Hums rang through her mind. Mama and Papa had their energy up.
‘You need not fear me!’
The gentle but strong voice that spoke made Mila crouch, peering to see past her parents’ legs.
It was Auntie Liana, Addy’s mother.
Her auntie stood with her hands at her sides, wreathed in light. She stared at them with eyes that looked like she’d been crying. Her blonde hair hung messily from her normally neat plait, such a long thick plait Mila always admired. Marks on the side of her forehead and around her throat looked strange, like she’d fallen and bruised herself.
‘How can we trust you?’
Mama’s voice sounded soft and drawn, close to tears. Mila went to move closer to her but Papa growled.
‘Stay Mila!’
Auntie Liana lifted her hands.
Mama and Papa crouched, lifting their own hands.
Before they could react another blinding light flashed out, straight past them. Mila, still hanging on tight to Papa’s pants, twisted, eyes following the light.
It seemed to explode in the corridor behind them, spreading out in a shimmer of sparkling lights, creating a barrier. Mila stared in open mouthed amazement as the beautiful shield sparked and pulsed.
Then her eyes adjusted, making sense of the darkness behind the shield.
‘PAPA!’ she screamed, yanking on the pant legs she clung to.
‘Oh holy goddess!’ Mama gasped as Papa snatched Mila up.
‘Quick! Through our apartment. You must hurry! I can’t hold them for long.’ Auntie Liana said it while motioning them through the small doorway.
As Papa ducked through Mila stared back at the furious face of her once uncle, now a hideous creature of nightmare, where he stood stuck behind the shield, the other two men at his side flinging bolts of dark crackling energy against Auntie Liana’s protective shield.
‘LIANA! Let us THROUGH!’
Mila looked to her auntie who stared at her husband. An awful expression spread on her auntie’s face, taking the prettiness that looked so much like Addy away.
‘Never!’
Auntie Liana ducked through the doorway and jerked it shut. A hum rang out as the locks reset themselves. Papa reached past her and placed a hand against the lock. An instant later a piercing shriek of energy cut through Mila’s mind, making her cry out, clapping her hands over her ears in an effort to block it.
The pretty spheres of the locking mechanism exploded.
‘It’ll buy us some time,’ Papa said. ‘Get Addy, come with us.’
Auntie Liana’s face crumpled. She shook her head. ‘Can’t. He’ll never stop. I’m so sorry. You must leave, get as far away as you can!’
‘Why is he doing this?’ Mama asked it in a voice as teary as Auntie Liana’s. She stepped over to Auntie Liana, stroking a hand over her forehead. The marks Mila had seen disappeared.
Auntie Liana made a grimace of a smile at Mama then ducked her head. Tears fell to the floor.
‘A new era. A new world.’
Shouts and bangs rang out from behind the locked door. Mama froze and Papa twisted, readying to move. Mila stared out looking in shock around the normally neat and tidy quarters that she and Addy often played in together. Broken bits of furniture littered the room, the enormous table that normally sat in the large dining room broken fully in two.
‘You must get away!’ Auntie Liana said urgently.
‘We can take Addy?’
Her auntie shook her head at the question from Mama. ‘He’ll never stop hunting you if you take Addy.’
‘But what sort of life…?’ Mama stared around the room with an open look of dismay.
A thundering BOOOM rumbled underfoot.
‘Dan’iss, we have to hurry!’ Papa lifted Mila a little, getting a better hold. ‘We don’t have long.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ Auntie Liana said again, tears streaking her face. She reached for Mama, hugging her tight. ‘Leave Vo’Arum, you must! He’s taken at least the gifts of five Mestarns, perhaps more! He has plans, oh! Such awful plans.’ Auntie Liana shook her head as she and Mama hugged, still weeping. ‘I don’t know how many will be alive by morning.’
Mama jerked back, staring at Auntie Liana with tense eyes and slowly lifted an eyebrow, her mouth a flat line.
Mila watched, fingers tight in Papa’s shirt. Auntie Liana shook her head with a strange half smile, tipping her head slightly as she did so, pale eyes seeming to gesture behind her. Mila looked past and spotted Addy.
‘No,’ Auntie Liana whispered to Mama. ‘But don’t fret. It’ll be fast. I don’t think he’s likely to steal mine.’
