The demon rested on her chest, and she couldn’t breathe! It sucked the life out of her. But when she opened her eyes saw that it was only Ezzie, poking on her chest, and she took in deep breaths to calm her heart rate down. The girls still slept in her arms—Cadence snoring softly and Leona’s breathing deep. Ava yawned, still tired.

“Sorry,” Ezzie whispered. “But we really have to go.”

Ava didn’t want to wake Leona and Cadence up and was suddenly annoyed with Ezzie. Couldn’t she see that the girls needed their sleep? Couldn’t Ezzie see that she needed her sleep? But she knew Ezzie was right. They needed to go. Tenderly Ava detached herself from the girls, who only mumbled and snuggled in closer together, and stood up. It had been so cozy and warm with Leona and Cadence in the crooks of her arms, and now she shivered.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Don’t wake up the girls.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t. Come on.”

The two left the rug, but the minute they stepped off it began sliding, and both fell to their knees as they slid down the ravine, past the play kitchen and beanbag chairs and stuffed animals, and Ava found she had trouble getting to her feet. Why was it so slippery here? They slid to the end of the ravine, and it was just snow and those strange standing doors all around them and no sign of the road, and suddenly that overpowering, looming shadow was over them, and once again Ava saw red at the corners of her vision.

“Leaving two sleeping children alone?” it boomed. “That’s irresponsible!”

“Sorry, but we just need to find the road!” Ava said, a bit defensively. Why couldn’t this strange, looming shadow watch Leona and Cadence? Who was watching the girls before her and Ezzie came along?

“Discipline!” announced the booming shadow, and before Ava or Ezzie could do anything they were shoved, sliding, through the snow and into one of the open, free-standing doorways, and the door slammed shut behind them, but instead of being on the other side of the door, in the snow, they stood in blackness. Dim orange light blinked on above them, and Ava saw they stood in a large room, with dirty mirrors on the walls, and free standing, full length, gleaming mirrors on the bare dirt floor, and she saw herself, reflected in all of those mirrors, her pale face with deep bags under her eyes and dirty outfit and long knotty hair, and she saw Ezzie—gaunt and emaciated, and Ezzie screamed and covered her eyes and knelt on the dirt ground.

“It’s okay,” Ava said, heart pounding. “We’ll get out. We’ll get back to the road.”

Ava pounded on the wooden door when she realized it was locked.

“Let us out!” she screamed.

“No. I mean, I know,” said Ezzie. “I just don’t like seeing myself.” Ezzie still knelt on the dirt, covering her face with dirty hands.

“Why not?” asked Ava. “I’m not particularly fond of my reflection right now either.”

“I just can’t see myself! Okay.”

“Okay.”

Ava supposed if she looked as gaunt and emaciated as Ezzie she wouldn’t like seeing her reflection either, but she didn’t think it warranted a scream and covering her eyes and pretty much rocking on the dirt floor.

“My sister Amelia has mirrors in her dwelling. I don’t like going in there either,” whispered Ezzie. “I don’t like seeing my reflection.”

“It’s not that bad,” said Ava.

“Yes it is!”

“It’s really not. Just take a peek.”

“No!”

“Okay.”

“Can you break the door down?”

Ava wiggled the door handle and slammed her shoulder into the hard wood, hurting her shoulder, and winced.

“No,” she said. She slammed on the door with her fists and kicked it, but it wouldn’t budge. She wondered how long their discipline would last, and she wondered when Leona and Cadence would wake up. She thought about Cadence’s carrot red hair and deep blue eyes and Leona’s ringlets in her hair. Were the two orphans? What did the shadow voice mean about parents? Ava looked back on the two with motherly fondness—particularly with Cadence. If they were orphans she felt really bad.

“We have to get away from the mirrors!” said Ezzie, who still covered her eyes with both her gray, bony hands, and Ava, again, wondered when was the last time Ezzie had drank any blood. In the dim orange light she looked even thinner and gaunt, and suddenly Ava worried. She certainly hadn’t drank any since they’d left the fountain of blood, back at her oasis.

“Ezzie,” Ava said, “when was the last time you drank any blood?”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Ezzie.

“Yes it does! I don’t want you fainting on me.”

