“Might I suggest we hold hands to keep the group together,” Coal said offering out a hand to Indi and Cat.

“Oh for f’s sake.” Cat rolled her eyes but took his hand anyway. Zephyr grabbed her other one. Amanda grabbed Zephyr’s and led the way.

“I’m not sure I want to be at the back,” Indi said, although she was only really half complaining. She certainly didn’t expect Coal to grab her hand and put it in Cat’s.

“Here,” he said with a gentle smile as he rearranged himself to the back.

The connected chain lasted about two corridors, when Amanda suddenly stopped, let go of Zeph’s hand, then turned around walked past everyone to re-look at the last intersection. Cat was more than happy for the excuse to shake her own hands free of everyone. And Indi, not wanting to be the only one still holding hands, loosened her own grip. Zephyr looked disappointed not to mention a little fearful as he gave a cursory glance up and down the hall.

Amanda returned a moment later. Coal raised his eyebrows.

She shook her head. “None of these halls look familiar. It’s like the whole house has rewritten itself. How are we supposed to find our way through a house that keeps changing?”

“We keep moving,” Coal replied as if it were simple.

“Until we starve or go mad,” Cat replied with a healthy dose of sarcasm and a wicked grin.

“It’s not funny,” Zephyr told her in a far more serious tone.

Coal continued calmly, not a hint of emotion. “The house doesn’t change the areas we’re in. We keep moving we’ve a better chance of at least finding something new. This house isn’t infinite. Eventually we’ll find something useful.”

“There’s no guarantee of that though,” Indi replied matter-of-factly. “We could just end up walking through the same rooms forever.”

“We could,” Coal agreed then gave Amanda a look.

Amanda sighed and finished the sentence for him. “But it’s better than standing still.” She agreed with him, she just wished she had a better idea. “Alright, let’s keep walking.” Amanda took the lead again.

“At least we’ll die doing something,” Cat quipped but she followed along without another word.

They walked for what felt like almost an hour and still the winding corridors continued on.

Then the walls changed suddenly and the group paused. Amanda stopped so suddenly Zephyr bumped into her. Cat rolled her eyes at him.

“What is it?” Indi asked. From near the back of the line she could not see. She slipped past Cat to get a better look at why they had stopped.

Along the left hand side of the corridor the lower wall was covered in old dusty paneling, well suited to the style of the house. But half way up, the wall suddenly changed to thick glass. Behind the glass was a darkened room. What little they could see, was from the nearby hallway lighting, and their own torches.

Zephyr held up his bright lamp.

The room behind the glass had become overgrown by masses of foliage. Large vines pressed right up against the internal window, sprouting pretty red flowers all along their stems.

“Wow! They look like poppies, sort of. They even have the darker center,” Indi remarked. “How do they grow without the light?”

“Who cares?” Cat rolled her eyes. “The old bat let the place go to the plants. This doesn’t help us get out of here.”

“It is kind of weird they’ve got no light,” Zephyr remarked.

“Maybe it shines in during other parts of the day. Or maybe they like the dark.” Cat didn’t think much of their concern.

Indi looked at Amanda and noticing the puzzled expression asked, “What?”

Amanda shook her head. “Nothing. It looks familiar.”

“The plant?” Coal asked from the back.

Amanda nodded. “I can’t quite place it.”

“Is it dangerous?” Zephyr asked, wondering if he should move away from the glass.

“It’s a plant.” Cat rolled her eyes.

“Some plants are dangerous.” Zephyr retorted.

Before Cat could reply with another sarcastic quip, Amanda butted back in. “No, he’s right, some plants...” but she trailed off, trying in vain to remember anything about this one.

“What, some plants will run after you down the street?” Cat still wasn’t convinced anyone needed to be as worried as Zephyr currently appeared to be.

“Some plants move and some plants will catch people and kill them.” Zephyr told her.

“Only if you walk into them.” Cat replied.

“Some plants interact with magic.” Coal said.

Cat turned back to look at him.

“Some emit sounds that render the listener unconscious,” he added, meeting Cat’s eyes.

Zephyr and Indi, were looking at him with horrified expressions.