Mama pressed her hand to her mouth, tears trickling down. ‘Oh Liana.’
‘Papa,’ Mila said quietly her eyes locked on her friend who huddled in the doorway to her bedroom. ‘Addy, Papa.’
‘I know, Mila.’
Addy sunk to the floor, tears running in a constant trickle down her cheeks.
Mila yanked Papa’s shirt. ‘No, Papa! Addy! Not like Nanny. Please! Addy!’ She couldn’t say much more, her throat feeling tight and sore as she forced those words out.
BOOOM
The room rocked, something in the kitchen clattered to the floor.
‘Leave!’ Auntie Liana pushed at Mama, grabbing Papa’s arm, dragging and shoving them both toward the door. ‘Don’t trust any DeNagas, I’ve no idea how many are in this!’
Mila clung tighter, staring over Papa’s shoulder at Addy, her heart beating rapidly as they moved further away. It felt like with Uncle Jeran, being stuck behind the vent unable to do a thing. Mila gasped and swallowed, throat so tight it hurt to breathe.
At the doorway Auntie Liana checked the corridor first then turned to them, hugging Mama again, kissing Papa’s cheek and squeezing his arm. She paused at Mila and reached a trembling hand to her face.
‘Don’t worry.’ She forced a smile and her throat convulsed when she swallowed hard. ‘Addy will be fine. She will grow up. She will. Maybe you’ll meet again one day.’ She leaned in to kiss Mila’s cheek. ‘Be a good girl now.’
A shattering high pitched sound rang out. Auntie Liana staggered, face draining of color. She slumped in the doorway, clinging to the jamb. ‘The shield,’ she moaned before sucking a breath in and glaring at them. ‘GO!’
Mama and Papa ran.
Chapter Fourteen
The glow lights that lit the wide corridor spluttered in a way Mila had never seen before. Her legs and arms ached from the tight hold she kept on Papa, and her grip loosened.
‘Back, Mila,’ Papa said, and he shifted her with a grunt as he ran. She now hung onto his back, a bumpier ride than his hip but easier to hold on to. Papa kept an arm back, holding her in place as he and Mama kept running.
They paused at another corner, peeking around it then jerked back as a shriek rang through their minds.
‘Vidna! NO!’
‘Auntie Liana,’ Mila whispered. Mama and Papa stared at each other, faces long then Mama closed her eyes and moaned.
‘Oh no.’
Papa reached his free hand back over to touch Mila’s head. A moment before his hand reached her she heard it.
‘Papa, please, Papa, don’t! Don’t hurt Mama! Leave her, Papa, LEAVE HER ALONE!’
Addy’s screaming sobs vanished from Mila’s mind the instant Papa’s hand touched her.
Mama let out a groan of a pain that ended in a sob. She doubled over, her face an alarming shade of gray.
‘Mama,’ Mila cried.
‘Shush Mila!’ Papa said, reaching for Mama.
‘He took her, Zayck, he TOOK her.’
‘I know.’
Papa’s words chilled Mila. She knew then why he’d touched her head.
‘He took her,’ she said tentatively. ‘Like Uncle Jeran?’
Neither of her parents replied but the quick look they exchanged said it.
The sound of a door opening propelled them back to a run. Mama groaned softly as they did, run
ning while hunched as if her stomach ached. Doors flashed by, the sounds of Mama’s skirts swishing the loudest thing. Papa made almost no noise at all. Mila clung tight, trying to ignore her wobbling arms.
They dashed down the corridor and made a sharp turn, heading along a narrower corridor. The flickering glow lamps made it hard for Mila to see or make sense of where they were in the building.
Other than the opening door they’d heard, it was eerily quiet.
Screams broke the quiet.
The screams ricocheted down the corridors like living entities and came with a rush of wind. Moments later it pulled back, sucking at them, pulling them back along the corridor. Mama gasped as Papa flattened himself to the wall, pressing her against it. She reached around him, holding Mila tight to his back.
