*Inside Evil and its sequels are available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks*
Roberta didn't need any heeding, and she turned and rushed into the trees, trying to catch up with the glittering glow that was fast disappearing between the tree trunks on the other side of the final clearing that she had passed through earlier. Along the edge of the cliff, billowing out from where the bell stood, a strange, metallic mist started to rush across the ground towards where Roberta had received her riddle. The air filled with the whispers that had been heard both in the dreams and the meeting with the strange figure in the wood, and the mist and voices chased Roberta through the trees, biting at her heels.
In the strange world that Roberta had entered, she was now rushing through the woods, scrambling over the ground as fast as her feet would carry her. The moths were no longer softly floating along, and were instead zipping their formation through the trees at speed. Roberta was only ever on the tail end of the line, never managing to quite catch up, and she looked around to see that the mist was swiftly gaining ground on her as it swept across the forest floor. She shouted out as the old lady in the last clearing leapt into life and came lunging at her, arms flailing in the air, her mouth open in a menacing grin and her black, shining beads of eyes stripping into Roberta's mind. Roberta managed to avoid a glancing blow to her chest, and rushed across the clearing and into the trees on the other side, leaving the lady laughing in the background. The man in the second clearing was also alert and he lurched forward to get a hold of Roberta as she passed. Roberta was a blur as she leapt through the clearing and was long gone before he had fully got a look at her.
When she reached the third clearing, the young woman was already waiting for her, blocking Roberta's path across the moonlit flooded space.
"Hello Roberta," she grinned as Roberta tried to hurry around.
"I haven't got time," Roberta replied, still trying to catch up with the flickering moths.
"Don't think it's a choice." The girl laughed and grabbed hold of Roberta's hair, jerking her backwards as she did so. Screaming in pain as she felt a chunk of her hair ripped from her skull, Roberta turned to face the girl and hit out, landing a square punch on the girl's jaw. Losing her smile, the young woman's eyes looked directly into Roberta's own.
"You'll regret doing that," she spat as she pulled Roberta to the ground by her hair and leapt on top of her with a surprising force. Roberta felt the dirt pressed into her mouth as she lay face down on the ground, the surprising weight of the woman pinning her in place. Roberta struggled and managed to lift her chin and look into the trees ahead of her. The moths were almost gone, only the remnants of a soft yellow glow showed their path. Roberta knew that if she lost that line of light there was no hope; she'd never make it back to the mirror.
The young woman now had hold of Roberta by the feet and was trying with all her might to drag Roberta backwards into the clearing. Roberta kicked out with her heels and felt a crunch as her shoes smashed into the woman. The woman let out a howl as Roberta scrambled to her feet and rushed off into the woods, just as the mist swarmed into the clearing behind her. Roberta glanced around to see it rush across the ground and surround the woman she had kicked to the ground. The woman's scream only lasted a few seconds as the mist swarmed about her and rushed into her mouth and nose. Moments later, her entire body seemed to burst into thousands of metallic mist particles and she was gone from the clearing.
Roberta did not need to see more, and her speed increased as she ran at full pelt towards the final clearing. Vanessa stood in her way, a soft smile on her face as she twirled the end of her hair through her fingers.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY," Roberta screamed as she bolted like thunder across the patch of earth, punched Vanessa to the ground with a single blow and made it into the trees on the other side. The glow of the moths lit up the descending slope a few metres ahead of her and Roberta was given the slight hope that she might actually make it. Behind her she heard another scream as the mist obviously caught up with Vanessa, and within a few seconds the metallic air spilled through the trees and came pouring down the slope towards Roberta. The mirror glinted in the glowing light ahead of her, but it was too far away, she'd never make it with the speed that the mist was flowing.
With the glittering vapour lapping at her heels Roberta, with a final urge of strength and quite literally a leap of faith, threw herself off of the ground and towards the mirror. The mist crashed into the bottom of the frame as Roberta's body sailed through the silvery glass and slammed into Mrs Peacock who was waiting anxiously on the other side.