Cat turned back to the glass and stared through thoughtfully.

Coal ignored the horrified looks and spoke over their heads to Amanda, who was still looking at the plant. “If you don’t know what that one is, we should probably just keep moving on by.”

Amanda glanced back at him. Met his blue eyes and gave gave a nod. She took up the lead, walking past the door to the plant room.

The others followed. Indi didn’t even look at the door, her attention already on whatever was coming next. Zephyr gave the door a wide berth. Cat gave it a suspicious look as she passed. Coal, with a quick glance, observed that the door was shut.

They walked along the corridor slowly. The floorboards creaking underfoot. Zephyr walked in the middle of the group, carrying the torch.

Cat listened to the creaking. Shortly after one intersection she noticed a change in sound. She paused and turned. Coal had stopped and was waiting at the last intersection. He held his finger to his lips, shook his head, then pointed to a patch of missing wallpaper. Cat frowned. She took at few steps toward him. He held up a hand, a signal that meant wait. She stopped and glanced back along the corridor to the rest of the group, who were just rounding a corner. She gave Coal a questioning look. Another shake of the head and finger to the lips. He seemed to be waiting for something. He held up one finger again then beckoned her closer and pointed at the other corridor. Cat was confused but she kept quiet and waited with him, not notifying the others. She trusted Coal, or at least she trusted him not to get them all killed in the current moment. Besides, now that he’d pointed it out, there was something weirdly familiar about that patch on the wall. She wanted to know what he was doing.

They waited in silence and in darkness. Eventually Cat noticed a light coming from the corridor they hadn’t taken. Then Amanda walked around the corner. She got a few paces down the hall, followed by Indi and Zephyr, and then she noticed them waiting up ahead. She stopped. A distracted Indi walked into her. “Oof.”

Behind them both, Zephyr swung his torch up at them. Then he turned and swung it back behind them, looking for the Coal and Cat that had been following him not long. He gave a squeak of surprise when he realised they weren’t there. He swung the torch forwards again and then back.

Indi scratched her head and looked just as confused.

Amanda glanced back once and then walked up to Cat and Coal warily. “We didn’t take three left turns,” was all she said.

Coal pointed at the patch on the wall but it was too dark for Amanda to see what he was pointing at. She just gave him a confused look.

Meanwhile Indi got tired of Zephyr swapping the direction of the torch for the hundredth time and she grabbed it off him and went to join the others.

“Hey!” Zephyr exclaimed, and paused where he was only just long enough to realise she was taking his light away. He scrambled along behind. “What? How did you guys get there?” he asked as they reached the corner.

“We’re going in circles.” Coal replied. Now that Indi had brought the light closer he pointed at the patch on the wall. “We’ve passed that patch three times now.”

“No...” was all Amanda could find the words for. Her words trailed off into silence as the gravity of it sunk into everyone.

No one spoke for almost a full minute.

Indi felt something brush past her ankle. Then something tightened. She glanced down and had just long enough to register that a vine had wrapped it’s way around her ankle before the plant yanked her backward with a yelp and started to drag her along the floor.

The torch clattered to the floor with a crash and blinked out.

Like a hare at the sound of a shotgun, Zephyr reached for Indi and grabbed both her hands.

Indi felt herself stretch between Zephyr and the grip of the plant.

Zephyr managed to hold her still long enough that Coal was able to step around to the side and swiftly slice through the vine with one deft slash of his sword. “Quickly! Move!” he commanded.

Indi would have glanced back, she was too curious not to, if it hadn’t been for Cat and Zephyr pulling an arm each, and a push from Coal between the shoulder blades. Cat and Zephyr tugged her past Amanda who had stepped to the side, one hand encased in fire, eyes fixed on whatever it was behind them.

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“Go!” Coal commanded.

Indi could hear footsteps following behind as Amanda retreated as well. Zephyr let go of her hand, falling behind somewhere, but Cat still tugged her along.

The dim glow from Amanda’s fire vanished, replaced by the light from the torch Coal had summoned.

“Keep moving!” came another command, this time from Amanda.

