Into the Gray

by Geanna Culbertson

  Our Dream Compasses continued to flash and vibrate faster and faster the closer we got to the Shadows’ hive. Their magic was incredible; how they knew exactly where we wanted to go was a mystery, but one I was grateful for.

  As the first to reach the palace’s gargantuanly tall double-doors—paneled at the top with triangular shards of yellow glass—Jason and I pushed them open. They creaked reminiscent of a haunted house.

  We entered a foyer with moving walls. On closer inspection I discovered they were made of a thick black liquid that dripped continuously onto the floor. There, the liquid became much lighter and thinner. Our shoes splashed across it as we made our way forward. The air felt clogged with acidity, as if someone had chopped a lot of onions recently.

  At the center of the space, a black marble podium held a cantaloupe-sized purple jewel. Maybe fifty feet above the gem hung a spiky chandelier that looked like the world’s biggest sea urchin. A massive crimson light shone from that light fixture, illuminating the foyer and the grand staircase opposite us.

  “What’s with the jewel?” Girtha asked, pointing at the purple stone.

  “Precautionary measure,” Alex said. “All of Nightmare is sealed off during full moons to keep Shadows from escaping this realm. But the Shadows’ hive has a second failsafe. If you move that stone, a protective shield will go over the palace. Full Moon or no full moon. It’s a way to keep Shadows and Shadow Guardians locked in.”

  “How long does it last?” Chance asked.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure.”

  I stared at the gem, finding it strangely fascinating. To think that this compound of darkness in a realm that preyed on people’s fears could have a protective measure like this gave me hope that somehow the universe couldn’t allow for anything to be all evil. There always had to be a failsafe, some light mixed with the dark.

  “Being serious,” Blue said, “is it stereotypical to assume that our unconscious friend is in the tallest room of the tallest tower?”

  “It’s not a bad guess,” Girtha said. “And unless Alex has a map of this place, it’s as good a place as any to start searching.”

  “No map,” Alex said. “But maybe it’s time you told me who you’re looking for.”

  “Let’s start with the towers like you said, Blue,” I replied, ignoring Alex. “My Dream Compass seems to want us to go up anyway.”

  Our team climbed the grand staircase, handrails covered in glowing, eggplant-colored vines. Huge windows composed the wall overlooking the stairs; they allowed lightning to flash brightly against our faces as we ascended. For a moment, we paused and gazed at the terrifying swarm of Shadows outside.

  After the initial ascent, the staircase split—branching right and left. Our Dream Compasses pointed to the right. Those steps deposited us in a new wing of the palace. The black dripping walls and wet floor remained consistent, but purple vines from the stairs climbed along the bottom edges of the hall here. Additionally, the ceiling was pure ice with violet and scarlet lights pulsing like a heartbeat behind it.

  The white glow of our Dream Compasses stood out luminously in the darkened corridors, directing us around the maze-like building until we came upon another staircase, this one railing-less and twisty. It grew from the floor in the middle of an open hall like a magic beanstalk. Shimmering, eggplant-colored vines dangled from each step. We carefully scaled it and arrived in a corridor lined with round doors with bronze knobs. A third of the way down, a sliver of light radiated from beneath a door. Our Dream Compasses flashed encouragingly and we headed toward it. I twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

  My friends and I crowded in the doorway and beheld a beautiful, wicked room and a beautiful, formerly wicked girl.

  We found her.

  We actually found her!

  Mauvrey lay asleep in the center of the room, very much like she did in the tower of Chance’s castle. Here though, she rested on a slab of ice in the middle of an ice platform that levitated over a large, swirling pool of thick black liquid. It looked like the same stuff dripping from all the walls throughout the palace, this room included. The dense liquid swirled consistently twenty feet below like malevolent toilet water constantly in flush.

  The only segment of the walls not coated in black liquid was a portion of the back wall where the wet blackness slid around three enormous windows. The windows allowed red light from the outside to pour in. It illuminated Mauvrey ominously.

  We all just stared at her for a moment.

