Emma and the Minotaur by Jon Herrera

keeping pace. They were chirping and she thought that it sounded as though they were saying “Emma! Emma! Emma!” in their tinny bird voices.
    “Emma…” Mr Wilkins said and then a faraway look came over his features. He gazed into the forest as though searching for someone, but then he sighed and turned to the girl.
    “Emma,” he began again. “You’re special. It may seem crazy that here I am marching my daughter into the forest toward a mythical creature but it’s because, though I’ve tried to protect you from this, to keep you from this world, it seems that it’s now too late. That there—” He pointed at the flute that Emma was holding. “I’m told that everyone knows about you now because word has spread since you heard the music of the tree. And there are those who would mean you harm.”
    “I don’t understand, Dad.”
    “I know,” he said. “It’s all very complicated. Domino will explain it to you. The point I was getting to is that there are dark things in the night that are interested in you because you’re special.”
    “Why am I special?”
    “Again, it’s complicated, Emma, and I don’t think I can tell you right now. Domino will help. But the reason I’m bringing you to him is because you are. He has been trying to convince me for a very long time of this and I’ve refused and refused but now I have no choice. But I’ve made him promise me that he will only teach you how to defend yourself and that’s it. I don’t want him getting any big ideas in your head or putting you into any danger.”
    Ahead of them they saw the faun. He was leaning against a tree and he was playing the flute that he carried. Mr Wilkins stopped where they were and he waved to him. Domino took his flute from his lips and raised his arm in the air for a brief instant.
    “Go ahead, Emma,” her father said. “He will not teach you unless you go alone.”
    “Alone?” Emma said, and her voice quivered. “Dad, I’m scared.”
    “I know.” He put a hand on her shoulder for a moment then leaned down and hugged her close. He kissed her forehead and then stood up and went back the way they had come.
    Emma took nervous steps up to where the faun was standing. He watched her make her slow way to him.
    When she arrived before him, he made a face that looked like an attempt at a smile but his strange features turned it into something frightening.
    “I’m glad you came,” he said. “Do you know why you’re here?”
    “Not really,” she said nervously. “I don’t understand any of it.”
    Domino nodded.
    “Emma,” he said. “We need you to save the world.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    8
    The Missing
     
    It was almost dark and the rain had stopped.
    Aaron Humphries arrived at the security office and bid goodnight to the daytime security guard. After he pet Oliver, he went to the desk, sat down, and signed his name on the security log.
    Aaron did not like working nights. He didn’t understand why it was that the Paigely Builders construction site needed a guard there at all times, even when no one was working. The reason for the security was that some workers had gone missing but if there were no workers to guard, then why did he have to work through the night? He figured that it had to do with company policies thought up by management types.
    The security guard opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a long, hefty flashlight. He took a piece of gum and put it in his mouth. With a sigh, he left the portable security office and began his first round of the night. Oliver walked along by his side. The usual round took him first around the perimeter of the construction site along the edge of the forest and then past the main entrance on Lockhart Road.
    He was somewhere near the centre of the site when he saw a light inside one of the half-completed houses and headed toward it. The exterior of the house was all exposed plywood. There were rough steps in front of the door and he climbed these and