They ran through the house. Indi wasn’t sure how Cat decided which way to go or why the house suddenly let them go somewhere other than in circles. The scenery of the house whipped by fast. Indi barely had time to register it. She wasn’t even sure at which point they encountered new areas. Eventually they came across some stairs they hadn’t seen before. They wound their way swiftly down. Indi didn’t dare look back now. When they reached the bottom Cat finally stopped. This new room was well lit, by what appeared to be sunlight streaming through large dusty windows, but it couldn’t be could it? The room was very large and much taller than the other rooms had been, it looked like some kind of ballroom, now converted to storage. They could only see the far wall just below the ceiling. Furniture covered in white sheets blocked their view of anything lower. The room was filled with multiple mirrors of many shapes, styles, and sizes, both on the walls and standing separate independently. It reminded Indi of a fun house.

Zephyr stood puffing next to Indi. Both took a few moments to get their breath back as behind them Coal and Amanda, also breathing heavily, descended the last of the stairs.

A few feet away Cat tugged at a sheet and unveiled yet another mirror. She frowned at her own reflection. “Creepy,” she remarked.

Zephyr, having almost got his breath back couldn’t help himself. “Nah, I don’t think you look that bad.” Then he grinned in reply to Cat’s glare.

“What was that thing?” Indi asked.

“Dunno.” Amanda gave a cursory glance back up the stairs. Nothing appeared to be coming after them. She met Coal’s eyes next, wondering if he knew. If he did he didn’t say anything.

Amanda turned back to the others as Coal surveyed the room ahead.

“Looks like there’s a door over that side.” Coal nodded toward the far left of the room.

“If we can get past all this junk,” Cat remarked snarkily, but she wasted no time in getting started.

Zephyr was way ahead of her. “This way.” He wandered into the maze of mirrors, trying not to bump anything in case the sheets were hiding something more dangerous than furniture.

“Come on Indi,” Amanda encouraged as she followed Coal and the others.

“Coming,” Indi replied. Then she took a deep glorious breath and followed.

Everyone walked quietly, or at least they tried to. But in a room this large every small sound echoed loudly throughout. Creeks and scuffles filled the silence. They weaved their way through stacks of tightly packed and sheet-covered furniture, inter-laden with far more mirrors than any house needed, let alone one room. Indi peered into them as she went.

In one she noticed a figure, or what looked like a figure like shape, maybe a statue, standing in the shadows far behind her. Too far to see via the mirror so she turned around to get a better look, half worried it was going to be like the statues from earlier. However, she could see nothing behind her that resembled the shadowy figure.

She turned back to the mirror and nearly jumped when she realized the shape in the mirror was closer, like a dark gap in the air, but she still couldn’t quite make it out. Too scared to turn again she ducked around the next corner, the hairs on the back of her neck raised, resisting the urge to run, fearing she might be chased by some unseen thing.

She stopped short when she found no one in front of her. Her chest tightened. Was she left alone again?

But a moment later Amanda poked her head around the corner, “Coming?”

Indi released the breath she’d been holding.

“Are you okay?” Amanda asked after getting a look at Indi’s expression.

Indi nodded and wasted no time in following behind now. At first she tried not to look back in the mirrors, worried she might see the dark shape again and that it would be right up close this time. Eventually she could take it no more and she risked a glance.

She regretted it almost instantly. She’d prepared herself for a shadow but now what she saw in the mirror, despite or perhaps because of it’s innocuous nature, was somehow much more terrifying. A light blue balloon floated in the mirror taking up the bulk of the reflective surface. Indi could no longer see her own face in the mirror.

Worse, she was immediately reminded of the one thing she really didn’t want to see, a thing that was often found holding balloons. There were no clowns in her sight at the moment but right now to her, not being able to see one didn’t mean it wasn’t there, it just meant she didn’t know where it was.

She found herself frozen to the spot, wanting to run but unable to move. “Amanda!” she managed to croak out with a wavering voice.

Both Amanda and Coal appeared around the corner almost instantly.

“What is it?” Amanda asked.

Indi remained frozen looking at the mirror. “Don’t you see it?”

