At the snap of the boy’s fingers, Shana and her friends were plunged into darkness.
She couldn’t see, not one thing. But she could feel. She felt the presence of Altair, right beside her. She felt the presence of Shias, not far behind her. She could feel the Eternal Flame within her, and Heart both within her and beside her.
For a moment, she could feel everyone, feel everything. She wasn’t alone, even in this impossible darkness.
But then there was the boy’s voice, his wicked little cackle, ringing in the dark. Shana already couldn’t see, not even the light of Altair near her feet, but all of a sudden, the dark became so much deeper and darker.
She couldn’t feel any of them, either.
No!
Panic instantly gripped her heart, and she struggled against it. Just because she couldn’t feel them didn’t mean they were gone. Darkness like this…
Wait. This is…
Something clicked in Shana’s brain. But only a piece of the puzzle, not the complete picture. She held onto that piece, and stood still, silent, in the thick, endless dark.
There can’t just be nothing. He wants to play with us. He also wants to make us “his,” but primarily he wants to play. He’s not just going to jump to victory right off the bat.
More than that…
I won’t let it end so easily.
Shana was fired up. She had been, ever since she’d met the Eternal Flame and learned of the evil “usurper” that had taken her place in the Dream Forge within the Library of Solitude’s Dream. Fired up against a new, mysterious foe…
And fired up for the sake of wonderful new ally. An ally who had been inside of her all this time, and she’d just never known. She’d carried the Eternal Flame, and since then, the Eternal Flame had been a part of her.
And while Shana had ceased to feel even the presence of her beloved Summon, she could still feel the Eternal Flame, warm and strong and constant within her. Not just within her — throughout her. Like fire running through her veins, a fire that didn’t burn but empowered her, gave her a strength beyond her own.
Even when she was alone, she wasn’t alone. She would never be alone.
“All right, then,” Shana said, gazing into the endless dark. “If this is a game… what are the rules?”
“So you’re willing to play, hmm?” asked the boy, his voice coming from all around Shana, even from beneath her feet.
“I’m not here to play,” Shana said. “I’m here to win. Let’s get started.”
“Oh, I do like the fiery ones,” the boy said, his laugh soft and sinister.
The darkness lightened somewhat, and Shana saw a winding stone path stretching out before her. It wasn’t just winding left and right, though — it spiraled, winding vertically as well as horizontally.
There was nothing else but the path. Darkness left the world veiled on all sides.
The boy said no more, and Shana didn’t speak, either. She started forward along the path. When it started to twist, rotating into its forward spiral, gravity twisted with it, keeping Shana grounded to the path even when she was completely upside down. Her footsteps sounded dull and hollow in the emptiness. Her breathing seemed so loud, even though she wasn’t struggling to breathe. There were no other sounds but those she made on her own. No wind stirred.
On Shana walked, upside-down to right-side-up and back again, round and round, following the path to an unknown point far, far, far in the distance. What lay at the end, she couldn’t tell, she couldn’t know.
And the boy wasn’t saying anything else.
Shana felt his silence as a challenge, and she met it, keeping her own silence as well. Who would speak first? She felt like if she did, she’d end up losing — not the game in its entirety, but a small part of it.
And there wasn’t anything else to do but follow the path for now. If this was a game, it was an easy one — or an easy start, at any rate. The silence and solitude gave Shana a chance to think. First she tried to see if she could speak with the Eternal Flame within her. But all of her thoughts, her internal questions, were met with silence.
I can feel you. But you can’t always speak to me?
It’s okay. Your presence is enough. And I know you’re frightened of this usurper. So I’ll keep carrying you — and I’ll keep you safe.
It was strange, though, that she couldn’t feel Heart’s presence. Shana was the Dreamer; the Dreamer’s Heart was her heart. How could she not feel her own heart? When she paused for a moment, pressing her hand against her chest, she could faintly feel her own heartbeat. But that was it. Flesh and blood, pumping life through her veins.
I can’t feel you, Heart. But…
I’m going to trust that you’re still with me. You’re always with me. Even when I can’t feel you.
