I didn’t know where I was going.

My breathing accelerated and I began to stumble, my body paralyzed with fear. My fast breathing suddenly turned to the harsh rasping of a panic attack- for as we ran, the scene before me turned into an exact replica of the nightmares I'd been having for the past few weeks. There- the eerie silver mist, the parting of the trees, the end of the forest that lead to an open area, canopied by giant branches and brush. I clutched Max's arm, willing my feet to stop moving forward, to stop advancing toward the horrible end we must be destined to meet together- the end of my nightmares- when I sit bolt upright in bed, gasping for air, tears stinging my hot cheeks.

My limbs were unresponsive. There was nothing I could do, nothing I could say. My lips refused to emit the warning that I screamed inside my head. This couldn’t be real. It wasn’t possible. I was dreaming right now, about to wake up.
My harried thoughts were moving at a million miles a minute, but there was no time. We were but a few feet from the clearing.

The silver mist grew around us as we skidded to a halt, enveloping us in its fog. It was getting harder and harder to see. I didn’t know what Max could possibly be thinking right now. Did he see this? Did he know what was going to happen? I should have warned him. I knew all along, didn’t I?

I then came to the conclusion that no, I wasn’t dreaming. And yes- unless we were saved by a miracle- Max and I were going to die.


“What’s going on?” I screamed. I heard no response from Max. I reached for him blindly, trying with all my strength to resist the mist that both suffocated and bound me. My motions were slow, as if I was fighting a great fog. A set of gleaming, red eyes appeared out of the fast-growing darkness and I could no longer find my voice to yell a warning. Abruptly, the weight of the mist pushed down hard on my frozen body and my consciousness slipped. “Max!” I tried to say, but words failed me once again. The world turned to black.


“Tina. Tina, she’s waking up.”

“Well, it’s about time. God, you’d think she was hibernating or something.”

“Oh, stop. It’s only been a few days. Should I go get Aden?”

“Leave him alone, he’s got enough on his plate right now. She practically fell into his arms… talk about bad luck.”

“What I don’t understand is how she got here. What does this mean?”

“It means that the system is flawed. She’s the first ordinary human to enter Murdoch since Ambrose de Mefigi, which was a thousand and something years ago. This is not good.”

“What do you think they’ll do with her? The Court, I mean.”

“I don’t know, Claire. I don’t want to know.”

“She is an ordinary human, right Tina?”

“Yes. Enough. Go fetch some water and bring food. She hasn’t eaten in days.”

The voices in my head were swirling, twisting. I didn’t know where my ears were. Something was missing, and I was floating. I caught the short piece of conversation, then, slowly, I burst through the surface, gasping for air.