A soul for a soul

Chapter 14 – A Soul for a Soul

Ava Carter POV

The silence after Damon’s declaration was more terrifying than any whisper, scream, or ghostly song the house had thrown at me. I stared at him, stunned, barely able to process his words.

He had made a deal. With her.

Emilia whimpered beside me, her small hand clutching mine tighter than ever. The candle flickered madly as if the air itself recoiled from his confession.

“You made a deal?” I whispered. “With who, Damon?”

His face looked carved from stone. “The Lady in White. Isobel. Whatever she has become... she demanded something. A sacrifice. In exchange for Emilia’s life.”

My heart thudded like war drums. “What kind of sacrifice?”

His eyes met mine—so full of pain I almost turned away.

“You.”

The ground shifted beneath me. My breath came in shallow gasps. “You brought me here... for her?”

“No!” Damon roared. “I brought you because I thought—maybe—I could protect you. I didn’t know how fast she’d move. I didn’t think she’d take to you so easily.”

Tears pricked my eyes. “But you knew. You knew what this house wanted.”

“I hoped it wouldn't come to this.”

I backed away. “And yet you let me stay. You kissed me. You—”

“I love you, Ava.”

Silence again. Only this time, it wasn’t thick with fear—it was dense with betrayal.

Emilia looked between us, her expression too knowing for a child. “She’s angry,” she whispered. “The Lady is watching.”

The candle snuffed out.

A gust of icy air blew through the hallway, slamming the hidden passage door shut behind us. The sudden darkness was total, and in it, I heard her voice.

“One must stay. One must go.”

I clutched Emilia tighter. “What does that mean?”

Damon lit the candle again with shaking hands. “The deal was for a life. Hers or yours. Now she’s demanding we choose.”

“No,” I snapped. “No one else dies. We end this.”

He shook his head. “You don’t end a curse like this. You repay it.”

Before I could scream at him, the walls vibrated. Not from footsteps or thunder—but from a low, keening moan that seemed to come from the very foundation of the manor.

“The seance…” I muttered. “We opened something.”

Emilia’s eyes filled with tears. “She’s inside now.”

“Where?” I asked gently.

She pointed toward the North Wing. The one wing of the house that had always remained sealed.

Damon swallowed hard. “No one goes in there.”

“She’s waiting,” Emilia whispered. “She wants her name back.”

“What name?” I asked.

But the child only stared, as if she’d said too much already.

I pushed past Damon. “We’re ending this tonight.”

The door to the North Wing resisted my hand like something was pressing back. Damon joined me, shoulder to shoulder, and together we forced it open.

The hallway inside was pristine—untouched by time or rot. Wallpaper of pale lilac covered the walls, and paintings of unknown faces lined the corridor. A sense of otherworldly stillness clung to every inch.

The air smelled of lavender and decay.

Halfway down, I noticed the painting of a little girl with golden curls. Her eyes were wrong. Empty. Familiar.

“Isobel,” Damon said.

I nodded. “She’s watching us.”

We reached the final door. It was marked with a single word:

Isobel.

Emilia stood between us now, her small frame unnervingly steady.

“I’m scared,” she said.

“You don’t have to go in,” I whispered.

“Yes,” she replied. “I do.”

She opened the door.

Inside was a nursery—untouched by dust or time. A cradle rocked gently though no wind stirred it. A music box played a soft lullaby, though no hand turned the key.

The Lady in White stood by the window, her back to us. Her gown shimmered like mist, and her hair floated unnaturally, as if underwater.

I stepped forward. “You don’t have to do this. Whatever happened to you—”

Her head turned slowly. No face. Just black, endless void where her features should’ve been.

Damon pulled Emilia behind him.

The Lady tilted her head. “You brought the offering.”

“No,” I said firmly. “We came to free you.”

A chilling laugh spilled from her. “There is no freedom. Only balance. One life for another.”

“Then take mine,” Damon said.

“No!” I cried.

But the Lady ignored me. “You are bound. But you are not willing.”

Her gaze turned to me.

“And you... you are mine. You invited me. You opened the passage. You took the journal. You summoned me.”

The nursery began to tremble. Toys levitated, books flew from shelves. Emilia cried out and grabbed my leg.

“You want a soul?” I shouted. “Then take mine—but let them go.”

The Lady paused.

Then she floated closer. I could feel her cold presence like fingers wrapping around my throat.

Damon pulled a pendant from his coat and thrust it at her. A silver charm engraved with an unfamiliar symbol.

“She can’t take what’s been promised to another,” he whispered. “This charm was my mother’s. She bound me to it before she died. My soul belongs to her now.”

The Lady shrieked. The nursery window exploded inward. Glass sliced across Damon’s face.

She turned to Emilia.

“A child is easiest to claim…”

I stepped in front of the girl.

“No. You take me. No more running. No more fear.”

Everything stilled.

The wind stopped. The levitating objects fell. The music box slowed.

The Lady reached out.

But just before her misty fingers touched my skin—Emilia let out a scream that shook the entire house.

The walls glowed with blinding white light. A pulse of warmth shot through the room, knocking all of us to the floor.

The Lady vanished.

Silence.

I sat up, coughing. Damon cradled Emilia in his arms. She had fainted.

“What was that?” I gasped.

He looked stunned. “That wasn’t her.”

“Then who—?”

Emilia stirred. Her lips moved.

“A soul… for a soul… has been claimed.”

We turned to the window.

And there, in the shattered glass, was not the Lady.

It was me.

A reflection—frozen. Eyes hollow. Lips curved in a ghostly smile.

And behind me in the reflection—stood her.

The Lady in White.

Whispering in my ear.

To be continued…