Chapter 3

Sarah surveyed the room around her fearfully. A flicker of movement alerted her already heightened senses as she noticed the mob slowly advance. Pale, sickly complexions filled her vision as the crowd seemed to surge in on her. They moved carefully as if some indecision held them back but it wasn’t enough to completely dissuade them as they crept forward. Pressing herself back, she felt the hard wood of the door behind her and wished she was on the other side of it, outside and safe.

She noticed the looks on each face varied in the intensity of wanting, some wore a hunger that she couldn’t comprehend while in others she saw expressions of malice. At first glance, she had thought all the people in the room were advancing on her but as her gaze passed over the crowd she was relieved to notice a few people staying back. Her hope of their help against the crazy mob was short-lived as she noticed the look of condescending boredom on their faces, the look told her that although they weren’t involved in the actions of the others they weren’t going to do anything to stop them. Her confusion increased as she watched them turn back to their conversations as if there was nothing out of the ordinary going on in the foyer.

She turned her attention back to the threat and the occupants nearest to her. The woman from the kitchen was close, her soulless eyes and hungry mouth looking much as they had earlier but there was a sense of abandon to her that was new. She moved more fluidly as she advanced, maintaining eerie eye contact without once blinking her lids over those haunting eyes.

Sarah’s gaze found the old woman Tom had spoken to earlier, in the front row of the threatening mob. A plea for help formed in Sarah’s mind but died on her lips as she became aware of the woman advancing on her in the same ominous way as the rest. Her movements were different to the others but still menacing as she oddly inched her way forward, her body-waving and head-bobbing returning. The woman gave her an identical look to the one she had given that morning, disdain mixed with condescension. Her lips pulled back in a mirthless grin before Sarah watched with revulsion as she spat out her false teeth, revealing an oddly shaped, almost circular mouth with three fangs set at angles to each other.

Flinching away from the sight Sarah’s vision became swamped as she saw the dim light of the room bounce off exposed fangs and claws. Her mind tried to rationalise what she was seeing but she was too overwhelmed with terror. Feeling something touch her hair she whipped her head around quickly, watching as a deformed, elderly woman held up the strands of Sarah’s dark hair in triumph before flitting away to a corner of the room to gaze at her trophy. As Sarah eyed the remaining people gathered she was sure she wouldn’t get away that easily with the others.

Her whole being was flooded with adrenaline and consumed with the instinct to survive, however impossible. Pressing back further against the door - the only thing that felt real in this otherwise impossible situation - Sarah felt the cool doorknob against her wrist. The feel of the familiar metal against her hot, clammy skin sliced through her fear as she realised she might be able to escape. She wondered about the danger outside but pushed the thought aside hurriedly as she was sure it was preferable to being trapped inside the building.

Wrapping her fingers around the door handle she looked down at Tom lying helpless on the floor. She knew she wouldn’t be able to save him as well, there was no way she could lift him, and she wondered if she could leave him to save herself. Her primal instincts were screaming yes but a coolly rational part of her brain asked if she could live with herself if she ran out and left him to the horrific people in the room. Her body and mind raged at each other, her only hope of survival was to get out the door and run as fast as she could and even then she knew she might not live to talk about it.

A wave of pity for him overcame her, as she thought about his intent to stay in the hotel. He had seemed to know the people and had booked his room in this mad place, but surely he wasn’t aware of what the hotel guests were really like. She remembered all his warnings about staying safe and believed he must have felt something was amiss after arriving. Had they convinced him into coming, hiding who they were from him?

She looked again at the mob, mere moments had passed in her indecision yet they were closer and more menacing, she imagined she could feel their putrid breath on her skin and waited for one of them to pounce. Knowing that if she stayed she would have no hope of saving the helpless man on the floor Sarah sent out a quick plea for forgiveness before preparing for flight. Her muscles tensed and all her thoughts focused on the task. Her eyes were steady on the monsters as she noticed them react the same way, preparing for the chase.