Shana started on again, walking round and round this endless spiral, the wheels turning in her mind.
We were inside the Library of Solitude’s Dream. The usurper, this wicked little boy, turned it into a Nightmare. The Dream Forge… are we inside of it? Is this like the trial I faced with Isabelle, Annabelle, and Maribelle?
That’s important to know. If the little boy’s “game” is inside the Dream Forge, that could change all of the rules. And either way, things won’t work like I would ever expect. I was already inside the Dream of a Location, in a space between the Waking World and Dreamworld. This space already doesn’t follow the rules of either of the worlds I know so well.
But what is it? What is this Nightmare? What lies within? Garnet came here looking for answers about her family. I ended up here by accident, called by the Eternal Flame.
The Library of Solitude… it all keeps coming back to that place, somehow. I suppose it is the Prime Bastion. And it has a deep connection to the Dreamer’s Heart, too. No wonder I keep coming back here.
But this boy… what is he? Heart felt some of that lingering, distant dread that Nocta talked about. Like a great, pervasive Nightmare, still in its infancy, but one so widespread it could threaten to overtake all of Dreams, the entire Dreamworld itself.
Is that boy… is he it? Is he the Nightmare? Or is he the one who dreamed up the Nightmare?
I need answers. And I’d like to ask, I’d like to talk, but…
Let’s find the end of this path, first.
Shias… Altair… Heart, Annabelle, Kathryn, Rae, Ben, Garnet…
I’m counting on all of you to stay safe. I’ll find you. Or you’ll find me.
We’re all getting out of this, safe and sound, no matter what.
And Shana found herself amazed at herself. Because she genuinely felt brave. Fear wasn’t a part of her, it didn’t hold her heart like it had so many times in the past. She’d felt a sudden spark of panic, at the start. But she had confronted it, headed it off, and hadn’t let it give way to fear.
Or… maybe that’s what it’s like. Fear isn’t something we void ourselves of. It’s a natural response sometimes. But if we confront it and head it off, then it can’t control us. Is that how it works?
Courage is confusing. So is fear. I don’t really get all of it, even now, but…
That’s okay. Right now, I’m not afraid.
I am ready for this path to end, though. Let’s get to the next part of the game.
On and on with darkness all around went the path, spiraling in wild contortions that Shana walked as if they weren’t even there, gravity following her, keeping her grounded and steady. But ahead, there was only the path. On and on and on, endless towards an unknown horizon of darkness. There had to be an end. But where was it?
Suddenly, the silence was pierced by the boy’s laughter. “You’re so entertaining, Shana,” he said, his voice coming from all around her. “Silent and steady, constantly thinking, trying to figure it all out. But how can you find answers all by yourself? You’re not the kind of girl who handles things alone.”
“And what would you know about me?” Shana asked.
“Oh, I know all about you,” the boy said. “You’re the best Dreamer there’s ever been. You fit the bill perfectly, you really do. So innocent, so kind, so unexpectedly brave. And you’re young, which is perfect. Youthful Dreamers still have their innocence; they’re not weakened by the jaded cynicism of adulthood.”
“Not every adult is a jaded cynic,” Shana said. “And I certainly won’t be when I’m one.”
The boy laughed. “Who’s to say you ever will be an adult?”
That question hung in the air for a long silent moment.
And then the ground beneath Shana’s feet gave way. She fell, swallowing a gasp, tumbling head-over-heels through darkness.
“Oh, that’s the oldest trick in the book!” she said, flailing her arms, trying to steady her descent. “Can’t you come up with a more creative game? And you still haven’t told me the rules! I can’t play properly if I don’t know the rules.”
“You think I’m boring?” the boy asked, and Shana was taken aback. He sounded genuinely hurt, like an innocent little boy who’d had his heart crushed by someone he’d looked up to all his life.
And then Shana stopped. She didn’t land, there was no impact, it all happened without a transition between falling and landing. She was falling… and then she was standing. She grimaced, wiggling her toes. The ground was cold and damp, a faint wetness threatening to soak through her shoes. She took one step, then another, grimacing further at the squelch-squelch of her feet in the soft, soaked soil.
