about.

Rachel led Margaret away from the ER, down another corridor to the post-op room where they had brought Heather Glasgow. “She’s only come up from anesthesia minutes ago. We gave her another sedative, and something for her pain because Lord knows she’ll need it. You’ll only have a few minutes, is what I mean.”

“Thank you.”

Margaret and Heather would have a conversation. She would’ve liked it later, but in case there was no later, it had to be now. Natalie was missing. Margaret wasn’t sure how to help. And then there were the recordings. Heather wouldn’t be awake long. Margaret wasn’t sure she could say any of this before time ran out.

“Were the two of you at the circus or something?” Rachel asked. “That wound. Some big cat must’ve done that. A cougar or a lion, right?”

Margaret turned to the open doorway. “I need to talk to Heather. I don’t mean to be rude.” She stepped into the room, up to Heather’s bedside.

Heather lay under a thin sheet. The lioness had gored her left side, under the ribs, likely when they collided beside Nathaniel’s desk.

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