Grace moves to the center of the room. I watch her hands wave in a circle and a blue ring opens. Light pours in from it and a loud hiss rings in my ears. Bits of chestnut hair flick around my face as my hair is whipped around by the sudden blast of wind coming from the portal’s mouth. If I weren’t so angry, I might be more impressed.
Rye and I just glare at one another as I follow Grace into the portal. He’s such an ass. On second thought, I don’t wonder what it would be like to kiss him. I hate Rye. I hate him.
That has to be what this warm and tingly feeling is. Hate. Yes, it has to be.
Rye walks toward me, a smug grin on his face. I am going to tell him off, but before I can speak, he pulls me in and kisses me. It takes me by surprise, but I don’t want him to stop.
He pulls back, his eyes twinkling as he moves back in for another. My own eyes flicker shut and I part my lips, but the kiss never comes.
What?
When I open my eyes to give the cocky god a piece of my mind, I am standing back in the woods. Maya is there, paler than snow, her eyes completely black and hollow. A scream rips from out of me and I run, breaking twigs and crunching leaves in my wake. The blood in my veins pulses hard and my heart pounds against my rib cage. Maya is dead. I saw her die.
What is going on?
“Rye? Grace? Sunday?” I yell out, my voice echoing through the trees.
I take a moment and look around, noting how strange the trees are. Pitch black, without a single leaf, and each limb clipped to a sharp point. The ground that was covered in leaves a moment before turns to liquid, soaking my shoes and socks.
I spin and spin, the trees coming in closer and closer, and then it all stops and I see an opening in the clearing. I make a break for it, my feet kicking up the sludge, but I don’t stop to inspect myself.
When I burst through the clearing, out of breath, I freeze. Before me are four perfect silhouettes on horseback. Rain pours down on my head, but it’s just as black as the murk I ran through. I start to turn, planning my escape, but the shadowy figure on the far right points in my direction and I catch a glimpse of a curved black claw on the end of its finger.
Accepting the command, they charge, horses squealing, fire blazing under their midnight hooves, and I scream out. One second, I am kissing a god and the next I am standing at the mouth of evil.
The clomp of hooves fades and I stop, turning to see where they could have gone. Instead of the four from before, a line of demons, all misshapen and deformed, crest the hill, like a scene from The Lord of the Rings. I spot the four on horseback. They’re at the front of the army, and this time, the order is the bellow of a trumpet.
The demons charge, their bodies pouring down the hill like ants, multiplying as more follow behind the front line, a never-ending horde. I scream and run in the opposite direction. My foot snags a tree root and I hit the ground. They’re on top of me, their claws scraping at my flesh. Searing pain rocks me to my core. All I see are slobbery fangs and glistening claws, slick with my blood, and my heart is slowing its steady beat. The blood that coursed through my veins spills out onto the horde.
A bright light blinds me from above, burning through the monsters. This is it. I am dying.
A hum follows the light. I feel energy pour back into my body, a fresh breath of life. Scrambling back, I clutch at myself, but where the demons ripped and tore me open, I am whole and normal.
The light spreads further, ripping through the ranks, but before I can see the grand finale, the light implodes.
When the light blots out of existence, there’s a moment of absolutely nothing. The emptiness stretches on for eternity, and I am afraid that I am really, literally, dead.
***
I sit up with a gasp as light spills into my bedroom and covers my eyes. Sweat trickles down my brow and temples and I’m panting. It was just a nightmare. On cue, in comes my dad with worry all over his face.
“Biscuit, are you okay?” he asks.
I look around, taking in my room, and swallow the lump in my throat as I nod.
“I’m fine, Dad, just a nightmare.”
He looks over at me and an understanding smile spreads across his face.
“I know what’s going on here.”
“You do?”
I am panicking, like royally freaking out right now. He can’t possibly know what’s going on. I don’t even really know what’s going on, so how can he? Is this why he wanted to come to Whisper? Does he know everything? Things I don’t even know yet?
“Yeah, the first day of school can be a killer. That’s what you were dreaming about, right?”
I sigh in relief. God, that felt close. As if my dad would let me do any of this if he knew. I guess that’s my overactive imagination coming into play again.
“Ah…yeah,” I stutter out.
“Well don’t worry, it’s going to be fine. I know it seems like a big deal now but it’s just your first day at a new school. Believe it or not, Biscuit, it’s not life and death.”
He kisses my forehead and smiles at me. He waits patiently until I lie back down and then he pushes my hair back from my face and heads for the door.
“Oh, the irony, Dad,” I mutter