The darkness lightened around her, revealing that she stood in a murky sort of swamp. Dead, gnarled trees with arched, clawing branches stood black and foreboding all around. Flowers bloomed at their bases, petals glowing with soft purple light, so dark it was almost black. A little ways ahead was a tall iron gate, flanked on either side by statues of…
Shana stared. Those statues looked just like the frog statues in Grimoire’s public library’s courtyard. The frogs on each statue here were practically identical, in fact, big and puffed up with pride, mouths pursed slightly as if they should be spraying water into a fountain, but they were dry, just like in Grimoire.
Beyond the gate was a moss-encrusted brick path that wound its way up a tall, grassy hill, to… a sort of mansion. Even that seemed too small a word. It was huge, multiple buildings interconnected, with tall towers at some of the corners, and turreted projections from some of the buildings’ roofs. But though it looked fortified in places, like a defensive structure, it also had a gothic architectural style and overall aesthetic that spoke of it being a home for a huge, wealthy family. There was no moat and drawbridge, no portcullis, and there were far too many high, glass windows for it to be a proper defensive structure. Little purple, almost black, candles flickered in some of the windows and above the doors of the main building.
And there was something familiar about that mansion-castle, too, though Shana couldn’t quite place it from this distance. It was too dark — she was going to have to get closer. Squelching her way up to the main gate, she reached up to push it open.
“Shana!” The cry came from Kathryn, racing out from the trees, not caring at all for the gross squelching noises she made with each heavy, sprinting step. She wrapped Shana in a hug, and it took Shana several seconds to hug her back, she was so astonished at Kathryn’s sudden appearance.
“You’re here,” Shana said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Not just me, silly,” Kathryn said, pulling back and smiling at her. Behind her came Ben and Rae, and with them was Shias, carrying Altair in his arms. Altair looked for all the world like he wanted to leap from Shias’ arms, his little tail was wagging so hard, his eyes fixed on Shana, but he waited.
Shana didn’t make him wait longer than necessary. She raced to Shias, hugged him tight, and handled the trade-off from Altair into her arms with easy, familiar grace.
“He was with me from the start,” Shias said, “as soon as everything was plunged into darkness.”
“Were you all together?” Shana asked.
“Nope,” Kathryn said. “I was alone.”
“Me too,” Ben said, a haunted look in his eyes. “Thank goodness it didn’t last any longer. That was… freaky.”
“I was alone, too,” Rae said, which surprised Shana most. Rae had come through okay, and she even smiled as she came to Shana and joined in the hug she shared with Shias. Altair wriggled in Shana’s arms so he could nose down and lick Rae’s forehead.
“But we’re still missing Heart, Annabelle, and Garnet,” Shana said, slowly pulling back from her friends so she could look around. “What happened to all of you? What was it like, and how did you get here?”
“It was just a dark, spiraling path, Shias said. “Altair and I walked all alone, on and on forever, until the path suddenly vanished. We fell for a long time, and then… we were just… here.”
“I was hanging upside-down,” Ben said, shuddering. “There were all these… things, around me. I don’t know what they were. But they were all laughing at me. I didn’t…” He shuddered again. “But then it just… stopped. And I was here.”
“I was stuck in a chair,” Kathryn said. “Sitting, sitting, sitting. Every time I thought about getting up… I couldn’t. It was weird. And then it just stopped, and I was here, like the others.”
“It was all darkness for me,” Rae said. “And I couldn’t call on Brutus. But for some reason… I wasn’t afraid. I just waited, and trusted that it would be okay. And then it was over, and I was here.”
Shana couldn’t help but hug Rae a little tighter, knowing how brave she’d been. “Okay,” she said, surveying her team. “I think… we shouldn’t wait for the others.”
“We shouldn’t wait?” Ben asked. “But what if they show up and —”
“They won’t,” Shana said, her gaze tracking up to the mansion-castle on the hill. “I think they’re in there. Two Princesses, and the Dreamer’s Heart. What that boy wants the most, and what he knows will make me come running.”