“It was while you were in the spinning world. I had my vial of blood.”

That long ago! “Why didn’t you drink any under the musician’s pavilion?”

“Because I just can’t! My sisters still don’t see what’s really wrong with me. They don’t see.”

“But I do, Ezzie,” said Ava. “Depression really isn’t that uncommon in my world.”

“It’s not?”

“No.”

“But you have… killing.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“That is true, but Ezzie! You really need to drink some blood! Do you feel faint?” Ava did not want Ezzie fainting on her, and anorexics fainted, didn’t they? Ava didn’t know enough about anorexia to know for sure.

“A little, yeah. I’ve had dizzy spells, even while still drinking my vial of blood.”

So she was way overdue, and suddenly Ava had an idea. Ezzie needed blood, and she had plenty of it.

“One second,” she said.

“Okay.”

Ava dug around in her bag until she found her spiral bound journal. She picked the end of the spiral until she straightened out the wire and winced a little when she scraped her arm and a bright trail of red blossomed up. Ezzie seemed to sniff the air, then recoiled.

“What is that!” she practically screeched. “Why can I smell it?”

“It’s some of my blood. I want you to have a little bit.”

“It smells so…” Ezzie paused. “Sweet!”

“Yes. Now take a lick.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes you can.”

“No!”

“Just a little bit. I don’t want you fainting on me.”

“But it’s yours. This is barbaric!”

“I’m giving it to you. Just a small lick. I’m not giving you a lot.” Ava knelt by Ezzie and put her arm and the bright trail of red blood by Ezzie’s mouth. “I only scratched myself a little bit.”

Ezzie sat up a bit more, smelling the blood it seemed, and Ava was surprised she could even smell it. “Well. Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Okay.”

Ezzie put out her tongue, licking at the scratch on Ava’s arm, then she backed away, still holding her hands over her eyes, but she seemed more alert. Ava took that as a good sign. Ezzie’s tongue had been warm, and Ava pulled her sweater sleeve down, over her still stinging scrape.

“There. That wasn’t that bad, was it?” she asked.

“No,” said Ezzie. “That was very—” she paused. “Nice of you.”

“Do you feel better?”

“A little less faint and dizzy, yes. That was very sweet tasting. The blood from the fountain doesn’t even compare. Is that how all the blood tastes in your world?”

“I’m assuming so.”

“But there’s no fountains of it?”

“No.”

“So it requires…” Ezzie paused. “Violence to get?”

“Well, I really wouldn’t call scratching my arm for you violence,” said Ava.

“That’s barbaric!”

“Not really. It’s not like I cut myself or something. It was just a tiny scrape.”

Ezzie just frowned, and Ava sighed and pounded on the door some more. Her shoulder ached from where she’d shoved it against the hard wood, and sudden desperation filled her. They didn’t have time for this! They needed to get back to the road and out of this strange winter place with the overpowering shadow and seemingly orphan girls. The shimmering archway could disappear at any moment, and she berated herself for getting sucked under Cadence and Leona’s spell. Mommy. She was far from becoming anyone’s mom, especially if she never let a boy touch her again. She still wasn’t letting a boy touch her ever again. Mark was gross, and she didn’t even want to imagine a different boy heaving on top of her, but her parents… And how scared she had gotten when Elizabeth had kissed her…

“Let us out!” she screamed. “Let us out!”

Had she led Mark on? Was she really an unpaid whore? That didn’t even make any sense! Cadence and Leona hadn’t seen anything wrong with having two moms, but they were just children. Children who hadn’t learned what was normal and what wasn’t normal, but maybe the world really was as innocent as viewed through the eyes of a child. Ava didn’t know.

She banged on the door some more, her body and face and movements all reflected in the mirrors.

“Can you open it?” asked Ezzie in a small voice.

“No,” said Ava, frustrated. How long was their discipline going to last, and who was watching Leona and Cadence right now? The shadow. “I’m trying.”

“Hurry,” begged Ezzie. “I don’t want to see my reflection.”

They’d have to work on that, but she didn’t say that to Ezzie. It wasn’t like she didn’t have her own issues she needed to work on.

“Let us out!” she screamed again, and then the door opened a small crack, revealing bright whiteness and snowflakes.