"You made it!" the old woman cried with joy as she and Roberta crashed to the floor, bringing down pots and bottles all around them. Roberta brushed herself down and helped the old lady to her feet. She was beaming with admiration. "I didn't think you were going to get back! When you collapsed in the living room, I thought it was the end. You must hurry Roberta, come quickly."
Leaving the mess behind them, Mrs Peacock pulled Roberta through the curtain and into the living room where she saw that Sam was leaning over her motionless body which was lying on the floor.
"Am I?"
"Oh no dear, you just fainted. Quickly, lie down on top of your body and you'll be immersed back into her. I'll do the same. See you a minute." She smiled with an excited grin.
"Wait, you said it was only safe to talk in this form. I have so many questions."
"We haven't time Roberta, you must get back to yourself."
Mrs Peacock scuttled across the room as fast as her wobbling frame would allow, and dropped down into the plush red armchair. Roberta did the same, creeping over to the body which Sam was still shaking and pleading to wake up. She gently lay down on top of herself, trying to put herself in the same position as the body which was stretched out on the floor. She closed her eyes and waited a few seconds, before reopening them, lifting her arm and seeing that she was intact once again.
"Oh thank God," Sam said as Roberta saw his anxious face hovering above hers, "Are you ok? What happened?" He carefully put a wiry arm around her waist and helped her to her feet.
Roberta glanced over to Mrs Peacock who was also pushing herself up.
"It must be the heat in here," the old lady said in a thin voice. "I'm so sorry. I just get so cold in the winters that I turn my heating up and forget that young souls such as yourselves can find it unbearable."
"Sam, we should go," Roberta said, finding her feet before looking around the room. She noticed that the mantelpiece did indeed hold the Ammokra Arbor, but the casual eye would not necessarily pick it up. The curtain to the room that Mrs Peacock had led her too was also apparent now that she knew it was there, but both items seemed to fade away when surrounded with other everyday objects so that they were almost invisible.
"Shouldn't you rest?" Sam asked, not loosening his hand on her waist. "We can have another cuppa."
"No Sam," Roberta snapped, almost immediately regretting her tone. "I'm sorry, we've taken up enough of Mrs Peacock's time. We should be leaving before the snow's too thick."
"If you're sure," Sam replied as he looked into her eyes and brushed a mop of hair away from his glasses. She felt his hand slide from her waist as he retrieved the large leather book which was on the coffee table. Thanking Mrs Peacock, the pair of them moved towards the door.
"Oh, Roberta..." Mrs Peacock shuffled into the curtained room and returned with a piece of burned parchment in her hand. "Haven't you forgotten something?"
Roberta reached out and placed her hand on the woman's warm fingers as she took the piece of paper. She noticed that there were already blisters forming on the melted skin of her palm and realised that Mrs Peacock's warning was correct; whatever had wounded her on that precipice had also wounded her body here.
Roberta made to move her hand away but the elderly lady gripped her fingers tightly, waiting until Sam had passed through the door before whispering quietly.
"Now dear, you know what you must do?"
"Yes," Roberta replied in just as hushed a tone. "But I read the riddle. It really doesn't seem to help at all. It doesn't explain the path that I'm supposed to take."
Mrs Peacock's eyes flicked about the room before they finally rested upon Roberta's face. "I wish I could help, but I just can't, it's too dangerous for me to cross the boundaries that I'm set. Roberta, just use the riddle and what you saw tonight to get to the gates. You've seen your tree, you know what time you have. Roberta, please make it, please." She ushered Roberta towards the door. "You won't see me again dear, I've done all that I can."
"But what if I need you?" Roberta asked, "You're the only one who knows what's going on? Sam's imagination can only be pushed so far."
"Trust your friends dear, they have a funny way of understanding the most unexplainable of things. I cannot help you anymore for fear of putting myself in danger." She smiled sweetly, her face becoming complacent. "Good bye and good luck dear, I truly hope you make it."
*I will be posting one or two scenes a week as the story builds. However, if you can't wait that long, Inside Evil is available on Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords and iBooks.
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