From where Coal stood he could see everyone. Zephyr who waited patiently up ahead, keeping his eyes down, pointedly not looking at any mirrors. Cat who stood a few feet away, fixated on her own mirror. Amanda who stood next to him, and Indi who stared frightfully into a mirror that showed nothing but her own reflection. Time for some magic.

He fumbled in one of his pockets for a cool round stone, opaque, white, and no bigger than a marble but less perfect in shape. He warmed it in his hand and he focused on what it would let him do. On the things it would let him see. It took a few seconds but it granted him vision. The power to see what others saw. And then in the mirror in front of Indi he saw it too. The floating pale blue balloon, white string almost dangling on the ground.

“Step away from the mirror Indi,” he commanded in a cool tone. It wouldn’t do for anyone to panic and he had yet to decipher what magic lay before them.

Beside him, Amanda glanced up at him. He knew she was wondering what he knew that she didn’t, but there was no time to explain. What would he say that could be of any use yet anyway?

Indi backed away slowly until she was in reach of Amanda who put out a gentle hand on Indi’s arm. Indi jumped but then she relaxed and turned. A worried look still marred her face. She gripped Amanda’s hand then turned back to look at the mirror, feeling safer with someone to hold on to. The balloon was gone.

While Amanda comforted Indi, Coal turned to check on the others. Zephyr was biting his fingernails, eyes still on the floor. Probably for the best for when Coal turned his attention to Cat he could now see what he hadn’t been able to before.

Cat watched herself in the mirror, only it wasn’t herself. She was sure of this, and yet in the mirror she watched as the belly of a woman who looked exactly like her expanded out. As if she were pregnant and time were speeding up. Well the first part was true but it was far too fast. Cat placed both her hands on her own belly and found it only a little rounder than it usually was, not noticeable at all, nothing like what she saw it the mirror.

But the worst was yet to come. As Cat stared, fixated on the unravelling events, a small bloody hand thrust itself from her twin’s belly. It reached out and twisted, grasping, tearing through the skin. Cat took a horrified step backwards.

“Let’s keep moving,” Indi remarked as she brushed past Coal.

The act drew his eyes away from Cat and when he looked back again Cat had already been distracted, as Indi grabbed her and pulled.

“We need to move some furniture,” Zephyr remarked as they reached him. He gestured at the pile that had caused them to pause in the first place.

“So why didn’t you move it?” an exasperated Cat remarked as she started lifting a table out of the way.

Satisfied they were now being productive and keeping their eyes away from the glassy surfaces, Coal turned to check back on what was keeping Amanda.

Amanda was now looking at Indi’s mirror. In it’s reflective surface Coal could make out the puzzled expression on her face. Behind her, where he should have stood, was an old woman instead. A cruel expression stared back at the both of them. The old woman wore a white coat. In one hand she held a syringe, in the other what looked like leather restraints.

Coal frowned. The expression on the face of the woman remained the same but she took a step forward.

“It’s not real,” Coal remarked when he saw Amanda’s eyes widen and her stance tense up.

“What?” She glanced up at him briefly, confused and questioning.

He didn’t answer fast enough but when she made to turn back to look in the mirror he clicked his fingers. “It’s not real,” he repeated again. He turned to follow after the others, knowing she wouldn’t wait around behind this time.

Cat had cleared the way so they moved on through the next section. Coal glanced back to check Amanda was following. She met his eyes, a hard expression on her face. He got the impression she didn’t trust him. Well, truth was, he didn’t think she was wrong to feel that way. He wouldn’t have trusted himself either. It was smart.

As they walked Coal stole a sideways glance at another mirror on the way. He couldn’t help himself. There were just so many of them. For a brief moment he had to remind himself that it wasn’t real as he watched the walls of the mirrored room shrinking in closer. He drew his eyes away and glanced around the room just to make sure. The walls remained where they were.

“What?” Amanda asked as she caught up to him. She didn’t miss much.

He didn’t answer at first but his fingers traced some other rocks in his pocket and then one of them started to heat up. “I think we’re being watched.” He stopped so he could take a proper look at their surroundings.

Amanda stopped behind him. “Guys!” she called to the others up ahead.