“Mommy?” said a small voice, and Ava pushed the door open all the way and Cadence and Leona stood there, faces bright and smiling when they saw her.

“Mommy!” exclaimed Cadence, giving her a big, warm hug. “We weren’t sure which door the shadow put you in, but we heard you banging on this one.” Ava’s heart melted a little bit, but she managed to detach herself from Cadence.

“What’s wrong with momma?” asked Leona, peering over Cadence.

“She doesn’t like mirrors. That’s all,” said Ava, not wanting to worry the girls. “Come on Ezzie.”

Ezzie stood up, still covering her eyes, and took some cautious steps forward. Ava held out her hand.

“Here. Take my hand,” she said, and Ezzie took her hand, strange purple eyes still closed.

Cadence and Leona laughed.

“Come on! We want to play! The shadow is not fun.”

Ava led Ezzie out into the bright whiteness.

“You can open your eyes now,” she said to Ezzie, who did, squinting.

Leona and Cadence slammed the door shut after them, and they stood amongst all the snow again, away from that room of mirrors, and relief filled Ava. Now they just had to find the road, before that overpowering shadow that made her see red at the corners of her vision realized Leona and Cadence had set them free.

“Can you two lead us to the road now?” Ava asked. “We really have to go.”

Cadence pouted. “But I don’t want you to go.”

“We have to,” said Ezzie.

“Where’s the shadow?” asked Ava.

“Out watching the other children. There’s a lot of us,” said Leona.

“Where are your parents?” asked Ava, suddenly worried. She really hoped they weren’t orphans.

Leona and Cadence looked at each other and laughed.

“We don’t know,” said Leona. “Come on. Let’s play, momma.” She took Ezzie’s hand.

“No,” said Ezzie, somehow managing to break her hand away from Leona’s strong grip. “Please show us the road.”

“Why do they always want to go,” whispered Cadence.

“It’s okay, Cadence,” said Leona, patting her on the back. “The shadow would just put them back in that door anyway.”

Panic crossed Ezzie’s bony face.

“Can you girls show us the road?” asked Ava, not helping the desperation in her voice because she didn’t want to be locked back up in that room for who knew how long either.

“Yes,” said Cadence solemnly. Then her face brightened. “We can push them out! Oh, Leona! Won’t that be fun?”

“Yes!” said Leona brightly, practically dancing where she stood. “But we have to hurry before the shadow comes back to check on us!”

“Come on, mommy and momma!” said Cadence, and the two girls took their hands.

Cadence’s grip was tight, but Ava still slid through the snow after her and Leona, Ezzie at her side.

“Oh the shadow is going to be so mad!” said Leona, as though that were a good thing.

Then they were through a huge snowbank and back on the icy road again. The girls pulled them down the slippery road, the girls having no trouble with sliding, and ahead Ava was relieved to see another twilight lit archway and wall—this wall covered with snow and mud, and she hoped through that twilight lit archway was more fog lands, and that they were still going north. She’d ask Ezzie once they were safely through it. Cadence and Leona stopped, and Cadence gave Ava a huge, warm hug, her carrot red hair tickling her ear.

“I love you, mommy,” she whispered when she pulled away, and her breath smelled like peppermints.

“Okay. Now sit down and we’ll push you through!” said Leona. “Oh, this is so fun.”

Ava and Ezzie sat on the icy road, and Cadence and Leona shoved them hard. Those girls were strong!

“Bye, mommy and momma!” Cadence called behind them, and then they were through the inky, twilit archway, spinning, and Ava was dizzy when they were on the other side, and relief filled her when fog wisped around her waist and surrounded them. They sat on the cement and cracked road, the twilit archway so close behind them Ava could have touched it, and she quickly stood and took steps away from it. Her heart ached when she thought about Cadence saying she loved her. She hoped the two girls wouldn’t get into too much trouble from the shadow.

Her and Ezzie both stood in silence for a little bit.

“Well, that was intense,” Ava finally said. “Does the road still lead north?”

Ezzie took the compass out of her pocket. “Yes,” she said, sounding relieved, and Ava and Ezzie followed the road, leaving the twilit archway and Leona and Cadence far behind.