Page 9 of Voices in the Stars
I ground my teeth at that. Him being here didn’t make a difference. It certainly wasn’t needed. If following me made him feel better, then he could have at it. It changed nothing.
The further we ran, nausea started twisting through my stomach. There was no sign of the night sky as the leaves blocked everything out.Our run slowed to a quick walk. I kept a hand to the side, touching the branches to find out where we were going.
“We should go back.” His voice was a whisper from beside me.
I shook my head. Every muscle in my body ached for me to turn around, but I couldn’t. I needed to get to the end. To find this kid and take him home.
“Cece.” His fingers brushed my elbow as he tried to grab me again. “We can come back in the morning.”
“No,” I ground out. “Leave if you want.”
Black spots danced across my vision. It would be much easier to stop now. To go back and never get this far out again. The logical thing would’ve been for us to turn around. No thought I had was enough to get my feet to stop moving. Adrian grunted from beside me before there was a loud thud.
“Adrian?” I called out, kneeling beside his dark shadow sprawled out on the ground.
I shook him. When he didn’t respond, I kept going until there was a soft groan. I tried to pull him into a sitting position, but he barely moved.
“Leave,” he mumbled out.
My head shook again. My stomach rolled at the thought of moving any further, but I had to. That boy was out there. If I didn’t find him now, there was no knowing how far he would go. He could find an exit and be lost forever. I had to keep going.
“I’ll come back for you,” I promised.
My legs shook as I stood. Each step I took was uneven. It felt like I had been walking for hours. After several steps, I glanced back but there was no sign of Adrian. There must’ve been a turn I didn’t see, because there were only more hedges behind me. I sucked down several deep breaths before I kept moving.
As I stepped forward, my knees gave out, sending me crashing to the ground with a loud gasp. Tears streaked down as I stared at the grass. The world felt heavy as it bared down on me, pressing me further into the dirt. The edges of my vision turned black. My entire body begged me to just close my eyes. To let the world swallow me whole.
My hands shook as I pressed against theweight. Every inch of me trembled as I found my way back to my knees. I made it this far; I wasn’t turning back now. I refused. My stomach rolled again, nausea flooding me as I started gagging. For the first time, I was thankful I hadn’t eaten since this morning. I pulled myself back to my feet, keeping a hand pressed against the hedges as I crept forward.
It was only a few steps before something passed over me. It was like an invisible layer of my skin had been pulled off. A warm breeze swept through the maze, pushing me forward like a gentle hand against my lower back.
Then, in a single blink, everything changed. There was no longer a maze. Instead, I was standing in the middle of a forest.
Orange leaves werea canopy above my head. The thinnest rays of moonlight castlong shadows across the leaf covered ground. It was just bright enough that I could see around me. Everything further away was lost in the dark. Chills ran down my spine leaves crunched under my bare feet. Springy mushrooms poked out of the ground and decorated the nearby trees like little shelves. How did all of this hide from me?
I turned around, expecting to be facing the hedges I had just run through. Only there was nothing. Just the endless forest. Bile rose up in my throat as a cold sweat trickled down my back. This wasn’t right. They couldn’t just vanish into thin air. My hand shook as it reached out. I gasped as it stopped on something I couldn’t see. An invisible wall? My arm trembled as I pressed harder, praying it would give. There was a slight shimmer where I was trying to force my hand back through. My eyes widened as the same rainbow shimmer from this morning rippled up from my hand, traveling along the wall until it disappeared into the sky.
I ripped my hand away. None of this could be happening. Towns don’t vanish. They certainly don’t disappear inside bubbles. No, I was dreaming. I had to be.
My gaze caught on something darting between the trees next to me. I held my breath as I watched dark figures move around me. Slowly turning in a circle, I was surrounded. Part of me hoped that it was the child. Maybe there was some mystery group of childrenthat lured women to this place to kill them. My mind wasn’t that creative. One of the creatures moved to a closer tree; all I would’ve had to do was reach out, and my fingers would brush against it.
A twig snapped as I took a step back. My mind went blank as they followed me. Their bodies were wispy, twisting along the ground like a shadow-made cape. The ray of silver light it stepped into shone straight through it, like the creature didn’t even exist. Maybe it didn’t, and this was some twisted figment of my imagination. The only solid part of their body was the head that looked like they had a black sheet pulled too tight around them. Their faces were sunken in with bones that looked like they were going to tear through their own skin.
My breath came out in gasps as the color drained from my face. One tilted its head as I took another small step back. There were no eyes. Just empty pits in their head that followed my every move. It was impossible, but I felt their gazes like sharp claws tracing over my skin.
Another stepped into the light, head tilting as it stared at the first creature. The wisps of their bodies reached out to each other. The shadowy capes twisted together until all that stood in front of me was a deformed mass of pulsating darkness. The other creatures popped out of their hiding places, leaping into the darkness. My breath caught in my throat as I watched it twist in front of me, growing larger. All the light seemed to vanish as I couldn’t look away from it.
My muscles were locked as I stood frozen. I hadn’t felt fear like this in years. Not since Josi and I had been chased by a snarling dog. It only left after our father scared it away with a stick. There was no beating of sticks to scare this monster away.
Something large pushed out of the moving mass. Its claws dug into the dirt as it pulled itself out of the darkness. A paw. Red eyes glowed from the center of the dark as another paw stepped out. The mass kept twisting and turning until I was looking at a giant, black wolf.
Each leg was thicker than the trees surrounding us, its back brushing the top leaves. Black and gray fur puffed out around its body as black smoke rose from the beast. The head was lowered as its red eyes were trained on me. Its lips peeled back in a snarl, flashing sharp fangs.
A growl rumbled from deep within its body, shaking the trees closest to us. I stumbled back as the sound vibratedthroughout my chest, stealing my breath away. A hot breath puffed against my face, fanning my hair. Its breath was what I imagined death would smell like. Hot and rancid.
My mouth was agape as it took a step toward me. The ground shook as the paw pressed into the dirt. I was finally able to move, jumping back right as the jaw snapped where my head had been moments ago. There was a rush of air as their teeth snapped together.
I turned from the creature and ran. My feet flew over stones and leaves, twisting and turning through the dense forest. The ground below me shook with each pounding step from the wolf. It let out a piercing howl that sounded way too close for comfort. My breath came out in short gasps as I pushed through the burning in my thighs. Any misstep now, and the breathing on my neck would become sharp teeth.
