Warped (Maurissa Guibord)

widened in shock, and he gripped her arms so tightly she winced. "What's wrong?"
    "It's her," Will hissed as the old woman approached. "It's Gray Lily. Get behind me, Tessa, and as soon as you can, run. " He stepped in front of her.
    "But--" Tessa objected.
    "Do as I say!" Will snapped.
    Tessa looked at the frail-looking old woman before them and could hardly believe she was a threat. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall, and looked wrinkled and grandmotherly. Her clothes, a blue woolen skirt and white blouse, hung on her frame as if they didn't belong to her.
    "I see you dispatched my lymerer," said Gray Lily, gazing at the two of them with small, hungry-looking eyes. She brought a wrinkled hand up to brush back her coarse gray hair in a surprisingly youthful gesture. "It's no matter." She held up a piece of black thread and put it in her pocket. "I shall heal him and call upon his services again when I need him. His diversion did allow me at least to reclaim what is mine." She smiled, or rather, a thin black hollow opened between her lips. Tessa shivered, and stepping forward to Will's side, she reached for his hand. His fingers wrapped around hers, and though her hand still stung from the cuts, the contact felt comforting; she squeezed his hand.
    The old woman glanced at Tessa and then raised her eyebrows. "Well. Fancy that," she said.
    Tessa stared back at the woman's hard little face. "What?"
    But the woman hardly seemed to hear her. "Perhaps that explains why you've been able to meddle with my tapestry," Gray Lily said in a musing voice. "Old connections. Ties that bind. And once again, you've led me to my unicorn."
    Will took a step sideways, trying to shield Tessa. "Be gone, witch. Your work is undone."
    "Nonsense," Gray Lily laughed. "What weaver worth her salt would give up on a masterpiece for a few dropped stitches? Look what I found, my dears."
    Gray Lily opened the plastic trash bag. Inside, Will and Tessa could see the colors of the tapestry. From the dark interior of the bag it seemed to glow, the colored threads moving as if they were alive. She closed it again.
    "Now it is time for you to return to your rightful place, young master." Gray Lily took a step forward and raised her hand. It was almost a friendly gesture, as if she were waving good-bye, but she held it there and then pointed at Will.
    Instantly Will's body jerked forward, toward the old woman. Tessa let out a shocked cry. It was as if an invisible rope tied around him had tugged. Tessa tightened her grip on Will's hand. "Stop!" she cried out.
    Gray Lily stretched out her hand. Her thin fingers curled slightly, as if to hold on to the ornate silver ring with a yellow stone that dominated her gnarled hand. She shuffled closer and pressed her fist to Will's chest.
    Will twisted, struggling against whatever force pulled at him. He looked at Tessa.
    "Tessa, I--" he began, but then his words choked off and his body arched back. "Run," he managed to gasp.
    Tessa shook her head and tried to pull Will toward her, away from Gray Lily. But she couldn't.
    She cried out as she saw a pale vapor seep from Will's chest and writhe away, toward Gray Lily. At the same time Tessa felt a coldness begin to take hold in her own chest. It was as if a splinter of ice had lodged in her heart and was growing, spreading a dull, aching blackness through her. Will's hand slipped from hers.
    As soon as the contact was broken, the pain in her chest disappeared. But Will was in agony. She could see it. His face twisted in pain. He let out one sharp cry and slumped to his knees.
    "No!" screamed Tessa.
    Gray Lily shot a leering grin at her, and a series of foul-sounding guttural growls poured out of her black mouth.
    Tessa tried to reach for Will but couldn't move. She was frozen, her mouth open in an endless shout, her hands reaching for Will. She could only watch as the vapor pulled away faster and faster. It rolled out as a lengthening thread and whirled into Gray Lily's hands. Tessa recognized it as the same silvery white thread she had pulled from the tapestry. If only she could pull it back, maybe she could save him. Tessa focused her thoughts on this, and for a moment she thought the thread wavered. No. It sped away. As it did, Will's body began to grow transparent. Tessa could see the bricks of the wall beyond. Could see through him. Then he was gone.
    Something, whatever it was that had been holding her, released, and Tessa collapsed to the ground,