Suddenly there was a flurry of movement in front of her and before she could register what was happening Sarah found herself in another room; with Tom. She looked around the bedroom with confusion as she untangled herself from his embrace. They appeared to be safe and thankfully alone. It took her befuddled brain a little while to comprehend the way the situation had changed so dramatically and she counted out some slow breaths to calm her racing pulse. Her muscles ached from the tension of holding herself so stiffly and she took a silent moment to survey the room, letting the normality of their surroundings help organise her thoughts.

She could tell they were still in the hotel by the décor that mirrored the furniture in her room almost exactly, but it wasn’t her room they were in. Noticing some of the paraphernalia in the room that she recognised from the car she decided quickly that she had found herself in Tom’s room. She felt disorientated by her sudden room change but not as much as when she had fallen through the floor and she wondered if she was becoming accustomed to the craziness. Blinking several times she tried to compose herself and steady her shaking limbs before looking over at the man responsible for all the drama over the past few days. With a spark of insight, she wondered just how responsible he was.

‘What was that, more tricks? I told you I don’t want to be involved in your “magic”,’ she said sternly although her voice was far from steady as she spoke.

‘No,’ Tom’s answer rang of an odd honesty and she felt compelled to believe him. He was still pale and she watched as he weakly collapsed into the large leather armchair in the room. He looked at her with a serious expression before continuing, ‘Well it was magic but not a “trick” to scare you. It was to save your life.’

Sarah opened her mouth to reply but found no words would exit past her dry lips. She moved to the matching armchair next to his and with determination, and a lot of theatrics, manoeuvred it directly in front of him. Sitting down she leaned towards him, narrowing the distance between them. She wanted some answers and she wanted to see his expression as he gave them. She hoped she appeared more intimidating than she felt.

Deciding to allow him to try to persuade her, she was confident that there couldn’t be any other reasonable explanation for all that she had witnessed in the past few hours. She wasn’t sure how an illusion could be orchestrated so convincingly but now that she was in the relative safety of his room she was less ready to believe in the instincts that had overwhelmed her before. She was just involved in a very clever ruse with brilliant actors and a well-developed set. She felt foolish for believing otherwise and letting her fear get out of control.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked seriously.

‘I teleported us to my room. You’ll be safe here,’ Tom said, his tone implying that teleporting was the most normal thing in the world. He looked tired and resigned as he spoke.

She looked at him carefully, trying to read if he was a really good liar or if he was completely insane. Tom looked back, unblinking and unfazed.

Sarah had always prided herself on being able to read people and being a good judge of character, but his open expression and closed answers were making it impossible for her to decide. Either way, he was dangerous. Still, she had promised, silently, to give him the benefit of the doubt while he explained so she decided to play along.

‘Is that how I ended up in the kitchen, you teleported me there?’

‘No, that was the building.’ She gave him a blank quizzical look as he continued. ‘I told you not to stare at the walls, who knows maybe you insulted it.’ his voice was still weak and it was hard to detect any humour in it. She could see he believed what he was saying.

‘It … you mean the hotel?’ This was getting her nowhere fast and Sarah bit down on her urge to rage, swear or rant in her frustration.

‘Well it’s not actually a hotel,’ Tom continued. Sarah wasn’t actually surprised by this fact as she remembered the service she had received. ‘It’s the home of my … friend,’ he added after a pause.

‘Does your “friend” always entertain so many people?’ Sarah asked contemptuously, wondering why he couldn’t just admit it was a trick and be done with the pretence. Admit that the place and the people were all set up to scare her and to entertain others.

‘What about downstairs, what was that thing?’ she knew she hadn’t been very clear in her description of the mob downstairs but she couldn’t find the words to describe what she had seen. She wanted him to say “actors” but was willing to see what he expected her to believe. The make-up artist they used must be a genius, she decided as she filtered through the images in her mind.