  Mauvrey’s golden blonde hair spilled over the edges of her icy bed. She wore a plain black dress so long it covered her feet and fell over the rim of her resting place. Vines protruded from beneath her display, crawling along the bottom of the ice block. The only means to reach the princess were the ice pathways that stretched from her platform. Jagged, unique pieces of frost branching out with small gaps here and there—it was like a giant snowflake lying flat on its side, Mauvrey at its center. One extension of ice reached our doorway.

  “Mauvrey,” Alex said in awe. His face was a mixture of shock, pain, and stupor.

  “The real one,” I responded. “She’s been trapped in a sleeping curse since she was a child. Her mind, her true soul and personality, have been dormant here under the possession of a Shadow.”

  Alex tried to move forward, but Daniel held up his hand and blocked my brother. “Step back, man. You don’t know her. You never did.”

  Blue and I approached Mauvrey instead.

  “Careful,” Chance warned.

  He didn’t have to tell us twice. Luckily, the ice supported weight without fracturing, but it was still slippery. We slowly worked our way across the floating floor, mindful of the gaps that gave view of the churning dark waters below. When we finally reached the center of the room and were at Mauvrey’s side, we gazed at the unconscious girl with wonder.

  Mauvrey was the same age here as she was back home; I supposed her mind aged with her, even in slumber. Her skin pulsed lightly with the palest aura of black energy. Blue walked around the slab and looked at me from across Mauvrey’s slumbering frame. My friend’s face was sullen humility.

  “I had a joke prepared about us getting Mauvrey as a roommate again, but seeing her like this, knowing she’s been trapped here for so long . . .” Blue stopped, her eyes forlorn. “She didn’t deserve this. I don’t need to know her to know that.”

  Chance and Jason had been following us across the ice. They arrived at Mauvrey’s platform as Blue finished speaking. Chance looked over the sleeping princess. “No one deserves anything in life, not really. Good things happen and bad things happen. We take it and we act. How we act is what matters.”

  “Then let’s act,” Jason said. He joined me and looked at Blue from across the slab. “While we have the chance.”

  The rest of our team finished traversing the ice. Daniel took his place at the head of the slab, Mauvrey’s face directly beneath him. From his jacket pocket he pulled out one of the sacks Sandman had given us. I couldn’t believe that it had come down to this moment. He looked at me for the go-ahead.

  “Do it,” I said.

  Daniel poured the sand over Mauvrey’s face, emptying out every grain in the sack. The golden particles shone brightly as they made contact with her skin. Onyx smoke started to drift off the princess like she was a hotplate in response.

  Suddenly Mauvrey’s eyes shot open, pure black and hugely creepy. The smoke increased and transformed into black flames. Her body radiated heat like an open hearth, which made my friends and I step back.

  The black flames began to hiss, then they screamed. It was so loud I felt like my eardrums were being crushed. Thankfully it didn’t last long. In a single movement, all the flames jolted away from Mauvrey and conjoined in the air above her in a writhing, contorting mass of dark energy. It was a Shadow.

  Its red slit eyes were only visible for a moment; then golden cracks appeared all over the dark creature. The brightness escalated until beams of light burst through
the fractures and in one final, shining expulsion, the Shadow was eviscerated—blown apart from inside out into nothingness.

  Tiny golden sparks rained down over Mauvrey. She glowed with soft light, and then her form became fainter and fainter until she vanished completely.

  “Where did she go?” Girtha asked in alarm.

  “This was never Mauvrey, Girtha,” I replied. “This was just her mind. If she’s gone, then that means we woke her up. She’s coming back to life in Darling Castle now.”

  “Whoever is on lookout duty in her room at the moment is in for quite a surprise,” Chance said.

  “Well, that’s one down,” Daniel said, checking his Dream Compass. “Let’s find Mark and— Argh!” An arrow protruded from his shoulder.

  We whirled around. Arian, Tara, and three of their soldiers stood in the doorway.

  “We already woke Mauvrey, Arian,” I said, stepping in front of Daniel protectively. “Our friends are probably with her now and will have Paige Tomkins’ memories shortly. You may as well just turn around and get out of here.”