“So we’ve gotta save ‘em,” Kathryn said.
“Altair’s here,” Shias said, “but Rae can’t call on Brutus. And even though I have my Talisman,” he took out his Pen, “I can’t call upon any of my magic. It’s like the first time we all walked the Nightmare Road.”
“I can use my magic,” Shana said, confirming as she looked through Altair’s eyes with Divination Magic, and then created a brief blue aura around Kathryn with Support Magic. “I don’t get it. Why am I the only one?”
“Maybe the Eternal Flame is protecting you from whatever’s blocking our magic?” Rae asked.
“I’m basically useless, then,” Ben said, leaning against the tall iron gate. “Can’t Blink, can’t call out doppels. And I’m not the smarty-pants that you guys are. I can’t figure stuff out, I’m always getting left behind.”
“You’re a morose self-doubter is what you are,” Kathryn said, glaring at him. “You’re not stupid, you’re not weak, you’re not useless. You’re always getting As and Bs in school. You’ve never gotten a C in anything before, which is better than me.”
“You only get bad grades when you argue with the teachers,” Ben muttered.
“It’s not my fault they’re sometimes too stupid to be the ones teaching those subjects!” Kathryn said. “Sheesh. I’m not gonna keep my mouth shut when my teacher is obviously wrong about something. But that’s not the point. You’ve got really good reflexes, you’re observant, and you think about things in weird ways that none of us do. Don’t discount your brain power! You’re a part of this team because you’re useful, because you belong here. You’re not just a tag-along or an extra. You’re one of the stars.” She grinned, stepping up to Ben and poking him right in the chest. “And you’ve got a good heart. You’re always nice to everyone, even if you’re shy and quiet about it. I know you care just as much as the rest of us. The only reason you talk like that about yourself is because you think you might get in the way of doing the right thing, which is admirable, but it’s also dumb. You’re not stupid, and you’re not useless, so throw that out and come help us out. And even if you think you can’t, don’t you want to be along for the ride? You’ll never be on an adventure like this anywhere else. Right?”
Ben stared at Kathryn, totally and completely stunned. Slowly, he bowed his head. “It’s not like I said I wanted to be left behind,” he murmured. “I just… don’t want to get in the way.”
“And like I just said —” Kathryn started.
“Thanks,” Ben said, meeting Kathryn’s gaze. He smiled, just a little. “All that stuff coming from you… it’s… the best.” He looked away, but he kept smiling. “Thanks.”
“You bet!” Kathryn said. She turned to Shana. “All right, it’s all settled here. We’re ready to go!”
“Good,” Shana said, her heart light, a smile coming to her face easily. “Let’s see what kind of ‘game’ is waiting for us. And…” She held out her hand, palm downward, “let’s win.”
“Ooh!” Kathryn said excitedly, placing her hand atop Shana’s. Next was Rae, then Shias, and finally Ben joined them, placing his hand on the top.
“One, two, three,” Shana said.
“Dawn Riders!” went up the cry, as five hands shot into the air.
Together, the Dawn Riders turned towards the gate. Shana took the lead, pushed the gate open, and started up towards the imposing mansion on the hill. The familiarity was overwhelming as Shana climbed to the mansion, and yet she couldn’t place it. Which was strange. She could remember everything she’d ever experienced without fail.
“It’s not an exact recreation of one single thing we’ve seen before,” Shias said. “It’s some amalgamation of things we know.”
“Oh,” Shana said, eyes widening in understanding. That was an effective way to trick her and her twin’s perfect memory — by combining things within their memory in creative and unconventional ways, the massive building could strike a resonant chord of familiarity while making it difficult for them to link the pieces with actual memories.
They reached the doorstep, and Shana paused before the huge double doors.
“It… feels like Grimoire,” Rae said.
“Yeah,” Shana said in a hushed voice. It certainly did. And that worried her. This place… what was it? Was it constructed from their own Nightmares? If so, why would it feel so much like Grimoire, and not like a combination of that and places linked to Garnet, Annabelle, and Heart?