The rock in Coal’s pocket continued to heat up, indicating the nearby presence of something with malintent, some nearby imminent danger. It nearly singed his hand before he dropped it deeper inside his pocket with a light grimace. Dammit. He regretted not trying it earlier. How could he be sure it wasn’t just the house. But the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The feel of the room was off. He tried to pay attention to how. There was a feeling of heaviness, almost drowsiness. He shook his head. His rotated on the spot, trying to find whatever it was.

“What is it?” Amanda asked as the others gathered around.

Cat rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing here.”

But just as she said it Coal spotted movement in the air. A shimmer much like the one he had seen earlier. It dove toward the group. Coal yanked on Indi’s arm, pulling her out of it’s way at the same time he shoved Amanda backward. Amanda bumped into the rear wall of a wooden wardrobe.

Cat ducked and swore as the blur of air came flying at her. Zephyr, who was nowhere near it’s path, stumbled backwards and fell over a desk with a yelp.

Coal stepped forward with his sword out and his back to Amanda and Indi. He tired to follow the thing’s path with his eyes but found it hard to do. He kept losing it and then catching sight just as it would disappear again. It seemed to be circling them.

Across from them, Zephyr groaned and sat up, obviously uninjured but a little dazed.

Cat followed the thing, seemingly doing a better job at tracking it than Coal was.

“What?” Amanda asked from behind Coal. She couldn’t see what either of them were looking at.

Indi, too tried in vain to follow whatever it was, but all she could see was air.

“Shh,” Coal replied quietly without looking back.

“I don’t see anything,” Amanda whispered back.

After the thing did one more tightened lap of the room Cat faced it square on and held out a hand. The thing took on a darker more visible shape. It now looked like a wisp of black smoke. “It’s a shade,” she remarked as she kept turning, not letting it get behind her.

“A what?” Amanda asked.

“Dreamwalking creature,” Coal replied, recognising it now that it responded to Cat’s powers.

It dashed at them again. It focused on the larger group. Indi hid behind Coal as he slashed out at it with his sword. It seemed to have an effect causing the creature to dart slightly off to the side as it passed.

Amanda saw a glimmer of something shiny and then felt something sharp nick her shoulder as the creature passed. She glanced down at her arm and saw blood dripping from a thin cut.

“That’s the thing from earlier?” Indi asked Coal, pretty sure she was right but wanting confirmation.

Coal nodded.

Indi eyed his sword and his strong shoulders and she found she didn’t feel afraid at all, that was, until Cat spoke.

“What are you trying to hit it with a sword for, you can’t hurt it that way?” Cat remarked.

“It dodged before,” Coal replied. Truth was, he knew what it was, and what they were often used for, but he couldn’t quite remember what the best method for dealing with them was. That was usually what one hired a dreamwalker for. Now, while Coal did like to take an interest in the more practical aspects of jobs, in terms of understanding things at a theoretical level so he could differentiate the pros from the amateurs and pick who to hire, he hadn’t had to deal with a shade in quite some time.

“It’s probably just instinctively avoiding you lunging at it. That trick won’t last long,” Cat replied.

As if on queue the shade swooped at them again. Amanda and Indi dropped down low. Coal summoned a small wooden crate and threw it at the shade. Ths shade pulled back and the crate seemed to slow down in the air as it passed right through the lower half of the shade.

“Does it burn?” Amanda called to Cat.

Cat shook her head then she dropped her hands, a puzzled expression on her face. Nearby Zephyr crouched next to the desk he’d tripped over.

Coal glanced over at Cat and then back up at the shade and he realised what it was she was puzzled over. “It’s not targeting you?” he remarked.

Cat tore her gaze away from the shade to momentarily look at Coal.

“What will kill it?” Amanda asked. “Or at least get it to stop attacking.” The cut in her arm stung a little but it wasn’t bad. It was however a very neat cut, an indication of a rather sharp blade, and Amanda didn’t want to know what it would feel like to have that blade cut any deeper.

Cat was watching the shade again.

It swooped down low. Coal poked it with his sword. It swooped up again but otherwise seemed unbothered by the blade, and it’s reaction seemed less afraid.

“Cat?” Amanda repeated.

Cat shook her head.