‘Which thing? The vampire, werewolf or the giant leech?’

Tom’s answer filled her with a fear that came from every fibre of her being. Even while she knew it was impossible, a part of her knew that the names of the creatures fitted. Of course, the goth woman was a vampire, how else could you explain those eyes? She shivered as she remembered her claim of being hungry.

The thought of a giant leech chilled her as much as the vampire and she instantly knew he was talking about the woman she had met upon arriving at the mansion, and the woman the next morning. It made sense to her now why she had felt so unsettled, they were the same person. The next day when they had seen her again it was obviously after she had fed. Sarah shuddered at the thought.

She had been bitten by a leech once and the experience had been enough to turn her off the creatures. Although it didn’t seem to bother some people there was just something about the horrid little things with their preference for blood meals that made her stomach flip. The thought of being bitten by one the size of the woman downstairs was enough to make her gag.

Pushing the thought aside she realised that she had let her guard down and had been nearly half-convinced by his story. She wondered how a few simple words from him could send her down the half-mad path of believing. She had always prided herself on being logical and level-headed in every situation but there was something about this magician that caused her to lose her firm belief in facts and become willing to believe the impossible.

Forcing herself to be logical she continued, ‘Right. So this is some sort of supernatural … umm, building?’ she was being sarcastic but felt a chill at his look.

‘Actually, it’s a mystical realm.’

Again those few words seemed to be spoken in a way that pierced her armour, it was almost as if she were being hypnotised by his tone. She kept a tight rein on her emotions and brought her imagination back under control.

‘Well then what are you?’ she didn’t want to hear his answer but had to ask, she had to know how insane he was, or how insane he thought she was.

‘Half-blood,’ he answered as if that would explain everything. His eyes were still looking at her unwaveringly and she decided he was a very good liar, but then she knew he would have to be in his line of work. ‘My father’s a sorcerer, my mother was human.’

‘Ok … well … it’s been nice to meet you … umm, Tom,’ Sarah spoke calmly as she rose to her feet, deciding that she had had enough of the insanity. Her mind was screaming for logic and although her instincts were telling her that what he was saying was true she just couldn’t trust them, or him. She felt torn, confused and overwhelmed as if there were a battle going on in and around their conversation, one that she couldn’t fully comprehend but it was exhausting her. ‘I’m going to go back to my car now, and then I’m going to go back to reality.’

‘How are you going to do that?’ Tom hadn’t moved from his spot but the tone of his voice stopped Sarah in her tracks, it wasn’t commanding or intimidating just blatantly logical. ‘Have you forgotten the creatures downstairs? You may not believe what I have told you but you were afraid before. As you should be. The only way you can get out of this building is with my help but I can’t go back outside yet. You may think it was just part of my act but I can tell you I’m not that good an actor.’

‘What happened outside?’

Sarah could see he didn’t want to tell her, and with the strange things he had already said she knew it must be bad, or weird. She sat back down in the armchair, settling into the seat to listen to him, again trying to appear open-minded.

He sat there silently for a moment before he shrugged. ‘They are hunters; Banshees.’

‘Aren’t they the evil creatures that scream all the time?’ she asked, wondering what they had to do with Tom’s condition earlier.

‘Well they’re not evil,’ Tom said as if he were defending the creatures. ‘But yes they will shriek when a death is going to happen.’

‘Sounds lovely of them.’ Sarah rolled her eyes.

Tom ignored her look and continued to explain, his expression becoming more animated. ‘The Banshees are being forced to work for creatures that are far worse than any of the ones downstairs. They have been taking our kind and we never see them again. We aren’t sure what their masters are or what’s going on which is why we’re all here, we don’t usually group in large numbers,’ he seemed to weigh up the information before deciding to continue. ‘For now, here is safe and hopefully, we can work out what’s happened to those we’ve lost, and stop it from happening to the rest of us. That’s why you shouldn’t be here, firstly you’re in danger and secondly, you’re a distraction.’

