‘It’s different than I remember.’ A young man’s voice cuts through the silence.
‘It’s been quite a while, Master,’ a young boy’s voice replies.
‘Is she close?’ the man says. His words take a while to fully process. Who are they looking for? I take a peek under the van.
‘According to Heret-Kau, she should be just over here,’ the boy says before running up to our van’s door. I stifle a gasp as water funnels up from the ground, turning to ice before my eyes. It moulds to make a key. I hear the creak of the door opening. I duck as footsteps thud into the van. Whatever they want, it can’t be good if they’re breaking and entering.
‘Well?’ the man says, a cold edge to his tone.
‘She’s not here.’
‘I can see that, Xander.’
A lump forms in the base of my throat. I have to go. Now.
I scramble away from the van, diving behind the group of boys just as the figures emerge.
‘I don’t understand, Master, the girl should be here. Heret-Kau said–’
‘Heret-Kau says a lot of things. That she-demon also gives too much time to spirits and the things they say.’ He pauses, the sound of his footsteps stopping abruptly. I can feel his stare scanning the series of frozen figures in front of me. ‘It’s time to leave.’
They both leave as quickly and as silently as they came but where a sense of relief should sit, an unfulfilled anxiety resides instead. The electricity that once darted through my body is now an unpleasant and dull ache. Rationally, this is where I run inside, grab my phone and tell Mum that this is the worst hallucination yet, that I really have inherited the family curse and I inherited it hard; this is where I run to Rye for comfort in the form of a good laugh and feigned normalcy.
But I don’t.
Go, the voice says. Quick.
My bare feet slide across the wet grass and out onto the road, the blue distortion still visible in the dark sky. Is this a hallucination? I have to know. This instinct is stronger than anything I have felt in my life. No matter how dangerous and how irrational, my body won’t stop. It is no longer my own. Familiar frozen faces pass me by as I follow the ominous pair from a distance. Up the hill, around the corner and onto the small coastal trail that leads down to the shore. I stop for a moment. My hands grasp the log rails that trail along the sandy stairs down to the bottom of the precipice, my first moments of doubt creeping in.
A blue light shines through the cracks in the trees, willing my feet to keep moving. I move down the stairs, careful to not make too much noise, coming to a ledge about halfway down the path where the beach is in full view. Ducking between the rails, I move closer, the two figures now in sight. The tall one is drawing something in the sand and as he does, blue light shines from the stencil. The shorter one, on the other hand, whom I assume is the young boy, stands back watching. Once finished, the sand erupts in a furious blaze of blue flames before simmering muted back down. They place themselves in the circle. What are they doing? Is it some sort of weird cultist ritual?
Closer. Move closer.
My fingers grip the edge of the dirt, leaning forward. Just a little bit closer.
A pair of firm hands shove me from behind. The ledge gives way as I fall.
Branches cut and whip my body. I tumble, my sight just a blurry vision of trees, dirt and sky. With the sudden sensation of soft sand, my body comes to a gradual rolling halt.
Groaning, I lift my head. And there they are.
The two figures, wide-eyed and staring.
I can’t tell if it’s the wind screaming or myself. My mind is blank. These people aren’t people at all. Their eyes are different. Piercing. They don’t look like the creatures I normally see. They are something more, something worse. My mind flashes back to the memory of the fleeing creature. This is what it was running from. This is what my fears are afraid of. And I followed them here.
No. I was pushed. I can still remember the sensation on my back. I look back up to the ledge but there’s no one there. Just darkness.
Adrenaline spikes and my instincts finally kick in. It’s too late. I go to stand but the imbalanced ground throws me back down. An unnatural feeling of pulling and falling rocks against me. The bizarre lines of the circle have started to rise. Alarm flashes over their faces. The younger one yells out, reaching towards me, his words lost in the whirlwind spinning around us.
And then we fall.
3
I groan. Murmured conversation fills the room.
‘Master, she’s waking up.’
Something rustles just in front of me. My eyelids flutter open. It’s the small boy. He is leaned in close, his red eyes piercing straight into my own. I throw myself backwards, scrambling on my hands and legs. Behind him, the young man stands tall, his good posture only enhanced by the condescending glare that drills down into me from under his locks of icy white. I can’t tell which is worse, his immediate disgust or the intense fascination and excitement that is gleaming in the eyes of his small green companion.
‘You – you’re…’ I look around the room frantically – wooden walls, panelled floor, large windows. ‘Where have you taken me?’
It appears normal enough; it appears human enough. Nevertheless, I need out. My legs quiver as I pull myself up. The boy’s stare remains fixated on mine until a shadow shifts behind me. A chill runs down my spine.
‘We haven’t taken you anywhere.’ It’s the other one. I turn, facing his cold glare. ‘It’s you – the stowaway – that has dropped in uninvited.’
Now that he’s closer, I can see why the spirits ran. His skin is pale and his nails are a dull deathly blue. Unlike the child whose red eyes were bright and clear, these eyes are dark and sinister, aged like blood or wine.
‘What now, human?’ he remarks snidely, leaning in. ‘I do hope you have a plan.’ I don’t answer. Instead, I falter, taking a few steps back. The creature sneers, tearing his scathing glare away and looking towards the boy. ‘It appears the shock has rendered her simple.’
The boy tilts his head. Has he been watching me this entire time? ‘Master, maybe she can help us, just like Heret-Kau said.’ Heret-Kau, what is a Heret-Kau? Within the time it takes for me to look back, the boy is standing beside me. My body almost jumps out of its skin. He was so fast. Too fast.
‘Do you know anyone by the name of Charlotte?’ he chirps.
‘What?’ I breathe out. I shake my head slowly. ‘No.’
‘Oh.’ The boy’s body seems to deflate. ‘Are you sur–’
‘Xander. That’s enough.’