But Shana didn’t think that was how this place worked. She didn’t think it was constructed from their Nightmares.
This place…
It’s existed for a long time.
She could feel the age, the memory within this place, and she was only on the threshold. What would it be like inside?
Distant and faint, so brief she almost thought she didn’t hear it at all, there was the malicious laughter of the boy.
“Let’s go in,” Kathryn said.
Shana nodded. She placed her hand on the doorknob, then looked to her brother. Shias grasped the other doorknob. Two doors, two hands, two siblings, they pushed through, opening up this wicked house together.
Inside was dark, gloomy, all surfaces and edges bathed in shadow. It was some sort of grand entrance hall, though details were difficult to make out. There was clearly quite a bit of furniture. Something — probably a chandelier — hung from the high ceiling. On the far end, stairs rose up on either side, arching up towards a second floor, and beneath their arch was another doorway.
Shana looked down at Altair, who was gazing up at her, wagging his tail. Shana smiled.
Totally fearless.
Shias was the first inside, and Shana and Altair followed, then the rest of them. Once the last one — Ben — was inside, the doors swung softly shut behind them.
“Such a cliché,” Kathryn said, rolling her eyes. “Hey, kid! We’re playing a game, right? What’s the game?”
“I already asked him for the rules,” Shana said, narrowing her eyes at the shadows. “Well?” She asked, raising her voice. “Is this where we get started for real? Or are you still stalling?”
“You’re fiery, Shana,” came the boy’s voice from all around them. “That’s so unlike you. It’s an interesting change of pace, I’ll give you that. But you should be careful not to get too bold. I might get bored if you resort to a simple, old-fashioned hero attitude. Heroes are important to every story, but I like interesting heroes. Your unique qualities are what make you so charming — and what makes me want to savor this experience.”
The way he said that last line, you could switch out “experience” for “meal” and it would sound fitting. Shana’s stomach twisted into knots. The boy continued before she could reply, “Try a door. Any door. Some are locked. Some are not. Find the right path. Find your friends… if you can. And do try to avoid the Walkers.”
Shana felt a spike of fear shoot through her, then vanish. But that jolt was enough, subtle though it was, to get the attention of her entire team. Shias touched her arm. Kathryn and Rae’s hands found her shoulders. Ben said something softly, under his breath. Shana couldn’t hear it, but its tone was one of encouragement.
The Walkers. From the town called Quiet.
One of “The Three,” Shana’s worst nightmares, her worst fears. Did this boy mean those same Walkers? The same ones that had ripped Annabelle away from her in the Dream Forge, that had nearly ended that trial for her in failure and death?
“Anything else?” Shana asked, finding her voice.
The boy chuckled. “You think this place is familiar. You think that I’m something you can understand. But really, you have no clue. Don’t try to solve our mysteries. You’ll only disappoint yourself.”
That’s a challenge if I’ve ever heard one.
Silence followed the boy’s declaration, and Shana took that as a sign to begin. She started forward, determined to do things quickly. And she steeled herself, for the sounds she knew would come when she least wanted them to.
The footsteps. The footsteps, those dreadful footsteps, of the Walkers.
They won’t catch me. They’ll never catch me. Or any of us.
Shana’s first instinct was to the door beneath the stairs, but it was locked, and shut so tight there wasn’t a single seam to even try to peek through. Up the stairs she went, leading the others, using the stair’s railing as a guide through the gloom. She could see, she wasn’t blind, but the details were so indistinct, and everything so dark and shadowed, that any tactile guide along the paths was welcome. On the second floor landing, she felt along the central door there, finding its doorknob and turning.
Click.
A strange sound, like a key being turned, a door being unlocked. And Shana felt a little pulse in her fingers in time with that click.
The door opened noiselessly. But before Shana entered, she turned back. Something about the entrance hall stuck out to her, and she wanted another look from a different perspective. Hands against the railing, she looked down at the grand hall. There was a gothic, elegant feel to it all, a sense of mystery and wonder, of age and memory. But… not Shana’s memory. Not really.
