Page 24 of Nightmare's Dance

Stopping near a pile of gray boulders, I put my hand on the cool stone and caught my breath. As soon as my harsh pants quieted, I listened. I couldn’t hear Nic anymore. He’d probably gotten to a hundred. Not wanting to get caught out in the open, I crouched and scurried toward the cave entrance. The caves we normally explored had a wide opening, but the one I headed for had a kid-sized crack to squeeze through. After a quick hesitation, I plunged into the small space, scrambled over some rock piles, and crouched down behind the boulders that would shield me from view. See, I am barely in the cave at all.

Settling in to wait, I put my back against the rock, wiped sweat from my brow, and tried to quiet my breathing so I wouldn’t give myself away. No way would Nic find me in here.

Sure enough, the minutes stretched. I glanced at my pink kitty watch, but not enough time had passed for me to be “safe.”

A cool breeze from farther in the cave cooled my sweat-soaked skin, and I shivered. There must be an entrance higher up. I shifted as carefully as I could to avoid making any noise. I thought I heard boys laughing. Maybe Nic had found Dio or Baz?

As the minutes stretched, scary stories we told each other intruded on my thoughts, and my skin crawled. I both did and didn’t want to look deeper into the cave. Unfortunately, I was listening so intently that other sounds reached me. Is that a clatter of rocks? What would make the rocks move?

I shifted again and glanced at my watch, moving my arm into a shaft of light so I could see the time. Darn, still not enough time to be safe, although I was approaching a record. Nic had usually found me by now.

This time I did hear rocks sliding. I stifled a yelp and stared into the darkness. Was that breathing? A quiet growl? Why had I come here?

Wishing for a flashlight, I forced myself to peer into the darkness. I could see a little way into the cave, but a sharp bend kept most of it from view. Anything could be lurking around that corner. Bears… big cats… monsters… Okay, probably not bears. I could barely wriggle through that space. Bats… Maybe it was bats? I’d be okay if it were bats because they wouldn’t come out during the day.

But what if it was a monster?

I whimpered and glanced frantically at my kitty watch. Almost time. So close. I could hide a little longer. If I didn’t make any noise, whatever it was, wouldn’t know I was here? Right?

There was definitely something back there, but I’d been hiding for twenty minutes now. I was safe from Nic, but whatever was staring at me might come get me at any minute. I scrambled out of my hiding place, the loose rocks sliding under my feet. Normally, that wouldn’t have been an issue, but I was in such a hurry to run away from the monster in the dark that I didn’t pay attention to my feet and slipped. The rocks shifted, and my foot plunged into a small crevasse while another rock rolled on top, trapping me.

Panic tightened my throat and my heart pounded in my chest. Any minute now, the monster in the dark might get me.

The boys yelled my name in the distance. Something scraped on the rocks behind me.

I screamed.

Ember

This time, instead of a relatively smooth transition through the mirror where I walked—or was dragged—from one side to the other, we tumbled uncontrolled through the arch, with a slight resistance at the end. It was almost as if whatever magic allowed us to move between mirrors didn’t want to let me go through to the other side. There was no way I was going back, however, so I shoved my will at the resistance, and we tumbled through.

And kept dropping.

I shrieked.

Something grabbed me at the last minute, slowing my fall and cushioning me so the ground didn’t hurt nearly as much as it would have. I was lucky, too, because even cushioned, my head came down on something hard with a sharp corner.

“Ember!” someone shouted.

I clamped my mouth shut on the screams.

“Ember, are you all right?” That was Nic. Who else had spoken?

Forcing my eyes open, I quickly took in my surroundings.

Home. We’d come out through the big mirror over the fireplace, and I probably had Nic to thank for not cracking my head open on the stonework. My parents and my cousin Ash stared at us incredulously.

I scrambled to my feet. Or tried to. The room tilted and Nic crouched next to me, grabbing my arms.

“Ember?” My dad reached for me.

Ash came forward and threw a blanket over my shoulders.

“Who the hell are you?” Ash glared at Nic.

“And how did you come out of the mirror?” my mom added, voice shaky.

“And where is Geraint?” Dad asked, and between the three of them, they’d pretty much covered all the relevant questions.

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