I headed for the stairs leading to the front door, but Alex pointed around back. "We should bring him in through the servants' entrance. He should get used to that."
"I don't think it will be a big deal to bring him in through the front."
"Jodi, please try to remember that as much as you want them to be human, they're not. This soul has been gone for years. If you want to make things easier on him, then help him fit in with the other servants."
I hated this. More than I could ever express to Alex. I'd hoped he'd feel the same way I did, that he'd agree with me and maybe even convince his parents to release the souls of the other servants. It was ridiculous that everyone around here couldn't pull their own weight. Hell, I'd wash the dishes and make the beds if it meant these souls didn't have to be tortured like this. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this didn't seem abnormal to Alex because he had grown up here. Around Ophi. Around all this. Being waited on by the living dead was part of his daily routine. It was hard to see what was wrong with something if it was all you knew. I felt bad for him, so I gave in.
"We're going to take you around back where the others like you go in and out of the house." The guy continued to look at me without changing his expression. "This way, please." He followed. We took him through the entrance by the kitchen. I heard the sound of pots and various other cooking utensils. The servants must have been preparing dinner. They probably spent all their time cooking. There were always so many foods to choose from at each meal. We walked into the kitchen, but the servants kept working, not even noticing us. They were like robots, doing what they were told to do and not wavering from their instructions.
I cleared my throat, but that did nothing to get their attention. Alex whistled and yelled, "Listen up." All the servants stopped what they were doing. He leaned toward me. "Victoria told them to drop everything if one of us whistles. It lets them know they need to listen. It works well since we can't really control them until we turn eighteen." I noticed one woman by the stove put her hand on a bright-red burner. She rested it there as if it wasn't even turned on. I ran over to her in horror. I heard her skin sizzle and got the faint smell of burned flesh. Her hand was blistered and red.
"Please, come here." I brought her to the sink and turned on the cold water. "Put your hand under the water."
"She can't feel pain," Alex said. "She'll be fine. Stuff like that happens all the time."
"That doesn't make it okay." I shot him a look, and he stepped back as if I'd punched him. "Look, I know this is just another day for you. You don't know any other life. But to me this is awful. These were people. And maybe they're not really alive anymore. Maybe they can't feel pain, but that doesn't make it okay for them to burn their hands on a hot stove or have to obey every command we give them."
"Ignore what she said!" Troy's voice boomed from the doorway. "Get back to work. All of you." He looked at me and then Alex, the brunt of his disapproval falling on Alex. "Both of you, in the hall. Now!"
"Wrap your hand in a wet towel," I whispered to the woman with the burned hand. Then, I followed Alex and Troy into the hall.
"What exactly did you think you were doing?" Troy asked, looking back and forth between us.
"One of the servants burned her hand. It was pretty bad. I was trying to help her."
"Wouldn't want burned flesh in the casserole." Alex was trying to lighten the mood, but Troy wasn't amused. "Jodi raised a dead body. We brought it here to replace the servant we lost yesterday."
Troy's expression softened. "Very good, Jodi. A successful raising on your first attempt is definitely commendable."
"Thank you." I was afraid Troy was going to start yelling again.
"What's that I heard?" Victoria walked toward us. "Jodi raised and controlled a body on the first attempt?"
"Yes, she did." Alex practically beamed with pride. "She's a natural."
"Well, that's fantastic! I have a full set of servants back then." She squeezed her hands together like an overly-excited child. "I am in awe of your abilities, Jodi. You may be teaching lessons soon. You seem to pick up on everything so quickly, and now that Medusa's locket has presented itself to you, well, there's no limit to your power."
Someone scoffed behind Victoria. "Precious little Jodi and her amazing powers. Please! What has she really done?" I hadn't even noticed Abby.
"How about everything the adult Ophi can do?" Alex said. "What have you done, except create a zombie that almost ripped your head off yesterday? I heard all about that. Quinn said you lost control in seconds and ran screaming toward the house. And you tried to tell people the locket appeared to you instead of Jodi?" He shook his head. "That's nothing short of laughable."
"Now, Alex, let's not be rude," Victoria said.
Abby was clenching her fists. "So Jodi's done a few things right. You all think everything she does is amazing. Like holding both of Medusa's hands. How difficult is that?" She turned and walked off. "I'll show you how tough that is."
"Abigail!" Troy yelled, but she was a girl on a mission. We followed her to the statue in the foyer. "Abby, stop right now!"
"Don't be stupid, Abby," Alex said. "You're not Jodi. You don't have Medusa's blood in your veins. At least not in the same way Jodi does. You have no idea what will happen to you if you try this."
"I know what will happen," Abby said. "I'll prove Jodi is nothing special." She reached out and took both of Medusa's hands at once. For a second, nothing seemed to happen. Abby shrugged. "See." But then her face contorted. She screamed, and her body convulsed. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell to the floor.
Chapter 24
"Abby!" I yelled.
We all ran to her, but I could tell it wasn't good. Alex was right. My blood was different from the others'. Abby couldn't handle Medusa's power. She wasn't meant to. It was for me alone. I was the Chosen One. The one in the prophecy. The one meant to save the Ophi.
Troy had his fingers pressed against Abby's throat. "She's dead."
"No!" I didn't like Abby. She'd been nothing but trouble since I'd gotten here, but that didn't mean I wanted her to die. Especially not while trying to prove she was as strong as I was. She might have said she was trying to prove I wasn't special, but really, she was trying to prove she was just as special. In her mind, I'd come here and taken over-become the center of attention. After being abandoned by her family, I couldn't help seeing her side just a little. I had to do something. My hands flew to my locket. Medusa's locket. The answer was in mixing the blood. The poison with the life-bearing side.
I went to the statue, having to straddle Abby's dead body to do it. I took both Medusa's hands in mine. My hair blew all around me, and my blood began to bubble. I closed my eyes and silently begged Medusa to appear in my mind.
"I'm here, my child."
"Please, help me. I need to know how to raise an Ophi. I know the secret is in mixing my blood, but what do I do after that?"
"You want to raise the ungrateful creature that lost her life trying to disgrace our names?"
"Disgrace our names? What do you mean?"
"She does not wish you well, Jodi. She does not believe in your abilities. Both of these things disgrace your name and, by extension, mine."
"Medusa, she was stupid. She didn't know what she was doing. Please. Let me save her. Help me save her."
"Is this truly what you wish?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Your blood is mixing at this very moment. You can tell your blood to mix. It will obey. You will need to sacrifice a drop of your blood to Abby if you wish to restore life to her. But hurry. Her soul will leave her body soon, and it will be much more difficult to bring her back. If you don't succeed, she will be nothing more than a servant like the others the Ophi have raised." I wanted to ask Medusa what she thought of the servants, but there wasn't time. Abby's soul wouldn't stick around long.
"Thank you." I released Medusa's hands and turned to Abby. I reached my hand out to Alex. "Your knife. And hurry!"
He handed it over without a word. I pricked my right index finger, making sure I could feel my blood bubbling and mixing in my veins. I tipped my finger over Abby's mouth and let it drip. Under my breath, I murmured, "Bring life back to Abby. Return her to the way she was before she joined hands with Medusa." I backed up and gave Alex his knife.
"How do you know it worked?" he asked.
"Medusa said it would."
Victoria and Troy shared a glance. I could tell they were about to ask me how, but Abby choked. We all looked down at her.
"Are you okay?" Victoria asked.
"What happened?" Abby looked confused, not at all sure why she was on the ground.
"You grabbed both of Medusa's hands to prove you're as powerful as Jodi," Alex said. "Only you're not as powerful as Jodi. The statue killed you."