It’s like this is a place in Grimoire, like a real place, not just a mixture of things. But if it’s a real place back home, how come I’ve never seen it? If there was a Manor this huge, there’s no way I would have missed it.
It’s definitely related to Grimoire, though. Just like Rae said, I can feel the city here. Maybe it was a part of the city, long ago, but was destroyed or deliberately torn down long before I was born?
“Oh!” Shana said, realizing something about the hall’s interior design. “That’s it. This is similar — not exactly the same, but similar — to floor plans and photos we’ve seen of Grimoire’s Gothic Era, seven hundred years ago!”
“Oh, right,” Shias said. “The exterior and interior aren’t exactly like any of the houses from that era we’ve seen, but it’s all reminiscent of it, styled like it. Good catch.”
“But why have a house this old here?” Kathryn asked. “And so big? Why pull from Grimoire at all if it’s not specific to our memories?”
“Because it’s not about us, not really,” Rae said thoughtfully. “Perhaps… maybe it’s the boy?”
Shana stared at her, another piece of the puzzle clicking into place. “That’s genius!” she said, taking Rae’s hands and grinning at her. “You’ve gotta be on to something there! We keep pulling on that thread and we’re bound to solve this place’s mysteries — and the boy’s, too.”
“Then we should keep going,” Ben said, fidgeting in the open doorway, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“Don’t bounce, we’re getting there,” Kathryn said.
“You can’t just open doors and then walk away from them,” Ben said. “I can’t stand that kind of teasing.”
Shana laughed. Ben’s attitude was exactly what she needed in this gloomy mansion. “All right, let’s see what’s next,” she said, leading the way into the next room.
It was a playroom, and it was huge. Filled with toys and dolls, balls and blocks, and racks upon racks of wooden play swords and shields, it was a total chaotic disaster of toys strewn about, nothing put back in its proper place. Three doors led out from the playroom — one to the left, one to the right, and one on a loft ahead of them, reached by a short spiraling staircase.
“Oh, good eye figuring out the era,” Kathryn said, picking up a wooden toy soldier. “Check it out. This is super old-fashioned. You only find stuff like this nowadays in antique shops, and only once in a blue moon.”
“The dolls are so elaborate,” Rae said, kneeling in front of one, looking too nervous to touch it. “Porcelain… and pristine. Just one would cost a fortune.”
“This house would cost a fortune,” Ben said. He swept a finger across the edge of a games table. It came away coated thickly with dust. “Nothing here’s been used in a really long time.”
“Or it was never used to begin with,” Shias said. He studied the games table, covered in puzzles and board games. Then he strode across the playroom to a jumbled mess of blocks, and knelt in front of them.
“Of course they were played with at least once,” Ben said, following him. “How’d it get to be such a mess to begin with?”
“But everything’s so pristine,” Shias said. “Dust, over everything, but look at these blocks. Not a single sign of wear, not even a faint scuff.” He rose and went back to the games table. “And look at these puzzles. Some of the pieces are fitted together, others are loose, but look at the pieces. Their edges are perfect, as if they were just freshly cut today. These puzzles haven’t been played with, not really.” He turned in a circle, looking over everything. “It’s almost like… this was a real place. Or… no, not that. It was dreamed up from a real place.”
“You think we’re in a different Location’s Dream?” Kathryn asked. “I thought this was the Library of Solitude’s Nightmare.”
“That’s not what he means,” Shana said, following Shias’ line of thought. “This is a Nightmare, though. So this house, it isn’t real, or, well, it’s real, Dreams and Nightmares are real. But it’s not the real house. It’s based on a real house, I’m sure of it, but it’s been mixed up a little, and things have been rearranged, fiddled with, staged.”
“Staged?” Kathryn asked. “The kid set this up?”
“Or his Dreams did,” Rae said. “What if he doesn’t have full control over this space? Our subconscious constructs our Dreams — his could have constructed this place. The truth’s all here, it’s just set up in a way that isn’t completely true to the Waking World.”
“Oh, you lost me on that last part,” Kathryn said.