  “My forces on the outside may still take Mauvrey from your friends at Darling Castle, but that’s not the point of us meeting you here,” Arian said.

  Daniel grunted with pain as he ripped the arrow from his shoulder. I cringed; I hoped the wound wasn’t too deep. Kai went to him, concerned, as Jason came to stand beside me with his axe drawn.

  “Then what do you want?” I asked Arian.

  “What he has.” My foe gestured to Daniel.

  What does Daniel have?

  Blue looked at me. “The other sack of sand for waking Mark!”

  I raised my eyebrows. Why do they want that?

  Arian diverted his gaze to Alex. “Really? You’re working with your sister now? You change sides more often than a politician.”

  “And yet he is also irritatingly stubborn,” Tara said. She crossed her arms and I noticed she wore the same metallic glove weapons that Mauvrey used to don in battle. The contraptions shot out wires and could generate electric bursts. Not fun and very painful. I’d destroyed Mauvrey’s pair, but I guess Tara had built a new set.

  “It was one of the things I liked least about him,” she continued.

  “I’m not working with my sister,” Alex said defensively.

  I shot him a look. “Seriously? I just saved you. Settle down.”

  “No, you settle down,” Tara said, taking a step forward to face me across the ice. “You have no idea how painful it was to be ripped out of that princess’s body, Crisa. And how painful it is for me to willingly come here knowing we are not allowed to kill you. So let us get this over with before I deviate from orders. Arian, do it.”

  Arian moved next to Tara. He and the soldiers behind him held up their hands, aimed at the back of the room. Their eyes glowed black and not a second later a surge of Shadows burst through the windows. We ducked, shielding our faces as shattered glass shot inward. When it stopped we looked up and discovered hundreds of the black creatures swirling overhead. Under the command of Arian and his fellow Shadow Guardians, they swiftly swarmed us—corralling my friends, my brother, and me on a shared section of the ice.

  The Shadows joined together to form a funnel—wider at the bottom and bottlenecked at the top. It consumed us. Inside the vortex we were beaten down by layer upon layer of unceasing screams. It was like thousands of different people crying out at once. Add to that, the upside down cyclone drained the atmosphere of oxygen like a vacuum, pulling it from our lungs. Blue fell to her knees, and then I was on mine. I wondered if we would pass out from suffocation or the mind shattering wailing first.

  No. We had to get out.

  I glanced around desperately. We weren’t supposed to touch these creatures, so what were we supposed to do? All of us crouched low and close together, gasping on the . . . ice floor

  “Jason!” I shouted with my last air. He looked up. I mimed the action he needed to take. He nodded, grit his teeth as he found balance, and moved into a clear position as he gripped his axe. Then he heaved back.

  His axe impacted the ice at maximum force. A small fracture formed, and he immediately took another blow at it. This time the crack grew to arm’s length. A third strike made the fracture expand in several directions. After the fourth attempt, the ice around our group looked primed and ready—cracks spidering out under all of us—but Jason wobbled, on the verge of passing out.

  He came to his hands and knees, the pressure of the vortex overcoming him. Thankfully Girtha stepped in. Struggling and gasping against the pressure of the vortex, she moved over to Jason and retrieved his axe. Then with all the power of her enormous, muscular form, she swung down. The axe broke the ice. Every crack responded in turn and we all fell through.

  Our group splashed down in the black liquid and got caught in its swirling current. The liquid was thick like a milkshake. I choked as I bobbed for air. We were sucked toward the center of the pool. I gasped for one last breath before I got dragged below.

  Everything went deafeningly silent. It felt like I was falling through the Lake of Misery again, only this time there were no bubbles and no sad scenes. Instead, I saw a restaurant-sized red crooked mouth with equally huge slits for eyes beneath me. I sank toward it, feeling certain I’d never been so scared in my life. The mouth opened wide and I got pulled in. Stillness, darkness, and then—

  “Oomph!” I landed roughly and rolled to a stop in an inch of black water.

