Hourglass → Ace; Nancy Drew [1]

xix. the funeral for cursed souls

THE FUNERAL FOR CURSED SOULS
CHAPTER NINETEEN

Olivia's body barely carried itself as she followed her friends up the stairs of the wine cellar. Compared to how she had felt before the ceremony, she was immensely better now. Her once numb, frail bones actually felt present in her limbs– she felt one with her body once again– and she was grateful to have enough of her brain back under her control to not have to worry about hurting her friends. Nevertheless, her muscles still burned like Hellfires, and her heart was no stronger than it was hours ago. She felt battered, bruised, and like if she let her eyelids loose, they'd close within seconds. Like if Ace wasn't by her side, holding her hand while her other friends surrounded her like bodyguards and soldiers, she could lose balance any moment. She felt like all she needed was one raised voice, one inconvenience, one more thing to go wrong, for her to let go. To give up. To stop fighting. Because although her curse was broken and she could live freely once again, she still felt like her heart was at battle, suffocating under the debris of what she once knew and what she had found out.

She let out a muffled sigh of relief when she finally climbed over the final step and entered the hallway in the lodge. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the wall, resting her head on it while she, George, and Ace waited for the others to climb through. "I still can't believe it's over." She tried to sound ecstatic, but her words came out almost monotonous, drowned under her exhaustion.

"We promised we'd break the curse, and we did!" George said enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. "But let's never do that again."

Olivia chuckled softly and rolled her eyes. "I'll try my best not to get tied into a curse again."

"As long as Arthur Irvine's dead, we shouldn't have a problem." Nick's head peaked behind the doorframe as he stepped through it with Bess and Nancy following behind. "What time is it? We good to start driving back home now?" He furrowed his brows and flicked his wrist to get his analog watch straight.

"Yeah, we should get going before it gets too dark," Nancy agreed, flickering her eyes toward the closest window to get a glimpse of the grey sky awaiting them outside.

Bess nodded and began to amble down the hall, toward the main living room area. "Alright, I'm just going to use the toilet before we-" She flinched at the sound of violent banging. With wide eyes, she looked to her friends who shared a similar wary expression before returning her attention down the long hall that led to the front door.

"That better not be Arthur Irvine," George hissed through gritted teeth, giving her boyfriend a sharp glare. "If it is, I'm blaming you."

"What?" He gasped in confusion, raising his hands up innocently. "Why me?"

"Because you jinxed it!"

"Shut up!" Oliva snapped, quietening everyone. As the space silenced, the banging on the door became more prominent with no other noises to flush it out. "Who do you think it is?" Her features softened and she wrapped her arms comfortingly around her torso as she glanced down the hall anxiously then back to her friends.