“Sorry, it’s…” Rae started, her brow furrowing in thought.
“It’s not physically constructed exactly true to life,” Shias said, catching onto Rae’s line of thought. “But the emotions, the feelings, the soul of the place are true to the memories and experiences within.” Rae nodded, smiling gratefully.
“So it’s almost like it’s being more open with the truth than the real thing,” Kathryn said. “Okay, if it’s a Dream place, and it follows Dream logic… emotions are stronger in Dreams, right? Our emotions are heightened, our hearts take control more than our heads. If this really is made of the kid’s own life experiences, it’s like he’s baring his heart to us.”
“I think we’re making a few leaps in logic here,” Ben said, making a face. “Let’s gather more clues before we jump to conclusions. Or better yet, let’s not even worry about it and just try to find the others and get out of here.”
“Right,” Shana said. But she was surprised at herself for not thinking of that before Ben. There was something about this place that she couldn’t shake. There was a story being told here, and it was a lonely, painful one. Even though Heart, Annabelle, and Garnet could be suffering right now…
They might not be the only ones.
“Let’s figure out which door is unlocked,” Shana said, immediately starting towards the loft. “Ben, Kathryn, can you check the other two? Shias, Rae, keep checking out this room, see if there are any other clues you want to note before we move on.” Altair nudged Shana’s leg, and she could feel his desires. She laughed softly. “Okay, you help them, too.” Wagging his tail, Altair trotted around the room, looking at and sniffing everything he could without disturbing the scene.
“Door’s locked here,” Kathryn said, trying the door on the right.
“This one’s unlocked,” Ben said, opening the door on the left.
That dashed Shana’s hopes for the door on the loft. But she went to check it anyway, just in case…
And when she turned the doorknob, something clicked. She felt a pulse in her fingertips… and the door opened.
“Two options?” Kathryn asked. “Now what?”
“Um…” Ben started hesitantly, fidgeting at his door.
“Take a peek inside, but don’t go in,” Shana said. “I’ll do the same up here.”
“It’s a hall,” Ben said. “Oh, man, tons of doors down this way.” There was no hiding the excitement in his voice.
“Treasure trove for the treasure hunter,” Kathryn said.
“There aren’t any other branching doors from up here,” Shana said, peering into the room from the loft. “It’s… some kind of study. Or a reading room.” Bookshelves along the walls, and books stacked on desks, on couches, in chairs, on the floor.
Of course she wanted to go into this room.
“Let’s check that one out first, then,” Shias said. “Then we can head down the hall and see what else we find.”
“I’m holding you to that,” Ben said, slowly, hesitantly leaving his doorway behind and heading up to the loft.
“Hey, nice job not suggesting we split up,” Kathryn said, smiling at Ben. “That’s, like, total horror movie cliché. If we split up, we’d all get killed off.”
“Which is why I didn’t suggest it, obviously,” Ben said, rolling his eyes. When Kathryn held up a fist, he stared at it like some alien thing.
“Don’t leave me hanging here,” Kathryn said with a pout. Ben shook his head, like he was shaking off his surprise, and then bumped his knuckles against Kathryn’s.
Shana waited until they were all gathered together before stepping into the study. Despite all the books making it seem like a personal library, the grand desk at the far side of the room with the tall chair behind it made it feel like a study or an office. Bookshelves filled the walls, totally packed, with no room anywhere to fit the dozens upon dozens of books piled all around the room.
“They ran out of space on the shelves, so why keep all these books in here?” Kathryn asked, hands on her hips. “More than enough space in the house, right? Which means there’s totally a reason behind these books being here.”
“Bingo,” Shana said with a smile. She started towards the desk with Altair. Shias and Rae went left, Kathryn and Ben right. Altair sniffed around the base of the desk and underneath it, while Shana examined the chair and the top of the desk, which was surprisingly neat, with only a single book set in the center of the desk. There were drawers, but they were all locked. Shana stared at the book.