  I picked myself up onto my hands and knees with care. I was in the foyer of the dark palace again. It seemed like I’d just rolled out of the viscous liquid wall beside me. I should have been drenched head to toe in the thick liquid, but only the parts of me that had rested too long on the floor had gotten wet. I stood hastily to keep anymore of the dark water from soaking me.

  I checked my boot. My wand was still tucked inside. Good.

  “Oomph!”

  “Ow!”

  “Ugh!”

  Chance, Alex, and Blue rolled out of the same wall, expunged from the liquid. Around the foyer, traces of my missing friends protruded from the other walls. Kai’s head poked out of the wall across from me. The rest of her body was slowly being leaked out, but she seemed asleep for now. Someone else’s arm hung out of the black liquid a bit above her, and I spotted the blade of Jason’s axe farther away in the wall as well, covered in goopy liquid. They were all sinking and would be ejected soon. Somehow the evil toilet bowl upstairs had flushed us down here.

  “Argh!” Daniel and Jason had just come out of the wall by the front doors simultaneously.

  I ran to them. Daniel was struggling a bit and I helped him up. “Is your arm okay?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Do you still have the sand for Mark?”

  Daniel checked his pocket and took out the sack. “Yeah. And it’s not wet at all. I don’t know what these walls are made of, but we got lucky.”

  “Jason,” I said, pivoting toward my friend. “Can you stay here and wait for the others to come out of the walls? We don’t have a lot of time and we need to find Mark before we’re trapped in this realm.”

  “Yeah, go,” Jason said. “Quickly.”

  “Blue, Alex, Chance!” I called. “Let’s go!”

  Jason would be fine here alone for a few minutes; we needed all the help we could get in case we ran into Arian again.

  Our team of five took off toward the stairs. I checked my Dream Compass. “It should still be guiding us to where we want to go,” I said to my crew. “With Mauvrey gone, hopefully it will take us to Mark.”

  This time the Dream Compass drove us to the left wing of the palace. Most features of the building—walls, vines, etc.—remained constant, but we found ourselves racing up in circles as the hall incessantly ascended in a twisting pattern around an open section of the palace. As a result, you could easily see from one side of the structure to the other over the twinkling railing that lined the connected hall. Higher and higher we raced until�
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  “There they are!” an antagonist soldier called out from a couple of floors below opposite us. I glanced down and caught sight of Tara beside him. We turned on our heels and sped faster.

  “This way!” Daniel, Dream Compass in hand, led us down the corridor. On our right we passed dozens of doors embedded in the dripping wall; the dark liquid seemed even thicker in this wing of the palace, like sludge. On our left that long balustrade that overlooked the wraparound floors persisted. The inch of water that coated the floor ever-dripped over the edge beneath the railing, and it splashed wildly as we sped across it. My heart was nearly in my throat. Then Arian rose above the balustrade and flew straight into Daniel.

  Arian can fly?!

  I guess it was another Shadow benefit he possessed in Nightmare.

  Arian rammed Daniel into the goopy wall and black liquid coated my friend’s jacket like an oil slick. Arian reached inside Daniel’s jacket and grabbed the sack with Sandman’s cure for Mark, but Daniel punched him in the face and took the sack back. He tossed it to Blue. She caught it, then seized in panic when one of Arian’s soldiers levitated over the balustrade, his eyes black like Arian’s.

  Blue threw the sack to me as the soldier charged her. She got tackled and went splattering across the watery floor of the hallway. I dove to catch the precious item. We needed every grain of sand to free Mark from the Shadow. Daniel’s pocket had protected it from getting wet before, and we got lucky with the thick toilet liquid, but magic was wonky here and I was afraid. If the sack got soaked now the sand inside could get ruined.

  I landed on the floor roughly, sack cradled in my outstretched hands. I’d barely clambered to my knees when Arian zoomed in—bearing down not with a sword, but his fist. Sack in my grip, I lifted both arms and crossed my wrists together to block him. The metal of my genie cuffs provided extra shielding and impacted Arian with force that clearly hurt, as he withdrew for a second.