‘Well, I didn’t ask to come to this creepy place that was your fault.’ Sarah knew she sounded crazy, about as crazy as him, but she no longer cared if she was being made a fool of or if there were cameras around filming her fear. She just wanted the whole episode to be over.

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‘I know, and now we’re both stuck.’

The finality in his voice struck a chord of fear deep within her.

‘What do we do?’ she hated that she asked and hated, even more, the tremble in her voice as she asked.

‘We stay here again tonight, try to get you out tomorrow,’ he hesitated for a moment before continuing, ‘you could stay here with me, so I can keep you safe from the others.’

‘No offence but I don’t think I will be that much safer with you, Half-blood,’ Sarah hoped that the word was an insult. She didn’t fully know what a “half-blood” was let alone if it was a bad thing but she wasn’t waiting around to find out.

Moving quickly to the door she didn’t look back, not wanting him to sense any indecision in her that he might read more into. She couldn’t believe that he would take this opportunity to proposition her! There had been nothing in her behaviour towards him that he could have read as an invitation, she had barely been able to hide her contempt towards him and his games. A small voice wondered if he was just trying to keep her safe and hadn’t intended to offend her but she pushed it aside with indignation.

She opened his door, unlocked she noticed, and stopped to carefully peer both ways down the hall to make sure there wasn’t anybody nearby before stepping through. No matter what she said about it being illogical there was some primal instinct in her that seemed to believe that those people downstairs weren’t actors and were the creatures he had described. Crossing the hall, suddenly she felt an odd sensation as if something passed nearby and she watched with amazement as her bedroom door opened in front of her. She glanced back to see Tom standing in his doorway, his handsome face the mask of a performer, and she did not doubt that he was responsible for the door opening. Moving forward she tried to curb her irritation at the showy magic trick, as she acknowledged that he was good at what he did for a living. Her door had been locked when she had fallen through the floor earlier and her key was still inside.

Back in her room she closed and locked the door firmly, pushing back the voice in her mind that told her a door and lock would do little to help her. She began to pace angrily around the room, wondering what Tom could get out of trying to scare her all the time. Surely he didn’t think she would believe all the supernatural nonsense he was telling her, she was a smart non-superstitious woman living in an intelligent age.

She wasn’t sure of Tom as a magician, as she had only watched a small portion of his show that night, but she had seen other magicians setting people up with elaborate ruses meant to be funny. She had never found laughing at another person’s fear entertaining. Then again just because she didn’t find it funny didn’t mean everyone else didn’t, all those magicians were making a living somehow.

Remembering the time a street performer had coerced her into watching a magic trick with some dice, Sarah remembered being left with a feeling of unease. She had found the experience disconcerting and had barely resisted the urge to check all her jewellery was still in place afterwards. Where others seemed to find magic exciting and entertaining, she usually just felt stupid and vulnerable. She was feeling the same now, confused by the trick and helpless against her unwitting part in it.

She sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed, overcome with a sudden feeling of fatigue. Her body felt exhausted, much as it had when she had fallen asleep the night before, and she reasoned that it wasn’t every day you found yourself in a building full of possible monsters. It seemed like an unrealistic movie, which made her feel certain it was all a set-up. Still, she decided it would be better to stay in her room, either there were monsters outside her door that wanted to hurt her or cameras and people wanting to laugh at her.

The feeling of fatigue didn’t ease as she sat there and Sarah had the strangest feeling she was being watched. A glance around the room confirmed she was alone but the feeling was relentless. There was no malice in the invisible gaze, for some reason she was certain of that, but she had the oddest feeling that it was somehow connected with her fatigue. The thoughts were hazy and were external to her consciousness and soon they too entered a dreamlike state. Sighing she lay straight back on the bed, still in her overblown bridesmaid dress, and gave in to the exhaustion.