The wind grew, shrieking in their ears and dragging at their clothes and bodies. Mama and Papa hunched down, crouching by the floor, Mama pressed against Mila, holding her tight to Papa. Through the gale a sound reached Mila’s ears. It sounded like the time she’d seen an awuf in the courtyard slip and break its leg, a pain stricken moaning. The animalistic groans got louder, turning to wails, and the wind strengthened. Papa bent further, until he pressed against the wooden floor, his arms reached back to hold Mila on. Mama pressed hard against Mila’s back, squashing her against Papa. Mila cried out when her knees cracked on the floor but the wind snatched the sound away.
It stopped.
As sudden as the wind and noise started, it vanished. Papa slumped, panting in exertion while Mama gasped her breaths.
The clear silence rang loud in Mila’s head. Her stomach twisted when a sensation like cold fingers walked along her spine. The lights went out.
‘Mama!’ Mila cried out, craning to spot her in the blackness. Papa’s hands clamped down, holding one of her legs and one of her arms tight. He turned, Mila felt his head move as he looked into the dark too.
‘Dan’iss! Dan’iss!’ Papa’s voice cracked, the sound making a ball of ice form in Mila’s gut.
From the darkness a sound emerged. Thuds, scrapes and scratching like metal against metal that made Mila’s teeth chime.
‘DAN’ISS!’ Papa flared out a ball of energy, light rebounded off the walls of the corridor. Mila cried out, covering her eyes from the blinding glare. In an instant Papa vanished. Mila sat alone on the cold wood floor. The lack of anything or anyone close made Mila roll into a tight ball, eyes closed against her knees.
More thumps then another blinding flash snapped out, this one piercing her mind. Mila shrieked at the pain.
‘Zayck!’ Mama’s voice sounded wrong, strangled and rough. Mila lifted her forehead off her knees, peeking out.
Flashes of light revealed frozen moments.
Mila jammed back against the wall at the first glimpse. A creature with far too many legs crouched like a spider against the ceiling, clutching Mama.
Another flash.
Fangs, glowing red eyes. Papa swinging one of their bags at it.
Another flash.
Mama falling.
Flash.
Papa and Mama running toward Mila, arms outstretched.
Sudden pressure built on Mila’s mind and body. She curled tight. An almighty BANG shook the corridor, the floor and walls shuddering at the blow. It threw Mila into the wall she crouched against, knocking the breath from her lungs. The corridor lightened, the lamps all flaring to life at once.
‘Mila!’ Mama snatched her up tight, pressing kisses to her cheek, her arms so tight around Mila that she couldn’t get a breath.
‘Ma-ma.’
‘Quick, come!’ Papa carried the bags over a shoulder, his shirt torn and bloody, his cheek scoured with three long slashes. Mama, still holding Mila tight, turned and shifted Mila onto her hip with a grunt of effort.
‘Oh big girl!’ Mama smiled but her eyes looked like she was about to cry, her face scratched and bloody too. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
Papa put an arm around Mama’s back, and the two of them walked briskly along the corridor. Mila, ears echoing with the beat of her heart, stared over mama’s shoulder at the remains of the creature that lay crumpled to the side. The wide-eyed glimpse she managed before Mama and Papa whisked around another corner revealed a human-ish torso with five legs sprouted from it, an over-large head and terrifying enormous eyes like Uncle Vidna.
Mila sucked a breath in, shivers running the length of her body.
‘Shush, lovey,’ Mama pressed her head gently against Mila’s. ‘Don’t think of it.’
Mila hugged her tighter.
The narrow corridor led to a wide main corridor. Mama and Papa stopped at the junction, shoulders pressed as they peered one way then the next.
The loud slamming of a door from behind lurched them into action. Mama and Papa burst into the main corridor as shouts rang out behind them.
‘After them!’
Mila bounced up and down on her mama’s hip as she stretched out into a sprint. Mila squeezed her knees in tight, holding on with all her might. A moment later she felt her mama’s energy spread around her, hugging her close and safe. The relief of not having to cling tight left Mila blinking with exhaustion. The shouts behind made her jolt in shock, pressing against Mama’s side as she and Papa rounded another corner.
Her parents slowed, Mama pressing a hand tight to Mila’s head, preventing her from looking around at the horrified gasp Mama had made.
‘Quick!’
At Papa’s snapped order Mama ran. Mila, head jostling as Mama still held it tight, managed to shift enough for one eye to peer down the corridor behind them.
