The Writing Retreat(28)
Whatever. I had a plot to figure out. I settled into Keira’s seat and grabbed the first book on the pile. The cover showed a black-and-white photograph of Daphne draped in a lace shawl, her dark-rimmed eyes closed as she scribbled on a pad. It was the same photo that was now a painting in the front hall. The book’s title was Daphne Wolfe: Feminist, Artist, Spiritualist. I paged through the first chapter.
We have little information on Daphne’s early life. She grew up in a humble home, her father a factory worker, her mother a washerwoman. She had three siblings, and her younger sister, Grace, died of a burst appendix at twelve years old. Scholars believe that this was the beginning of Daphne’s interest in the occult, which only came to public light after she married Horace and had the means and respectability to host seances at their estate.
I flipped to another section.
Horace was a lifelong avowed bachelor. It surprised everyone when, in his fifties, he fell for a village waitress half his age. He was by all accounts a handsome and charismatic man, and his friends questioned the sudden decision to get married to someone who was “lower-class.” Later, people in town spoke of Daphne as having bewitched him, especially after her spiritualist activities became known.
And there were Daphne and Horace standing together, the other photo replicated in the front hall. A few pages on, Daphne stood before a fireplace with two women. One stared at the camera, her chin proudly raised, her hands clasped in front of her ruffled dress. The other, who looked younger, smiled shyly, her head bowed above her high neckline. The caption read:
Daphne, Florence, and Abigail, founding members of the Blackbriar Spiritualist Society.
I glanced at the paragraph next to the photo.
Daphne became close with two other members of high society, Florence Binninger and Abigail Williams, who were also interested in spiritualism. For three years, they met weekly and called themselves the Blackbriar Spiritualist Society. During these meetings, the women attempted to channel spirits through automatic writing and drawing, a practice that supported Daphne’s burgeoning artistic skills. Eventually, Daphne claimed to connect with a female demon named Lamia who asked Daphne to channel a “Great Commission” that would bring knowledge and wisdom to humankind. Daphne took this commission on, even though Florence and Abigail tried to dissuade her, believing that it would cause her to go mad.
Daphne prepared herself for six months in advance, engaging in hours of meditation and eating only bland, vegetarian food. She kept most of this information from Horace, who was often traveling for his business. Daphne chose a two-week period when he would be gone to begin channeling Lamia’s works. During this time, she sent all the servants away from the house. In just three days, Daphne finished the first large-scale works of the commission: The World in Between I and II (pp. 62–63). Afterwards, she took to her bed for several weeks to recover.
I flipped to the next page. The pictures were small and poorly reproduced, but they showed the two enormous abstract paintings in the front hall.
Three months after the first series, while Daphne was preparing herself for the second round, Horace’s company went bankrupt. He became depressed and ordered Daphne to stop her work. She humored him but secretly finished the second series, titled The Doorway, in a four-day span. Unfortunately, Horace found the paintings and burned them in a bonfire. It’s unclear whether he believed they were evil or if he was just punishing Daphne. Sadly, we have no record of these paintings. Daphne hid the World in Between works in the basement, ensuring their survival.
Daphne prepared for the third channeling in secret as Horace threatened to divorce her if she continued. But what happened on the eve of this transmission will never be known. A blizzard approached and Horace sent the servants home to their families. The storm dropped eight feet of snow in forty-eight hours, which made it impossible to reach the house for nearly a week. When the servants returned, they found a horrific and mystifying sight. Horace lay in his bed, disembowled. Daphne was at the foot of the basement stairs, her body a charred skeleton. Apart from her burned body, the rest of the basement was untouched. The World in Between paintings had been removed from their hiding place and leaned against the wall several feet from the corpse.
No paintings from the third part of the commission, if completed, were ever found.
Chapter 11
I was the first to arrive in the library. Someone—presumably Yana—had set up a large rectangular table in front of the windows. I sat and spread out my papers and notebook, attempting to quell the sharp spikes of panic in my chest. There was a coffee carafe on the buffet table but it was probably a bad idea in my already frazzled state.
After hours of attempts, I’d finally settled on what seemed like the least horrible idea.
Unfortunately, someone in the group might find it a bit familiar.
“What’s up!” Taylor loped in, dressed in a colorful sweatshirt and red leggings, with Keira close behind.
“Hi, guys.” To my surprise, Taylor sat far away, at the opposite end of the table, and Keira settled next to her. Why had they chosen to sit so far from me?
We all turned at the sounds from the doorway.
“I was, like, what are you even talking about?” Poppy was saying as she and Wren swept into the room. “Have you never heard of a press kit before?”