Courting Death | Book 3

E I G H T

E I G H T
Lola Lola

LIBRO VITAE, THE foreign words felt ever so familiar, as if a piece of a puzzle from a distant memory so very far away. The words made something click within me, and I could feel all my past lives pushing towards the surface, struggling to get out and take over. I bit onto my lip hard, hand reaching up to clutch my head as a splitting pain wormed its way into my head. There was a small voice at the back of my mind, whispering to me that it definitely wasn't Ida returning. However, I feared whoever it was that was trying to break free.

"Addison, are you okay?" Minnie placed a hand on my shoulder, eyes filled with worry as I gritted my teeth.

"It's a past life." When those words left my mouth, I could hear Fabian take in a sharp intake of air. "But not Ida. I don't know who it is."

"Shit." Cursing under his breath, Dimitri rushed over, a hand placed on my forehead. Upon contact, I could feel a searing pain cut through my skin as if tearing it from my muscles.

And then, all at once, the pain was gone. I could not feel anything at all, the pain, the numbness that stayed from yesterday, everything. There wasn't a single feeling left even though I know fully well that Minnie and Dimitri still had their hands on me. I just couldn't feel their hands' pressure.

"Addison?" Dimitri asked and my body moved, head tilting up even though I had not commanded it to do so. Someone else was taking control of my body and boy did I hate the feeling.

"No, not Addison." The voice that had emerged from my own throat wasn't mine. It belonged to another, a girl much younger than my own age. She sounded not a single day past twelve years of age. "Lola."

Fabian looked in shock, and though it wasn't in the same force as when he had witnessed Ida's return, he still in all seemed fascinated. His eyebrows were raised, lips slightly parted as his eyes darted up and down my figure as if I were an entirely different person -- in this case I apparently am.

"Ghost possessions," Minnie muttered under her breath, her thumbs twiddling each other as she laughed nervously. "How... wonderful." She took an exaggerated step backwards just as Dimitri's hand fell from my shoulders and back down to his side.

"And who are you, Lola?" He asked, face void of a smile. Dimitri was simply assessing, just looking for clues. Though to what answer this clue might solve, I do not know.

Lola, the girl who had full control over my entire body, started to pace around. She moved with a little jump in her step, as if overjoyed to finally have a body again. Stopping at the walls of the cell, she sniffed it before wiping a single index finger over the biblical Hebrew imprints on the wall, grimacing when she realized the words.

Proceeding to ignore Dimitri's question, she turned around, a perfect pout on her lips.

"The libro vitae had been hidden for thousands of years. How in the hell are you going to find it? Now that's the real question, isn't it?"

"We don't have time for your games, little girl." With a growl, Dimitri was by my side in a few quick steps, his eyebrows furrowed into a look of irritation. "Like I asked, who are you?"

"Lola, Lola, Lola, Lola, Lola," I continued to sing. "Hey! That's my name!"

"We're stuck with a mad little child and time is running out." Running a hand through his dark hair, Fabian laughed in disbelief. "This is it. We're screwed."

"Screwed, such a funny word." Tapping a finger to my chin, Lola veered my body to face Fabian and Minnie now. "Such a funny era, this is. If only there was a way to return back to the old world."