Page 123 of Akarnae

“Oh, okay,” Mel said, sounding disappointed. “Well, we’ll just have to stay in touch via ComTCD and if you have some spare time we’ll organise something.”

Alex nodded but she doubted they’d get the chance, even if she was still around. And as nice as Mel was, they really didn’t have all that much in common. Alex would much prefer to spend the time with Jordan and Bear.

She noticed that all the boys were looking longingly at one of the ball games that had just started near where they were sitting.

“Why don’t you guys go and join them?” she said. “It looks like fun.”

Connor looked excited at the prospect and immediately headed off. Mel followed him as well, but Jordan and Bear remained seated.

“We’re not going to ditch you,” Jordan said when she looked at them questioningly.

“Seriously, guys,” Alex said. “I won’t be good company for much longer. I think I’ll follow Fletcher’s suggestion and have a nap, as embarrassing as that is.”

She’d been fighting back the sleep even while cleaning her dorm earlier, and only through stubborn determination had she managed to force it aside to stay awake for the picnic with her friends.

Jordan and Bear still looked hesitant to leave her, so Alex stood, making the decision for them. “I’ll meet up with you for dinner. Go have fun. Kick some butt. You know the drill.”

Seeing that she meant it, they smiled at her and sprinted off to where the others were playing. Alex waved when they turned back to her, and then she headed up to her dorm.

Twenty minutes later she was still tossing and turning in her bed, desperately trying to drift off, but unable to because of all the noise outside. She’d even tried to close her window, but within minutes the room had become like a sauna, making it even more impossible for her to relax.

“Sotired,” she mumbled to herself as she sat up and rubbed her weary eyes.

What could she do?

It was a mark of just how tired she was that when a crazy idea came to her she didn’t think it was stupid or dangerous. Instead, she got up and put some shoes on before leaving her room.

A few minutes later she was stumbling wearily into the Library’s foyer. The librarian wasn’t at his desk, which was probably for the best considering what she intended to do.

Instead of walking over to the staircase, Alex approached the closest wall and continued along it until she found what she was looking for.

“If I can fall out of one, why not into one?” she murmured to herself, staring at the picture in front of her. It was an oil painting that depicted a dark room with a roaring fireplace. In one corner of the room was a large four-poster bed with drapes around it, and in the other corner was a woman sitting in a rocking chair, knitting. Everything was frozen, captured in time by the artist, and Alex knew it would be perfect for what she needed.

“How do I do this?” she wondered.

When she’d come out of the waterfall into the foyer, she’d literally just fallen straight through the painting. Maybe it worked in reverse too.

Alex reached out her hand to press it onto the surface of the painting, and she was amazed when she didn’t meet anything solid. Instead, her hand continued straight through andintothe portrait.

She smiled in victory, and it turned into a gasp when she was jerked forward into the picture and tumbled out into the dark room.

“Good heavens! Where did you come from?”

Alex stood up and clutched her throbbing shoulder. After a moment the pain eased and she was able to look around the room that she’d landed in. The first thing she noticed was the lady in the rocking chair, who was staring at her with her knitting needles paused mid-stitch.

“Um… Hi, I’m Alex,” she said. “I’m so sorry to intrude like this, but…”

She really hadn’t thought about what she was going to say. It wasn’t every day that she stepped through a painting and talked with someone who wasn’t actually real.

“You must be Chosen,” the woman said knowingly, rising from her seat. “No one else would be able to enter here.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Alex said, swaying on her feet now. She reached out to steady herself on the wall behind her and noticed that the painting she’d come through was still hanging there, but instead of showing the dark room she was now in, it was a portrait of the Library’s foyer. At least she now knew how to get back out when the time came.

“I’m really sorry to disturb you,” Alex told the woman. “I’m just so ti-ti-tired.” She had to cover a yawn as she finished her sentence.

“Child, you look simply exhausted,” the woman said, walking over to take hold of her arm. “Come and sit down.”

Alex let the woman lead her over to the bed and she almost moaned when she felt how soft it was.

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