Army Of The Winter Court (Skeleton Key) (6 page)

She took a breath and turned the key.
 

It clicked.
 

The distinct sound was of the door unlocking, but how was that possible when it wasn’t locked to begin with? Evvie turned the handle and pulled it open.

What she saw made her question her sanity and yet… tucking the end of her towel in to secure it against herself, she stepped through.

CHAPTER SIX

Evvie

With bare feet, she stepped out onto the icy gravel and though the sharp rocks threatened to cut through her skin, there was no pain. A thin layer of frost coated the blackened world before of her.

Where am I?

Evvie turned her face to the dark sky, ominous clouds covered every inch, as a light dusting of snowflakes began to fall. The world around her had a soft glow to it without any visible source, allowing her to see. Scanning the area, she turned slowly in a circle as she fought to keep the rising fear from taking hold.

Behind her the path extended for as far as she could see. A copse made of charred and blackened trees was to her right, their crimson leaves coated the forest floor in a red blanket, those still clinging to the branches fell in a steady shower as they fluttered slowly to the ground making the world look as though it were bleeding. To her left an open field stood, covered in white flakes, glinting from the frost.

Facing forward again, Evvie squinted into the distance. A shape loomed ahead where she assumed the path led—a pointed, angular castle shrouded in shadows and thick, ghostly fog. Taking a few steps toward it the rocky ground pressed against her flesh with each step.

“This has to be a dream… I’d be cold if it weren’t,” she mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself and holding the duck clad towel more securely around her body.

“Tigers, and lions, and bears…” The chant making its way unbidden past her lips.

What if there are rabid animals… or worse, what if someone is waiting in the shadows to murder me?

Her gaze darted from side to side as the beat of her heart drummed against her ribcage. Listening intently, she heard nothing but silence, not so much as a chirp of a bird or insect or the call of any night animals. Even the snow fell, soundless, in the silent, unmoving air.

It’s so creepy here…
She thought.

Her head pounded.
 

Maybe I should go back to bed and rest
… stopping in her tracks, Evvie let out a loud cackle of laughter and smacked her palm against her forehead.
 

I am sleeping! How crazy do I have to be to think I’m awake right now?

It was turning out to be the same dream as before, but the details were more vivid, more solid. Her feet began to ache from the harsh ground. What was she walking on? Bending over, she scooped up a handful of the gravel and examined it. It looked like…
broken glass?
It was a wonder that her skin wasn’t sliced open and shredded.

Dropping the shards, she stepped carefully on to the wilted grass. Instantly the discomfort melted away, soothed by the frozen turf.

The large mountain range in the distance reared up, casting darkness over the world that sat in its shadow. Her eyes traced paths from the tallest peaks down to where she stood, the shape of the land taking its features from the black and sinister origins that towered over it.

Boulders of varying sizes lay scattered around the harsh environment, remnants of a landslide from centuries ago. Trees grew with no rhyme or reason between the massive rocks, their gnarled roots forming hollows in the ground as if they were trying to rip it open with their slow and violent existence.

Everything she saw was void of any signs of life and nothing moved, time stood still, trapped in a never-ending moment in the most desolate winter, frozen in a single moment of time. But even that was wrong, as flakes continued to fall from above, dancing and swirling in a non-existent wind, independent of the world around them.

Ice formed in knife-like shards, growing up from the ground as though it were organic. Stalagmites climbed, source-less, from the soil, striking in their glistening, and dangerous beauty.

“Weirdest dream ever,” Evvie mumbled under her breath. The dreamscape took her breath away as she took it all in. Everything about it was unusual and different.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, as an unmistakable feeling that she was being watched, crawled over her skin and wrapped itself around her like an anaconda squeezing its prey, ready to devour it at any second.

Evvie spun around as the snap of a branch sounded behind her.

“Hello? Is someone out there?” Her voice echoed in the empty space as she called out into the dark stillness of the night. White smoky plumes of her breath curled before her eyes, dissipating into the air.
 

Paranoia reared its head, as thoughts of strange unknown beasts lurking in the shadows came to mind, waiting for her to get close enough—claws reaching out, catching her and slicing at her. The shapes of her imagination twisted and morphed into more familiar shapes—shapes of insane men escaped from a horror movie formed to take their place. “Stop it, you’re freaking yourself out,” she scolded.

A branch from a tree moved, lowering and then slowly rising, Evvie’s eyes widened as she watched the invisible force move the limb.

“Who’s there?”

Only silence answered.

“Look, I know you’re there. Come out and show yourself!” She turned in a slow circle. “Answer me!”

Still, nothing but an unnatural emptiness was the only reply.

“This is just a dream. This is just a dream,” she chanted over and over, wanting to believe the words, but the rapid racing of her heart told her it was the last thing her mind was willing to do.
 

The open vastness of this frightening world left her exposed, and helpless, like a haunted house gone wrong. All the fears normally trapped in the winding dark halls and rooms were now in the wide open—something Evvie would have thought would lessen the fear, in fact only increased the terror she felt by adding the vast open space making her feel even more vulnerable.
 

Logic here, in this place, didn’t stand a chance against her imagination.

Shelter, I need to find shelter. I need to stop and think. Find a way out. I can do this. I can do this.
 

Her thoughts rushed through her mind in a jumbled to do list.
 

Safety—I have to find a safe place to think. I need to think.

“Why are you out here alone?”

Evvie turned, facing the way too familiar voice. Her mother, dressed in all black—a far cry from her usual colorful wardrobe—stood yards away, her hand resting casually against a dark, twisted trunk.

“Mom?” Evvie reached her hand out and stepped forward. The second she’d moved, her mother turned and walked behind a tree.