The brief glimpses beyond Mama’s shoulder rising and falling confused her. Clumps of fabric and streaks of red littered the pristine corridor. A set of shoes stuck awkwardly out of one clump. Mila blinked as the corridor vanished from view, her parents rounding another corner, their feet beating a hectic pace.
The shouts from behind faded. Mama released her hold on Mila’s head and Mila pulled her head away with a gasp of relief.
‘Shh!’ Mama hissed before putting words in Mila’s mind. Quiet as a vesni, lovey.
Mila crossed her hands on Mama’s shoulder and pressed her mouth to them. She squinted, looking ahead. The greenish cast the glow lamps threw out flickered like it had in the other corridors. It hurt Mila’s eyes, trying to see ahead, but she didn’t want to look away, too scared. Those clumps of fabric stuck in her mind, something about that pair of shoes niggled, making Mila’s skin prickle. She could feel something odd approaching. Something familiar.
At the next junction the main corridor continued around to the left while a narrow section of corridor led to a skinny black door. The door sat open ajar.
Papa motioned to Mama. They both studied the door, long moments ticking by.
Mama shook her head. Papa nodded.
They turned away from the open door, heading along the main wide corridor.
The growing sensation of something familiar approaching made Mila shake her head, unsure what the pressure was, and why. Around another corner. Mila sat higher in the sling of Mama’s energy, excited. They were almost out!
Papa stayed in front, checking everything, his body tense and ready to react. Mila watched him, trying to distract herself from that odd sensation.
The familiar feeling swelled in an instant, her mind filling with images of floating spheres, narrow rectangles and strange bouncing balls. Mila gasped, blinking as she saw the net-like spread of the largest lock she’d ever encountered.
In a jolt of realization Mila shrieked, ‘No! Mama, Papa, STOP!’
Papa turned, but as he did he stepped just across the line.
An array of squeals, bells, rattles and shrieks rang out. Face white Papa reached for them as something flashed out from amongst the lock trap, winding around his leg, wrenching him off his feet as it wound back in the blink of an eye.
Mama gripped Mila tighter, her voice breaking on a note of despair, ‘ZAYCK!’
In the center of the ceiling held by his ankles, hung Papa.
Chapter Fifteen
Mama’s energy holding Mila clutched even tighter as Mama set her on the ground then stood and reached out with both hands toward the lock, her energy glowing. Mila stared, waiting to see what happened.
Mama stretched her energy out, probing gently.
It touched the first puzzle piece. A clattering of chimes and screeches rang out, sparks flying.
In the center of the room, jerking like a fish caught on a line, Papa made an awful shriek.
Mila dropped, hugging her knees to her forehead, stomach and mind sick from that sound.
Papa was the bravest, strongest man in the world.
He couldn’t be caught, be hurting.
Who would rescue him?
Mila rocked, fingers gripping her ankles tight. She heard Mama cry out Papa’s name, voice tearful, and Mila wished and wished it would all vanish.
She wished she hadn’t seen Uncle Jeran. Wished Addy had said no when Mila offered to get her ball; that they’d gone and found adults.
Maybe none of this would have happened then.
Uncle Vidna wouldn’t be mad. Uncle Jeran would be alive. Nanny would be alive.
Nanny.
For an instant it seemed like Nanny sat right behind her, with those caring eyes and that calm voice and smile.
The lock, Mila. Unlock the lock. Finish the puzzle.
Mila twisted, looking behind down the empty corridor, eyes searching.
They’ll be here soon. Finish the puzzle, Mila.
A shiver so pronounced shook the grip Mila had on her ankles. She jumped to her feet. Mama stood facing the trap as she and Papa quietly discussed something.
Mila stood beside her, a hand gripping her skirts. Like the time in the bedroom, and the time in the corridor with Addy, Mila let her mind relax and reached out.
It was like she’d closed her eyes, re-opening them to find herself bodiless. The corridor which a moment ago to her normal gaze looked empty, her papa held by his ankles by something not visible, now looked full to the brim with beautiful glowing structures.
Some pieces she recognized, the thin circles with hidden notches. Instead of spinning only clockwise though these circles moved in all directions. She tried to follow the motions and stumbled, becoming aware of her external body.
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