Strays

Chapter 38

My eyelids grew heavier with each blink. God, I was so tired...

"JULIET?"

I tried to frown. Something about the voice sounded wrong, or misplaced. Like I was half-dreaming it into existence. But no – there it was again, like a high-pitched echo. "Juliet, Juliet, Juliet."

All of a sudden, I was eight years old again. The taste of blood coated my gums and my heart raced frantically in my chest. Her face swam in and out of focus in front of me, eyes wide with – panic? My brows attempted to sink with confusion. No, not panic. That didn't seem right –

"Juliet!" I flinched as hands cupped my face. They were warm – too warm. No, I was too hot, burning from the inside out... "My spell won't hold them off for much longer," her voice came again, frantic with panic. "We have to move. I have to get you –"

"Theo," I rasped. The words came spilling out of my mouth before I could stop them, panic and horror scraping my insides raw. "They're coming for him, they're going to kill him –"

The cloaked figures from my nightmares converged around me all at once, eye sockets empty and unseeing, hands outstretched and beckoning. I shrank back in fear, a scream gurgling up the back of my throat, as the taste of blood erupted in my mouth.

"Theo's safe," the voice interrupted. Fingers stroked my hair, too frantic to be soothing. Like claws – "I promise he's safe, but I have to get you somewhere..."

I choked back a scream and a fresh wave of blood spilled into my mouth, coating my tongue with the acrid taste of burnt silver. The roof of my mouth began to tingle and burn almost immediately and I spat it out without thinking, liquid dribbling over my chin and splattering the woman hovering over me.

"Oh, dear," I heard her say. A moment later, I was jostled as she attempted to break my hold on the fence. I tried to protest – to curl my fingers even tighter in a panic – but I was so, so weak and a few seconds later, I found myself tumbling forward, the path rising to meet me –

A slender arm caught me around the waist. My stomach heaved and I vomited up another mouthful of blood as agony seared through me. My mother stumbled beneath my weight but held fast, her small frame bending at an awkward angle as she struggled to keep my dead weight somewhat upright. I tried to help but it was like I'd lost control of my limbs; all I could feel was fire: flames where my legs should have been, where my arms...

"The portal is here; it's right here, I promise," she murmured, her voice rough with... something. Fear? Anxiety? Whatever it was seemed stronger than anything she'd ever been able to force in front of the cameras.

I was vaguely aware of a slimy, sponge-like sensation but when I blinked, I found myself being guided down a narrow hallway, my feet stumbling down a pale, blue carpet. A very familiar carpet.

It was like the portal had launched me into a time warp and I'd landed somewhere forever ago. But when the darkness closed around me, it wasn't Henri standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his bellowing shout piercing through the roaring in my ears. It was them: gaunt, partly-rotting faces staring at me accusingly, their hands outstretched as they waited for me to come closer. To cross over.

"No," I moaned. "No, no, no..."

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the feel of their clawed fingers on my skin.

"Open your eyes! Open your eyes!" my mother shouted. I blinked slowly, trying to force them open but it was so hard, and I was so sleepy... "Come on, where's your phone?"