“Mom!” she cried and ran in the direction that she’d disappeared in. Evvie followed her away from the path. The trees grew thicker as she chased on. “Mom, where are you going? Wait for me!”

“Hurry,” her mom’s voice called to her, laughing as if this were nothing more than a fun game.

She broke through the thick copse of trees, her feet splashing into the edges of a vast bog. Reeds sprouted through tall withered grass, reaching toward the black sky.

Branches scratched, clawing at her arms like talons.
 

Why isn’t she waiting for me?

Tears burned her eyes as grimy water splashed up over her ankles, but she couldn’t catch up. She moved deeper into the slimy marsh, the water moving up to her mid-thigh and darkening the edge of her towel with its slime.

No…

This was a dream. Her mother wasn’t here—no one was.
 

It’s not real.
She reminded herself.
 

This was all in her head. In her heart, she wished her mom was there to stand next to her and she regretted ever giving Silvia a hard time for having called her.

Evvie backed up, the need to get to get out and away from the situation was overwhelming. The mud suctioned her feet to the earth, urging her to stay, not willing to surrender its hold. Tugging on her legs in an attempt to escape from the mire, she panicked. It refused to let go.

A bright light flashed nearly blinding her.

Lightning?

Slowly, she was able to move one foot, then the other, making progress one inch at a time. Her blood coursed violently through her veins as she fought to be free, its thrumming, a never ceasing beat, pounded in time with each step. It was much harder going back than coming in as she fought against the pull of the sinister force.

Running as fast as her feet would carry her, Evvie darted around the twisted trees, jumping over the gnarled roots that threatened to reach up and grab her. Breathless, she burst through and stopped on the sharp glassy trail before bending over and resting her hands on her knees, panting. Thin cuts stung her arms.

Straightening up, she opened her arms wide and turned slowly in a circle facing every direction.
 

“I’d like to wake up now!” she yelled into the empty wasteland.

As she expected, the only thing that greeted her was a deafening silence. This was her nightmare. A pleasant dream would have given her comfort, a friend, the sun… and clothes. The towel should have tipped her off.

“I need to wake up… but how? Bringing one hand up to the other arm, she pinched hard. “Ouch!” She cried out, massaging the pain from her arm. “Well, that didn’t work.”

Time to find my bathroom door and get the heck out of this creepy place.

“Where
is
the door?”

Evvie scanned the area. She couldn’t remember if there had even been a door once she’d stepped through.

Everything looked the same, how would she figure out where she started? Turning to the right, she took a few steps and stopped to look behind her. The bathroom door she’d walked through was nowhere in sight, vanished as if she’d materialized in this place from thin air. Hopelessness embedded itself in her heart.

Moving off the path to the nearest knotted tree, Evvie fisted her hands in her hair and pulled, letting out a frustrated growl.
 

“Arrug! What is this place?” she demanded from the emptiness.

The realization of how she got here hit her—she’d used the key, but it was gone now and even if she did have it, where would she use it.

Did this dream have rules it expected her to follow? Why couldn’t there just be a door on the path and the key in her hand?

“It doesn’t make sense!” she whimpered, dropping to her knees.
 

Scooting backward, she pressed her spine against the trunk of a charred tree and pulled her legs up in front of her wrapping her arms around them. Tears burned the back of her eyes as she squeezed them shut, letting the salty liquid slide down her cheek.

Evvie let herself cry until there was nothing left.

How had a dream that had been interesting, unique, fascinating even, turned into a nightmare so quickly? She wanted to go home, to wake up and to be wearing something other than her blue towel with yellow ducks. It left her feeling exposed and more vulnerable than she was okay with.

This is exactly like one of those nightmares about showing up to school naked.
 

The only thing she had to be thankful for was the absence of dozens of people, pointing and laughing at her.

Stop crying. It’s just a crap dream and your emotions are all over the place. Freaking out won’t help
. She admonished herself.
It’s a dream. Pick something to do and if it’s interesting, I’ll wake up… that’s how dreams work, the second you want them to continue, they end… I think.

She was practically having a two-sided conversation with herself at this point. Full-blown insanity was right around the corner.

Evvie looked toward the only shape that offered her anything resembling a solution; the angular castle. Tightening the towel around her again she moved forward, following the path of the gravel as she walked on the wilted grass. She didn’t expect to make any progress, after all, nightmares were just a series of goals you attempted while getting nowhere. It didn’t matter that this exercise was pointless, it was something for her to do. If she had to play by the rules, she would do her best if it meant the slightest chance at waking.

The castle grew larger as she walked.
 

That isn’t how dreams are supposed to work.
 

Was this nightmare just herding her to its destination where it would take over her mind and break her? The thought made her stop in her tracks.

How messed up is my brain right now? Did I fall and hit my head? Am I lying on the floor of my bathroom bleeding to death? Am I in bed?

She slowed her pace. Going anywhere in this dark, horrible place had only led to more confusion and wasted effort. If she continued toward the castle, the only thing that waited for her there was more insanity.

Mind made up again, Evvie nodded at her decision. Turning, she walked with hurried steps back to the beginning of the dream. There had to be a simple answer there. Something she’d missed the first time that would return her to the waking world. If she just stayed in one spot long enough, her dream would have to end.

Exhaustion settled into her muscles, urging her to rest.
 

At the beginning, where I first stepped into this crazy nightmare… I can rest when I get there.

“Evvie,” a voice whispered with an ethereal quality.

It's the voice from... I've had this dream before. It’s just in my head.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the deep voice said firmly from behind, more real this time… and close.

Evvie spun. The sharp rocks scraped the bottoms of her feet as her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Evvie

“Ian?” she asked, as her brow creased in confusion. “What—what are you doing here?”