She awoke to a tap at her door and was surprised that she had managed to sleep at all. Quickly pushing aside the fogginess she leapt out of bed as the tapping continued, before carefully stalking barefoot towards the door as she remembered what could be on the other side.

‘Sarah it’s me … Tom.’

The voice sounded legitimate and sighing Sarah relaxed slightly as she unlocked the door and opened it a crack. To her relief, she could see Tom’s features lit by the dim shadowy overhead lights, and she could also see he was alone.

‘Room service.’

As he spoke she moved back into the room, allowing him to enter with the tray he was carrying. Tom placed it on the dresser where he had placed the breakfast one earlier and Sarah puzzled at the bare top of the piece of furniture as she couldn’t recall the other tray being removed. She hid her curiosity behind his turned back as he moved towards the door, not wanting to give him an opportunity to supply any more of his “answers”. As she watched him close the door firmly, while he was still inside the room, she realised he was intent on staying and she was instantly aware of her appearance. The glance she saw him give her tousled hair and the wrinkled dress didn’t help her discomfort.

Turning her focus from her dishevelled state she instead eyed the man moving confidently through her room. She wondered momentarily if he was going to apologise for his behaviour earlier, and his innuendo. One look at his calm, slightly cocky expression and she knew she was fooling herself. Still, she wasn’t going to bring it up, after thinking about his comment later she realised she may have overreacted and wasn’t going to court the embarrassment of finding out.

‘How are you feeling?’ his voice held nothing but concern but the tone grated on her already frayed nerves.

She opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of his care after everything he was putting her through but as she looked at him she felt the fight leave her body. Strangely he was her only friend in the absurd situation and if he were telling her the truth then she would be better off keeping him onside. Plus it wouldn’t be a good idea to cause a scene, it was bound to make her look bad to the cameras.

Sarah collapsed into the armchair by the window. The curtains were still thrown wide as she had remembered that vampires weren’t supposed to like sunlight so had thought it wouldn’t be a good idea to close them. Not that she believed in vampires but there was still some part of her that wouldn’t let her discredit her fears. She looked out at the setting sun as she pondered his concern.

Honestly, she wasn’t sure how she was feeling and suddenly couldn’t find the words to explain. She was confused, angry at the situation, angry at herself and angry at him. Especially if he was trying to make a fool of her. If not, then she was in a building full of creatures she hadn’t known existed until now and would have preferred to stay ignorant of the fact. Instead of answering she posed a question as she watched him move to lean against the end of the bed casually.

‘Are you safe here?’ He looked surprised, almost as surprised as she was for asking the question, but she pressed on to explain herself. ‘I mean, if you’re a half-blood that means you’re half-human. Are they umm … attracted to your human half? Are you in danger?’

‘No,’ Tom looked at her intently, his dark brown eyes compelling her to believe him. She mentally made a comparison to the eyes of the creatures downstairs, noticing the depth of colour in his as opposed to the void of blackness in theirs. As she looked for longer than was probably socially acceptable she realised the other main difference, his were alive. A glint of something else in their depths that was missing in the others. A spark that was uniquely his. She shook herself out of her foolish thoughts as he continued. ‘And neither are you as long as you stay in this room and don’t open your door to anyone except me.’

Tom moved towards the door again, opening it carefully before turning back to Sarah briefly. ‘It’s time to believe in magic.’

Without waiting for a response he left the room, closing the door behind him. Sarah wasn’t certain she could trust her eyes but she was sure she saw an odd film of colour wash over the door before it returned to the solid wood of before. Quickly scrambling over to the door she locked it firmly with the key before replacing it on the table.

Moving over to the food she was surprised by the hunger that the aroma aroused in her and was glad that she was eating alone as she devoured everything on the plate. The missed meals and the adrenaline of the day had reduced her to behave like a starved animal. On the tray, there was also a brand new pack of cards which she assumed was Tom’s idea of entertainment for the evening. She ignored them, although a glance at the darkening world outside told her she would have hours to kill before morning when she would be able to escape her room and hopefully escape the building.