Whatever title it had once had was faded, the cover worn and weathered. But there was an easy solution to that. Shana reached out, intending to open the book to its first page…
A light snapped on. Where the corner of the desk had once been empty, it now held a small, old-fashioned reading lamp with a dim, orange, flickering glow.
And seated on the desk, legs crossed, arms folded, glaring at Shana, was the boy.
“Don’t go touching things that aren’t yours,” he said, his voice surprisingly hard-edged and serious, with none of the predatory mirth he’d held before.
“We’ve already touched things in this house,” Shana said, refusing to be intimidated. “Which means you have a specific care for this book. What are you hiding?”
“Don’t you have friends to try and save?” the boy asked.
“You said we were supposed to try and find our way, and that would come by testing the doors, seeing which are locked and which are unlocked. If this is supposed to be hidden, the door should have been locked.”
“The door was locked.” The boy raised an eyebrow. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Shana said. Her eyes flicked to the book, just a passing glance, but the boy noticed.
And his own eyes changed.
It was a brief thing, a strange thing. Both of his eyes were dark — in the orange lamp’s glow, she could see they were brown. But then, just for a moment, his right eye transformed. No longer dark brown, it was blue, and instead of a pupil, it had a spiral of silver in the center.
And then his eyes were both the same again.
A sudden impulse seized Shana. She grabbed for the book. The boy lunged to stop her, but Altair leapt up, barking, and for some reason that made the boy recoil.
Shana grabbed the book, pulled it to her, flung the cover open so she could see the title page.
It was blank.
She flipped to the next page, and then the next. Blank, blank, and then…
Blank.
Not the pages. Not the book.
The world.
Shana stared. She wasn’t holding a book at all anymore. She wasn’t in the study, wasn’t in the house. Shadows were gone, the lamp was gone, the boy was gone.
All was white, blank, empty. It wasn’t bright, and it wasn’t a pure white. It was a sort of crème color, a sort of…
Shana stepped back, gazing at the ground beneath her feet. Not ground, she realized, as her foot slid across it, creating a familiar, nostalgic sound.
Paper.
She stood on a page. And beneath her feet, words were starting to form, black ink spreading in elegant, beautiful script.
But as those words were forming, more ink was spreading beneath them. Shana stepped further back, and then aside, staying away from the ink — not for fear of it doing something to her, but because she wanted to see all that was being written, and that would be difficult with her feet covering the words. But this second spread of ink wasn’t forming words, no.
It was drawing a picture.
Shana watched, mesmerized, astonished. Her attention was entirely on the picture, even as the words above it were completed. She didn’t read them. Not until the full piece was completed, until the full context was plain to see.
When the picture was finished, she was still confused, uncertain, wondering what was going on.
The picture was a brilliantly detailed black-and-white illustration of the study she’d just been in. There was the boy on the desk, and Altair bounding at him, and Shana herself holding the book. There was Kathryn, also lunging for the boy, and Ben, staring in shock. There was Shias, rising from whatever he’d been inspecting, and Rae, staring not at the boy, or Altair, but Shana.
What… is this…?
Next to that illustration, there were faint lines, gesturing towards empty space. And Shana got the sense that they were waiting. There was a space there, space enough on this page for another illustration beside the one of the moment she’d just been experiencing.
And then Shana looked at the words above the picture. Elegant, beautiful script, displaying a startling challenge:
A choice to make. Back to the present you left behind…
Or deeper down the rabbit hole of the past?
Shana read the lines twice, before she asked softly, “Whose past?”
She felt a ripple in the air. Like a chuckle, she thought.
The words melted away, and new words were written in their place:
Would you like to find out? He can’t stop you now that you’re here. But if you go back, this chance is lost forever.
Shana hesitated. She didn’t want to dive down this rabbit hole alone, leaving her friends behind.
But…
She didn’t want to lose this chance, either.
“All right, then,” she said softly. “Show me what you know.”
Another ripple in the air. Laughter, she was sure of it — laughter without sound.
The entire page went blank. A jolt of fear, brief but sharp, shot through her at the loss of the moment in the study. Would she be able to go back? If only she’d asked first, if only she knew!
But then the ink began to draw anew.