“The huntsman,” the voices hissed.“The huntsman.”
The chorus swelled louder and louder.
“The huntsman,” they repeated, an urgent warning or terrible promise, she couldn't tell which.“The huntsman.”
The doorbell's sharp ring cut through the cacophony of whispers.Piper jerked in her seat, head snapping toward the sound.
“I'll get it,” her mother said, rising from her chair.“Probably Jenna checking in before work.”
When Piper turned back to the table, the chair across from her was empty.The doll was gone, vanished as if it had never been there, and the voices had fallen silent, leaving only the echo of that strange word in her mind:huntsman.
She heard her mother's greeting at the door, followed by the familiar voices of Jenna and Jake.Their footsteps approached the kitchen, bringing the scent of morning air with them.
“Want some breakfast?”her mother offered.“I've made plenty.”
"No time," Jenna replied."We've got some new information.Colonel Spelling just called.They found organs—a liver and lungs—in a park in Pinecrest.Nobody yet."
Mom gasped.“Like in the original Snow White Story,” she said.
Standing in the doorway, Jake added, “We need to head straight to Pinecrest.”
Piper looked up at her sister's face, seeing the familiar intensity in those green eyes that matched her own.
“I had a dream last night,” Jenna continued, glancing between Piper and their mother.“A woman named Rebecca Hartley appeared to me.She was in a glass coffin.”
Margaret Graves sank back into her chair, one hand rising to her throat.“A glass coffin?That’s in the Snow White story too—even the milder versions.”
Jake replied, "It's more than just a fairy tale again.A woman by that name is missing.And those organs have been found.Nobody yet."
“The huntsman,” Piper whispered, the connection suddenly clear.In the fairy tale, the huntsman had been ordered to cut out Snow White's heart.
Jenna's gaze snapped to her.“What did you just say?”
“The huntsman,” Piper repeated, louder this time.“I...I heard voices saying it, just before you arrived.”
“Did you have a vision?”Jenna stepped closer, her eyes searching Piper's face.“A visitation of some kind?”
Piper hesitated, remembering the doll's warning gesture not to tell anyone about her.She felt torn between her instinctive trust in her twin and a strange compulsion to keep the doll's existence secret.
“Just voices,” she said finally.It wasn't a lie, not exactly.“They kept saying 'the huntsman' over and over.”
“Did they say who he is?This huntsman?”Jenna pressed.
Piper shook her head."No.They just kept saying, 'the huntsman, the huntsman.'Whoever he is, he must be important somehow."
“Important in both stories,” Jenna agreed.“One kills a wolf and rescues the people, and one refuses to kill the child, Snow White.The huntsman is a good guy both times.”
“That’s nice,” Piper replied, feeling a touch of relief.“But the voices didn’t say anything about that.”
“We need to go,” Jake said quietly.
Jenna squeezed Piper's shoulder briefly.“Call me if you hear or see anything else, okay?Anything at all.”
They left as quickly as they'd arrived, the door closing behind them with a finality that made Piper shiver.Her mother remained at the table, staring into her coffee cup as if it might hold answers.
Piper pushed her plate away, appetite gone.The eggs had congealed, cold and unappetizing.She couldn't shake the doll's words from her mind, the accusation that she brought death and evil with her.Looking at her mother's worried face, at the empty doorway where her sister had just stood, she wondered if it might be true.
If the doll was right, if she really was Emma—if she really did poison everything she touched—then what danger had she brought home with her to the people she loved?