As she entered the small bathroom she wondered how well she would be able to freshen up without any of her things. A rummage around in the cupboard above the sink luckily produced everything she needed for her hygiene. The room had been freshly stocked for the guests Tom’s “friend” had been expecting and everything looked new and clean. She was surprised to find the items, especially if what Tom was saying was true. Did vampires need to brush their fangs? Remembering the giant leech and her false teeth Sarah decided to ignore her wayward thoughts and was instead grateful that the bathroom had some conveniences.

Filling the large bathtub she was also glad that it had indoor plumbing as the old claw-footed bath looked like it was originally intended to be filled with bucket after bucket of hot water brought up from the kitchen by hand. She smiled at the thought, amused at the continuity of the building. The bathroom had all the conveniences but none of them were modern. Still, she knew that some things in the building must have been updated over the years, the electrical wiring and plumbing for a start, even if the interior styling had been left so far behind. As she slipped into the warm water and lay back comfortably she decided it wasn’t too bad as long as she could get clean.

Wrapping herself in a large towel she did her best to hand wash her clothing, hating the idea of having to wear the dress another day but knowing that she still had no other options. Unfortunately, it was the same for her underwear. Still, she kept aside the sheer full-length slip she had worn under the dress as she didn’t like the feeling of vulnerability sparked by the thought of having to go to bed naked. Leaving her clothing in the bathroom she made a mental note to retrieve the dress before she went to bed even if it was still wet, as she wasn’t about to sleep in the creepy room without the comfort of knowing decency was close at hand.

After her foray in the bathroom, she returned to the bedroom and looked around the room wondering what she was going to do with herself for the next few hours. Sitting in her new favourite armchair she decided she would just have to wait. At least it would give her some time to try to work out what was going on in the building and what Tom was up to. She looked at the wall, covered in old-fashioned wallpaper before a shudder ran down her spine at Tom’s words earlier that day about not staring at the walls for too long.

Tom paced his room impatiently, hoping for inspiration to strike about the woman across the hall. If he couldn’t get rid of her then he at least had to convince her about the danger she was in. Still, something was holding her back, besides her obvious stubbornness. She was reluctant to believe in anything that wasn’t included in the list of things she thought was normal.

She was adamant that it was all just an act he had concocted, he didn’t need to be able to read her mind to work that out; although it did help. Even using his magic to try to persuade her wasn’t working. He could see her respond to it but then a wall would come up and she would go straight back to looking for a logical explanation. Unfortunately, the only logical explanation was that he was the bad guy, tricking her for entertainment, and he needed her to trust him if he was going to get her out of the building alive.

He had never met anyone that he couldn’t convince. Not that he had practised forcing people to believe in magic, he usually just let his tricks and illusions convince people for him. He had never had to compel someone before. It was a skill he hadn’t bothered mastering and had never been interested in.

There were sorcerers he knew that had practised extensively in controlling others until they could do it without much effort. A sorcerer like that would be able to convince her but he wasn’t sure what would be left of her afterwards, there was always a risk when using too much magic on a mortal. Plus he had felt the effects of a compelling firsthand and he knew it wasn’t pleasant. He grimaced at the thought.

Tom looked around the small room in frustration, taking in the furniture and the colouring with a frown. He hadn’t been looking forward to being cooped up, especially in this building. Still, he had lost. He had resisted coming for as long as he had been able, outright refusing the first few invitations, but he had been bested in the end.

His skin crawled with the memory of being compelled to drive there, the effort it had taken him to stop when he had seen Sarah stuck on the side of the road and the power it had drained. He had been glad she had gotten into the car when she did as he didn’t think he could have held off driving much longer. The internal war he had gone through was a bitter experience that he never wanted to be repeated.

