vivid they nearly trembled.
“Angeline and Sophie, back to your places,” Aunt Dorothy directed. “Mason and Corinne, over there.” She pointed to a spot at the back of the meadow, near the trees, where Mason and Mr. Sykes had been earlier.
What do you think is going on? I asked Mason. I was picking my way carefully, trying not to crush any blooms.
I’m not sure, but . . . He stopped, and I looked up and followed his gaze.
In the forest, under cover of the trees, the dirty gray fog from our nightmares billowed toward us.
|| 11 ||
MY HEART SKITTERED WITH PANIC. There was something worse, much more horrifying about this fog than the one from my dreams. This one seemed to pulse, even groan faintly as it wrapped around tree trunks and penetrated low brush. It moved like a living thing, and malice emanated from it in dark waves. Just as I had feared the fog leaching into my body in my nightmares, now the thought of those malevolent vibrations permeating my mind, poisoning my thoughts, made me want to scream for help.
Some part of my mind recognized that this was a drill, that what I saw probably wasn’t real, but the memory of terror chilled me to my core. I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut against it. What was I supposed to do? Aunt Dorothy hadn’t given us any warning or direction. I knew I must react, do something, but what?
A wave of heat burst across my bare arm like a blast of hot air from an oven. Mason was gathering his strength beside me. Even in full daylight, his skin glowed faint white. He raised his hand, and a streak of light shot into the dark cloud before us. An electric crackle zapped through the air as the light dissolved the leading edge of the fog. The resulting smell of ozone hit me in the face and jarred me loose of the grip of fear.
I stepped toward the forest and the dirty billowing cloud. My breath came fast and shallow, edging toward hyperventilation. I had to stay focused and stand my ground. The fog continued to spread through the trees, and Mason let loose zap after zap of crackling light.
Corinne, you have to help me. I can’t hold it by myself.
I licked my dry lips. Against every instinct that was telling me to run, get the heck out of there before this horrible thing could seep into me, I reached out to it with my mind. I sensed a core back there somewhere, a source from which the fog emerged. Just as Mason had probed for the energetic point near my heart, I searched for the source of the thing in front of me.
The closer I got to the source, the more I wanted to recoil. It was like reaching into a putrid, rotting corpse with my bare hand, searching for the black, swollen heart inside. My skin crawled with goose bumps. The thought of accidentally inhaling some of the fog made me whimper. I forced myself to breathe normally.
When I finally reached the core with my mind, I formed a swirl of pyxis influences, a rainbow whirlpool with proportions determined purely by instinct, and made it swell until I thought I’d burst. Then, with all the force I could muster, I hurled it toward the fog’s core. Stumbling back a couple of steps, I tried to watch the entire tree line at once.
The fog dissipated and dissolved, leaving only clear air and sunshine. With a shuddering breath, I sank to my knees, pressing my palms into the grass and pine needle mat covering the ground.
Someone touched the top of my head. Aunt Dorothy’s canvas sneakers appeared near my fingers.
Corinne? Mason’s faint voice was distorted, as though it traveled to me over a great distance.
Hands maneuvered me by the arms and shoulders until I sat with my back against a tree stump. I tried to ask Aunt Dorothy whether we’d passed the drill, but my lips remained stubbornly slack. She pressed something soft into my hand and closed my fingers around it, holding my hand in a weak fist, and after a moment, strength began to return to my muscles. I uncurled my fingers and looked down at a small sprig of slender,
“Angeline and Sophie, back to your places,” Aunt Dorothy directed. “Mason and Corinne, over there.” She pointed to a spot at the back of the meadow, near the trees, where Mason and Mr. Sykes had been earlier.
What do you think is going on? I asked Mason. I was picking my way carefully, trying not to crush any blooms.
I’m not sure, but . . . He stopped, and I looked up and followed his gaze.
In the forest, under cover of the trees, the dirty gray fog from our nightmares billowed toward us.
|| 11 ||
MY HEART SKITTERED WITH PANIC. There was something worse, much more horrifying about this fog than the one from my dreams. This one seemed to pulse, even groan faintly as it wrapped around tree trunks and penetrated low brush. It moved like a living thing, and malice emanated from it in dark waves. Just as I had feared the fog leaching into my body in my nightmares, now the thought of those malevolent vibrations permeating my mind, poisoning my thoughts, made me want to scream for help.
Some part of my mind recognized that this was a drill, that what I saw probably wasn’t real, but the memory of terror chilled me to my core. I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut against it. What was I supposed to do? Aunt Dorothy hadn’t given us any warning or direction. I knew I must react, do something, but what?
A wave of heat burst across my bare arm like a blast of hot air from an oven. Mason was gathering his strength beside me. Even in full daylight, his skin glowed faint white. He raised his hand, and a streak of light shot into the dark cloud before us. An electric crackle zapped through the air as the light dissolved the leading edge of the fog. The resulting smell of ozone hit me in the face and jarred me loose of the grip of fear.
I stepped toward the forest and the dirty billowing cloud. My breath came fast and shallow, edging toward hyperventilation. I had to stay focused and stand my ground. The fog continued to spread through the trees, and Mason let loose zap after zap of crackling light.
Corinne, you have to help me. I can’t hold it by myself.
I licked my dry lips. Against every instinct that was telling me to run, get the heck out of there before this horrible thing could seep into me, I reached out to it with my mind. I sensed a core back there somewhere, a source from which the fog emerged. Just as Mason had probed for the energetic point near my heart, I searched for the source of the thing in front of me.
The closer I got to the source, the more I wanted to recoil. It was like reaching into a putrid, rotting corpse with my bare hand, searching for the black, swollen heart inside. My skin crawled with goose bumps. The thought of accidentally inhaling some of the fog made me whimper. I forced myself to breathe normally.
When I finally reached the core with my mind, I formed a swirl of pyxis influences, a rainbow whirlpool with proportions determined purely by instinct, and made it swell until I thought I’d burst. Then, with all the force I could muster, I hurled it toward the fog’s core. Stumbling back a couple of steps, I tried to watch the entire tree line at once.
The fog dissipated and dissolved, leaving only clear air and sunshine. With a shuddering breath, I sank to my knees, pressing my palms into the grass and pine needle mat covering the ground.
Someone touched the top of my head. Aunt Dorothy’s canvas sneakers appeared near my fingers.
Corinne? Mason’s faint voice was distorted, as though it traveled to me over a great distance.
Hands maneuvered me by the arms and shoulders until I sat with my back against a tree stump. I tried to ask Aunt Dorothy whether we’d passed the drill, but my lips remained stubbornly slack. She pressed something soft into my hand and closed my fingers around it, holding my hand in a weak fist, and after a moment, strength began to return to my muscles. I uncurled my fingers and looked down at a small sprig of slender,
Similar Books
