Warped (Maurissa Guibord)

weeping.
    "What have you done to him?" She raised her head and wiped the back of her hand over her wet eyes. "Bring him back."
    Gray Lily smiled. "Oh, I will," she said. She wound the long slivery thread over one gnarled hand. "Wait until you see the glory of my unicorn. Much better than a boy."
    "Tessa?" A voice echoed in the alley as Jackson Brody came running up. Gray Lily shot a look behind her at this interruption and cursed. She stuffed the glowing silver thread into the trash bag.
    Tessa's father bounded over and grabbed her in a bear hug. Relief washed over his worried features. "Tessa! My God. Are you okay? What the hell happened in the store?"
    Tessa couldn't speak. She kept shaking her head as she pressed herself into his embrace.
    Her father held her, his eyes scanning her torn clothes and bloodied hands. "You're filthy. And bleeding!" He looked up and seemed to notice for the first time the elderly woman standing a short distance away.
    "What's going on here?" he repeated in a harsher voice, keeping a protective arm around Tessa.
    "Mr. Brody?" said Gray Lily in a warbling, uncertain voice. "I'm Lila Gerome." She raised the trash bag slightly, grimacing as if the weight of it were too much for her. "It's very odd," she said, still speaking in a bewildered tone, "but I'm afraid I saw your daughter staging some kind of a break-in at your store. She ran away, holding this. I followed her here."
    "What is it?" Jackson asked, confusion and concern making his usually friendly features crease into hard, nervous lines.
    "It's my tapestry." She paused. "The one that you assured us was stolen , Mr. Brody."
    "Dad, she's lying," Tessa said.
    Gray Lily shrugged and opened the bag to show one corner of the tapestry.
    Her father looked at her. "Tessa," he said uncertainly, "I don't understand. You took it?"
    "Yes, but--" Tessa stopped. She could see the doubt in her father's eyes. How could she explain? She looked at Gray Lily. "Show him the rest of the tapestry," Tessa cried. "It's changed."
    "You're talking nonsense, young lady," said Gray Lily. She looked steadily at Tessa and then turned her gaze to Jackson Brody. "I would hate for there to be any more unpleasantness. For you."
    Underneath the false sweetness Tessa could hear the threat. Gray Lily was telling her that she could do the same thing to them that she had done to Will de Chaucy. Tessa had no reason to doubt it. She could still feel the residual ache in her chest. And that was only from the indirect contact she'd had with the witch's power. She couldn't imagine the pain Will had endured. Instinctively, she huddled nearer to her father. She couldn't let that happen.
    "She did something awful to Will," she told her father. "He's gone."
    "Who's Will?" her father asked, looking confused.
    Tessa looked at the ground. "He's--he's a boy I know." She raised her eyes to glare at Gray Lily.
    Gray Lily only gave a worried-looking nod of agreement. "Yes. I did see a young man running with her. I don't know where he went." Her look to Tessa was pitying. "Obviously he wasn't concerned about your daughter's well-being."
    Jackson Brody shook his head and pulled Tessa closer. "Thank God you're okay." He looked at Gray Lily. "Ms. Gerome," he began haltingly. His shoulders drooped as he let out a sigh. "I'm not sure what to say. My daughter has been going through a difficult time." He shook his head, looked at Tessa and repeated slowly, "I just don't know."
    "Dad!" Tessa cried. A terrible sense of helplessness flooded her. There was nothing she could do to prove that Gray Lily was lying. There was nothing she could do to get Will back.
    "I'm just pleased to have the tapestry back," Gray Lily said. Her tone was reasonable. "It has been in my family for generations." She gave Jackson Brody a small, careful smile, her lips pressed firmly together. There was no hint of the ugly blackness inside. "Honestly, you have no idea the sentimental value it holds for me."
    The black bag rustled as if something inside was moving. Quickly Gray Lily gave the bag a shake and pulled the plastic drawstrings tight.
    Tessa stared at Gray Lily, shaking with anger and despair. "You lying bitch!" she whispered.
    Gray Lily stiffened, narrowed her eyes until they were black slits and focused a stare of such intense hatred on Tessa that Tessa trembled.
    "Tessa!" Her father's voice was sharp. "That's enough."
    "I'll be going now," Gray Lily said softly. "You see, I have work to do that cannot be put off