Not that she seemed to appreciate it, he thought unfairly. He had been compelled to arrive, the banshees were forcing him to stay and all the while he had to keep a human from being either a source of macabre entertainment or a meal to the monsters inside the building. This kind of responsibility wasn’t something he had ever sought. He had only ever been interested in a life of freedom, travelling and showing his magic, enjoying seeing the astonished faces of his fans and for the most part being alone. It was what he preferred, he lived alone but not lonely.

Once he had been forced to stop resisting and had resigned himself to the idea of being stuck in this building, he had planned to use the enforced holiday as a time to create a performance that would make people wonder. Although he was magic he preferred not to use it regularly in his acts, it felt like cheating. While studying all the great magicians he admired he soon realised that it was more than a few tricks to surprise, it was an art form and something that had become as much a part of him as the real magical abilities he had. He still used real magic from time to time but only to make it a little bit more spectacular and to keep his fans guessing but he never let it overtake his act. It appealed to him to mix the real with the imaginary, it was like hiding in plain sight.

It hadn’t escaped his attention that Sarah was not one of his adoring followers and he didn’t think she was going to change her mind anytime soon. He glanced over at the orb beside his bed, still glowing with the image of her room and looked away quickly as he noticed her sitting in the chair wearing nothing but a towel. He thought of using his magic to overpower her mind, bend her to his will or maybe just keep her unconscious until it was all over, and the sorcerer in him revelled in the chance to use some of the darker spells he had been trained in, but he dismissed the thought. He couldn’t take away her limited freedom, even to save her life.

Tom sighed as he sat down heavily on the bed, rubbing his hands over his face tiredly. He had other things to worry about, like the threat to him and towards all the others in the building from whatever was outside. Now instead of working on his act before he came back to his suspense-racked fans with the performance of the century, or maybe even in the history of the world, he was forced to babysit an ungrateful human. It rankled at him. He had lived alone doing what he wanted as he travelled the world and other realms for so long. Now the responsibilities kept piling on.

That night Sarah awoke to a strange noise in her room. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before and wasn’t something her half-asleep brain could comprehend. It was a howling noise but quiet, like a beast that was trying to whisper. Pulling her mind fully awake she opened her eyes, blinking in the dim light spilling out from her open bathroom door.

A shadow shifted near her and as she watched there was a slight movement pulling away from her bed as if her room had captured some mist from outside. Sitting up she tried to grab for the bedside light but on her way, her hand brushed some of the cloudlike, white substance and a shot of pain raced up her arm, momentarily paralysing the appendage and causing her to cry out. Staring in disbelief at her hand she noticed the blood flowing freely from her palm.

The noise began again with a vengeance and Sarah resisted the urge to cover her ears while wishing she could cover her eyes as well. There were three ghostly white shapes, shifting and flowing around the room and she realised they weren’t there with the mist, they were the mist. Her soul understood what her mind couldn’t and she knew she was in grave danger. The shapes advanced towards her on the bed, still shifting from side to side as if they were enjoying the moment; a dance of death.

Holding out her uninjured hand she tried to ward them off, not sure in her dreamlike state what she intended would happen. Suddenly the nearest shape reached out and with a pain that coursed through her touched her almost reverently on the forearm. Instantly her skin gave way and a small sliver of blood ran down to her elbow and dripped onto the bed. The scream that tore itself from her was something she would not have thought her lungs capable of. It was as if the world had made itself heard through her voice, adding to the otherworldly feeling.

Sarah watched the situation as if she were a spectator. Her mind was no longer able to focus and the pain was sending her to a state where the strange occurrences in her bedroom seemed as if she was separate from them. When her door crashed open she didn’t feel relieved, or scared, she just watched. The sight of Tom rushing toward her didn’t make her feel safe, instead, all she felt was suddenly very tired. She fell back in the bed and closed her eyes hoping that when she opened them again everything would be normal.