“Listen to me, Primrose. If we’re all going to stay here, there are going to have to be some compromises. And this is one of them. Gothel read in Mother’s book there is no way for us out of the thicket.”
“What?”
“Calm down and listen to me! The only person who can leave here is Sir Jacob. He does everything around here, and Gothel knew you were going to be disappointed, but she arranged for Jacob to bring wagonloads of things for you to choose from to decorate this house. To make you happy, Prim! She’s trying to make you happy and do what’s best for this family. You’re not always going to like the way she has to do it, but I need you to trust her, Prim. And if you can’t trust her, then trust me.”
“I always have.”
“Come on, can we leave this room? I’m hungry, let’s go down to the kitchen.”
“Fine! But you’re cooking. You know what I’m excited about, Hazel?”
“What’s that, little sister?”
But before Primrose could answer, their mother’s room was engulfed by a blinding light.
“What the Hades was that?” asked Primrose, unsteady on her feet.
“I don’t know,” said Hazel, using the doorway to steady herself. She ran to the window. “Prim, come here. Look at this.”
“What is that?”
The sky was filled with a huge swirling black vortex that was consuming the dead trees and heading their direction.
“My gods! Do you think Mother is back?”
“I don’t know!”
“Do you feel her, Hazel? Is it her? Come on!”
“I don’t know! I don’t know! I’ve been feeling her ever since she died. She imbues this house, the forest, but I didn’t want to say anything about it!”
“Hazel, look!”
The vortex was getting closer, devouring everything in its path. The trees, the tombstones, and the remains of the conservatory.
“We have to find Gothel! Come on.”
Hazel took Primrose by the hand and they ran down the stairs, speeding past the open windows. They could see the vortex getting closer and closer. When they reached the vestibule, they found a legion of skeletons barring them from leaving the house.
“Oh my gods, Hazel! What’s going on?”
Forging a path of destruction, the vortex headed toward the house, consuming the sea of skeletons surrounding it.
“Prim, we have to run! It’s coming right for us!”
The girls ran as fast as they could. They didn’t dare look back, but they could hear the sounds of the house being torn apart and sucked into the vortex as they ran. “Primrose! Don’t look back, just run!”
And then they heard a deafening scream unlike anything they had ever heard before. It was their sister. Gothel stood in the rubble, staring at the eye of the vortex as if daring it to come closer.
“Mother, stop!” she bellowed, putting her hand in front of her like a shield.
A terrible screeching voice echoed in the witches’ ears, reverberating throughout the house, crumbling the remains of the stone mansion.
“Stay away from my sisters, you witch!” Gothel yelled with a resonance in her voice her sisters had never heard before.
“You thought I would let you get away with murdering me and taking my place with these abominations at your side? Then you’re a bigger fool than I imagined. You are destined to be alone, Gothel!”
The vortex became smaller, focusing its energy and eye on Primrose and Hazel, bringing them to their knees and making them scream in pain. “Mother, no, don’t take them from me, I beg you!”